Hatzalah Air Event - Full Coverage

As we begin I first would like to thank the host and hostess of tonight Elliot and Jennifer Dweck. First of all it's a tremendous privilege to be able to open up your home to people especially for a fundraising event for a special mitzvah like this to raise money for such a very special cause. We hope and pray that this is the first of many happy occasions and productive festivities in your home. Thank you again and God bless you. We here tonight to really celebrate a very unique organization. Many of us have heard of Hatzalah. The the word Hatzalah comes to mind the first thing you think about is an ambulance flying down Ocean Parkway flying down Ocean Avenue. We're all familiar with the sight of that. And it's really something that's that's very very common to even the the smallest child 3-4 years old they know what a Hatzalah ambulance looks like. What we fail to realize is that Hatzalah can be done in many different facets. Recently I was with somebody and we were having a conversation about how one man can make a difference. One man can make a unique contribution to the fabrication of society. I think Eli Roe in what he's been doing the last few years is such a person. Now what why am I saying that? Because similar to Eli Roe Hatzalah was founded he was just telling me the story earlier. One Jew I think it was in Williamsburg 50 plus years ago was at a wedding and somebody next to him was choking. I don't know if I get the the right but somebody was choking and they couldn't get the right first aid kit, they couldn't get the right help, and every second counted. And I think the person's life was saved. Was I wrong? I'm not sure. No, the person was not saved. And the next day one man said that this cannot happen again. So, he literally went out I think he bought like a little station wagon, and he bought a little a little equipment, and he you know, registered a phone number. In those days there were no cell phones, no dialing. And as they say, the rest is history. From that one man in 1972 or 1974, he's still alive today. I'm understanding he's in his He's in his late 90s. From that came Hatzalah of Williamsburg to Hatzalah of Flatbush to Hatzalah of the Jersey Shore, to Hatzalah of Queens, to Hatzalah everywhere. Of course, there's different branches in Israel and abroad. But one man had an idea, and one man acted upon it, and one man made a difference. Fast forward to the year 2019. A man by the name of Eli Rowe, who's here tonight also was a paramedic, like many others in the world, working I think for in Hatzalah of Queens or somewhere over there. And he also had a passion for aviation. And he liked to fly planes from what I was told. Maybe he'll tell the story a little bit different afterwards. He liked to fly planes. And then one day somebody needed, you know, being a paramedic, he was in the know of all the different issues. Somebody needed to be flown from place A to place B. And you know what? I have my uh my little hobby, my jets. I'll take you from where you need to go. That was only a short 5-6 years ago. And from that blossomed what we know today as Hatzalah Air, literally Hatzalah in the sky. Now, to really understand, he was just telling Rabbi Heber, it's not like there's a phone number that any of us can sit here and pick up the phone and call, "Hi, I need to get to the city. It's raining. Could you please get me there? I have an appointment." That's not what Hatzalah Air does. Let's be very clear. They work hand in hand, and of course they'll tell me if I'm wrong. They work hand-in-hand with all the Hatzolohs from all over the Well, let's let's focus on the United States. If Hatzoloh of Flatbush reaches out to him with a case, somebody from our community got into a jet ski accident in Florida, they need to be flown back. Eli Rowe springs into action, does what he has to do, gets them on the next flight, and brings them back to New York. I know last year we had the event, an older woman told her story, she passed out or she woke up in the middle of the night, literally in vomit, forgive me for being uh graphic, and he was able to bring her back with her children back to safety. I know this year alone dozens of calls, dozens of calls that he was able to help in our community, and he was able to bring them back to safety. Now now now rest assured, you need to understand this is not the the price of a commercial flight. It's not buying you know, going online and buying a JetBlue ticket to come back from Florida. For him to fuel up a jet, and for him to bring somebody from point A to point B costs thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars. I'll