Avi Tenenbaum is all about finding ways to show up for them, because he remembers what it was like to be there

Photos: Elchanan Kotler, personal archives

While some professionals stick to one lane, Avi Tenenbaum — trauma and addiction expert, EMT, search-and-rescue commander, and crisis intervention trainer — has spent his life noticing the people no one else does. He’s all about finding ways to show up for them, because he remembers what it was like to be there, too

They were only meant to be handing out cookies

IT was the winter of 2023, not long after the war in Eretz Yisrael began, and Avi Tenenbaum, an American from Chicago now living in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood, had taken his friend from Monsey to visit a yeshivah down south. As people from all over the world showered IDF soldiers with expressions of support, Avi wanted to give similar backing to yeshivah bochurim holding down the fort from the beis medrash.

As they were pulling away, Avi noticed a man waving from the edge of the sidewalk. Probably a hitchhiker, he figured, and continued on.

But the man didn’t give up. He gesticulated wildly — then broke into a run after the car. They reversed, and when Avi rolled open the window, the man ran over.

“You’re here for the CPR?” the man asked breathlessly.

Avi blinked. “What CPR?”

“There’s an unconscious baby inside,” the man said, gesturing to the nearest building.

Avi, a trained EMT, and his friend — an American Hatzalah volunteer — grabbed their bags and ran after the man.

The baby wasn’t breathing, and the room was quiet except for the sounds of their work and the hushed, fervent prayers from the people who stood by. Responders from a nearby town joined minutes later, and the team worked in tandem.

It wasn’t enough.

They didn’t leave right away. Family members were in shock. Some had gone still, eyes blank, movements wooden. Others were agitated, unable to contain their grief. Avi stayed with them, talked them through the initial shock, and helped them make their next moves.

It hadn’t been the plan. They were just there to deliver cookies to yeshivah boys. Yet somehow, invariably, this is what happens. Avi goes about his day, not needing more, not looking — yet crises keep coming his way.