Hatzalah Around the World

“Hatzalah” (rescue) is a name used by many independent, locally run volunteer groups worldwide. They are not branches of Ichud Hatzalah of Israel 1221 or FOUH; no file reviewed documents a corporate link.

Origins: Williamsburg, 1965

Hatzalah was founded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by Rabbi Hershel Weber in 1965 to cut response times and provide culturally and linguistically familiar care; the idea spread to other Orthodox neighborhoods in New York and then abroad. [SEC] Sources: hatzalah.org/about; Smithsonian NMAH. Smithsonian also records that Ezras Nashim, an all-female volunteer group, was founded in 2014 in Brooklyn.

Chapters (as listed by public directories)

• United States: New York City chapters (Williamsburg — founding chapter, Boro Park, Flatbush, Crown Heights, Queens, Riverdale, Rockaway/Lawrence, Staten Island, Manhattan), Rockland County, Kiryas Joel, Lakewood NJ, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Chicago, Waterbury CT.
• United Kingdom: North London (Stamford Hill), North West London, Edgware, Hertfordshire, Gateshead, Manchester, Canvey Island.
• Europe: Antwerp, Zurich, Vienna, Moscow, Kyiv.
• Canada: Montreal, Kiryas Tosh/Boisbriand, Toronto.
• Latin America: Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Mexico City, Panama.
• South Africa: Johannesburg. Australia: Melbourne, Sydney.

Sources [SEC]: hatzolahems.org directory; Rescue Hatzalah list. Founding dates for individual chapters were not verified and are omitted.

How Ichud Hatzalah of Israel 1221 / FOUH differ

• Ichud Hatzalah of Israel 1221 is a single Israeli amuta registered in 2006 (580465979), formed after the earlier Hatzalah Jerusalem / Hatzalah Israel / Medic bodies (see Israel page). [DOC]
• FOUH (EIN 11-3533002) is a US fundraising charity that grants to the Israeli amuta; it is not a US Hatzalah chapter. [DOC]
• The Williamsburg-origin chapters are independent, locally governed groups; FOUH 990s and other funders’ records list some of them (e.g. Hatzolah Monsey) as distinct grantees. [DOC/SEC]

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