2 ZAKA volunteers suspended after videos show one hugging a woman, speaking at church fundraiser

Two prominent volunteers of ZAKA, the Orthodox emergency response organization, have been suspended after videos surfaced of one of them hugging a woman at a church in Texas and calling his Christian interlocutors “brothers and sisters.”

The Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law largely forbids men from touching members of the opposite sex. Under that interpretation, Jews are also not to enter a church. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are deeply suspicious of Christians, and object to any union with them.

One video shows Yossi Landau, a senior ZAKA volunteer from Ashdod, standing next to his brother Jacob on February 2 at the Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas. He thanks the hundreds of people who gathered at the church to donate to ZAKA volunteers struggling with trauma following the aftermath of the October 7 onslaught by Hamas in Israel. The event that Yossi and Jacob Landau attended was one of multiple gatherings held by the church to express solidarity with Israel.

“Lord has His way to bring us together and we are brothers and sisters and the definition of ZAKA in Hebrew is to bring brothers together,” says Yossi.

Another video published on X by Army Radio reporter Yoeli Brim shows him briefly hugging Julie Sironi, the Israel liaison for the church.

חשיפת הסערה בזק"א: תיעוד של בכיר הארגון יוסי לנדאו, שהושעה מהארגון, מחבק את אשת הדת הנוצרית שתרמה את מיליון הדולר. הכומרה מגיבה בהלם שיהודי חרדי מחבק אשת דת נוצרית ולכן אומרת "ישוע הגיע". לאחר מכן יוסי הגיע לכנסייה בטקסס, עמד 40 דקות יחד עם אחיו, ואמר לכמרים: "אתם אחים שלי" https://t.co/pjRXiOL2Rf pic.twitter.com/2PRzRITUUr

— יואלי ברים yoeli brim (@yoeli_brim) March 21, 2024

The video sparked complaints by Haredi Jews from ZAKA and beyond, Brim reports, and the emergency service has since suspended the Landaus. “They said things that contradict the halacha of our holy Torah,” reads a statement from ZAKA. The letter does not mention the hug.