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Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the haredi founder and head of the ZAKA rescue and evacuation service that recently was put into receivership, confirmed on Wednesday that "someone" in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new National Responsibility Party invited him to join. Meshi-Zahav, who was previously prominent in the anti-Zionist Eda Haredit and who still has many family members in Mea She'arim who hold virulent anti-Zionist beliefs, told The Jerusalem Post that he did not give an answer and would think about it. "I don't know what I want to do," said Meshi-Zahav, who continues to dress in the costume of the Eda Haredit,...

A GROUP of ultra-Orthodox Jews brought a Torah scroll to the mountain-top fortress of Masada today to rededicate one of the oldest synagogues in the world, which has been unused since the Romans destroyed it nearly 2000 years ago. Almost 1000 religious Jews gathered at the foot of the fortress overnight before hiking up the steep path which leads to the top of the mountain that overlooks the Dead Sea. The foreign-donated scroll was placed in a room of the partially renovated synagogue on the edge of the site which the Romans attacked from a sloping ramp in 73 AD...

Terror Massacre in Turkey: MK Calls on Jews to Come Home 08:42 Nov 16, '03 / 21 Cheshvan 5764 Foreign Minister Shalom is in Turkey today, following a day of terror in Istanbul. MK Gila Finkelstein (NRP) said that the attacks "are just another reminder that there is only one place for Jews under the sun, and that is in the State of Israel." Terror Massacre in Turkey: MK Calls on Jews to Come HomeForeign Minister Silvan Shalom is in Turkey today to meet with Jewish community leaders and his counterpart Abdullah Gul, following a day of terror in Istanbul....

Death Toll Climbs to 23 in Turkish Attacks 20:35 Nov 15, '03 / 20 Cheshvan 5764 (IsraelNN.com) The death toll in the dual car bomb attacks against Turkish synagogues has climbed to 23. At least six of the victims are Jews. ZAKA Team En Route to Turkey 20:42 Nov 15, '03 / 20 Cheshvan 5764 (IsraelNN.com) A team of ZAKA volunteers left earlier tonight following the termination of the Sabbath. The team is comprised of volunteers who will deal with the burial needs of the victims of the double car bomb attacks against two Turkish synagogues.

Oct. 3, 2003 ZAKA to display bombed Egged bus at NY fair By ASSOCIATED PRESS A bus destroyed in one of the deadliest Palestinian suicide bombings will be displayed at a New York fair alongside booths promoting Jewish culture and tourism to Israel. Relatives of the bombing's victims are outraged, and government officials have quietly questioned the wisdom of the plans by ZAKA Rescue and Recovery, an Israeli disaster response group. The idea is bring home the horror of the terror attacks that have plagued Israel, as well as to raise funds for ZAKA, a group of mostly ultra-Orthodox Jewish...

Zaka, the body evacuation unit organized by haredim whose volunteers often arrive at the site of terror attacks on motorcycles before Magen David Adom ambulances, has agreed to take orders from the most senior MDA professional there—unless Zaka volunteers get there first. This was one point of agreement reached by Health Ministry senior official Dr. Michael Dor, who tried on Tuesday to mediate between heads of the two organizations. Zaka and MDA's complaints about each other in the wake of terror attacks have become increasingly bitter in recent months. Magen David Adom director-general Avi Zohar contends that Zaka -- which...

(IsraelNN.com) Members of the ZAKA emergency service and victim identification organization will be assisting police and the army in providing security for the traditional Lag B’Omer hilulah on Mt. Meiron at the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, zt”l. In addition to handling any medical emergency situations, should they develop, ZAKA volunteers will be assisting the police and army spot potential terrorists disguised as religious Jews mingling with the overflow crowds attending the festivities. ZAKA volunteers, who are all from the religious community, explain that they are better versed in the subtleties of behavior and dress of the various religious...

JERUSALEM–The instinct is to flee. Yet these men–they are all men, these Orthodox Jews in their black skullcaps–are drawn to the carnage of the bombings. In this tiny nation where no place seems safe anymore–certainly not the buses or the food stands along Hanevi'im Street or even the cafeteria crossroads of the Hebrew University–more and more Israelis wander through their lives with an eye over the shoulder, looking to see if their final hour is gaining on them. Not Natan Koenig. In the near 100-degree afternoon heat at Hebrew University last month, Koenig sat on his haunches, blotting the black-red...

Long after the sirens and the screams have faded and the stunned and bloody victims have been carted away, one group remains at the scene of a terror attack in Israel. Bearded men in neon yellow vests sort through the rubble, picking up the pieces, literally, of those who didn't survive. Yaakov Ury is typical. The grandfatherly Jerusalem native, owner of a popular pizza parlor, began doing this gruesome work three years ago, after experiencing a bombing personally at Machaneh Yehuda, Jerusalem's outdoor market. "I just stood there like an idiot," says Ury. "I didn't know what to do. So...