A MEDICAL “JEWEL” SHINES BRIGHT IN BOSTON THIS CHANUKAH
by Robin JR Blatt
Students with voices as big as their red rubber clown noses sang songs spanning centuries to help children across the ocean heal with laughter.
The room rocked In this standing room only event on a recent Sunday, as students from Jewish Day Schools in Metropolitan Boston came together in song for a single purpose: to give the gift of a smile and help heal their peers across the ocean at Rambam’s Children Hospital in Haifa, Israel.
Children from grade school to high school brought smiles to a packed auditorium, dazzling the crowd with a mix of melodies that started with HaTikva and ranged from a 16th century Italian Maoz Tsur to Klezmer music and original compositions both in English and Hebrew. A teen a cappella group got the crowd clapping.
The sea of students wearing red clown noses was a reminder that laughter heals. And, that not all children are healthy. They sang as one, swaying side to side waving their hands in unison and smiling to children they don’t even know. They were sending the message "we are with you, we care about you" to the Israeli children, some awaiting chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and surgery.
Billed as a Chanukah Music Festival and Rambam Benefit, it was much more. The program combined real-life experiences of Jewish identity and education about Israel’s contribution to healthcare innovations; further, it created a special connectivity to Israel and philanthropic giving for children and parents alike.
A tabletop exhibit with literature and a running video in Hebrew displayed medical clowns at work, colorful carved wooden clown Tzedakah boxes and porcelain clowns. Sign-up sheets about how to help spread the word attracted attention of many visitors. A special Rambam Bookmark was also handed out to the performers and their families.
Proceeds from the music festival are going to the American Friends of Rambam (www.aforam.org) and specifically for Rambam’s Children Hospital to support the arts and medical clowning program. And the use of social media networks is spreading the word fast.
MEDICAL CLOWNING or “clown therapy” is an emerging specialty designed to help sick children deal with their physical condition as well as emotional concerns such as fear, sadness, anxiety and loneliness that often accompany illness and hospitalization. Using magic, balloon sculpting, storytelling and other clowning skills, medical clowns facilitate healing to children and adults through doses of fun, laughter (the “wonder drug”) and compassion.
"Now in it's fourth year, KOL HANESHAMA (a Hebrew-language play on words meaning all the soul or the soul's voice) has raised not only our community's spirit but also thousands of dollars for Rambam Medical Center" says TRUDY FAGEN, Arts Coordinator at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston and Organizer "and teaches our children that through their artistic efforts, tikkun olam can be accomplished."
DR. OLGA BROOK, a Rambam physician and Fellow in the Department of Radiology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center also captured the attention of the crowd letting them know Rambam cares for many children - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Baha"i alike - but is only able to employ 3 medical clowns to visit 3 hours each once or twice a week. She thanked the singers, teachers and Boston community for their support. As a footnote, she also described how the combination of art and science in healing at Rambam can make for exciting school projects, especially for those interested in history, science, philosophy and health.
In addition to performing for the local audience, the Kol HaNeshama concert was captured on videotape and shall soon be transmitted to Rambam for in-hospital broadcast. Further, students signed two giant poster-size cards and many did so scribbling “Get Well Soon” and “Happy Chanukah”. One young boy in the 3rd grade asked me who would see the giant cards and inquired about the children at Rambam. When told the cards would to be rolled up, put in a mailing tube and sent to Rambam for placement on the wall so that when the children were walking through the wards they would see the warm wishes and know they had friends across the ocean who were thinking of them. With a nod of the head and a huge grin he proudly signed his name.
Beyond this songfest, history reveals that friends help build a hospital. Seven decades since its founding, Jewish Americans continue to recognize Rambam as a medical “jewel” and value its strategic importance to the health and security of Israel.
Established in 1938 and taken under the auspices of the Israel Ministry of Health in 1948 with the Declaration of the State, Rambam remains the leading medical center and teaching hospital in Northern Israel. With a 1,000 bed in-patient center as well as an outpatient clinic, Rambam serves patients with some of the most difficult and complex conditions. In addition to civilians, Rambam is also the leading military hospital in Israel. It maintains a unique helicopter transport in collaboration with Magen David Adom and with unique expertise in emergency medicine and trauma it’s considered the “go-to” place for treatment throughout the entire country and region.
Since the Second Lebanon War, DR. RAFAEL BEYAR, CEO and Director General of Rambam has published and presented extensively about disaster preparedness and healthcare delivery under fire and Rambam is receiving the attention of hospital management groups across the globe. Recognizing that disaster preparedness is a fact of life at Rambam, and throughout Israel, it has been necessary to excel in the development of emergency medicine and trauma skills and services. In speaking about the experience Dr. Beyar says, “ During the Second Lebanon War Rambam physicians, nurses and other health professionals worked around the clock to treat not only the children and adults in hospital at the time but those transported in with casualties. Given Rambam’s strategic importance to both the health and security of Israel, we recognize there a clear need to strengthen our infrastructure and today Rambam is embarking on a major expansion plan (known as the “Adam Project”) to meet the needs of the country and region.”
Indeed, Rambam has ambitious plans and is creating a 21st century “hospital of the future”. A three level underground garage that converts into a 750 bed emergency hospital fortified against missiles, chemical and biological warfare is underway. With a floor plan resembling an aircraft carrier, 1,500 vehicle bays exist and half of them are convertible to hospital bay beds in the event of emergency. Strategically located by the Mediterranean Sea, Rambam’s new emergency hospital will be submerged below sea level and submarine protected. According to descriptions of the plan, the hospital is like a submarine “designed to be self sufficient generating its own power supply with stores of oxygen, drinking water and medical supplies for up to 72 hours prior to the need to resurface for provisions”. A Robotics Center to perform highly complex minimally invasive procedures is being established to revolutionize navigation in the operating room. Other cutting-edge research centers and institutes along with a new Biomedical Discovery Tower and 10-year medical-research development plan are in the works.
Rambam is a medical “jewel” leading the world in biomedical research, clinical training, integrated health care practice and hospital architectural design as it creates a modern fortified healthcare campus to meet the needs and challenges that exist in Israel today.
Whether it is children singing to raise funds for medical clowns or adults working to strengthen cross-border clinical fellowships or collaborations in biomedical research and technology commercialization or healthcare security solutions one thing is clear -- friends help build a hospital -- and it’s happening here.
