Chief Rabbi of Israel hosts Simchat Beit HaShuava in Sheba hospital

October 19, 2022

During the evening, the happy volunteers of Rachashei Lev played and sang. The rabbi danced with the sick, blessed them and recited Torah words.

A Simchat Beit HaShuava event took place in the Sukkah of the “Rachashei Lev” organization at the Sheba medical center in Tel Hashomer, in which children with cancer participated in songs and dances, together with the Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau.

The chief rabbi hosts Simchat Beit HaShuava in his sukkah every year, this year, the rabbi chose to hold the sukkah in Beit Rachashei Lev where he is staying together with rabbi Shethai.

The event was attended by Rabbi Reuven Gescheid, chairman and founder of the organization, Shimi Gescheid, CEO of the organization, Rabbi Yitzchak Ralbag, Rabbi Raphael Manath, volunteers of the Rachashei Lev organization and even Rabbi Lau’s father, Gerim Lau, in whose house the Rachashei Lev organization was founded more than 30 years ago, among other dignitaries.

“These are people who help all year round and make an effort to accommodate the accompanying family members of the patients, who need to be in the hospital, a feeling that they have a home,” The chief rabbi said.

“Their assistance is extraordinary, which is why they have my full gratitude. In terms of Rachashei Lev, it’s so simple, this sukkah is officially theirs, but they claim it’s mine… It belongs to anyone who needs it! Because the heart here is open to all.”

Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau shares special moments

Lau shared a special visit in which he was able to put a smile on the face of a boy with cancer in the oncology department a few months ago. The boy who heard the broadcast came from the ward to the sukkah and moved the rabbi.

Together they agreed that the boy would start studying Massehat makkot and the rabbi promised that he would come to celebrate the end of the treatise with him at Beit Rahashi Lev.

The rabbi thanked everyone who prays for the complete recovery of his wife Rabbi Paige Tzipora Bat Hadassah. During the evening, the happy volunteers of Rachashei Lev played and sang, and the rabbi danced with the sick, blessed them and recited Torah words.

A particularly moving dance was when the rabbi stood up to bless Racheli, an 8-year-old girl with a head tumor, who is confined to a wheelchair. Racheli cannot speak, but the smile that appeared on her face and the tear that fell from her eye testified to the intensity of the moment for her.

“You walk around the wards and see the strength of the children, 15-16 year old boys who hold on to a Gemara page and don’t give up the tip of a Yod with our wonderful volunteers. May we be blessed with joy in this wonderful place and that we will not have to ask for big miracles, only small miracles,” Shimi Gescheid, CEO of the Rahshi Lev organization said.

Published October 15, 2022, The Jerusalem Post