Packing a Punch - Chevra Hatzalah Joins the War Effort on Multiple Fronts

by M.C. Millman

As missiles rained down in Southern Israel during the dawn of Shabbos morning, the shailos started pouring in from Chevra Hatzalah members in Eretz Yisroel, eager to get to the heart of where they were needed most no matter what and no matter where.

"Our members are not the type to just sit back and scroll through the news," Yehiel Kalish, CEO of Chevra Hatzalah, shares exclusively with BoroPark24. "While everyone is running away - our members run towards the fire. That is the nature of the Hatzalah volunteer."

And so, on Shabbos morning of Shmini Ateres in New York, the Executive Board of Chevra Hatzalah addressed the shailos of the one-hundred-plus Chevra Hatzalah members who were in Eretz Yisroel for Yom Tov.

"We utilized our channels to address our members' questions," Kalish shares.

Many members of Chevra Hatzalah spend a lot of time in Eretz Yisroel, and while Chevra Hatzalah has no official affiliation with any emergency response agencies in Israel, there is a connection formed through the New York Chevra Hatzalah members who volunteer their life-saving skills with those organizations while they are there.

"We were able to communicate to our membership in Eretz Yisroel that, for the time being, there was no need for them to go to Southern Israel as the needs there were being met," Kalish continues. "But even as we shut down communication for the rest of Yom Tov, there was still this overflow of desire to do something, anything – and so, as soon as Yom Tov was over, we asked the emergency response agencies in Israel, 'What do you need that we can help with?' The answer was, 'We are running out of supplies, and that is what we need.'"

In the meantime, Chevra Hatzalah members in Eretz Yisroel were not sitting still.

"Our members are not trained to go into war zones like members of emergency response agencies in Israel," Kalish explains, "but that doesn't mean they can't help. What our members were doing and are still doing today is taking shifts and providing regular care - dealing with the everyday Hatzalah calls that are still coming in and which still need to be covered while other EMTs and paramedics are out dealing with the war."

Meanwhile, in the United States, as soon as Yom Tov was over, and once Chevra Hatzalah received the official request, the organization began purchasing what was necessary to send the supplies requested.

"I know it sounds crazy at first to think that Israel, which is not a third world country, desperately needed these supplies," Kalish says, "but if we consider the fact that this could chas v'shalom be a protracted war and then think back to Covid when we literally had heads of state trying desperately to get ahold of masks and other life-saving equipment and supplies, we can understand that this is what happens during times of war. By us sending these critical supplies now, we are giving the companies in Eretz Yisroel the time they will need to produce their own supplies. It's like the pach shemen in the Bais Hamikdash. It was only needed for eight days until a new supply of shemen zayis could be produced."

This morning, four hundred and fifty packed duffle bags – filled with critical life-saving supplies were flown on El Al to Israel.

"But that is only half of the work," says Kalish after working with other members non-stop for the past two days to make Israel's request a reality. "Getting the duffle bags to where they are needed once they reach Eretz Yisroel is the next critical step."

In the meantime, the volunteers, many of whom worked for eight to twelve hours without stopping and who came from Flatbush, Queens, Far Rockaway, and Kiryas Yoel to pack the supplies made possible by generous donors, can take a break and hope that another round will not be needed.

The bags were all checked onto El Al as carry-on luggage.

"The senior leadership at El Al bent over backward to make sure these duffle bags got to Isreal in record time," Kalish relates, "all while working together through the myriad of details in terms of getting this right and making sure it was all being done within the law of both countries every step of the way." 

And while the bags are expected to land within the next two hours, Chevra Hatzalah can only hope its work is done.

"This is not the time to play politics," Kalish says regarding the distribution. " We will distribute the duffels to a broad range of emergency response agencies in Israel as soon as possible.

“We are probably going to do it again, but we are well aware that there is no mitzvah to send supplies that aren't necessary. As an organization that takes 70,000-90,000 calls a year, we know how necessary these supplies can be, so if our counterparts in Eretz Yisroel tell us they need more, we will be there for them, but if not, which is what we all hope, than that is even better."