There is a paradox at the heart of emergency response: The better you prepare, the less visible that preparation becomes.
A rescue team that arrives in time looks like it simply arrived in time. Equipment that works when needed looks like it was always there. A communications system that functions during a crisis seems obvious.
None of it is. It is the product of years of training, investment and preparation.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, that reality is especially meaningful.
The Jewish New Year asks us to look back at the year that passed and forward to the year ahead. For ZAKA Search & Rescue, 5786 tested both our preparedness and our ability to grow.
Our volunteers responded to more than 10,000 incidents across the State of Israel, including missile and drone attacks, terror attacks, building collapses, accidents, drownings and searches for missing people. And behind every incident was a human story.
Someone who did not come home. Someone waiting for answers. Someone whose life changed in an instant.
That is why our work has never been only about search and rescue. It is also about dignity.
Jewish tradition calls this Kavod HaMeit, the dignity of the deceased. Even when a person can no longer be saved, we have an obligation to them. Their life mattered. Their family deserves answers. Their body deserves respect.
That principle traveled with ZAKA this year.
Our teams responded following the domestic terror attack in Sydney, the catastrophic fire in Switzerland and the earthquake in Venezuela. In Maryland, the newly re-established ZAKA North American unit mobilized following a deadly plane crash.
In Venezuela, our responders worked alongside local authorities and international rescue teams. Engineers assessed damaged structures. Paramedics supported medical operations. Specialists in Israel provided satellite imagery, GIS mapping and structural analysis.
These were partnerships, not replacements. When disaster strikes, no single organization has every capability. The strongest response combines local knowledge, specialized expertise and international experience.
That is why preparedness cannot stand still.
This year marked the 20th anniversary of ZAKA’s Dive Team. Two decades of training and operational experience have built a specialized capability ready for the moments when ordinary response resources are not enough.
The same principle applies to ZAKA’s international growth.
If we are going to respond when a community needs us, the capability cannot be created after the emergency begins. It requires trained responders, specialized teams, equipment, communications and relationships with local emergency services. It requires the capacity to maintain those capabilities between emergencies.
Much of that work is invisible.
Equipment must be maintained when there is no disaster. Volunteers must train when there is no major incident. Specialized capabilities must be developed when there is no immediate reason to deploy them. That is preparedness.
As we enter 5787, that work will continue.
ZAKA will strengthen its capabilities in Israel while expanding its ability to respond internationally. We will continue developing the people, equipment and infrastructure needed to meet whatever emergencies may come.
But our greatest hope is that we will need those capabilities less.
Fewer terror attacks. Fewer missile strikes. Fewer accidents. Fewer disasters. Fewer families waiting for answers.
There is no contradiction between preparing for disaster and praying that it does not come.
We ask for a year of life while accepting our responsibility to protect life. We pray for peace while preparing to respond if peace is broken. But if the call comes, we must be ready.
And if it does not, that may be the greatest blessing of all.
Shanah tovah u’metukah!
