‘Get me to the huppa on time’

Sirens rang out instead of bells as a desperate bride was rushed to her wedding by ambulance on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox mourners attending the funeral of the grand Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, blocked the streets of Bnei Brak leading to the celebration hall.

The young woman was determined to not delay her nuptials, which were set to be celebrated in the vicinity of Kiryat Vizhnitzer where devoted Hasidim were paying last respects to their spiritual leader, who died Tuesday.

After explaining her predicament to the ZAKA hotline, the volunteer rescue and recovery organization responded by sending an ambulance to pick up the bride and deliver her to the wedding hall.

“I have been volunteering as a ZAKA driver for the last 10 years and this is the first time that I have been involved in a joyous event,” ZAKA volunteer Berele Yaacovitz said. “It is truly an emotional moment for me to see my vehicle, which has seen such sorrow and tragedy, take a bride to her wedding.”

ZAKA is a volunteer organization of mostly Orthodox Jews that assists in the identification of victims and the gathering of body parts and blood after terror attacks for the purposes of proper Jewish burial. ZAKA also has first aid, ambulance and rescue services.