let him get into more of the specifics. But it's very important to know that in the last five six years five six years, Hatzoloh Air has been here for the Jewish world. They've been here for our community, they've helped many many people in many different ways. A lot of the the the cases are confidential, they sound like they like to really speak about it and and give all the details. But just know I know I actually was cross paths with a lot of the cases. Eli Rowe and his team of volunteers and his pilots and his his back office team and everybody is really there helping to save lives. It's a unique organization, there's no other like its kind, and we're very lucky to have somebody like him helping the Jewish world and saving lives every day. So there you have just one such story of how Hatzoloh Air has really been uh there for the community. I now would like to call up a rabbi who needs a rabbi, a speaker, a true friend to all of us in our community, a rabbi who needs no introduction. Someone really to speak really from his heart and really give us more of an in-depth look at the great work that Hatzalah does. Rabbi Joey Haber, come forward. >> Thank you very much. Elliot, thank you very much for opening up your home and your home should be full of and and engagements and bris and Shabbos amen. So, we're different. As Jews, we're different. As members of this community, we're different. We're just different breed and a different type. In fact, our first forefather has a title. His name is Abraham. What's his title? His title is not his title is not a man. His title is not a his title is not a man. His title is not the one I love. Or my servant. The title that God gives Abraham who is Abraham the Hebrew. The man from the other side of the river. How in the world is that an appropriate description of the first member of our nation? Why is he called the Hebrew? The answer is that what made Abraham Abraham is the willingness, the courage, and the conviction the conviction to stand alone. The rest of the world could be on one side of the river. I stand on this side. You could have your standards, I have mine. You could have your places you live, you could have what you worship, and I alone can have what I worship. And our nation since that day till today have always been hybrid. We've always been the one that stands alone. And I'll tell you where I saw this in the most glaring way. When my father, Allah bless his soul, wasn't well, and thank God we never had to fly. But when he wasn't well, many times during the journey, the doctors would say, "There's not really anything else you could do." Or, "You know what the truth is? I don't think you should be doing this. It's not going to be good for his quality of life." And I remember so many times my siblings and I, we'd be looking at each other and say, "He doesn't get it. We're hybrid. WE LIVE DIFFERENT. We have life in different the way we expect, THE WAY WE CHERISH LIFE IS JUST DIFFERENT. WE DON'T JUST DO IT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE." SO, for normal people in normal societies, the local paramedics is fine enough. Maybe they get there in time, maybe they don't get there in time, but that's kind of life, and that's what it is. But we're not like that. It's why Hatzalah was invented in the first place. Hatzalah was invented because you can't get to my mother or my brother or my son in 2 minutes. You need to get here in 60 seconds. You can't get here by waiting until you call this one that goes that one, and you get here 4 and 1/2 minutes later. No, I want my kid in the hospital by 4 and 1/2 minutes later. And that's why Hatzalah Air was invented. Hatzalah Air was invented because we are different. And the local hospital is not good enough. And the local doctor is not good enough. And whatever the local life expectancy also isn't good enough. Joe mentioned the story before of the woman in our community, an older woman, who woke up one night and she fell and she was bleeding. She was a mess. And Hatzalah Air was able to help her fly to the right care and the right safety. I remember having a conversation with that woman, who was close to her and her family, and she said to me, "Rabbi, I'm old. Like, that's it. Like, I can't I Why are we trying so hard?" And I said to her, "Do you understand you're a Jew? Do you understand the family you have, the children, the grandchildren, what you stand for, what you mean to your family, what you mean to your community? You have to keep fighting. If it's for another month or another year, that's what we're here to do." And the truth is, the story happened about a year and a half