City Notes: Rambam underground hospital holds simulation in face of Hezbollah threat

A round-up of local affairs.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
The Carmel Wanderers Scouts tribe was founded in Haifa in 1925. (photo credit: Courtesy)
The Carmel Wanderers Scouts tribe was founded in Haifa in 1925.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NORTH Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center held a live demonstration of its underground fortified hospital last week, as part of the 2015 Rambam Summit. The conference drew supporters from around the world, as well as leading doctors and researchers, to the facility to discuss innovations in healthcare.
The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital, which converts the hospital’s parking garage into a 2,000-bed, full-service medical clinic in just 72 hours, is the largest of only three such structures in the world. The underground hospital is segmented for different wards, including neurology, surgery and OBGYN. The garage can also become a sealed bomb shelter against biological and chemical attacks for up to three days.
“This is the most sophisticated underground facility in the world, and we take great pride in our responsibility to serve the two million people living in northern Israel, as well as regional IDF troops should a crisis arrive,” said Rambam director-general Prof. Rafael Beyar. “We are abreast of the increased threat from Israel’s enemies in the North, and unfortunately need to stay fully prepared so that we do everything possible to keep patients of the hospital completely safe.”
In recent weeks, the Home Front Command has notified the nation’s 257 local authorities of an increased threat from Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon. According to current information, in just one northern town like Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa, hundreds of rockets could strike – dozens per day – and hundreds of civilians may have to be evacuated.
First Israeli Scouts tribe celebrates 90 years The oldest Tzofim (Israeli Scouts) tribe in the country is celebrating its 90th anniversary this month.
Among the famous graduates of the Carmel Wanderers tribe are singer Yardena Arazi; journalist and media personality Aharon Barnea; journalist Eldad Beck; and Israel Prize-winning former educator and politician Aharon Yadlin.
The tribe was founded in Haifa in 1925 under the leadership of Arieh Karuch, sponsored by the Harieli school. It has since been considered one of the most significant anchors of the Tzofim movement. Over 3,000 scouts have grown up in the tribe since its establishment.
“I first came to the Carmel Wanderers in 1940, and I stayed there until 1948, three years of which I was a madrich [counselor],” says tribe veteran Amos Yarkoni.
“I am very excited to see friends and [former charges], some of whom I have not seen in over 70 years. This movement was our home. It taught us to be better people, but most of all, I met my wife through it.”
Blasphemous graffiti found in Safed area Blasphemous graffiti was discovered on Sunday on walls in several areas around Safed.
Safed police and forensic investigators documented the graffiti and collected evidence.
CENTER Car hits, kills pedestrian in Ramat Gan A pedestrian in his 20s was killed Saturday when a car hit him in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan.
Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Nechama Rivlin hosts special-needs students on MASA program First Lady Nechama Rivlin hosted 10 special-needs students from Tel Aviv’s Onn School last week. The students were participating in a MASA/Journey Israel program tailored to students who require special assistance and/or wheelchairs.
During the three-day program for students completing high school, the participants stayed in the Sde Boker Seminary, and each day, though trips and discussions, they addressed issues related to their personal, national and social identity.
The project, an initiative of the school’s staff, was the culmination of a program of studies on society. The journey rounded off with a visit to the President’s Residence, where the students met with the first lady.
Rivlin welcomed the students, saying, “I am very pleased to host you here. Out of all the honored guests from Israel and around the world who come to sit in this very room, I am deeply honored to meet with you, and pleased that you chose to end your journey here at the President’s Residence.”
The students told her about their ex-periences over the previous days. At the end of the meeting, she gave each of them a badge with the Israeli and presidential flags. Before they left, President Reuven Rivlin joined them and congratulated them.
Kfar Saba showcases ‘Time Tunnel Project’ exhibition The annual exhibition of Beit Berl College’s “Time Tunnel Project” took place last Thursday at the G-Mall in Kfar Saba, as part of the college’s tradition of bringing history to people where they live and interact.
Piloted at Beit Berl College, the project teaches contemporary history to a wide variety of groups – secular and religious, Jews and Arabs – in a way that recognizes and bridges conflicting narratives of the country’s modern history. Students gather and document stories, photos and living histories of the country’s populations over the last 150 years, building understanding by learning the history of these groups’ everyday life, together.
At the opening, Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria spoke of the need to recognize the histories of all the peoples who live in and make up the country: “Recognizing your history doesn’t require me to negate my own.”
Support for the program came from UNESCO, through Beit Berl’s UNESCO chair in multicultural education, and from the Berl Katznelson Foundation.
Taglit-Birthright Israel names 500,000th participant at TA ceremony Taglit-Birthright Israel welcomed Molly Dodd as its milestone 500,000th participant, in a ceremony in Tel Aviv last week. Dodd, who moved to Belleville, New Jersey, after graduating from Southeastern University in 2013, works as a digital department coordinator for the Fox News channel. Even though her mother was Jewish, Dodd had no Jewish affiliation or involvement growing up outside of Tampa. Following the death of her parents, however, she was cut off from her roots. She has taken steps to rediscover her heritage within the last year, and hopes to select a Hebrew name and celebrate her bat mitzva while traveling through Israel for the first time on Taglit.
“My mother’s Judaism was not talked about when I was young,” said Dodd. “Two springs ago, I had gone to a garage sale in the Orthodox Jewish community near my home and mentioned I was curious to learn more about Judaism. The woman in charge listened to my story and concluded with delight, ‘If your mother was Jewish, and your grandmother was Jewish, then you are Jewish.’ It opened up a new world for me to discover.”
Taglit-Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark said that “Molly embodies what Taglit, literally translated as ‘discovery,’ is about, as she travels to define herself as a member of the Jewish community for the rest of her life.”
Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, co-founders of the program, greeted Dodd personally at a Discover Tel Aviv Event that brought together 3,000 participants for three days of modern Israeli culture. The event aimed to enable participants to experience contemporary Tel Aviv by exploring the hi-tech, fashion, food, dance, music, theater, drawing and photography that the city has to offer.
SOUTH Train kills boy riding camel near Dimona A 15-year-old boy riding a camel died on the spot when a train carrying cargo near Dimona struck him on Sunday night.
Paramedics who rushed to the scene pronounced the victim dead.
Police carry out drug bust in Eilat, Ashkelon Eilat Police arrested 14 suspected drug traffickers last week, after an undercover agent collected incriminating evidence against them. The agent was assigned to the case by the central unit of the Negev District; and the Eilat station’s investigations unit.
The investigation culminated in dozens of police raiding the suspects’ homes in Eilat. Among those arrested were a father and his son – a minor – who allegedly sold hard drugs.
In a separate case last week, Ashkelon Police arrested a resident of the city on suspicion of selling hard drugs. Police searched the suspect’s car, where they found heroin.
The resident was brought to the Ashkelon District Court for a remand extension.
10th Smilanski Festival celebrates culture in Beersheba The three-day Smilanski Festival took place this week in Beersheba, with festivities all along Smilanski Street as well as culture and art points in the old city. Musicians participating in the event – the 10th of its kind – included Dudu Peretz, Subliminal, Eran Tzur and Amir Lev.


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