CAIRO: In Brooklyn, New York, a group of Jewish women are calling to join Hatzolah, a volunteer emergency medical service organization that serves mostly Jewish communities around the world. They are currently stuffed with men only. As most orthodox Jewish women avoid sitting next to men in public spaces and have separate swimming lessons in school, it seems surprising that in New York City, women must use an all-male volunteer ambulance corps during emergencies. “There are strict rules between men and women, except in the case of Hatzolah,” Yocheved Lerner, a state-certified emergency medical technician and one of the women who would like to volunteer for a newly formed all-women Hatzolah division in Brooklyn states. According to her, this is “a very, very troubling situation for a woman.” The women are proposing to join up with Hatzolah as emergency medical technicians to respond in cases of labor or gynecological emergencies. The group already prepared a list of about 200 trained orthodox Jewish women who could respond to medical calls. Their initiative has been highly criticized by the Orthodox community in New York, blaming the new initiative to be a “new and radical feminist idea.” “Adding women could affect response time,” Heshy Jacobs, a member of Chevra Hatzolah's executive board said. “There are many things at which women are superior, but when it comes to speed and physical strength, which are both of the essence in a medical emergency, it is a proven fact that men have an advantage,” he said. “Additionally we already have systems in place to get our responders in place as quickly as possible. […] By introducing women into the scenario, you are adding another layer to the process and you are talking about a situation where a delay of seconds can literally cost lives.” According to Rachel Fryer, a lawyer representing the group the initiative has “nothing to do with feminism” but there is a need for emergency services that adhere to the community's customs of modesty, calling for the sexes to avoid physical contact unless they are related. “It has to do with the dignity of women and their modesty,” Fryer states. “Women have been increasingly marginalized from public life and from public view under the pretext of modesty. […] They're saying it's not modest for women to give emergency care. I see absolutely no reason why that should not happen. There are women who are trained in the medical profession.” “We're just trying to make a great organization even better,” she said. “We're not filing a complaint. We're coming with a suggestion.” Hatzolah, a Hebrew word meaning “rescue” or “relief,” was founded by Rabbi Herschel Weber in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the 1960s in response to a perceived delay in responding to emergency calls made by Jewish communities. Run on a volunteer basis, its funding is obtained through private solicitation and donation. Hatzolah has affiliates all around the world, each of them operating independently. The organization is not restricted to males only. In Israel, for instance, the organization, which responds to more than 112,500 calls per year, has volunteers who are both male and female. BM
