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*In
Yiddish, "a gute neshome" means a good soul; a gentle person
Almost every day we read about someone
who would be called "a gute neshome"--a
good soul.
Sondra and David Light of Delray Beach,
Florida, for example, dedicated a "Mobile
Mitzvah" ambulance to Israel. This gift was
made in memory of Sol Light of Hollandale,
Florida.
And Matthew Jones, a Michigan father of
five, donated a kidney to a complete stranger in 2007. This gift
to a Phoenix
woman set off a long-running organ swap
that resulted in 10 sick people getting new
kidneys over a .year. (Think "pay it forward" chain.) Jones said, "There's
a very
good possibility that when I'm dead and gone, the chain will still be going
on."
Marlo Thomas writes that "Today, all patients accepted for treatment at St.
Jude's are treated without regard
for the family's ability to pay. Everything
beyond what is covered by insurance is
taken care of, and for those without
insurance, all of the medical costs are
absorbed by the hospital. The many
people who have made this possible would
be labeled "a gute neshome."
Arlene Miller, 91, is also "a gute neshome."
She has set a new record by accruing
29,000 hours of volunteer work at St.
Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York.
Tovah Brill, a pharmacist at Mercy Medical
Center, is truly "a gute neshome." With
help from Drs. Chaim and Meyer Abittan,
St. Francis Hospital opened its first Sabbath
Room. In order to better meet the needs
of families of Orthodox Jewish patients,
St. Francis has opened two-bedroom, one
bath suite, a fully stocked kitchen on a
first come, first served basis as a hospital
courtesy.
Tovah Brill came up with the idea. She said,
"We hope this will give our parients'
families a peaceful place to sleep and pray
during the Sabbath, that will also give their
loved one peace of mind knowing they are
close by."
According to hospital statistics, Jewish
patients are the second largest segment of
the St. Francis patient base, after Roman
Catholics. Kosher meals are always
available to patients and their families,
as well as access to spiritual care. The
hospital also is exploring the idea of
installing kosher vending machines.
The final story is taken from "In The Spirit
of the Maggid" by Rabbi Pesach J. Krohn
It is titled, "The Present of Presence."
Read the book; it's wonderful!
Rabbi Meir Hochstein (*) and his wife,
Chana (*) had been married six long years
and hadn't yet been blessed with children.
They had gone to great rabbis for blessings,
they had been under special medical care
and they prayed for others in their situation with the hope that others in
turn
would pray for them...Rabbi Hochstein was a Yeshiva rebbi and he dealt with
children
all day long, which made his plight more
painful. Coming home to an empty nest was often too much to bear. Additionally,
both R' Meir and Chana came from families
of prominent Torah educators, so the
possiblity of not having children of their own was almost unendurable.
Finally in their seventh year of marriage,
Chana gave birth to a little boy who was
born prematurely and weighed just close to
three pounds. The baby was placed in the
High Risk Unit of the Hodges Hospital in
Milwaukee (*). The doctors and nurses were extraordinary in their care
and concern for the infant boy and took extra
time with the Hochsteins, as they knew how
long the couple had waited for this child.
After two and a half months the Hochsteins
were told that their son was fit enough to
be taken home. Naturally there was elation
and feelings of gratitude to Hashem and to
the staff at Hodges. R' Meir wanted to buy
the nurses a gift, but wasn't sure what was
fitting or appropriate. He called his Rosh
Yeshivah, Rabbi Elya Svei, in Philadelphia,
for advice--and was taken aback when the
Rosh Yeshivah [head of the Yeshivah] said,
"Don't buy a gift."
R' Meir did not wish to challenge the Rosh
Yeshivah, but he asked gently, "Rosh
Yeshivah, we are so grateful to the staff;
shouldn't we get them something to show
our appeciation? They went beyond the call of duty for us and for our
baby."
"Of course you should show your appreciation" said the Rosh Yeshivah, "but
I want to show you something and then tell
you what to do."
...."My advice is that every year on the child's birthday bring him back
to the High
Risk Unit. Show them that this is the boy
that they helped. You will show them how
strong he has become and thank them for
the diligent concern they had when his life
depended on them."
And that is exactly when Reb Meir and Chana did. Every year on the
boy's birthdqy
they brought Yossi to the High Risk nursery
to show everyone how he had matured and
progressed. They repeated this gesture
year after year until Yossi was 6. By that
time, the Hochsteins already had several
other children and their lives were busier
than ever.
Over the next few years there was always
another excuse for not going back on his
birthday. However the year of their son's
bar mitzvah, Rabbi Hochstein remembered
his Rosh Yeshivah's counsel and decided hat
on this joyous occasion he and his son would visit the High Risk Unit. He
came with a bar-mitzvah invitation and handed it
to the head nurse with a warm letter of
gratitude, He thanked everyone profusely
for what they had done years earlier and
brought a special cake for the staff.
A few weeks later the Hochsteins received a
beautiful letter from one of the nurses. It
read as follows:
"My name is Jodi Campanella and I am a
nurse in the High Risk Nursery at Hodges
Hospital in Milwaukee, where your son had
an extended stay years ago. After finishing
Nursing School at Snider Hospital two years ago, I was hired to work in the
nursery at Hodges (my dream job).
While at orientaton I heard all about your
son. All the nurses brought up how special
a patient he was, not only because he had
an amazing first few months, but because of
how wonderful your family is. Everyone spoke of how wonderful it
was to take care
of a baby and be updated on the child's
progress.
"A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of
meeting you when you brought an invitation to the bar mitzvah along with
a
letter that you had written about our staff.
It touched my heart. You reminded me of
why I became a nurse in the intensive care
unit. Though I was not one of the nurses
who took care of your son I wantd you to
know how much we appreciate what you
wrote and how true it is. Candy and flowers
are a nice sentiment, but what you and your
family do is something that helps us make
it through the rough days. My most sincere
thanks. Jodi Campanella, RN."
*(the names have been changed)
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