Worst. Ad. Ever.

In my humble opinion, this is one of the most tasteless ads I've ever seen.



Reminds me of my son's classmate who was thrown out of school for a day for wearing a t-shirt with the following graphic:


If ZAKA can run video ads like the one above, then the t-shirt isn't that much worse.

J Becker: Happy now? :-)

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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Volunteering is alive and well in Israel

"Abba, when you come tonight, make sure you wear your MDA uniform."

My oldest son called me up last night on my way home from work, "ordering" me to wear my Magen David Adom uniform to our community's "Volunteer Appreciation Evening", where the local town council thanked all the volunteers of our community.

I told my son that adults didn't have to come in uniform, and I wasn't showing up in an MDA volunteer capacity anyway -- but it was a nice idea for teenagers to come in uniform.

Volunteering in Israel is crucial for the success of our society. Volunteers fill in the huge cracks that are missing in government services. Perhaps when Israel is a richer country, people will get paid to do these jobs. Till then, the spirit of volunteering is what keeps Israel running on a daily basis.

Hundreds of volunteers packed our local high school; teenagers in their gray Fire Department uniforms, blue and white MDA uniforms, Bnei Akiva "tilboshot" shirts. Adults from the welfare department, Mishmar Ezrachi civilian police volunteers, Hatzala and Magen David Adom first responders, the fire department, our local police, our Hevra Kadisha burial society, ZAKA, Kitot Konenut (IDF First Response Counter Terror Units) and others.

Certificates were given out to some. Everyone got a nice key chain. Someone asked me, "Why didn't you get a certificate?" I told him I don't need one, or want one.

Thinking about it some more, the best possible "certificate" I could get -- was that my 2 oldest teenagers were also present last night. They also volunteer for Magen David Adom and our local Fire Department and spent much of their summer vacation riding ambulances, administering first aid to people in need, learning advanced first aid courses, and dealing with fires/extricating people from car crashes.

To see them in their uniforms last night with their friends, was more valuable than any certificate I could possibly receive. Knowing that we've managed to convey the importance of volunteering, is an immense source of pride.

A certificate goes on the wall and fades with time.

Children carrying on our legacy transcends everything.

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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Think twice before you honk!

So I get a call this evening from the United Hatzala* dispatcher -- they want me to shlep (transport) from Jerusalem the "Pesach (Passover) gifts" for the Hatzala EMT volunteers in my area. I don't really have the time, but I'm a volunteer EMT for Hatzala, so I really should help them out. They put me in touch with another shlepper -- the guy bringing the gifts from Jerusalem to Petach Tikva, and maybe I can meet him there. It's getting complicated.

I call him up and he says he's on his way...I say, "me too"...can I meet him somewhere on the Jerusalem-Tel-Aviv highway so I dont have to go out of my way to Petach Tikva to get the gifts? "Sure," he says, and we agree to meet at a gas station along the way.

He tells me he's driving a ZAKA** ambulance with the gifts in it; that's not really surprising -- there are many organizations like MDA, Hatzala, ZAKA, etc, that all have the same volunteers -- so it doesn't surprise me that a Hatzala volunteer is also in a ZAKA ambulance. (I'm in both MDA and Hatzala).

So we stop at this gas station along the way and I drive behind the ZAKA ambulance. I park behind him (there's hardly any spare room in the parking lot). I get out of my car and some guy starts honking. He wants to back out because a tanker truck is blocking the exit. I tell to hang on -- it will only be a minute. He doesn't care, and gets out of his car to yell at me. I tell him to chill out. He keeps yelling.

The Hatzala Pesach present this year is a large duffel bag/suitcase on wheels -- packed 4 at a time into long, gray, plastic bags.

The guy is now really yelling, and I open the back of the ZAKA ambulance and start dragging these huge "body bags" from the ambulance and throw them into my car.

The guy stops screaming at me mid-sentence and turns white as a ghost.

He stares at me holding these "body bag" lookalikes, as I'm transferring them to my car from the ZAKA ambulance. In a flash, he turns around and runs back to his car, slamming the door shut.

That should teach him not to start up with volunteers from Hatzala and ZAKA!

Chag Kasher vSameach!

Jameel @ The Muqata


*United Hatzala (“Ichud”) of Israel is a non-affiliated non-profit Emergency (EMS) Volunteer Organization that assists in responding to medical emergencies throughout Israel. The primary role of Hatzalah volunteers - trained and certified as EMTs, Paramedics and MD’s - is to provide an immediate response within 2-4 minutes from the onset of an incident.

**ZAKA is a volunteer organization that assists ambulance crews, aids in the identification of the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters, and where necessary gathers body parts and spilled blood for proper burial.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד