Editorial: No thanks necessary

Issue of January 22, 2010/ 7 Shvat 5770

Chevrah Kadisha work — the volunteer vocation of preparing the dead for halachicly correct Jewish burial — is referred to as Chessed Shel Emes, a true good deed, because by definition there can be no gratitude forthcoming from the recipient of the service. Of course, the community is grateful but generally the volunteers do their holy work in relative anonymity — no handshake, no pat on the back for a job well done.

Israeli medical and search and rescue teams operating now in Haiti are there first and foremost to help the living, of course, but it occurs to us that they are performing a variety of true Chesed Shel Emes, nonetheless. In all likelihood, when the last survivor is pulled from the rubble and the last trauma victim is treated, Israel will be right back where it was last Monday: an international pariah, forced constantly to justify and defend its existence in a world of enemies and hypocrites.

Of course, this makes Israel’s magnificent response to the earthquake, and that of the Jewish community in general, all the more special, worthwhile, satisfying and enjoyable to watch.

“We have always looked beyond our own community to the people in need,” explained Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “It's not always appreciated. We don't do it for what we get for it, we do it because it's the right thing to do.”

Israel is but one of many nations that have responded to the catastrophe. Hundreds of members of the Israel Defense Force, Hatzalah and ZAKA are working shoulder to shoulder with fellow professionals speaking a variety of languages in service of a common goal: saving as many lives as possible of those who were trapped beneath the rubble when the earthquake hit, and those survivors who were not trapped but were otherwise injured.

Despite the commonality of purpose, the Israeli team distinguished itself early on. It was a wonderful irony that it was a CNN crew that first filed a report on Israel’s now famous field hospital which, for a period of time over the weekend, had the lone functioning operating rooms in Port au Prince. Staffed by a medical team of 220, it comprises a tent city and some 10 tons of equipment, including state of the art medical imaging gear.

The tent city hospital that Sky News called the “Rolls Royce of Emergency Medicine” rolled into Haiti less than half a day after the quake struck. Imagine those evil Israelis going to so much trouble. Who do they think they’re fooling?

Perhaps Israel’s massive effort in Haiti will win some hearts and minds, perhaps just the parents of the newborn to be named “Israel,” but whether or not the effort turns out to be “lishma” — with no expectation of recognition or reward — we can find a small silver lining in the cloud that is Haiti. Kol Hakavod Tzahal.