It was erev Shabbos when an elderly mother went for a trip with her daughter and son-in-law…
A death trip…
Road accident. The grandmother was killed instantly, the daughter and son-in-law were very seriously hurt, hospitalized out there in the Nahariya hospital.
Tragic. A simple car ride and life will never be the same. People were in shock. But shock was a luxury that those at Ezer Mizion could not be afford at the time. Things were needed. Crying would have to wait. The most urgent need was food for those that will be sitting with the patients.
Unlike the United States, Israel’s nursing staff does not provide non-medical care. It is essential that a family member be there at all times to offer the drink, the pillow, the extra blanket. And in this case, it was vital that family be there to hold the patients’ hands, giving them the love and caring that can make all the difference on the road to recovery.
And the caretakers? Spending hour after draining hour at the hospital bedside. Who will take care of them? That’s where Ezer Mizion’s Food Division comes in to play. Its army of volunteers provide attractive, nutritious meals to be delivered by another fleet of volunteers together with a sympathetic arm around the shoulder and sound advice.
Now it was erev Shabbos. Soon the siren would sound. Would there be food for those distraught relatives who were already emotionally drained by the trauma?
Ezer Mizion’s Yedidya Chazan, the man whose name has become a legend, went to work. The grandmother’s funeral had not yet taken place, but abundant, tasty food for the people who will be sitting by the bedside of the wounded in the hospital on Shabbat was already simmering in the pots of volunteers. In under two hours, the man organized an array of Shabbat food with all the trimmings. ‘Platters of energy’- both physical and emotional- enabling the givers to be strong for those who needed them so desperately.
Yedidya, we salute you.
You are truly a ‘yedid’ of Hashem. Hashem’s beloved.
And ‘Yedid amo’ the beloved of his people.
