Most of all, I will remember how my grandfather - Maccabiah Olympian Reuven Helman - saved a nameless elderly woman in the Judaean Desert.
By ELIYAHU FEDERMANHelman competing in the Maccabiah Olympics(photo credit: John Smith/ Wikimedia Commons)Most of all, I will remember how he saved a nameless elderly woman in the Judaean Desert.Maccabiah Olympian, WWII and Israeli war veteran, and my dear grandfather Reuven Helman, passed away last week at age 86. He competed in the 1953 and 57 International Maccabiah Games.I will remember his distinguished service, weightlifting medals, soft-spoken care and attention he gave me as a child-- but most of all, I will remember how he saved a nameless elderly woman in the Judaean Desert.He was serving in the Palmach during Israeli's War of Independence. Tensions were high between Arabs and Jews.During a security check at a refugee village near Tel Aviv, he noticed an immobilized elderly Arab woman, visibly dehydrated, malnourished, lying under the scorching sun. The other men ignored the woman's plight, focusing on other matters.He rushed to assist the woman-- took her to a shed out of the sun, gave her water from his canteen and all his food rations. One soldier dismissed his actions as pointless. "Don't bother, she will die anyway," he said.My grandfather explained the lack of empathy as callous from the cold harsh realities of war-- death and suffering around you.He brought the elderly woman food and water to keep her alive, returning to the village everyday over the course of several weeks.I will remember and tell this story as an example of his compassion and care for humanity.My grandfather cautioned that on some level we all go about life ignoring the plight of other. It is easy to vilify the soldier that ignored the woman, but we all ignore.We ignore "Feed The Children" infomercials, blocking out starving children in Africa. We ignore the ailing homeless man, begging for change on the hard concrete. We ignore the battered woman next door. We ignore.When going through the journey of life I will remember the lesson of not ignoring. I will strive to notice the suffering of others, seeking out opportunities to help make the world a better place.In loving memory of my grandfather
Related TagsMaccabiah
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
