City Notes: Man’s post-office collapse ends in joyous wedding celebration
News briefs from around Israel.
By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVESderot’s renovated pool(photo credit: Courtesy)NORTHA Magen David Adom paramedic last week attended the wedding of the daughter of a man whose life he saved five months earlier.Medic Farid Abu Zkika, a resident of Baka al-Gharbiya, was driving in his private vehicle in Pardess Hanna when MDA received a call regarding a 65-yearold man who had fainted at a town post office. Zkika, who was nearby, said he could handle the case and swiftly drove to the scene, where he was joined by another medic.Inside the post office, they found Natan Giat lying on the floor unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing. Zkika immediately began resuscitation and life-saving operations, including the use of a defibrillator, with which he saved his life; Giat’s pulse returned and he was evacuated in an intensive-care vehicle to Hadera’s Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in serious condition.Several months later, Zkika received a call from an unfamiliar number and was pleasantly surprised to hear Giat on the other end of the line – with heartfelt thanks for saving his life, alongside an invitation to his daughter’s wedding in Or Akiva.Zkika attended the wedding together with MDA medic Yafim Nisinov, the other half of Giat’s lifesaving team.They were met by dozens of Giat’s relatives, who thanked them; Giat even saved Zkika a special place at the family table, and announced their enormous contribution to the entire wedding party. Nisinov and Zkika then took to the stage, blessed the bride and groom, and told the story from their perspective, saying, “It’s an amazing feeling to know you saved someone’s life.”“There is nothing more moving than standing next to Natan at his daughter’s wedding after he has recovered, and there is no greater satisfaction than seeing the smile on his and his entire family’s faces as he stands on his feet today – while only a short while ago he was in critical condition,” Zkika added.Zichron memorial aims to rally olim around memory of deceased loved onesA memorial service will be held in Zichron Ya’acov next Thursday for Evelyn Pfeffer, a science teacher for over half a century.The ceremony will mark the occasion of her first yahrzeit and will be sponsored by her daughter, Barbara Pfeffer Billauer, and her son-in-law, Dr. Norman A. Bailey, new olim residing in Zichron.The family hopes the event will encourage others in the olim community to commemorate the first yahrzeit of a deceased parent, with a contribution to their new Israeli community – both in giving back to the community and in publicizing unique local areas of interest that would have been relevant to the life of the deceased. The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. in the Beit Aaronsohn Museum gardens, during which a bench and plaque will be dedicated to Pfeffer; the service will be followed by a tour of the museum and a movie.The family selected Beit Aaronsohn for the service since it was the site of the first program to train science teachers in the Holy Land. According to the family, many of Pfeffer’s students made aliya.Girl, 3, in critical condition after falling in cesspoolDoctors at Safed’s Ziv Medical Center treated a three-year-old girl who was in critical condition after falling into a septic pit last weekend.The child’s father told doctors she had slipped while running and had fallen into the pit, which was being used for cleaning waste following a wedding in the local village. A relative of the girl pulled her out of the pit, but she remained in critical condition due to the large amount of wastewater and hazardous toxins she had ingested.CENTERPolice probe launched after man’s body found in Tel AvivPolice located a man’s body bearing signs of violence in south Tel Aviv last weekend. Authorities opened an investigation into the apparently criminal incident.Rishon Lezion pupils create ‘traveling story’ to mark Hebrew Book WeekFive hundred Rishon Lezion pupils last week took part in a special procession to mark Hebrew Book Week. The youth set off on the their mission to create the biggest “Traveling Story” in Israel, from the Haviv School – the first Hebrew school in the country, opened in 1886.Each pupil, in grades 1 to 6, carried a sign with one word from the story in the right order, and headed to the municipality to create the Traveling Story – written by ambassadors of the Rishon Lezion Bayit Le’ivrit with the guidance of children’s book author Shoham Smith.Bayit Le’ivrit was founded at the initiative of the Rishon Lezion Municipality, and is supported by the government within the framework of the National Heritage Program. The home aims to be a center for Hebrew language and culture, and will incorporate all representations of the language from different eras through today; it will also present visitors with the historic story of Rishon Lezion and its connection to the Hebrew language and tradition.Indian Birthright group tours IsraelA group of 22 young Indian Jews is in Israel this week, taking part in a 10- day Taglit-Birthright trip. India’s Jewish community is estimated to number around 5,000, based largely in and around Mumbai. The group is touring the country with visits to the Golan Heights, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem; along the way they have met with Israeli youth, some of Indian origin.Two soldiers accompanied the group: Yaniv, who made aliya with his family from India at age 10; and Shmuel, also from India, who participated in a Birthright trip three years ago and made aliya from Mumbai last year. Yaniv’s father owns an Indian spice shop in the Ramle shuk, and his family hosted the participants.The group was scheduled to participate in the three-day Tel Aviv Urban Experience, attended by thousands of Jewish youth from different countries – allowing Birthright participants to personally experience contemporary Tel Aviv by exploring the hi-tech, fashion, culinary, art, dance, music, theater and photography fields, and the energy the city has to offer.The event included a tour of Rothschild Boulevard, Sarona, the Suzanne Dellal Center, Habima Theater, the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, to provide a look at the central role the White City plays in shaping modern Israeli society and the impact it has had on the larger global community. The group was also set to take in a performance of Israeli band Hadag Nahash at Tel Aviv Port.SOUTHPoultry inspector killed in Negev hit-and-runAn inspector from the Egg and Poultry board hurt in a hit-and-run accident died on Monday morning, Southern District police reported. The man was evacuated to the hospital after being hit by a vehicle, which then fled, on the road between Har Amasa and Shani; he succumbed to his injuries upon arrival at the hospital. Police launched an investigation into the incident.Sderot public pool set to open in time for summerThe Sderot City Council last week approved a budget of NIS 500,000 for the Calcalit company to prepare for the opening of a public swimming pool. “We are working diligently to meet the schedule and to open the pool as soon as possible for the residents,” said Calcalit director Amnon Kuznitz, noting the company had invested substantial efforts and funding to renovate the pool and create a welcoming and beautiful place.Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi described the pool as a great place for families; he deemed it “very important to try to provide residents with the perfect experience, with good facilities, lawns, landscaping and high-level operations.”The pool would be ready to open in the near future, he said, wishing his residents “a nice, cool summer.”
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