All hands on deck

In his 17 years as a member of Young Israel of Woodmere, the largest Orthodox Jewish synagogue on Long Island’s South Shore, collecting money for a fire truck has been the shul’s most unique fundraising effort, President Yehuda Poupko says.

“Our shul always responds to the needs of the Jewish community, especially when it is something near and dear to our hearts like Israel,” Poupko said.

Synagogue members, which include 1,000 families, and other donors had raised $187,000  as of press time for the Jewish National Fund to help purchase a state-of-the-art pumper for a fire station in Israel. 

The fundraising was driven by the 1,700 fires that ravaged nearly every region of the Jewish state last month and, according to multiple sources, damaged or destroyed more than 1,000 homes, forced the evacuation of 60,000 residents, injured more than 200 people and burned over 30,000 acres. 

Based on reports from Israeli officials, negligence was a factor in some of the fires, and the unusually hot, dry and windy November weather made it difficult for firefighters to control the flare-ups that stretched over 100 miles. Other fires were intentionally set by Palestinian terrorists, according to news reports. A few perpetrators were caught while setting a fire, and smoldering tires and the vestiges of Molotov cocktails have been found. As of press time, 22 people had been arrested for suspected arson.    

Rabbi Hershel Billet, the spiritual leader of Young Israel of Woodmere, said that the overall goal is to raise $250,000, which would help pay for two fire trucks. “Of course, we welcome the assistance of anyone outside of our synagogue that would like to participate,” Billet said. “Our sole interest is to try to be of assistance to Israel, now and whenever there is a crisis that affects the well- being of the state of Israel.” 

The average cost of a new fire truck is around $400,000, according to Adam Brill, director of communications for the Jewish National Fund. Matching funds for each truck or piece of firefighting gear come from the JNF and other donors. The New York-based organization is the only one authorized by the Israeli government to buy firefighting equipment for the Jewish state.

The nonprofit group, founded in 1901 at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, after Viennese journalist Theodor Herzl advocated for such a fund, and various partners have “helped build Israel,” Brill said, from the ground up. That includes planting more than 240 million trees, helping to build communities, increasing the country’s water supply by 12 percent, preserving historical sites and creating and supporting educational programs, which include caring for people with special needs and disabilities.

The JNF has collected $10 million for firefighting gear and 50 new fire trucks in the past several years, and plans on helping build 10 new fire stations at a cost of $1 million each, said Brill, adding that about 140 donors have had their names emblazoned on fire trucks throughout Israel. 

“The equipment is mostly Israeli-made, and some is European-made in Germany, by Mercedes Benz, or Japanese,” Brill said. “The parts are made for Israel, for hotter temperatures and hilly terrain.”

Israel has 24 regions with fire stations, and there are 2,500 professional firefighters throughout the country, Brill said. A majority are in the more populated cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. High school-age youths are used as volunteer scouts to watch for fires in the frontier areas of Israel, he added, similar to American Explorer programs that connect young people with law enforcement agencies.   

“In this case, the Israel Defense Forces did assist with various protective and suppression equipment,” Brill said. “It was all hands on deck.”

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