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Weekly Chasidic Story#1463 (5786-14) 2 Tevet 5786 (Dec.22, 2025) "A Volunteer Paramedic's Legacy" "Whose motorcycle is that?" he yelled out, as if there was a chance between the thousands of people in the park to find its owner. Story in PDF format for more convenient printing A VOLUNTEER PARAMEDIC'S LEGACY
The story I want to tell you took place 4 months ago [in early Spring 2017]. We are a few families who have known each other from childhood, and it is our custom to go out on picnics every now and then. This time we went to Park Hayarkon [in TelAviv]. The kids were playing in the playground and riding their bicycles, the women sat together chatting and we men were in charge on the BBQ. Close to us was a religious guy playing ball with a very young kid. We didn't really pay any attention to him. Although we are all secular people, we have much respect for our religion. At a certain point my friend Tomer went to the car to bring the pita bread. He came back very angry and announced, "I couldn't get into the car, there's a motorcycle parked too close to the door." Tomer is the natural leader of our group. He is tall, strong and angers easily. He has a good heart until someone gets on his nerves, and for some reason that motorcycle made him angry. "Whose motorcycle is that?" he yelled out, as if there was a chance between the thousands of people in the park to find its owner. Neverthe-less, surprisingly, the skinny guy that was playing near us with his son responded." Are you talking about the Eichud Hatzalah [1] motorcycle? "Yes." Tomer replied." Is it yours?" "Yes, it is." "So move it already," Tomer tells him. Get it right now out of that parking spot." "Why are you talking this way, it's not nice," the guy answered. "Not nice?" Tomer shouts back. "In a second I'll stop talking at all and punch you instead. Get your damn motorcycle away from here before I get violent with you." The guy looks at him, hurt."How would you like it to be talked to in that manner in front of your kid?" Tomer walked towards him wanting to hit the guy, but we stopped him. We asked the guy instead to just move it so the situation won't get worse. In truth, in my heart, I felt bad. I didn't agree with Tomer, and I bet none of the others did either. But Tomer was our friend and that guy wasn't, and in our codes that was enough of a reason to stand by our friend. And the guy? He was not our problem. Humiliated, he simply took his son and went to move the motorcycle. There was a silence, the kind that screamed what we each felt: why did he have to humiliate him like that? After all, Tomer had already gotten to the pita bread from the car door on the other side, so why was it so urgent to move the motorcycle at all? As I said though, that was only in our hearts, We felt bad to be a part of the matter, even if only passively, but we didn't say a word, not even when a few minutes later the guy came back with his son and the ball. What happened a few minutes after that turned this story upside down. We suddenly heard a scream: "Hagit fell off the big ladder!" Hagit is Tomer's 6-years-old daughter. She was playing with our kids and a few others on one of the tall structures in the play area, and she fell from the top of the ladder. The kids were shouting that something is wrong. We ran there to find Hagit lying on the sand, totally blue. It was obvious that she wasn't breathing. Tomer started screaming: "Help! Please! Somebody! Hagit!--please wake up!" Someone called for an ambulance. A second later, that man with the young kid comes running, puts his son in my arms and asks me to look after him. Before I had a chance to answer, he was gone, running like crazy. It is hard for me to describe these moments; we were a few dozens of people staring at a catastrophe and there was nothing we could do. I felt so helpless. In the midst of that chaos we heard an ambulance siren. How could an ambulance come so quickly? We soon found out the answer. The siren came from that religious man's motorcycle, the same one inscribed with the words "Eichud Hatzalah" The motorcycle had a huge box on the back and the guy opened it quickly, took a few things out and went straight to Hagit. It was so weird. Tomer, the big strong guy, was shivering, and that skinny gentle guy became the one in control. He gave orders to some of the people: "Hold this"-"Give me that"-"Go to the motorcycle and bring me the blue bag"-"Now open it carefully." It turned out that he was a volunteer trained paramedic. At the same time he was treating her, he was speaking on his special device: "Send an ambulance. Head injury and loss of breath." He was our angel. He acted so coolly, so quickly and professionally. Hagit, who was just lying there and seemed lifeless, started moving and coughing. This unassuming humble man had brought her back to life! Everyone cried, women and men. Our Hatzolah angel kept treating Hagit till the ambulance came and quickly removed Hagit from the scene. Tomer approached the man, weeping. "Please forgive me, I'm so sorry." The medic calmly replied, "There's no time for that;, Just go with her, it will all be ok." We all approached him--hugging him, kissing him, asking for his forgiveness. We were all very excited: we understood that what happened to us was a once in a lifetime event. I have no words to describe it. We asked for his name and number and said that we would keep in touch. Then we all accompanied him-Ephraim ["Effi"] Gadassi--to visit Hagit, and thank G-d, she was already out of danger. Tomer felt broken and miserable; he was so ashamed of the way he treated the guy who saved his daughter's life. He called him, cried and begged for forgiveness. He also asked to compensate him with money, but Effi calmed him down, saying, "It's ok, I forgive you. In Eichud Hatzalah that is what we do, almost on a daily basis, and that is our "Payment." I will not take money from you!" Tomer tried persuading him unil he finally said: "if you want, you can donate to Eichud Hatzalah. I will not accept money from you." After three days in the hospital, Hagit was released, but Tomer couldn't stop thinking about it. He was a mess. After a while, he informed us that he intends to do a Seudat Hodaya ["Gratitude Meal"] and invite the Hatzalah man as a guest of honor. He set the date for a Motzaei Shabbat and asked Effi to come. He promised him the evening would be a fundraising event for Eichud Hatzalah. He agreed. This is supposedly where the story ends...but it's not. None of us could possibly have imagined how this story was really about to end. I warmly advise you to sit before you go on reading! On Thursday, two days before the Seudat Hodaya, in the middle of the night, Effi Gadassi was on call and responded to an emergency medical event. On his way there, Effi was hit by a car and died. When we heard that news, our life changed completely and never went back to how it was before. We all attended the funeral, crying like babies as we stood there. We had to hold Tomer who almost fainted. I cannot begin to describe his grief and the deep feeling of guilt he was dealing with. We tried to comfort him saying he had asked for forgiveness and that Effi forgave him, but he still felt as if a part of his heart had died. We all changed-- all of us came closer to G-D. Tomer made the biggest change: he now wears a big yarmulke, prays all the daily prayers, and keeps Shabbat. Further, everything he does is for the merit of Effi and for his aliyat neshama (soul elevation), including collecting money to purchase an Eichud Hatzalah motorcycle and donating it to the organization. This is the story of Effi Gadassi of blessed memory who represents the hundreds of people volunteering in Eichud Hatzalah, who do their holy work everyday, while expecting nothing in return. Sometimes, as our story shows, this includes getting humiliated, hurt and disrespected on their holy mission. May this story and the message it carries be for the Aliyat Neshama of the selfless dedicated volunteer, Efraim "Effi" Gadassi! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Postscript: Efraim Gadassi,
a volunteer paramedic in the United Hatzalah Ambucycle Unit, was critically
injured in a car accident around 3:30AM on Menashe Ben Yisrael Street in Jerusalem
as he made his way to the scene of a medical emergency. He is survived by his
wife and three children.
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Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.