“I’m ashamed,” said the 80-something elderly woman to Meir Biton and Meni Winfeld, who rescued her from the saferoom in her home in Kfar Aza, after 36 hours during which she had been there with her husband and daughter-in-law (who was murdered), without food and with very little water. “Ashamed of what I thought and said about the ultra-Orthodox all these years. And here you come, like this with your peyos and beard, like angels to save us.”

The woman, a Holocaust survivor, and her husband and daughter-in-law barricaded themselves in their home from 6 A.M on October 7th. Terrorists entered and shot through the door of the saferoom. The bullet hit the daughter-in-law who immediately fell in a pool of blood, and the couple sat there trembling, waiting for their death, which for some reason was hesitant to arrive. In retrospect, it turned out that one of the bullets broke the door’s handle, and the terrorists were unable to open it.

The elderly were left with their daughter-in-law, wallowing in her blood. Wallowing in her blood for hours. Until they were transported to the hospital. By who? Two angels in orange.

Two orange-clad Orthodox men, examining and bandaging, supporting and caring, providing food and water, gently, with love and infinite compassion. “I wish I was younger and spoke differently all these years,” said the woman.

And the elderly man, he didn’t really say anything. With eyes full of endless trauma, he looked at them and wept. This is one of the thousands of stories our volunteers faced on October 7th and the days following. Upon hearing the story President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said, “By standing united, people of all backgrounds in Israel standing together, that is how we will be victorious.”