JERUSALEM — Two dozen Arabs are being credited with helping to save the lives of Orthodox Jewish infants Nov. 7 after Israel’s Ministry of Health determined imported infant baby formula may have caused the deaths of three other infants and neurological damage in several others.
Ministry officials urgently needed a way to reach Orthodox Jewish consumers of the formula during the Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Friday. During Shabbat, religious Jews do not use the telephone or turn on a radio or television.
Ministry officials deemed the matter especially urgent because ultra-Orthodox Jews have many children and consume large quantities of the nondairy, soy-based formula made in Germany.
Despite its being the weekend, ministry officials contacted Zaka, a religiously run organization that aids in the rescue, recovery and body-part identification of accident and terror victims, as well as Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.
The organizations in turn recruited two dozen Arab drivers who frequently volunteer to drive emergency vehicles during Shabbat and holidays, ensuring that Jewish volunteers do not have to desecrate the Sabbath.
With the blessing of a leading rabbi, Arab volunteers drove to Orthodox neighborhoods around the country and, using loudspeakers, warned parents to immediately stop using the formula.
A Zaka spokesman told RNS, “We are a national organization and are always eager to help both Jews and Arabs. When necessary, we are happy to be aided by them as well.”
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