ago. Masha'Allah, she's doing great today. Surrounded by dozens and dozens of grandchildren and many, many great-grandchildren. She's great. Because we're different. We fight for something more. We live for something more. I'll give you one last personal story. Again, it didn't need a flight. But most of you who know me know that my son had a stroke about 10 months ago. 25 years old. And he was taken to the local hospital. And I arrived about an hour later cuz I was far. When I got there, the doctor said, "Yeah, this is what we do for the stroke. This is the right thing to do. We're taking care of him." And we looked at each other and we said, "No, no, no, no, no. We need more." And by that night, we were able to get him to a hospital. And the hospital that was one of the best in the world said, "You did nothing for him today. They did a 3 and 1/2 hour surgery in the middle of the night on his brain in order to to repair some blood vessel that had ruptured for no reason. That only hospitals like this with professionals like this could care for. And that's why we need Hatzalah Air. Because we're we're a community, we fly all over the place. We have go to Brooklyn, Deal, Florida, Mexico, Aruba. We're all over the world, Israel. And wherever we are, we're not comfortable with let's go to the local hospital, some guy in a station wagon is going to drive us to a house on the corner, and that's going to be the care. No, we need the best no matter where we are because we are Jews and we live different and the way we treat life and the way we value life is different. So, if there we require or someone is on vacation in Mexico and there was an injury, put him on a plane, take him to New York. And if from New York he has to go to Cleveland, take him to Cleveland. TAKE HIM WHEREVER he needs TO GO, WHEREVER THE best care is going to be because we need to do everything in our power to make sure that man or that girl or that woman lives as long as possible because we value life not like everybody else. Because we're the grandchildren of Abraham Avinu. We live different. It's why we need Hatzalah and it's why when need be like 500 times this year literally 500 times this year, 10 times a week for 50 weeks, 500 times a year when need be. I don't care what everyone else would do. We stand apart and we're even willing to fly. Thank you. >> Rabbi Heber, thank you for those very, very powerful words. Uh you brought it home like nobody else can, Rabbi. You're really very special and very uh unique in how you deliver your message, and we're really all very, very privileged to have you as part of our community. Without anything further, I think we mentioned his name enough. I think it's now time to hear from the founder and the CEO of Hatzalah Air, Mr. Eli Roe. Kavod Eli. >> I love that I get all the credit, but I'm just one of over 400 incredible volunteers in Hatzalah Air. Hi. Welcome. You've heard my name already. It's Eli Roe. I'm actually a Hatzalah paramedic, a very proud Hatzalah paramedic on the ground in Queens Hatzalah, in Catskills Hatzalah, in Shaarei Chesed Hatzalah. When I'm in Flatbush, I volunteer in Flatbush. Wherever I am in the world as a paramedic, I'm thrilled. But I need to tell you perhaps nothing excites me more than when we go to the furthest corner of the world where there's absolute doom and gloom to a family in the height of their excitement, in the height of their vacation. For example, this Pesach night in Orlando, a lady, about 50 years old, in the middle of the Seder, dropped dead. She was perfectly healthy, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. And we got called to fly her. We ended up flying her. It was a couple of days later. She wasn't stable enough. The next night, the second night, in Cancun, Mexico, a waitress spilled boiling liquid on an 18-month-old little girl. The skin was pouring off her hand, all sorts of other burns on her body with nowhere to go. During the Seder Hatzolah Air sent an airplane with pilots, with medics. We even put a pediatric anesthesiologist to deal with the pain. And during the Seder flew this little child from Cancun to Miami, went to Jackson Ryder Memorial Hospital, a burn center, at no cost, for free. And this kid is doing fine now. You should be proud. Every one of you. You fuel Hatzolah Air. You power Hatzolah Air. I'll tell you. 80 years ago Jews all over the world were gathered up, put together in a little pen, a little cage. They had no one to look after them. They were stripped of everything. Their freedom, their families, their business, their clothing, their kids, their religion, everything they lost. And who was there for them? No one. Today, I