"You’re Somebody’s Type"

Yom shlishi, 2 Adar 5773.

The "carry with you everywhere" blood donor's certificate

Donating blood was not part of my upbringing.  I don't know why.  And had the idea come into my brain, it would have been dispelled quickly by my disproportionate fear of needles.

That fear was cured in half an hour, as I awaited my turn with other female US Army recruits for the shot in the arm.  I had time consider as the line shifted forward.  "Don't move," we were warned by the army nurse, "or this gun will make six nice little 'Zorro' tattoos in your lovely young arms."  It was a very scary looking piece of equipment, designed to shoot six shots of pressurized air-propelled serum into the arm, thereby inoculating us efficiently without needles.  The fact that I was a little older than the other girls, having enlisted at 24, stiffened my resolve to not let these babies see my cry -- or even flinch.  Thus ended my fear of vaccinations.

By the time I got out of the army, I appreciated the mitzvah of giving blood, especially since I was from the "universal donor" blood type group.  Naturally, I wanted to do my part -- only to be told that the United States Red Cross didn't want my blood:  I had been stationed in Germany during years that concerned them.  Mad Cow Disease, or something like that.  I was really disappointed.

So imagine my surprise when I came to Israel, and tried again to donate blood.  "Were you ever in England, Ireland or Portugal?" the young Magen David Adom nurse asked me.  No, I hadn't managed to make time to travel that extensively.  No mention of Germany.  I was in!  For the first time in my life.

It is interesting to see who shows up to donate blood at the MDA station on the top floor of the Central Bus Station.  Young mechina guys.   A lot of soldiers, both male and female.  Young mothers.  Middle-aged people like me.

Not everyone wanted his or her picture taken -- but everyone asked me to please write about giving blood, to let people know that it's easy, doesn't take much time, and makes a difference.

As the mother of three IDF soldiers (and one about to be drafted), I want so much to do my part.  They should never need a drop of their mother's blood, please G-d.  But we are all a family here.  That mother's son is my nephew, as is that soldier standing and waiting his turn to donate.   I can't offer to give my new country what they are willing to give.

But if any of them ever needs this kind of help, I want to be there for him.

For those of us in Israel, the process is simple.  If you are in the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, for instance, and have forty minutes to spare, go to the top floor (the floor above the bus platforms).  I am pretty sure the Maden David Adom workers are there every day.  They guide you through the process, gently and lovingly.  They're good at what they do.  (No Zorro marks; very little discomfort.)  They'll give you juice or water, and pamper you for a half-hour, to be sure you're not too light-headed to go about your business, before they let you go.

This post was "in the works" for some time.  It was finally dusted off and completed today, thanks to a video my friend and fellow writer Varda Epstein sent to me on Facebook.  Take a few moments to listen to a grateful young man whose life was saved by 70 people!



I give you the bracha that you will always be a giver and never need to be a receiver.  But if Hashem has other plans -- I give you the bracha that there will be good people around you, with the willingness to give up a pint of blood to save another human being's life.  Kol areivim zeh lazeh.  We are all responsible for one another.

"Ain't it good to know, you've got a friend..."

Yom chamishi, 4 Kislev 5771.

Lots of people go around gushing about what friends they are to Israel... but this usually ends up with something that makes us feel a wedgie coming. "I'm your friend... your only true friend... so you have to do what I say. Capish?" Shades of Don Corleone...

But just today, I heard a couple of reports on IBA News that I want to share.

Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has put it on the line for Israel in the past. Harper's in the news again, this time pointing out that there are more important things than a seat on the Security Council.

"When Israel -- the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack -- is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand.  Demonization, double standards, deligitimazation -- the three 'D's' -- it is a responsibility of us all to stand up to them.

“And I know, by the way, because I have the bruises to show for it, that whether it is at the United Nations or any other international forum, the easy thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with this anti-Israel rhetoric, to pretend it is just being even-handed, and to excuse oneself with the label of honest broker.

“There are, after all, a lot more votes — a lot more — in being anti-Israeli than in taking a stand.

"But as long as I am Prime Minister -- whether it is at the United Nations, the Francophonie [Summit in Montreux, Switzerland], or anywhere else -- Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost."

And while I was sending a note of appreciation out to some of my Canadian friends on the yishuv, I was treated to the second positive news story of the day.

It's one of those stories that starts out sad, and ends up taking your breath away.

Apparently, the Jewish community of Palm Beach, Florida was devastated by Bernard Madoff's financially-rape-the-mishpacha scheme.

I would expect a community that was licking its wounds after such a shandeh fur de goyim to just handle local issues for a while...

So I was a bit surprised that one of their first acts after financial recovery was to donate the funds for the rebuilding of the Magen David Adom emergency medical station in Nahariya.  The MDA station -- which serves 90,000 residents -- played a crucial role during the Second Lebanon War.

A primary donor was the estate of Joseph Gurwin, zt"l, who died at 89 in September.  Gurwin's foundations lost millions last year in Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme.  But months before his death he vowed to keep giving, telling The Palm Beach Post he would continue donations even if he had to "sell apples on the corner."

It has recently been a topic of discussion among my friends that Hashem is giving us clear opportunities in recent generations to choose between good and evil.


During the Second World War, it seems that much of the world was pretty clear on who were the bad guys, and who were the good guys.  But in recent years, what appears obvious to some seems to be very blurry for others -- possibly for a majority today.  I do not know why this is so.  But to me, choices are very clear.  What is evil is evil.  To steal people's money, to deny a country its right to exist, to thoughtlessly embrace double standards...  these things are wrong.  To stand strong when all those about you are quaking under the weight of what is popular, even though wrong-headed -- this is right.

Hillel said:  "In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man."

I am grateful that Hashem has sprinkled about the globe a few men of parts to set examples for the people around them.