Rescuer recounts experiences ‘beyond comprehension’

Mati Goldstein, a 31-year-old haredi father of four whose profession and hobby are rescuing people, subsisted on water and kosher energy bars — and eventually kosher U.S. Army food — during his 10-day stay in Haiti saving victims of the earthquake.

“I lost some weight and have narrowed my belt by one hole,” he said in an interview after returning home Jan. 25. The native Israeli also said he would be willing to go to any future disaster if his help were needed.

The ZAKA rescue and recovery organization volunteer was in Mexico searching for the remains of the Saba family after a helicopter crash when he was called to help out in Haiti. The Mexican Jewish tycoon Moishe Saba, his wife, son and daughter-in-law were killed in the air accident. After they were buried, Goldstein flew to Haiti without taking any kosher food.

He was accompanied by Orthodox volunteers from the Mexican Kedena organization, and five ZAKA rescuers. They were given seven vaccinations each on the plane, he said.

The team arrived on Jan. 14, and worked on Shabbat after receiving permission from their rabbis. Goldstein said his team survived several dangerous incidents and pulled a number of students and lecturers out of the debris of the university in Port-au-Prince.

Those they pulled out had suffered fractures but are recovering, he said.

Goldstein has much disaster experience. He participated in rescues after a plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y.; the terrorist attack in Mumbai, India; the Thailand tsunami; and other catastrophes. Having spent a decade as a ZAKA volunteer, the resident of Mevo Horon now has his own company that teaches hospital staffers and others how to save lives in mass-casualty events.

One of the hardest things during his time in Haiti, he said, was not being able to speak to his family for days due to the lack of satellite phones. His wife gave birth to their youngest child just two months ago, and their oldest is 6 years old.

“It was just like the stories we are told of the Holocaust — thousands of bodies everywhere,” he said. “You have to understand that the situation is true madness, and the more time passes, there are more and more bodies, in numbers that cannot be grasped. It was beyond comprehension.”

The ZAKA/Mexican team was guarded by U.N. people from Jordan and Qatar, Goldstein said. “There was no disagreement,” he added.

The Jewish team may have appeared odd in their black haredi garb, especially when they were praying with tefillin and in prayer shawls, but they earned the respect  of other volunteers.

ZAKA, which has 1,500 volunteers, is raising money for its operations at http://www.zaka.us. — jpost.com