Two Orthodox Jewish volunteer ambulance organizations – one all-female and the other all-male – faced off yesterday during a hearing at NewYork-Presbyterian Methodist Hospital, arranged to determine the need for licensing for one of the two.
The Ezras Nashim and Chevra Hatzalah ambulance services pled against each other on the subject of certifying the former organization, on the basis that the neighborhood of Borough Park needs another ambulance corporation that can supplement the needs of Jewish women in the area.
An all-female emergency medical service serving Borough Park’s Orthodox-Chasidic community, Ezras Nashim argued their case to become a licensed ambulance service, which would allow them to transport patients to the hospital instead of just home service.
Chevra Hatzalah is a male-only EMT and ambulance service in the same community, though they serve many other communities around the world and the country. In Israel, Hatzalah includes female, Christian, Muslim, and Druz EMTs, but in Brooklyn, Hatzalah, as it is commonly called, is against the certification of Ezras Nashim and attended the hearing to make a case against its licensing.
What on the surface seemed to be a medical issue or a community one ended up being a women’s rights dispute, over women’s right to choose how to receive medical care and support.
“I’m here to speak for the community of women that should have choices,” said psychotherapist Rachel Schmidt, LCSW, of the Borough Park Chasidic community. “Now, that young lady who spoke that she called Hatzalah, congratulations to you, I’m glad you made that decision. That was your choice. But I want to have a choice that if I prefer a female, educated, professional medical service, that I want to have that choice to have that professional medical service at my side.”
Volunteers and supporters of Ezras Nashim explained that, under the Jewish law of modesty, Chasidic girls are taught from the age of three not to let a boy touch them — even siblings of the opposite gender refrain from touching — as the only man allowed to touch a woman is her husband.
In life-threatening emergencies, however, the rule of modesty is allowed to be broken, forming the basis for Hatzalah’s opposition.
To then expect a woman in labor to want a male EMT to assist in delivery goes against this teaching, by now ingrained in the woman’s mind.
Making matters worse, many Hatzalah volunteers are men in the community. A woman calling the service may end up with her male neighbor or, as one lady who spoke at the hearing said happened to her, her best friend’s husband.
In calling Hatzalah to help in certain circumstances, like childbirth, means that a woman has to do so with the knowledge that she will possibly be touched and seen by a man who she has to see on a daily basis, unlike her obstetrician.
This is Ezras Nashim’s reasoning for the necessity of their organization for the “two square miles” that the ambulance they are requesting would serve.
Hatzalah, on the other hand, insists that having two Jewish ambulance services for the same area would confuse people. Additionally, its members cite Hatzalah’s two-minute response time compared to Ezras Nashim’s eight-minute response time as another reason licensing the women’s ambulance wouldn’t benefit the community.
“To reiterate, from the modesty perspective of Jewish law, there is no need to form another organization,” said Rabbi Yechiel Kaufman. “It is, therefore, the steadfast position of the leading rabbis in our community, rabbis who represent a majority of constituents of Chasidic and Orthodox population in the Brooklyn Borough Park community. . . . they have come to the conclusion that granting Ezras Nashim ambulance service would be detrimental to our community and culture, and respectfully ask that you deny this application.”
Of the roughly 150 to 200 rabbis located in Borough Park, 49 have voiced their opposition to Ezras Nashim.
The hearing, led by hearing officer Frank Schorn, an EMT and attorney, kicked off with a debate between the two organizations lawyers over Ezras Nashim’s PowerPoint presentation.
Jeffrey Reisner, LLP, representing Hatzalah argued that the presentation was misleading due to its use of the word “trauma” in describing women’s feeling after being cared for by Hatzalah in situations related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Schorn decided to allow the usage of the presentation, saying that he’d keep Reisner’s concerns in mind.
From there, witnesses from both sides spoke about the issue and their support or dissent for certifying Ezras Nashim.
“There is nothing more sacred to an Orthodox woman than her modesty,” said Schmidt, in explaining her support for Ezras Nashim. “Not her money, not her house, not her jewelry. My modesty is my most important thing to me in my whole life.”
The decision of the committee will be finalized 10 days from the hearing, so as of now it is unclear whether Ezras Nashim will be certified or not.
