The Bible does not begin with a nation, a covenant, or a law. It begins with a human being. Before Israel, before the Torah, before history divides into peoples and borders, Scripture introduces us to Adam. Formed from the adamah, the earth, Adam represents not one individual, but all humanity. And over this humanity, God speaks words that shape everything that follows:
“Let us make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
This verse lies at the very heart of the calling of ZAKA Search and Rescue Israel.
Human dignity is not earned. It is given. It does not depend on morality, nationality, belief, or behavior. Every human being reflects something of the Creator simply by being human. From the very beginning, Scripture establishes that what happens to a human body matters deeply to God.
This is not abstract theology. It is the foundation of ZAKA’s work.
Ordinary People Who Choose to Show Up
In Israel, ZAKA volunteers are often called heroes. Yet they are not different from the rest of us. They are ordinary men and women who choose, again and again, to show up.
Today, nearly 4,000 volunteers serve in Israel, with another 2,500 volunteers around the world. They respond day after day, often at great personal cost. They leave work, families, and sleep behind to step into scenes of devastation most people will never see.
They do not do this for recognition. Much of their work happens quietly, away from cameras. And the reason they serve is not only humanitarian. It is biblical.
Adam, Adamah, and Dam
In Hebrew, the connections are both visible and audible.
Adam comes from adamah, earth. Humanity is formed from the ground, not placed upon it as strangers. We belong to the physical world, shaped from it by God’s hands.
And within Adam we hear another word: dam, blood.
Scripture treats blood with the utmost seriousness:
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Leviticus 17:11)
Blood carries life, life given by God. Even after death, that life is not meaningless. After the first act of violence in Scripture, God says to Cain:
“The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:10)
Life does not disappear without meaning. God hears.
From this biblical understanding emerges the Jewish principle of kvod hamet, the dignity of the deceased. Scripture commands:
“You shall surely bury him on that day.” (Deuteronomy 21:23)
Nothing connected to a human being is insignificant. Every part matters, because every person matters to God.
This is where ZAKA’s work begins.
Chesed Shel Emet, True Kindness
The Bible also speaks of a special kind of kindness. In Genesis 47:29, Jacob asks his son Joseph to show him kindness and faithfulness by caring for his body after death. From this comes the phrase chesed shel emet, true kindness.
It is kindness shown to someone who can never repay you.
Caring for the dead brings no gratitude, no recognition, and no return. It is done only because it is right. This is the biblical world into which ZAKA steps.
October 7: When Evil Sought to Erase Humanity
On October 7, 2023, Israel experienced a level of brutality that shook the nation to its core. Communities were overrun. Roads became killing grounds. Families were murdered in their homes. A music festival became a massacre.
ZAKA volunteers were among the first to respond.
What they encountered cannot be adequately captured in words. Bodies desecrated. Entire families wiped out. Scenes of cruelty designed not only to kill, but to dehumanize.
Volunteers worked for days and weeks, meticulously collecting remains so that victims could be identified and returned to their families for burial. This work was slow, precise, and emotionally crushing. Yet they remained.
First, always, to search for the living. To save life wherever possible. And when life could no longer be saved, they stayed to care for the body that remained.
They sought to turn places of horror into places of holiness by restoring dignity where it had been shattered.
(To be continued in the next edition.)
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