As Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical service, responded to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel and the needs that followed, it did so through the support of Clevelanders.
Magen David Adom is largely supported through American Friends of Magen David Adom, and over the years Clevelanders have played a role in donating toward projects like the creation of the Marcus National Blood Service Center in Ramla and ambulances, which bare the names of individuals and organizations who donated them.
In December, Barry Feldman and Gary Isakov took part in a Magen David Adom solidarity mission to Israel to learn how the organization is responding to the needs of Israelis and saw the impact of their and other Clevelanders’ support.
“Something for me that was very special was when you go to the MDA Sderot station … and you walk into this building, and individuals and families from Cleveland were significantly represented and just gave you such a good feeling to see what amazing things Cleveland families have done,” Isakov told the Cleveland Jewish News. “And the generosity not only in donating ambulances, but giving money so that secure buildings can be built and that dispatch centers can be built. I mean, literally every place I went to, there were names of Cleveland families.”
Isakov, a resident of Solon who attends Solon Chabad, took part in the mission to be a witness and show solidarity with the people of Israel following Oct. 7. While he and his wife have been involved with AFMDA for a while and hosted a brunch at their home shortly after Oct. 7 to hear from two paramedics who responded to the attacks, he admits he did not know much about MDA before the trip.
“I really knew very little about Magen David Adom, but I absolutely had a significant education by the time I left,” Isakov said.
The trip took them to the Blood center, MDA’s control center, Kibbutz Be’eri and Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, among other places. At the control center, they listened to tapes from Oct. 7 of people who called into the center and how the dispatchers were trained to respond.
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