Our collective Chanukah at United Hatzalah just got dimmer.
One of our Heroes in Orange, volunteer medic and IDF reservist Chemi Erlanger, was taken from us as he made his way home to light the first Chanukah candle with his family. He was killed while riding his ambucycle by a drunk driver who crossed multiple lanes and collided with him head on.

Our collective Chanukah at United Hatzalah just got dimmer.
Today, hundreds of our brothers and sisters in orange gathered in Netanya to pay their final respects to a fellow volunteer and dear friend, Chemi Erlanger, z”l. They escorted him to his final resting place alongside his beloved wife and five children. We wept together as his sons recited the Mourners Kaddish and buried their father.

Our collective Chanukah at United Hatzalah just got dimmer.
Chemi was excited to be heading home after fulfilling his national duty as an IDF reservist. He was riding the very vehicle he had used countless times to reach emergency scenes and help save lives. This time, he never made it home to celebrate the Festival of Lights with his family.

Chemi gave so much of himself to his community and to the Jewish people, not only as a reservist, but as a dedicated volunteer with United Hatzalah, Israel’s only fully volunteer based emergency medical response organization. He spent countless hours answering calls, racing to scenes of accidents, cardiac arrests, and medical crises. He did so quietly, without compensation, and without seeking recognition.

For a living, Chemi worked as a locksmith. He once explained why volunteering with United Hatzalah meant so much to him. As a professional, he charged for his services in order to support his family. But when it came to saving lives as an EMT with United Hatzalah, it was completely free of charge. He did it out of love for people. United Hatzalah, he said, allowed him to serve without turning compassion into a transaction. That is what mattered most to him.

There is something particularly cruel about losing a young man in his prime like Chemi. He devoted his life to protecting others. He understood responsibility not as a slogan, but as a daily obligation. And yet his life was taken by someone who ignored the most basic responsibility of all.

This is not only a personal tragedy for his family, though their loss is unfathomable. It is a communal wound for the more than 8,000 volunteers of United Hatzalah. Chemi represents a generation of Israelis who carry more than their share. They serve in reserve duty. They volunteer in their communities. They are dedicated to their families. They keep showing up, again and again, when the call comes.

As we celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, let us follow Chemi’s example and choose to be a source of light ourselves. Let us live as he did, rushing to the scene of need, answering the call even when it is inconvenient, helping simply because help is needed.

I call on my brothers and sisters in orange to honor Chemi’s memory in the way he would have wanted. Take another call. Strengthen our nation by loving one another. Treat each other with greater care and respect. Help save a life.

Our collective Chanukah at United Hatzalah just got dimmer.
Chemi Erlanger will be missed by all who knew him, and by many who never had the chance to. His legacy lives on in every volunteer who answers the next call, and in every candle lit with intention and love.

And yet, we can once again bring light to our Chanukah by carrying Chemi’s memory forward and learning from his values, his humility, and his boundless dedication.

May his memory be a blessing.