On Friday, Avi Moskowitz, the owner of the popular Jerusalem Beer Bazaar, hosted a thanksgiving celebration in honor of his complete recuperation from a debilitating accident three months ago.
“Three months ago I participated in a cross-country cycling trip with a group called Geerz that empowers youth through informal education revolving around cycling excursions. They had asked me to come up to the north of Israel and supply them with beer,” said Avi Moskowitz the owner of the Jerusalem-based branch of Beer Bazaar. “I said if I was already heading up I would join the tour. I trained for a few months and then joined them as they cycled from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee.”
Recounting the traumatic accident, the bar owner said, “The second day of the trip, towards the end of the trail by Kibbutz Lavi, I hit something in the path and went flying. I broke many ribs, as well as a number of bones and the United Hatzalah EMTs who were accompanying us, began to treat me immediately. They helped evacuate me to Poriya Hospital in Tzefat and the next day when I was transferred to Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem. The organization was instrumental in getting my treatment fast tracked. They opened a lot of doors for me to speed up the process of treatment,” said Moskowitz.
Moskowitz felt that the organization and its volunteers had gone above and beyond the call of duty in terms of caring for him as a patient, so much so, that at his thanksgiving celebration he honored the organization for its help and for the work it does for the community in general. “The whole organization is comprised of volunteers who are solely interested in helping other people. The volunteer who was with me was simply terrific. He treated me on scene on helped me at the hospital immensely. While we were planning to have United Hatzalah participate in the event on Friday anyway, this made their participation that much more special.”
Moskowitz presented United Hatzalah with a plaque thanking them for their service to the community. “Most people, even if they know about the organization, don’t know how much good the volunteers actually do. I hope to shine a light on that by holding events at the bar in partnership with them, in the hopes that I can give something back. We are here for the community, as is United Hatzalah and their volunteers, so why simply serve beer when we can help educate people about the organization that saves lives in their community each and every day.”
In cooperation with United Hatzalah, Moskowitz’s Beer Bazaar, hosts a semi-regular program that was launched a few weeks ago called “CPR on the bar” in which they teach interested patrons how to perform CPR and other basic life-saving techniques should the need arise. Participants get a 25 percent discount on their order. “As a community-based bar, it is the least we could do to try to give back, and this is a terrific organization to do it with,” Moskowitz added.
The Founder and President of United Hatzalah, Eli Beer, who was present during the celebration talked about how it felt to be honored at the festivities. “There are many terrific things that come out of Israel. We have one of the fastest EMS response times in the world, and we have worked hard to make that happen. Thanks to our countrywide network of volunteers who selflessly put their own lives on hold in order to go out and help others in their times of need, we were able to help get Avi the treatment he needed as fast as possible. In addition to great EMS service, the country also makes great beer, and Avi has a beautiful store right here in the middle of Jerusalem, at the Machane Yehuda outdoor marketplace (Shuk), that sells the best boutique and craft beers from across our nation. It is with a great sense of pride that I was able to come here today with other members of United Hatzalah who were involved in saving Avi’s life and experience the rich Israeli culture that he is helping to bring to the people of Jerusalem. A store like this is not a common shop. It adds beauty to the world, and that is what our organization is all about. There is no more fitting way of celebrating saving a life, than by celebrating the dream of the person whose life was saved.”
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