{"id":6598,"date":"2022-12-07T14:14:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=6598"},"modified":"2022-12-07T14:14:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T19:14:54","slug":"the-other-side-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/the-other-side-part-three\/","title":{"rendered":"The Other Side part three"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Recap: They were there. They lay in the hospital beds, or sat next to family members for long hospitalizations. They know exactly what it feels like \u2014 the paralyzing fear, the loneliness, and the helplessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hospital patients and their families become volunteers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They know the importance of a sister\u2019s outstretched hand, accompanied by a genuine sense of partnership and the knowledge that even though you walk in the darkness \u2014 you are not walking alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We turned to five volunteers who had been on the other side, on the dark, painful side, and who promised that the moment they were able to, they\u2019d help others \u2014 and then carried out their promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riva Levi, 39, married, with five children<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riva got to know Ezer Mizion through her father\u2019s\u00a0 hospitalization. Every day, the Ezer Mizion volunteers would bring her and her family tea, coffee, and pastries \u201cI had no idea how significant this help is. And then, suddenly, I was in that position myself, on the receiving end. That\u2019s when I decided to join to help people who were going through what we went through with my father.\u201d When Riva\u2019s father passed away, she decided to take upon herself to help others, l\u2019iluy nishmato<\/em> (for the merit of his soul). \u201cI help bring clothing for ironing, drive patients to their doctor, and bring hospitalized patients things that they needs. \u201cSometimes, when you are in a situation of distress, the only thing you need is to know that you\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batya Amsel, 35, mother of five sons and a nurse by profession<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batya came to know Ezer Mizion during her husband\u2019s illness. Since neither she nor her husband had a driver\u2019s license, they benefited on a regular basis from the Transportation Division who helped them get to the hospital and back. \u201cIt is hard for me to describe the relief and the heartwarming feeling given by the volunteers after a draining stay at the hospital,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, she prayed to be on the giving end.  She learned how to drive and her first trips were for others, via Ezer Mizion. She\u2019s been volunteering for over a year, with a sense of mission. \u201cYou cannot take away the pain of the hospital from patients and their families, but you definitely can ease and sweeten the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ido Bennett, 25, from Raanana<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ido met up with Ezer Mizion eight years ago, when he was stricken with cancer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calls Ezer Mizion \u201cmy second family. \u00a0During treatments, the volunteers were there with him at every given moment. During one of the summer vacations, he joined Ezer Mizion\u2019s retreat<\/a>, together with his family. \u201cOn the last day, Rabbi Chollak got on stage. He told us that his dream is to see us, the patients, coming to the retreat one day as volunteers.. \u201cThis sentence buzzed in my head like a bug. I decided that I was going to recover and go over to the other side and volunteer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today Ido volunteers for Ezer Mizion. And this year, he joined the staff and volunteered in the summer retreat, precisely where he\u2019d gone as a patient. His dream had come true. \u201cI joined Ezer Mizion because I know that nothing else interests them beyond doing good. And I knew that through them, I\u2019d be able to give to others, precisely as they gave to me. To know that you have the power to help others \u2014 there\u2019s no better feeling than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recap: They were there. They lay in the hospital beds, or sat next to family members for long hospitalizations. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,8,166],"tags":[974,1064,1070,7,25,1730],"class_list":["post-6598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambulance-2","category-cancer-support-division","category-volunteer-2","tag-cancer-support","tag-cancer-support-volunteers","tag-hospital-volunteering","tag-israel","tag-volunteer","tag-volunteers-ni-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6599,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6598\/revisions\/6599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}