By: Fern Sidman

In a profoundly emotional and historic moment for global Jewish emergency services, Rabbi Hershel Weber — the pioneering founder of the original Hatzalah organization in the United States — was warmly welcomed at United Hatzalah’s Jerusalem headquarters on Wednesday. The visit, reported by VIN News, served as a powerful bridge between the past and present of Jewish lifesaving innovation, as two generations of emergency response leaders came together in tribute to a legacy that has transformed the face of pre-hospital care in Jewish communities worldwide.

Accompanied by his sons, Naftali and Meir, Rabbi Weber was greeted by United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer, and Deputy CEO Lazer Hyman, who oversees the organization’s Volunteer and Operations Division. The meeting was not only symbolic but deeply personal — a celebration of the shared vision, challenges, and unwavering faith that have made Hatzalah an indispensable force in Jewish life.

According to the VIN News report, Eli Beer drew striking parallels between Rabbi Weber’s groundbreaking founding of Hatzalah in Brooklyn in 1966 and the early struggles to establish United Hatzalah in Israel decades later.

“When you founded Hatzalah in the U.S., you were warned not to do it because of the ambulance monopoly — and yet you chose to go against the current,” Beer reflected during the visit. “Today, it’s impossible to imagine a Jewish community without Hatzalah. We too in Israel received similar warnings — but today, we can’t imagine how we managed without United Hatzalah.”

Beer emphasized that the global Hatzalah movement — now a lifeline in Jewish communities around the world — is rooted in the courageous step Rabbi Weber took nearly 60 years ago. “All of these life-saving efforts — it’s all thanks to you and the incredible movement you started,” Beer said.

As reported by VIN News, special attention was given to the heroism of United Hatzalah volunteers during the Simchat Torah war in October 2023, when the organization’s medics mobilized to save lives in the face of unspeakable violence. Rabbi Weber, visibly moved, expressed a deep desire to learn more about the organization’s scope and capabilities.

During the tour, Deputy CEO Lazer Hyman led Rabbi Weber through the organization’s advanced national dispatch center and introduced him to the Rescue Force Unit — a specialized division designed for charedi volunteers. Project coordinator Bency Spitzer explained that the unit was carefully structured to enable volunteers to operate within their religious frameworks while remaining fully engaged in emergency response.

The Rescue Force Unit has become a model of how cutting-edge lifesaving practices can be harmonized with the highest standards of religious observance — a reflection of the values at the core of Rabbi Weber’s original vision.

To commemorate the occasion, Eli Beer presented Rabbi Weber with a silver model ambulance engraved with his name — a lasting symbol of appreciation for a man whose bold initiative continues to reverberate throughout the Jewish world. The moment was one of deep emotion and humility, encapsulating a journey of service, sacrifice, and unshakable belief in the power of community.

What began as a localized response to delayed ambulance arrivals in 1960s Brooklyn has now become a worldwide model for Jewish volunteerism, medical innovation, and communal responsibility. From New York to Jerusalem, Rabbi Hershel Weber’s legacy lives on in every life saved, every siren heard, and every volunteer who answers the call.