Israel is a tiny country - a beacon of
light in a vast region of darkness.
Inside the country, every Israeli seems to radiate an opinion on every
subject, and it sometimes feels like we have eight million prime
ministers. In reality, however, Israel
is a nation of individuals, where everyone has the potential to make a
difference.
Each week, an Israeli makes a discovery or
launches an innovation that may benefit millions. Dr. Tal Dvir and his team at Tel Aviv University have
manufactured cardiac tissue from spring-shaped fibers. The elastic tissue mimics expanding and
contracting heart muscle and could be the basis of transplant material for
millions of heart operations.
The world’s major pharmaceutical companies certainly value Israeli
ingenuity. AstraZeneca has formed a
partnership with scientists at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center to develop
new medicines to treat the millions
suffering from cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. Meanwhile Israel’s very own Teva
Pharmaceuticals has launched generic alternatives to Adenoscan
and Niaspan,
which will collectively save millions of dollars for millions of patients.
I have to inform the millions following the
standard rules of the majority of diet plans that they have got it wrong. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute
have proved that each individual has a different response to the same
foods. In Weizmann’s Personalized Nutrition Project,
local volunteers have their glucose intake and absorption monitored and leave
with an individually
tailored balanced diet. Millions
of stomachs may also contain undetected infections of the H. pylori
bacterium, causing peptic ulcers, gastric inflammation, and occasionally
stomach cancer. Thankfully, the
BreathID testing device from Israel’s Exalenz is now in use at 220 US centers,
providing results in 10 minutes instead of a three-day wait for blood
tests. Staying with infections, a rap
music video produced by Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem has
gone “viral”. It features the hospital’s doctors and nurses dancing and
singing the virtues of anti-bacterial hand gel. The Hebrew video, uploaded on September 21, has already been seen
over 165,000 times.
Millions of Syrians are suffering in their
civil war and Israel certainly never hesitates to give medical
assistance to the hundreds
brought to its hospitals for treatment.
In just one case, orthopedists, anesthesiologists, plastic surgeons,
physiotherapists and operating theater staffers pulled out all the stops to save
and restore the shattered leg of an 8-year-old Syrian girl. Meanwhile, an Arab from East Jerusalem -
Haitham Azloni - regarded Haim Attias from Judea’s Mitzpe Yericho as “one
in a million” when Haim resuscitated him at the Arab bazaar in the Old
City. Haitham said, “No one came to
help me, none of the brothers, no Arabs. Only
one Orthodox Jewish man.”
I doubt if many of the 19
million passengers that use Miami International Airport will be aware
that Israel’s NICE Systems is now responsible for managing runway security. In
contrast, anti-terrorist forces would certainly appreciate the Miniature
Reactive Jammer (MRJ) from Israel’s Elbit Systems. The device is able to analyze millions
of radio frequency messages and disrupt any trigger signal designed to
detonate an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). And when Israel’s Ceragon has
finished upgrading Idea’s wireless network, 125
million of Idea’s Indian cell-phone customers will appreciate the difference.
For two millennia, many millions of Jews
have longed to be able to celebrate this time of year in the Promised
Land. This may explain the emotional
scenes at Jerusalem’s Sukkot (Tabernacles) parade and Simchat
Torah (Rejoicing of the Law) parties. To reinforce the celebrations,
archaeologists such as Dr Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
have unearthed many links between today’s religious events and Biblical
history.
After the celebrations, we have to clean
up. Israeli children are educated that
our land must be maintained for the benefit of the millions who will inherit it
from us. So it was gratifying to see
that over
a quarter of a million volunteers from 250 localities removed litter
across the country on International Cleanup Day. The Ministry of Environmental Protection also announced plans to
end the use of the millions
of disposable plastic bags at supermarkets and other shops.
Finally, the Jewish focus on the individual
is emphasized in the following item.
Rabbi Shaul Inbari was born with severe cerebral palsy and like millions
of disabled individuals he dreaded life in an empty house. Rabbi Inbari believed that everyone deserves
happiness and took action by founding Israel’s Inbar organization. Inbar holds
events for singles with varying disabilities that are seeking a soul mate. Last year, Rabbi Inbari married Neta, whom
he had met at Inbar.
Definitely one in a million!
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
