Meir Wiener, founder of the road aid organization Yedidim, passed away on Saturday after collapsing earlier this week and was hospitalized in serious condition at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. After fighting for his life, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
ZAKA said: "ZAKA mourns the untimely passing of the man of kindness and action, founder of the Friends organization, the dear and devoted volunteer Meir Wiener. The date of the funeral will be announced later."
Friends volunteers, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
In 2013, Wiener was interviewed by Israel Hayom's Shabbat supplement, in which he said that "not everyone is born to learn Torah, I prefer to help people."
The idea to establish the Yedidim association began to brew when one night, 17 years ago, an acquaintance called him and told him that he was stuck with a car that was heating up on Route 443. Wiener asked who was in the area and could help with water for the radiator. Within minutes, the grounded driver came to the rescue of a man who was on the same road, and even provided him with water at a nearby gas station.
Lior Vaknin, manager of the Ashkelon branch in Yedidim, repairs a stuck safe room window, photo: Friends Spokesperson's Office
"A few days later, an acquaintance from Bnei Brak called me. He had a flat tire, and he wanted to replace it, but he didn't have a jack. I issued a request for help in Mirs, and within minutes someone came to him with Jack," he said
The next morning, Wiener realized that if it was possible to help people stuck on the road quite easily, why not do it big and organized? He's heard before about a Friends organization in Brooklyn that even helps the NYPD when they get stuck with their cars. So if it's possible in New York, why not in Israel?
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