ZAKA

ZAKA (Hebrew: זק"א‎, abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason, literally: Disaster Victim Identification), is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central District due to geographic considerations). These organizations are officially recognized by the government. The full name is "ZAKA - Identification, Extraction and Rescue - True Kindness" (Hebrew: זק"א - איתור חילוץ והצלה - חסד של אמת‎).

Members of ZAKA, most of whom are Orthodox Jews, assist ambulance crews, aid in the identification of the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters, and where necessary gather body parts and spilled blood for proper burial. They also provide first aid and rescue services, and help with the search for missing persons and participate in international rescue and recovery operations.

The founders and members of ZAKA prefer to call the organization and their work Chesed shel Emet (חסד של אמת - "Grace of truth"), because they are dedicated to ensuring that the bodies of Jewish victims are buried according to Halakha, Jewish law. After acts of terrorism, ZAKA volunteers also collect the bodies and body parts of non-Jews, including suicide bombers, for return to their families. The phrase Chesed shel Emet refers to doing "kindness" for the benefit of the deceased, which is considered to be "true kindness", because the (deceased) beneficiaries of the kindness cannot return the kindness.