Dubi Weissenstern, CEO of ZAKA, speaking at the Jerusalem Post online conference, A Nation in Trauma, said that while it is too early to measure the emotional toll of the Israel-Hamas War on ZAKA volunteers, “Every ZAKA volunteer knows that they are paying a heavy price.”
Since the tragic events of October 7, he pointed out, ZAKA volunteers have dealt with over 1,500 tragic events, such as murders, auto accidents, suicides, and additional terror attacks, not related to the events of that day.
After the events of October 7, Weissenstern explained, ZAKA recognized that something unusual had taken place and established a resilience division, appointing psychologist Vered Atzmon Meshulam to assist its members. The organization has openly acknowledged the psychological stresses and difficulties its volunteers have encountered.
“This was a huge challenge for ZAKA,” he said. “We reallocated budgets and added more funding. What was once behind the scenes is now at the forefront.”
Weissentern said that ZAKA’s resilience division is now the largest budget item in the organization.
“Once, I called our volunteers ‘holy heroes,’” he said. “Today, I call them the ‘broken holy heroes.’” About the trauma of October 7, Weissenstern said, “We didn’t have the ability to focus on one specific event.”
The sheer magnitude of the tragedies, he explained, prevented volunteers from focusing on the events from that day and the lessons that could be learned from their actions.
He concluded by discussing the ZAKA resilience center project, which will enable members to recharge and deal with the stresses of their work.
This article was written in collaboration with ZAKA.