A tribute to Dr. David Applebaum

His portrait still adorns the entrance to the emergency room. His expertise in this field cut down waiting time for patients by 60%, creating a computerized information system, and he established the Terem urgent care clinics in Jerusalem.

By DVORA WAYSMAN
DR. DAVID APPLEBAUM 370 (photo credit: shaare zedek)
DR. DAVID APPLEBAUM 370
(photo credit: shaare zedek)
This week marked the 10th yahrzeit of Dr. David Applebaum of blessed memory. We should all pause and remember how he was murdered by terrorists in Jerusalem, along with his beautiful daughter Nava, on the eve of her wedding.
As a teacher of creative writing, one of the exercises I often give my students is to write a brief description of a person they have met, maybe only briefly, but whom they will never forget. If I were to do the exercise myself, I think David would be that person.
But perhaps my reasons are different from those of the many people who have written about him until now.
His was a famous name in Jerusalem. He headed the emergency room at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where I worked as press officer for 12 years. His portrait still adorns the entrance to the emergency room. His expertise in this field cut down waiting time for patients by 60 percent when he took it over, creating a computerized information system, and he established the Terem urgent care clinics in Jerusalem. No matter how busy he was, he was always totally approachable, warm and friendly, making you feel you were the most important person for him at that moment.
His expertise was valued all over the world, and the day before his murder he was in New York lecturing on “Practical Aspects of Managing the Medical Response to Terror.” He also had found time for many years to teach a class in Jewish Law at Midreshet Moriah, a girls’ seminary in Jerusalem, and was a brilliant and beloved teacher.
Raised in Detroit and educated in Cleveland, he had struggled in his youth over whether to become a Rosh Yeshiva, a practising rabbi or a physician. He chose the latter, but remained a haredi Jew who continued to study Torah his whole life.
David’s son Natan said that his father was one of the 36 righteous people in the world (Jewish tradition teaches that this is the number living at any one time), and I believe him. His own life was devoted to saving others.
Which brings me to my own special memory. About 22 years ago there was another terror attack on Jerusalem’s King George Avenue. The gunmen were holed up in a sports store near the corner of Jaffa Road, firing randomly into the street. I happened to be there, and with dozens of others was huddled in a shop doorway, shaking and terrified. Then I saw David rush into the middle of the street to tend the wounded, ignoring the danger to his own life. The memory of this heroic act has never left me. When I asked him how it was possible to be so brave in the midst of a terror attack, he just smiled and said modestly: “I didn’t think about it. It was my duty.”
Now 10 years have elapsed since his death. Seven people died at that popular Café Hillel on that fateful night, and tragically there have been many deaths from terror since then. All of the victims were a world to those who loved them. David gave so much to his patients, treating Arabs and Jews and everyone who needed him. He had so much more to give, and we are all diminished by his death. May his soul be for a blessing.