In January of 2010 within hours of the devastating earthquake to hit Haiti, four staff members of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center were headed for the stricken zone as part of a massive relief effort on the part of the Israel Defense Forces.  For nearly two weeks, the IDF medical teams worked tirelessly to save as many people as possible. Their efforts, credited with saving hundreds of lives, were recognized by the international community and media, serving as a great and unprecedented source of pride for the people and State of Israel.

Earlier in May of this year, Shaare Zedek’s Deputy Director General and the hospital’s head of trauma services, Dr. Ofer Merin, received the Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles on behalf of the IDF.  In a star-studded gala hosted by late-night comedian Jay Leno, Dr. Merin, who served a key leadership role in the Haiti mission, spoke emotionally of the chance to represent his nation on the international stage.

Dr. Merin said that he first understood the wonders of the well known lesson of “how to save one life is to save the world entire,” from the story of a Polish woman who saved his father during the Holocaust, enabling the Merin family to be rebuilt in Israel.  “From this woman’s example, I learned the power of what it means to save a life,” Dr. Merin said as he accepted the award on behalf of the 230 IDF personnel who took part in the Haiti mission.

“In the magnitude of the disaster, [the IDF personnel] were merely a drop in the ocean,” Dr. Merin said.  “But for the 1100 people we had the privilege to treat, this represents the true spirit of medicine.  That no modern the race, religion or ethnicity of the patient, we will always treat them to the best of our abilities.”

Dr. Merin was joined in Haiti by three other Shaare Zedek staff members, Head Nurse Gali Weiss, Dr. Doron Goldberg of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Dr. Ehud Lebel, Director of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery.

Uri Schwarz, Director of International Operations at Shaare Zedek said that this honor serves as a great source of pride for the Medical Center.  “The actions of our doctors and nurses alongside many other IDF medical corps members showed the international community the power of the people of Israel to do a great deal of good when the world needs it most,” he said. “These men and women acted as true heroes and it is deeply fitting that they are now receiving this most prominent form of recognition.”

In January of 2010 within hours of the devastating earthquake to hit Haiti, four staff members of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center were headed for the stricken zone as part of a massive relief effort on the part of the Israel Defense Forces.  For nearly two weeks, the IDF medical teams worked tirelessly to save as many people as possible. Their efforts, credited with saving hundreds of lives, were recognized by the international community and media, serving as a great and unprecedented source of pride for the people and State of Israel.

Earlier in May of this year, Shaare Zedek’s Deputy Director General and the hospital’s head of trauma services, Dr. Ofer Merin, received the Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles on behalf of the IDF.  In a star-studded gala hosted by late-night comedian Jay Leno, Dr. Merin, who served a key leadership role in the Haiti mission, spoke emotionally of the chance to represent his nation on the international stage.

Dr. Merin said that he first understood the wonders of the well known lesson of “how to save one life is to save the world entire,” from the story of a Polish woman who saved his father during the Holocaust, enabling the Merin family to be rebuilt in Israel.  “From this woman’s example, I learned the power of what it means to save a life,” Dr. Merin said as he accepted the award on behalf of the 230 IDF personnel who took part in the Haiti mission.

“In the magnitude of the disaster, [the IDF personnel] were merely a drop in the ocean,” Dr. Merin said.  “But for the 1100 people we had the privilege to treat, this represents the true spirit of medicine.  That no modern the race, religion or ethnicity of the patient, we will always treat them to the best of our abilities.”

Dr. Merin was joined in Haiti by three other Shaare Zedek staff members, Head Nurse Gali Weiss, Dr. Doron Goldberg of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Dr. Ehud Lebel, Director of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery.

Uri Schwarz, Director of International Operations at Shaare Zedek said that this honor serves as a great source of pride for the Medical Center.  “The actions of our doctors and nurses alongside many other IDF medical corps members showed the international community the power of the people of Israel to do a great deal of good when the world needs it most,” he said. “These men and women acted as true heroes and it is deeply fitting that they are now receiving this most prominent form of recognition.”