Word Prompt – HATZALAH – Ariel Rackowsky

Prior to moving to Dallas, all my rabbinic training and my first rabbinic position took place in the tri-state area: in Riverdale, the Upper West Side and the Five Towns. From these positions, I became intimately familiar with the selfless work of the men of Hatzalah, and their wives and families as well. When I served as assistant rabbi at The Jewish Center, one of the members of the shul who is also a staunch Hatzalah member once told me proudly that he had taken Hatzalah calls during Neilah in every synagogue of every denomination on the Upper West Side! This same Hatzalah member (who will remain nameless only because I was unable to ask his permission to use his name) quickly bandaged a burn I sustained from scalding water while kashering dishes for Pesach.

Fortuitously, he was on the scene and didn't have to be called; the reason he was there is that it was his own dishes I was koshering. Another time, that same individual was called up to chant the haftarah, but never had the opportunity to do so, because he had to take a call in between the aliyah and the haftarah. I know similar events happen regularly wherever there is Hatzalah. In my experience, the same volunteering spirit and leadership that compels people to join Hatzalah often is why they are the ones who often daven or blow shofar on the Yamim Noraim.

There is an Israeli chazzan named Shlomo Glick who was once leading davening on the Yamim Noraim when someone experienced a medical emergency. Chazzan Glick is a member of Hatzalah (he was profiled in this newspaper some 12 years ago for his dual role). He immediately stepped down from the bimah and tended to the patient until the ambulance arrived, and then he continued to lead davening! Can you imagine the kind of merit a shaliach tzibbur can bring to a community by leading a tefillah right after saving a life? That's the kind of person I would want as my chazzan!