By: Lieba Nesis
As the Jewish community reels from coronavirus deaths, there are some glimmers of hope-including the recovery of Israel Hatzalah founder Eli Beer. Beer has spent the past three weeks in a medically induced coma at a Miami hospital, where his lungs would show incremental signs of improvement only to deteriorate soon thereafter. His wife, Gitty, and five children, continued to urge the community to daven for him. A mass live event was held at the Kotel March 31st where the Chief Rabbi of Israel, David Lau, and the Rabbi of Jerusalem, Shlomo Amar, joined thousands of others to pray for Eli. The rumor that the 46-year-old Beer was infected upon attending a Purim party at the Lipskar Rabbi’s shul in Bal Harbour, Florida (the Lipskar Rabbi tested positive soon after) was quickly dispelled by Eli, who claimed he was unsure where he encountered the virus. Eli consistently interacts with hundreds of people and attended a 16,000 person convention the week before, placing him on the front lines of exposure due to his high profile position. Beer entered the Miami hospital on March 17th expecting to be discharged a few days later. Unfortunately, his situation took a turn for the worse and on Friday March 20th he revealed in a harrowing video that he was going to be sedated and that the world should continue doing good deeds and praying for him during this period. In a surprising move he also excoriated Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, calling him “evil” and “spiteful” for not allowing the 6,000 Hatzalah volunteers in Israel assist Magen David Adom in conducting coronavirus tests. Beer added, [Litzman] is “a bad man without a good heart, who only looks out for his own interests.” Litzman’s office responded by wishing Eli a speedy recovery and saying these “false statements should be rejected.” Paradoxically, Litzman subsequently endured heavy criticism after contracting the coronavirus at an illicit prayer gathering that had been banned by his own department.
To know Eli is to love him, his friendly demeanor and open-hearted personality are treasured by all those he encounters. I remember bumping into him at Trump Tower after the president had been elected. Donning a cowboy hat and boots Eli was elated-revealing to me that Trump had donated $100,000 to the organization in 2014 towards a $26,000 ambucycle. These rescue bikes, the brainchild of Beer, allow volunteers to arrive at an emergency in 90 seconds. While these devices are unable to carry patients, they allow EMS members to stabilize a patient until an ambulance arrives. The ambucycle typically assists 500 people annually with injuries-a quarter of which are life threatening. The dynamic Beer has a magical way of enlisting others to contribute to the organization. One of his acolytes is the comic Jay Leno. In February 2020 Leno along with Miriam and Sheldon Adelson joined Beer in a 1,000-person event at the Beverly Hilton that raised $15 million. That type of charisma is what has catapulted Hatzalah to stratospheric heights. Eli’s calling, after witnessing a bus bombing in Israel at the age of 5, has been to help others; volunteering in an ambulance at the age of 15 and setting up a Jerusalem volunteer unit two years later. His organization currently has more than 6,000 volunteers serving 300,000 people a year-a remarkable achievement.
No one ever imagined Beer would be a recipient of his own services during this dire time. The good news that he had woken from coma was relayed on Friday April 10, 2020, where it was revealed he was conscious and conversing with his family and doctors. Beer has a long road ahead to recovery as he meets with physical therapists and aids to assist in his return to normalcy. This past week his family in Israel waited anxiously for Eli’s return placing his picture on an empty Seder seat; in the weeks to come this wish will thankfully come to fruition.