stand here proudly 80 years later. And I'm happy to tell you that today, wherever you are in the world, we have a state of Israel. We have a Tzva Haganah l'Yisrael. And no matter where you are, you could be in the furthest corner of the world. This morning I was in Larnaca. There was an little 11-day old baby on a ventilator that needed to fly to New York. I just landed, came off the plane. We had a team of 10. I'm a commercial pilot. I fly a Gulfstream G550. And we landed. And last week we had somebody who was in Monte Carlo celebrating his 100th, I'm sorry, Monaco, celebrating his 100th birthday, had a stroke, and needed to get to Israel. And on Friday we flew him. And every single day we have requests all over the world. But we're an independent organization. You know who calls us? Not you. If I had to guess how many of you know the number of Hatzolah Air in the room, outside of my incredible friend Alan Esses, who by the way deserves a huge round of applause for every single day and every single night, him and the volunteers in Flatbush Hatzolah and Deal Hatzolah, frankly, every Hatzolah in the world leaves their homes, leaves the comfort. They could be 40 minutes into that sleep at night when you're exhausted. And when you hear somebody in distress, you pick yourself up and go. Well, now, no matter where you are in the world, any corner, the furthest corner of the world, Hatzolah Air is called by a Chabad house. Hatzolah Air is called by a local Hatzolah branch. We're completely independent. People think Hatzolah is the same Hatzolah. Hatzolah in Flatbush, you know what they're supported by? People in Flatbush. Hatzolah in Deal, they service people in Deal, they're supported by people in Deal. They don't get a penny from Queens Hatzolah. They don't get a penny from Mexico Hatzolah. They don't get a penny from any Hatzolah in Israel. They're all completely independent. Hatzolah Air, too, is completely independent. We have a fleet of 13 aircraft. Anywhere that you are in the world, wherever you go, or wherever you may need treatment, or wherever you may need a surgery, or an operation, how could we relate to Hatzolah Air? Last week, there was a family from Kew Garden Hills in Queens. They were in Miami having the best day of their life. Two girls, ages 14 and 16, on a WaveRunner. Does it get more fun than that? They had a horrific accident. One girl was killed as their jet ski hit the dock and the other girl ended up on a respirator. Not 30 minutes afterwards, the phone started ringing. We sent the plane that day. We gave a tiny drop of nachama. A week ago, family was on vacation. I don't remember where. I think it was the Cayman Islands. Guy had a Guy had a headache. Just a headache. Goes to a local facility. They discover he has a massive brain bleed. They wanted to drill a little hole in his skull to relieve the pressure. How many of you would want a family member drilled in their brain? What did they do? They went to Chabad. Chabad called Hatzalah in New York. Hatzalah in New York called Hatzalah Air and boom. Without a penny, we sent the plane, took him over there. We flew so low where the air is much thicker and it cost so much more money, but we kept the plane pressurized to sea level, so we put zero pressure on his brain. Look next to me. You see this orange thing on the floor? Anybody know what that is? It's an infectious disease capsule. So, if somebody has a disease that could cause damage or pain or injury or illness to any of the members like COVID or anything else like that, we transport them in there. Right behind it is a silver bucket. Does anybody know what that is? It's a coffin. Because when we get a phone call that a family from New York goes to Costa Rica and a car goes off a cliff and two parents are killed and two boys ages four and six have broken backs and they're in two hospitals and two girls ages 10 and 12 have third-degree burns over 90% of their body in two other hospitals and it's 3:00 in the morning and they call you and they say, "Help." What are you going to do? I'm asking you a serious question. What would you guys do if somebody called you about a friend or a family member or a neighbor? Today, it's not like it was 80 years ago. Today, no matter where you are in the world, you have a family that's going to look after you and treat you like family. Yes, sir. Come on up. Unscripted, guys. I don't know how many pages of notes he's going to pull out. Unscripted. No notes. From the heart is the best place. >> Hi, everybody. My name is Jaime Antabi. About Unfortunately, my wife has a debilitating disease and we had to get her to her doctor in Boston. And I really