A sold-out crowd of 6,400 people from Israel and abroad filled Jerusalem’s Sultan’s Pool on Wednesday night for United Hatzalah’s annual Sukkot concert, marking the volunteer emergency medical organization’s 20th anniversary.
The event featured performances by Jewish music stars Ishay Ribo, Avraham Fried, Yaakov Shwekey, Zusha and Yair Elaytzur.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion opened the concert by thanking United Hatzalah’s volunteers and supporters for two decades of lifesaving service.
United Hatzalah traces its current national organization to 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, when founder and president Eli Beer brought independent Hatzalah groups from around the country together into a single emergency response network. Today, the organization has approximately 10,000 volunteers in nearly 100 branches across Israel and says its responders have handled more than 8 million emergencies.
Fried called Beer a “true Jewish hero,” while Shwekey paid tribute to the organization’s volunteers.
“United Hatzalah is everywhere,” Shwekey said. “On Oct. 7 and in every situation, you see them there, giving of their own time to save lives all over Israel.”
One of the evening’s most emotional moments came when the family of former Hamas hostage Bar Kupershtein appeared on stage during an appeal to fund 738 defibrillators—one for each day he was held captive in the Gaza Strip.
Kupershtein, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, was freed after 738 days in captivity. He has a personal connection to emergency medicine: His father was a United Hatzalah volunteer, and Kupershtein and his mother subsequently began training to become volunteer medics with the organization.
“For 738 days, we prayed for Bar to come home,” Beer told the audience. “Tonight, we turn your donations into heartbeats.”
Kupershtein later joined Elaytzur on stage for a performance connected to his experience in captivity.
“Thank God I stand here alive and well,” Kupershtein said. “The defibrillators donated tonight will give another chance at life to countless others. This is incredibly meaningful to me.”
The defibrillator campaign built on the original fundraising purpose of the concert. When the event was announced in September, United Hatzalah said proceeds would go toward purchasing defibrillators for new volunteers.
The organization provides emergency medical care free of charge regardless of background or religion, with volunteers dispatched on the principle that the closest available responder should reach an emergency as quickly as possible. It has also sent teams to international disasters, including earthquakes and building collapses.
