Hadassah’s Smiling Room
Hadassah Australia has joined international efforts to establish the Smiling Room, a double patient room in the new Gandel Rehabilitation Centre in Jerusalem, in memory of terror victims Natalie Ziskin and Eliyahu (Eli) Mizrachi.
Natalie, 46, was a beloved caregiver at Hadassah Hospital before she and her husband Eli, 49, were killed in the terrorist attack outside a synagogue in the Neve Ya’akov neighbourhood in Jerusalem on January 27. They had been married for just two years.
On hearing shooting and screaming, they went straight to the assistance of neighbours who were under attack, a courageous decision that cost them their lives.
Natalie made aliyah from Belarus in the 1990s and worked in the food distribution department at Hadassah Mt Scopus Hospital for over 20 years.
Natalie and Eli met while Eli’s mother was hospitalised at Hadassah. His mother remembered the way Natalie always gave her food with warmth and a kind heart.
Deeply committed to patient care, Natalie learned Arabic so she could communicate with Arab patients as well as those who spoke Hebrew and Russian.
The new Gandel Rehabilitation Centre will provide 132 inpatient beds and extensive outpatient facilities, with comprehensive and specialised rehabilitation services to those suffering from disease, illness, accident or injury.
The campaign is hoping to raise $180,000 to establish the new room, named the Smiling Room because Natalie was remembered by her colleagues at Hadassah as always having a smile on her face.
More info/support this initiative: hadassahaustralia.org/in-memory-campaign
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