The Gift of Life

 On the evening of 8th June 2016, two Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered four Israelis and wounded over a dozen more at a restaurant in the Sarona Market of Tel Aviv.  Netanya's Magen David Adom emergency service sent two of their ambulances to the Sarona Market to assist MDA paramedics in Tel Aviv with the treatment of the wounded.
The following evening, a group of UK and Israeli Anglos in Netanya dedicated a new ambulance that had just been donated to the Netanya MDA ambulance station.  The ambulance was the tenth to be donated, thanks to the efforts and generosity of the community of Cockfosters and N. Southgate Synagogue in London, England and especially Norman Rosenbaum who spearheaded all ten projects.  The ambulance was presented in memory of the Rubinson family of Lodz, Poland by Allen and Sheila Robinson - whose children Mark and Michelle represented the family at the dedication ceremony.
The dedication service included readings from Psalms, the Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel and its Defence Force and the singing of the Israeli National Anthem - Hatikvah.  Speeches included from Ido Golan-Gutin of MDA, Daniel Burger (CEO of MDA UK) and Sir Ian Gainsford, who represented the Wolfson Foundation - one of the main contributors to the cost of the ambulance. One of the readers was Reverend Michael Plaskow MBE, who had attended all ten of these ambulance dedication ceremonies.
After the unveiling, children of family members presented the keys of the ambulance to the MDA staff.  It illustrated the flame of communal responsibility passing from generation to generation, both in respect of Jewish philanthropy and the determination of Jews and Israelis to rise from adversity.
 
The Robinson family unveil the new MDA ambulance
Handing over the keys
Reading of Psalms - Cynthia and Norman Roberts
Rev Michael Plaskow MBE and Norman Rosenbaum

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The first "patients"