This Week Insight I Grim Tasks Jerusalem bombing scene volunteer does the job that few can stomach. HARRY KIRSBAUM StaffM-iter R abbi Yaakov Uri might own a Jerusalem pizza shop, but when his beeper goes off, it's the tragic side of his life that Once the ambulances come, ZAKA can move on to the grim task at hand. Two weeks after ZAKA members equipped their first scooter, a woman bomber detonated a large bomb filled with kilos of explosives in a Machne Yehuda shoe shop. Windows were bro- ken on both sides of the street and 127 people were injured. ZAKA treated the injured and paramedics said three lives were saved. is calling. The rabbi is a member of ZAKA, the group of mostly Orthodox men who collect body parts for burial of Jews who have died in terrorist attacks and other violent tragedies. The group's name derives from a Hebrew acronym for "Identification of Victims of Disaster." A long graying beard and black kippah frames the 56-year-old rabbi's somber face. He may dress in the tra- ditional black suit, but his volunteer work is far from traditional. Married with six children, he led a quiet life filled with prayer and hard work until the day a car exploded in Rabbi Yaakov Uri front of him in Jerusalem's Machne Yehuda market five years ago. Rabbi Uri also possesses photo "I stood there like an idiot because I albums filled with thank-you letters didn't know what to do," he said. "I saw from government officials like Prime people from ZAKA arriving and work- Minister Ariel Sharon. He has photo- ing, and I told myself that I needed to graphs that people would rather not do this, too." look at. Rabbi Uri can't count how often his Some 700 people, mostly Orthodox beeper has gone off since he became a Jews, go through rigorous training to member four years ago, and he has don the yellow vest seen at every terror- worked at countless bombing sites. He visited the Detroit area Oct. 24-28 on a ist site in the past seven years. This job isn't for everyone, the rabbi said, and tour to raise money for the innovative way his group helps victims of terrorism not all ZAKA members are Orthodox Jews, but it helps. and violence — a way that stems from "It's not easy to do this," he said. "I'm his 25-year career selling pizza. not making any assumptions, and I'm In Israel, motor scooters equipped not saying that if you're not religious, with a large box on the back zip you can't do this, but the fact is that the through bumper-to-bumper traffic to deliver hot pizza. "If a pizza isn't hot, it's very religious have a way of life." According to Halachah (Jewish law), no longer a pizza — it's bread and you have to bring to burial every bit of cheese," said Rabbi Uri. a person," he said. "We believe that He became frustrated that many every single piece of the victim is like times he beat ambulances to the scene, the whole victim." and was unable to tend to the injured. He recalls a scene after a terrorist After a discussion with other ZAKA bombing in Jerusalem last year. members, they decided to get proper "I saw one of our volunteers running training and then equip motor scooters out into the street with the head of a with first aid equipment to save lives. little girl with long blonde hair," he said "The idea is to save them while the matter-of-factly. "He's running with the ambulances are coming," he said. " 11/15 2002 28 head, and the ambulance was taking the girl's body away." "Who will that volunteer share that story with," he asked. "His wife?" ZAKA has bridged the divide between the religious and the non-reli- gious. When an Israeli merchant sitting with some Arab friends was ambushed in the West Bank by a terrorist, Rabbi Uri and some other ZAKA members donned bulletproof vests to retrieve the body. "We knew he wasn't religious at all, but still a Jew is a Jew," he said. "This is the way ZAKA works." When a person first comes to volun- teer for ZAKA, they send him for a few weeks to watch a mortician. "Most people come back after the first day and say this isn't my cup of tea," said Rabbi Uri. 'And those bodies are cold." If a volunteer lasts through the first round, he is developed very slowly. First is a three-month army class for body identification. "It's very hard to match body parts," he said. 'After a bomb, the pieces are flung all over — on roofs, trees, and you have to put them together like a puzzle." Two-hundred hours of medical and first-aid training from the government is the usual next step, resulting in 90 percent group certification. Training goes slowly for six months to a year, then you get the beeper con- nected to Magen David Adorn, Israel's medical service arm, and the police radio system. Although the Israeli government does the training, it doesn't pick up the tab for the motorbikes — they now have 45 — or the $50,000 spent annually on the much-needed group therapy. Lately, the police have requested someone religious to inform families of victims, so ZAKA volunteered, Rabbi Uri said. He doesn't hold much hope for the future, but he knows what he wants to see. "I want the organization to go out of business," he said, finally cracking a smile. ❑ Contributions can be sent to ZAKA Rescue and Recovery, 500 - 8th Ave., Suite 905, New York, N.Y. 10018; call (212) 868- 2960, ext. 140. Remember When • • From the pages of the Jewish News for this week 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years ago. M11111r11.16101 199 The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Service and the American Red Cross have initiated a program to help visually impaired and other handicapped individuals find infor- mation about family who perished in the Holocaust. 1982 '"wwwww "111011111111111 Detroiters Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Nosanchuk, who came to the U. S. in 1913 from Rublia in Byelorussia celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. Detroiter Sheldon Winkelman is re-elected president of Jewish Federation Apartments. 1972 Miriam Goldstein is presented with the Betty Pelavin Memorial Young Leadership award as the outstand- ing young leader of the Flint Jewish community. ....„ 1962 Local congregations Beth Shalom and B'nai Moshe announce their formal affiliation with United Synagogues of America. Detroit Mizrachi is honored at the Mizrachi Organization of America's national convention in New York as a leader in selling Israel Bonds. The Detroit Urban League announces the establishment of the $10,000 Butzel-Stevens Scholarship Fund to assist worthy college students. The Jewish Agency for Palestine enlists 47,000 Palestinians in the all-Jewish Palestine Buffs Regiment, supported by United Palestine Appeal, which receives financial support from the Allied Jewish Campaign of Detroit. Detroit's Young Israel celebrates its 20th anniversary, although 15 per- cent of its adult male membership is now serving in the armed forces. — Compiled by Holly Teasdle, archivist, the Leo M Franklin Archives, Temple Beth El