When a senior physician at a major US medical center wants to go abroad or even just take a vacation, he has to register as long as a year in advance.
But when assistant Prof. Betzalel Reich, a leading emergency medicine specialist wanted to lend a hand in Israel after hearing of the October 7 Hamas atrocities, his colleagues at their large Minnesota hospital volunteered to cover for him for two weeks.
Reich organized a group of five physicians who filled out Internet forms on the Health Ministry’s website so they could treat patients in hospitals here. His first group of five are volunteering at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) at Tzrifin.
Reich, who is now in Israel, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview that he was very moved when – telling his colleagues that he was determined to go to Israel to help out, “within 10 minutes all my shifts were covered. They organized their plans in only 10 days. We took a charter flight to Israel that flew relatives of wounded or bereaved Israelis rushing back here. We bought one-way tickets because no one knows exactly how long they will stay.”
Most of his group, who now number around 50, have connections with Israel, but they include non-Jews as well as Jews. He expects his next group will go to volunteer in hospitals in the South and North. His group is cooperating with a group of 300 US physicians who want to help out here.
Although all the doctors here speak English, it’s a bit of a challenge for foreign doctors who don’t read or speak Hebrew to work smoothly, as there are different labels and computer records, but they get help. Reich, born in New York City, came on aliyah with his family in 1989, spending several years as a young adult here. But then he moved to Minnesota to work in a leading hospital. Besides emergency medicine, he also has an interest in medical education and palliative care. His wife is a registered nurse, and they have children aged two, four and six.
A stark reality
While in the streets of Tel Aviv this week, one of many Red Alert sirens went off. He found a shelter at random and went down many stairs. At the end, he found an auditorium where the musician and actor Yermi Kaplan was performing on Facebook Live to raise money to help the wounded, bereaved families and others.
Chicago-born, 61-year-old Kaplan who immigrated with his family in 1969, performed in the Israeli English-instruction program “Neighbors” and was the drummer in the band. Even after the all-clear, Reich remained in the underground shelter/auditorium for half an hour.
“The sirens are scary, but I completely trust Iron Dome to protect us,” he asserted.
Some of the members of his group here and those who will arrive soon have never been to Israel, so Reich decided that they must all be prepared for what is going on. “It’s amazing that doctors are ready to leave their families and workplace and come here at the drop of a hat.”