did not know how I was going to get her there. She couldn't get it She really can't go in a car. Uh so, I called Lenny Salama, who's I know is part of Hatzalah. He said, "I'll call you right back." He called me back. He goes, "I got Hatzalah Air." I said, "She's not going to fly. I don't think she could fly." He goes, "Oh, no. I got Hatzalah Air. They have the Sprinter, which is that the like a bus a mini bus. And the Sprinter we haven't gone yet, but we'll be able to take us to Boston the same day, see the doctor, and bring us back. I just can't tell you the the amount of relief that I have knowing that there's a way to get my wife to Boston so she could see her doctor. And I want to thank you very much. Thank you. >> Every single member of Hatzalah Air, with the exception of the pilots and the maintenance, Come on up. Okay, come on up. I can't hear you. Come on up. No, let her come on up. Thank you for being brave and sharing your stories. My name is Ellie and I'm a proud Aruba. You know, we've been all over the world. It's really amazing. >> So, we were on vacation winter vacation and my mother was in Aruba. And my name is Esther Shwekey and she fell down and we couldn't even move her out of the hotel room. So, somehow we got to Hatzalah Air, my brother-in-law Eddie Zana, my son-in-law Ikey Bracha called and it was just hard to get clearance from Aruba. But, once we got clearance, I went on the plane with her and it was like there was no other way. We weren't letting them operate in Aruba. And thank God. Thank you all for everything. So, and today she had a great grandson Bris. >> So, thank you. Thank you for that. You know, on that Aruba trip, I think in about 24 48 hours we transported something like was it Alan? Maybe four patients with with different conditions. You're never alone. You could be far from home, but you're never alone. It's powered by incredible volunteers. When I say incredible volunteers, look around this room. Look at the guys that are wearing Hatzalah Air shirts. The ladies that hide their phones on Shabbat because they answer the calls. The doctors that every single day and night do intake, speak to the hospitals, the paramedics, the pilots, the respiratory therapists, everyone that drops everything to be able to go. I'd like to bring your attention to the screen. We have a short video, but it's powerful. It shows what our volunteers do, how lives from one second to the next are stopped, time freezes while we go anywhere in the world to save you and your family. It's a foot. It's an honor. It's a privilege, but we cannot do it without you. Tonight, we have about 15 of our incredible volunteers in the room. You know, if you call a local Hatzalah and they drive you to a local hospital and they use two gallons of gas at $3.50 a gallon and you call them up, you say, "I'd love to give Hatzalah. What it cost?" And they say, "Well, we took you to a local hospital. We used two gallons of gas after your daughter drowned." Please, we'll be more than happy. So, you take out your checkbook and you write a check for $7. Hatzalah has ambulances, insurance bills, training, equipment. They have a huge budget just to be able to spend the $7 when someone's daughter drowns. Hatzalah Air spends about a million dollars a month to be able to operate so that when an emergency or crisis happens, yes, it's thousands of dollars an hour, but it's the hour that's at 3:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the morning and Friday night at 11:00 at night and Yom Kippur and any other day that's inconvenient that we drop. We cannot do without you. Tonight, the Dwecks opened their home. We ask the community, please, invite us in. We don't look for anything. I'm a donor. Yes, I give thousands of hours a year, but I get money. Cuz I too am married with children. I just became a grandfather last month. I know what it's like. Thank you. I love that kid. When he cries, I give him back to his parents. It's a critical service that helps you and helps people you know and others people you don't know. But we cannot do it without your support. The Deal community's been here since day one. We started with one flight request. Every 3 weeks we did our first flight in September of 2019. Today, we've got five helicopters in Israel that do rescues all over Israel. We've got airplanes. Around the world we have 13 different aircraft. And we're ready. This equipment, helicopters, airplanes, it's expensive. I thank the Dwecks. I thank Rabbi Haber. I thank Alan Esses and the incredible volunteers in Deal local Hatzalah and Flatbush Hatzalah. And I beg you, please help us help you. Thank you so much for coming tonight.