Support of CMDA is empowerment, not just kindness

By Valerie Sobel

(AJNews) – No one expected October 7th. No one expected more than 500 days of war. No one expected a terrorist tunnel network bigger than the entire London underground.

Everyone expected MDA to rescue and restore life from imminent death on day one and for the duration of Israel’s longest war. And that is exactly what the ambulatory bloodbank service has being doing.

October 7th brought enormous loss to the organization: ambulatory employees killed, vehicles damaged and entirely destroyed by the relentless fire of the jihadists. Yet MDA persevered and was the first on the scene at the Nova Festival and many other locations to do what they do best; save lives.

I first got interested in Magen David Adom after becoming aware of the Red Cross’ refusal to operate in Israel.  We must build and grow our own ambulatory service, I thought. Our own life-saving tools for our own people – our extended family that is Israel.

Magen David Adom, the only bloodbank in Israel designed for massive catastrophes like October 7th, has become not just vitally important but unequivocally necessary. CMDA, the Canadian arm of the organization, is front and centre in this life-saving business by raising funds, big and small, from everyday Canadians of various backgrounds who may share only one value; love of Israel. Every one of us can and should be part of this mitzvah, no matter our economic competence; every penny counts in saving a life.

Donation is certainly a gift of kindness and generosity. But also of selflessness. An act of saving a life that you will never know in a community where you will never live. Service and aid to strangers who will never know of your name or your gift. It is exactly this blind participation, the absence of reciprocity and the inability to feel the immediate impact of our charity that defines who we are. This is the reward and the very embodiment of tzedakah. But it is first and foremost, an act of empowerment.

Empowerment to change lives. Empowerment to be part of CMDA and its life-saving work. Empowerment to stand up to terror and Israel’s enemies. Empowerment to change the outcome Israel-haters design and count on.

On a personal note, I am blessed to be a Canadian and a member of the Israel-supporting diaspora mainly due to Israel and her people. In the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, before the fall of communism, Israel issued 291,000 exit visas to Eastern European Jewry. These visas were the only way Soviet-bloc Jews were permitted to leave the epicenters of state-sponsored anti-semitism. At age 11, I was one of the lucky millions (as was my husband at age 9) – holders of an Israeli visa which opened the door to freedom, opportunity and proud Jewish identity. Israel, quite literally, performed the largest rescue operation in history, as approximately 2,000,000 Jews found a new life. It is high time we do all we can to rescue Israel’s citizens, our brothers and sisters, from deliberate harm by hateful enemies: CMDA is a great place to make that impact.

It is not our job to criticize Israel. It is not our job to pass judgment on Israel’s internal policies. It is not our job to dictate what Israelis should or should not do. It is certainly not our job to advise on military strategy or hostage release deals. But it is our job to stand united behind Israel in the way that counts and makes a material difference. Not by words but by deeds.

Today, my husband Ed and I together with our children, Jacob and Danica, will be donating a CMDA medical scooter, a gift to the people of Israel. I’m further happy to announce that a group I founded shortly after October 7th, Together For Israel (TFI), consisting of Canadians and Americans, Jews and non-Jews, is donating $10,000 for Life Support Equipment to the people of Israel. And we are not done yet.  Anyone wanting to contribute and join us in our collective efforts in order to make a bigger impact, please contact Valerie Sobel at togetherforisraelnow@gmail.com

We are humbled to follow in the generous and empowered footsteps of our dear friend of blessed memory, Fanny Wedro z”l, who taught us so well and so often.

Am Yisrael Chai.