A Medical Miracle Lights the Darkness

October 27, 2023

Amichai Shindler is a father of six from Kerem Shalom, a kibbutz in the south. Near Gaza.

Keren Shalom has long been a frequent target of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets. In Hebrew Kerem Shalom means vineyard of peace.

The residents of Keren Shalom made a decision. For every rocket that landed in the grounds of the kibbutz, the residents planted a tree in that exact spot. In this photo Amichai Shindler and his family are planting a tree. The Hamas shoots rockets and the people of Keren Shalom respond with love and peace and plant trees in response.

When the terrorists blasted their way into the kibbutz, the Shindler house was one of the first that they entered. Amichai used his bare hands to prevent them from getting into his family’s safe room to kill him, his wife and their six kids. When the terrorists saw that they could not get in, they attached an explosive brick to the door. In his attempt to block their entry, Amichai’s hands were placed on the door.  He held onto the handle of the safe room for a long time while the terrorists tried to enter. He saved his family but one of his hands and the fingers of his other hand were blown off and he suffered injuries to his face. He was airlifted to Sheba by helicopter.

As you read this, Amichai is being treated in Sheba’s trauma unit. Unfortunately, this is not the Shindler family’s first brush with terrorism. In 2010, Amichai’s brother was murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Amichai received stellar treatment at Sheba, which not only saved his life and stabilized his health, but he is already up and walking.

Sheba has almost as many people hospitalized in this war as the rest of Israel put together. And Sheba gets the most complex cases. On top of all that, the rehab task ahead is enormous. Israel’s only rehabilitation hospital needs to double in size to meet just what is coming from the current violence, let alone protracted conflict. But with the support of generous donors, plus the skill of Sheba’s management, leadership, and most important, caregivers, means Sheba will meet the challenge.

And Israel will win.

Am Yisrael Chai,

Brian