'I am very emotional, and I could cry, but today I choose to smile'

Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein presented Dubi Weissenstern, CEO of ZAKA, with the Heroism Award at the Jerusalem Post Miami Summit on Tuesday evening. ZAKA, established in 1995, is Israel’s leading non-governmental rescue and recovery organization, with more than 3,000 volunteers throughout the country. Upon receiving the award, Weissenstern said, “I am very emotional, and I could cry, but today I choose to smile. This award strengthens and encourages our volunteers to continue their work daily.”

On October 7, ZAKA volunteers arrived at the Gaza border communities, risking their lives while being pursued by terrorists armed with automatic weapons. ZAKA volunteers stayed in the field, provided emergency response services, worked tirelessly searching for victims, and helped manage the aftermath, assisting families in finding closure and participating in recovery and documentation efforts.

In the past year, Weissenstern established ZAKA’s Resilience Unit, which provides a comprehensive framework of mental health support for its volunteers. ZAKA has begun a fundraising campaign to raise $100 million for the creation of a global network of Volunteer Resilience Centers. These centers will provide mental health support not only to ZAKA volunteers but to the entire community of first responders and their families. They will evolve into hubs for research and development of innovative methods to strengthen resilience in first responder communities, and will establish knowledge and treatment protocols that will eventually be taught as a “battle doctrine” for emergency teams worldwide.