A Lubavitch rabbi was on board the Israeli army aircraft carrying a 220-strong medical team and crammed with supplies to quake-devastated Haiti.
The mission which left on Friday includes “220 people who will establish a field hospital,” the army spokesman said.
The team is comprised of 40 doctors, 44 nurses as well as technical personnel. One third of the team is made up of army reservists.
COLlive.com has learned that one of them is Rabbi Shaul Ofen who will be representing the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the quake, the largest to hit the Caribbean country in more than 150 years, had killed between 40,000 and 50,000 people.
Rabbi Mendel Zarchi of Chabad of the Caribbean is coordinating its relief efforts in conjunction with the Chabad representative Rabbi Shimon Pelman in Santo Domingo.
“Santo Domingo has become a humanitarian hub for volunteers attempting to get into Haiti,” Rabbi Zarchi told Lubavitch.com
Zarchi has sent two rabbinical students to Santo Domingo to assist the volunteers there.
Pelman has already arrived in Haiti and was on hand to greet Rabbi Ofen and the Israeli mission.
“I also need to get there so I can asses the needs for kosher food for the Jewish residents and volunteers,” Pelman said before the trip.
Haiti’s President Rene Preval appealed to the international community for help. “We need medicine. We need medical help in general.”
“Some of the hospitals, they collapsed. The hospitals, they are full and they put people in the outside. … So we need some hospitals, some medicine and some doctors.”
charlatans ??? are you kidding me?? OU, Aguda and every other wannabe organization are collecting mass funds where they have ZERO connection with Haiti, or Katrina and tsunami for that matter Chabad is the only ones who actually have centers in these places where people in real need can turn to I’m not talking about the red cross and such. but from all the jewish groups Chabad must be the only one on-hand offering real assistance Rivkin was there for New Orlins, Kantor was there for Phuket and Pelman and zarchi are there for haiti they are not sitting in… Read more »
hashem yishmor@
Dah
The allure of pr and money can sometimes cloud our judgment however Chabad will look like foolish greedy charlatans trying to capitalize on the misfortune of others, there are many organizations (jewish and not) that deal with this kind of tragedy.
You can see all their updates at http://www.chabadhaitirelief.com
moshiach now!