AFTER SPENDING just over a year recuperating from the serious injuries he suffered in Gaza as a reserve soldier, singer, actor, and songwriter, Idan Amedi returned to the stage at the Pais Arena in his native Jerusalem on Wednesday, in an emotionally charged birthday present to himself and his fans. Amedi, who had been badly burned, endured many painful moments during the past year and has put acting on hold while focusing on resuming his singing career and recovering from his injuries.
He began the concert with the Shehecheyanu prayer of thanksgiving for surviving and reaching this time in his life. The audience responded with a heartfelt Amen and then sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
HAREDI (ULTRA-ORTHODOX) Rabbis who encourage young men from haredi communities to dodge the draft and to dissociate themselves in every way possible from the Zionist enterprise do not realize how fortunate they are to be living in Israel.
What they are doing is a form of anarchy and sedition. In any other country, they would be imprisoned, or in the case of those not born in that country, possibly deported to their birthplaces.
Rabbi Dov Lando, the 94-year-old head of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, it was widely reported, has instructed his constituents to withdraw from all Zionist institutions.
Born in Poland, Lando tends to overlook the fact that most of those who gave their lives for the establishment of the State of Israel were not Orthodox Jews, much less ultra-Orthodox, and that this situation persists to this day.
While it is true that the National Religious camp has successfully combined religious practice with Zionism and has lost many fine soldiers from its ranks, there are tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men who, with few exceptions, are unwilling to carry their share of the burden for national security.
Those who do respond to the draft are often ostracized by their communities and sometimes disowned by their families. Over the past 16 months, they too are amongst those who have paid the supreme sacrifice.
What would those who shirk their responsibility do if their community was attacked by terrorists and the IDF refused to come to their defense? How would they react if Rabbi Lando was deported to Poland and others like him to their countries of birth?
If they want to truly divorce themselves from all things Zionist, let them stop using public transport, Israeli currency, Israeli food products, Israeli medical services, and all other things that exist as part of the Zionist administration. They have to learn that there’s a limit to the extent that you can have your cake and eat it.
Yet at the same time as they are promoting a theocracy, these very people are performing countless acts of charity and kindness for soldiers, evacuees, and people suffering economic hardships. This indicates that not all those who refuse to serve in the IDF are bad people.
They are largely good people who have been raised on certain ideologies that dominate their thinking and the way they live their lives. What is needed is a new formula in trying to persuade them that they have a national obligation.
It doesn’t have to be called Zionism. It can be referred to as a national duty free of religious or political ideology. It is simply a means of fighting the enemy and protecting the country.
What's in a name?
Former state president Reuven Rivlin has been annoyed for years because non-Israelis who abbreviate his name tend to call him Ruby. Addressing the mission of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem this week, Rivlin declared: “I’m Ruvi, not Ruby.”
As he was being welcomed and introduced, Malcolm Hoenlein, the emeritus vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, remarked that Rivlin would never be past but always present. Rivlin, with his shoot-from-the-hip sense of humor, responded that in Israel, the tenure of the president is limited by law, but that of the prime minister is another story.
POPULATION GROWTH demands an increase in medical facilities, and domestic and foreign philanthropic foundations are responding to the need as well as to many other needs. Among them is the Ted Arison Family Foundation, which is funding the construction of the Arison Pediatric Emergency Medicine Center at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. The ceremonial laying of the center’s cornerstone took place last Monday.
Businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison, chair of the Ted Arison Family Foundation; its chairman, Jason Arison, and his wife Alital; the foundation’s CEO, Racheli Cohen; and other representatives from the foundation joined senior officials from Wolfson Medical Center and the Save a Child’s Heart organization at the ceremony.
The new pediatric emergency medicine center, which is expected to open in 2026, is set to be the most modern of its kind in Israel, providing emergency medical services for children in the center of Israel, predominantly the cities of Holon, Bat Yam, southern Tel Aviv, and Rishon Lezion.
Notably, Holon, which falls under the Wolfson Medical Center’s jurisdiction, is known as “Israel’s City of Children,” with one of the country’s highest percentages of children aged 0-18, accounting for 25% of the city’s population.
The new center is situated adjacent to the children’s department in the Sylvan Adams Children’s Hospital, established by Save a Child’s Heart, which opened its doors in 2021. This will ensure rapid and comprehensive treatment for children.
Wolfson’s current pediatric emergency department handles approximately 25,000 pediatric patients per year, and the number is expected to rise significantly as the region’s population continues to grow.
In addition to members of the Arison family, which has a long connection with Save a Child’s Heart, participants in the laying of the cornerstone ceremony included: Robert Baruch and Amiram Van-Kloeten, chairmen of Save a Child’s Heart in Israel; Simon Fisher, Executive Director of Save a Child’s Heart; Dr. Anat Engel, CEO of Wolfson Medical Center; Dr. Diana Tasher, Interim Head of the Sylvan Adams Children’s Hospital; and Dr. Gila Meyerson, Head of the Pediatric Emergency Department Senior Executives and Physicians of Wolfson Medical Center.
Following the laying of the cornerstone, Dr. Anat Engel commended the Arison family for its role in bringing a new era of advanced pediatric medicine to Wolfson’s emergency department.
Jason Arison stated: “The Ted Arison Family Foundation considers the establishment of the ‘Arison Pediatric Emergency Medicine Center’ to be of great importance, as it will serve a large population of children in the region.
“As part of our foundation’s vision to drive positive change in Israel and worldwide, we place the highest priority on improving the quality of life for broad communities while listening to the needs of the local population.”
Robert Baruch said, “At Save a Child’s Heart, we are dedicated to ensuring every child receives the best medical care. We are honored to work together with the Ted Arison Family Foundation, Wolfson Medical Center, and Israel’s Healthy Ministry to enhance pediatric emergency services in Israel.
“This project will have a lasting impact on emergency care for children, and we deeply thank Shari Arison, Jason Arison, and the entire Ted Arison Family Foundation for their generosity and commitment to the well-being of all children.”
THERE’S BEEN a sudden glut of new medical faculties and facilities in various parts of the country – yet for all that there’s still a dearth. Next in line for a new medical faculty – is Eilat.
Health Minister Uriel Buso is determined that a medical faculty will open there in 2026, probably in conjunction with Joseftal Hospital, which is Israel’s southernmost hospital. Eilat mayor Eli Lankri is in favor of the idea.
Inasmuch as Eilat is a very cosmopolitan city, it is sadly lacking in medical services. Residents or tourists with life-threatening illnesses or injuries go initially to Joseftal. Although the hospital has very good staff, it doesn’t always have what is needed in terms of clinics or medical equipment to treat certain patients, who then have to fly to Tel Aviv on a regular basis for the treatments they require.
This is both costly and time-consuming and uncomfortable for those with ambulatory problems. The introduction of a faculty of medicine will not only provide additional medical facilities for foreign and domestic tourists following the sun but will also attract medical students, some of whom will hopefully decide to remain in Eilat after they graduate.
AMONG THE documentary films that in one way or another are related to events on and after October 2023, is The New Jew, which was screened this month at ANU, the Museum of the Jewish People. In the film, actor Guri Alfi looks at how the Jewish people were affected by the war and what it has done to them individually and collectively in terms of change.
He also spoke of how the film was edited. Audiences are not always aware that much footage is discarded or transposed in order to deliver the message that its creators want to convey.
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