NRB 2024: Loving Your Enemy By Honoring Their Dead In Israel- Zaka

At the NRB, you just don't know who's coming around the corner. So we are with Simsha Reenemann. Reenemann, yes.

I said it right? Yes. That is so cool. And with Zaka, and so for our listeners, they, well, some can see you on camera that obviously you've got a Star of David on there, and then it says human in rescue. So how about, what is Zaka? Zaka stands for identifying deceased people in hard situations. We are the ones that come into scenes after people were killed in car accidents or hard situations that we get calls from police that bad smells coming out of apartments. A bad smell is coming out of an apartment, and so there's a dead body.

And there you go. Different situations of people that took their lives in their hands, suicide or something like that, terror attacks, and earthquakes. I'm Simsha Reenemann, 47 years old, volunteer in Zaka International for 32 years. I started when I was 16, yes. Really? So you have seen some horrid situations, undoubtedly.

Yeah. Well, as I said, I'm part of the international group of Zaka. We go anywhere around the world.

We're called to ask for help. We come. A year ago, we were in Turkey after the earthquake. We were in Surfside when that building fell, 9-11. Haiti after the tsunami. Bombay many years ago. Egypt. Anywhere you put our name, it was down over there right away. It doesn't make a difference, the culture.

We understand that we are there for humanity, helping to make sure that the people get buried and to make sure that we bring whatever we could to help the families to understand what happened to their loved ones. Wow. Wow. And so, you've been doing that since you were 16. Has the organization been in existence since Israel?

37 years. Wow. Yeah. And so, you guys came to the NRB.

What was the message you wanted to make sure that we got? Well, basically, as I said, well, October 7, I was on the scene from the afternoon for 16 weeks. Two and a half weeks collecting bodies and parts of bodies after a terror attack in Israel. Yeah.

So, you're in your home country now, right? But, as I said, humanity by us is understood by respecting each other while being a piece of the world. We collected 1,500 bodies of terrorists after seeing the scenes and understanding what we went through our families, but we stopped a big breath and understood the purpose of Zakah, respecting the dead. And collected those bodies, made sure that we respectfully do whatever we have to take care of them. So, you're out there trying to find the families, right?

This is somebody's son and daughter here, right, as well? Exactly. And these were the terrorists that obviously, right? They did what they did, but by understanding that if humanity is done right and you respect whoever it is because we're all God's creation, it doesn't make a difference. It is hard to understand what people do, but we don't look at that.

We have to look at something that we understand. When you're giving a hug to someone, someone will be hugging you. When you're able to give someone and be good to someone, that person or someone around him will be good back to you. And that's how I grew up. This is how I'm raising my children and my generation, my next generation. So, that's so beautiful. I mean, it really, really is.

And I'm so glad that you're here and so glad that you're telling that story. But being a person that just loves Israel and being a person that loves Hebrew, you know, I'm very curious. When it says Zakah, does that start with a zaddi?

No. Yes, it starts with a zayin. A zayin, zihui, identify. That's zihui. Kolbanot are deceased.

Ason is a tragedy. But that stood for up to October. From October, we pronounce it a different way. Really? Yeah. Zeh kiruv akhim. This is what, zeh means this as we. We are connecting between the brothers, the brotherhood. We are the ones to connect around the world and in Israel itself, the communities, by understanding that we do not look to see if you're circular or not, oh Jewish or not, because all the volunteers by us are men, women, Christians, Muslims, and Jews. And in Zakah, humanity is humanity.

We go to any country and whoever wants to be a volunteer can be a volunteer and understand. You have to have that understanding that you're doing good to others. Because those last moments of the person being on the earth and believing that you can do something good to them and they never can give it back to you.

Maybe their family can say thank you, but that person that was deceased, they'll never be able to give back. That's the highest of highs. Yeah, and it almost speaks to, but I'll let you correct me because you know way better than I do, but hero Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, right? And that idea of oneness is one with the terrorists. Yes, exactly. Yes. And how can we serve you as best under circumstance because you have family, you have whatever, and through that maybe God can peek through and help them find peace because there isn't peace in what's going on.

Exactly. By doing the being kind, by showing anyone around the world that we are understandable, trying to be kind as much as possible, for sure. Doing effort by doing that, they'll be kind to us. And then you're being kind to America, actually, in my opinion, because obviously it took some resources for you guys to come to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. And the world is not necessarily, and by this I mean the evil part of the world does not want this story told. Because your story is very important that we know this in the church, that we know this in America, that Israel, you know, they have protected themselves, obviously that's what they got to do, but they're also in there sending their resources to make it right for everybody involved.

It's beautiful. Well, it's hard. I don't like to get into politics. My heart is ripping out from people that live in Palestine, in the Gazian area. What they're going through is something that we cannot understand by being there, and it's hard.

But it's already politics, and that's something that I do not get involved in at all. But my heart is with them, by understanding what they're going through, and those people and those families, and it's hard for me. Oh, I can think, because obviously when you're the person telling that person your son's gone, or your daughter's gone, or your husband's gone, you've had to make that call way like man. Facing those things, facing those situations, it's hard.

It's hard. So thank God we have a lot of people so much giving us the love and so much support that gives us the help to continue doing what we're doing and understanding that we're doing the right thing. You are doing the right thing, my friend. You guys are doing the right thing.

And, again, how would you have our listeners pray for you guys? Well, pray for each one of us, because we are 4,000 volunteers in the organization. As I said, I'm 32 years a volunteer. I'm a carpenter. I have my own business.

Thank God everything's okay. Working for 26 years, training people to become self-supporting, that's what I do. I train them for three years to become carpenters, and then I fire them. No, I don't. What I do is I open their own businesses so they can be self-supporting. So people tell me, you're crazy. You're giving someone else your own job.

I say, no, no. God is the one to provide. He gives us.

And by me training someone, by helping him, by giving him the opportunity to grow and to live a life, God will give me also. And that's the understanding of living a life, but not caring for someone else. Oh, competing.

There is no competing. God is the one giving us. And God is the one who created us.

So that's how we have to live. So 400, did you say? 4,000. 4,000 volunteers that are doing this, giving up their own jobs and all that. So let's just pray right now. So Lord, thank you for Simpson and for those other 3,999 folks that you've given this unthinkable task from my perspective, Lord. I pray for their hearts that they could cling to you so that this warfare doesn't cling to them. I pray that you would give them compassion for the job that's ahead of them and that they would feel your joy in the love that they're sharing with people that can't even understand what they're doing. Again, I pray for the peace of Israel. I pray that you would bring it all together as only you can.

And I thank you for the way you've certainly worked in Simpson's life as I all can see who watched this. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I appreciate everything. Me too. And it's only giving us more and more strength to continue doing what we're doing and knowing that we're doing the right thing. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. That's awesome, man. So honored to be here.