Highlighting: “Angels in Orange” by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer. Mesorah Publications Ltd. English. Hardcover. 375 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1422639955.
(Courtesy of Artscroll) How did you feel when United Hatzalah president Eli Beer first told you about the miracles that his volunteers – more than 1,700 (!) of them—experienced on October 7th, when they raced to the battleground to rescue the wounded?
RNS: I was very proud of the volunteers for being willing to be moser nefesh for Klal Yisrael on such an incredible level.
The subject of the book is so difficult, and yet this is a book that uplifts rather than frightens. How did you manage to make this so inspiring?
RNS: It’s about what you choose to focus on. I could have focused on how terrible the whole situation was (and still is). Instead, we look and are truly inspired by the courage and caring of the volunteers, and by the amazing miracles that happened and continue to happen all the time.
What was it like speaking to people about their experiences under fire?
RNS: I conducted many, many interviews. Most of the volunteers wanted to talk. If someone did not want to speak about their experiences, we respected that and canceled the interview. Speaking to the volunteers was challenging at times since some of them used our [interview] sessions as an informal type of therapy. Some of them were still shell-shocked by what they’d been through, though it was a few weeks afterwards. Others described what they had seen in graphic detail and I had to tone things down for my readers. We cried together and laughed together, and they transported me to the places they had been and to the moments of great danger they experienced, and how Hashem helped them rescue hundreds of our brothers and sisters.
Is there one lesson that you hope readers will take away when they read Angels in Orange?
RNS: That nothing random happened on Simchas Torah. Every person who was down there was there as part of Hashem’s plan. People whom Hashem chose to live were in the most dangerous situations, with terrorists on all sides, being shot at, but they walked out without a scratch. Someone was in control and Someone had a plan, and we need to remember this and not to feel like we are helpless. Because we are not helpless. We have the greatest and most effective weapon on our side: Hashem.
