Most Israelis observed Yom Kippur solemnly on Wednesday. The peaceful silence that enveloped the country was broken by the occasional rush of an ambulance on emergency call or by bicycle-riding and roller-skating youngsters who had free run of the empty streets on the holiest day of the Jewish calender.
The Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, was kept busy. Its paramedics dealt with 1,962 emergencies from the time the fast began at sundown Tuesday until it ended Wednesday evening.
MDA first-aid stations treated 539 patients in that period, and its doctors made 574 house calls.
The 112 people who fainted from heat exhaustion during the fast were far outnumbered by the 433 injured cyclists, roller skaters and skateboard riders who required the MDA’s attention.
During the 24-hour period, MDA personnel resuscitated 10 heart attack victims and delivered 15 babies.
In the course of its duties, every effort was made not to disturb worshippers. Ambulances, ordered not to use their sirens, relied on flashing red lights as they sped through streets empty of normal traffic.
There were only five incidents of young religious zealots hurling stones at the vehicles, fewer than in previous years. But one paramedic was hit in the head. He was treated by his colleagues.
A source of annoyance in many neighborhoods was the accidental activation of car burglar alarm systems. With the car-owners in synagogue or refusing to touch a switch, they wailed on for the entire day.
But not all Israelis are religious. The long lines at video-rental stores before the holiday reflected the secular side of the country, as people selected home entertainment for the 30 hours during which the state-run radio and television would be off the air.
Israel Radio resumed broadcasting Thursday with a telephone interview with an Israeli woman who teaches Hebrew in Zagreb, capital of the strife-torn Yugoslav republic of Croatia.
The largest number of Croatia’s 2,000 Jews live there. But few of them went to Yom Kippur services, which were held in the Old Age Home far from the center of town, the teacher reported.
There were three air raid alerts during the day. No bombs fell but residents spent hours in shelters near their homes.
Sniping in the streets also forced people to stay indoors, she said.
Because of Sukkot, the JTA Daily News Bulletin will not be published Tuesday, Sept. 24.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
