Shul raises £54,000 in three minutes for life-saving Israeli charity

A Hampstead shul raised a staggering £54,000 in less than three minutes for a life-saving Israeli charity.

The Village Shul heard United Hatzalah head Eli Beer speaking on Shabbat about how the charity saves lives in Israel with a response rate of three minutes or less. And in a mirror image of the response times of charity’s Ambucycles, the synagogue’s members raised enough money for two new vehicles.

The Village Shul’s rabbi, Yisroel Weisz said, “Someone came over to me and said, ‘Let’s do something – we need nine people at £3,000 each.’ Within moments the community rallied together with a response time of just over two minutes. People dug deep and two Ambucycles were donated.”

One of the Ambucycles was donated by a family with a Simcha coming up, using the UK fundraising  branch’s ‘My Mitzvah’ platform.

Assaf Admoni, CEO of British Friends of United Hatzalah of Israel said: “There are no words to describe how grateful United Hatzalah is to Rabbi Yisroel and Devorah Leah Weisz and the entire Village Shul congregation.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the community and the pledge to donate two new Ambucycles to our volunteer medics. Each Ambucycle responds to approximately fifty calls per month, which is over 500 calls a year. This donation will save hundreds of lives in the coming years.”

Using specially equipped motorcycle ambulances, United Hatzalah’s network of more than 5,000 volunteer medics help save thousands of lives each year across Israel by providing rapid-fire medical treatment.