By Lieba Nesis
As the Jewish community held more than 1,000 funerals over Pesach due to coronavirus deaths, they were thankfully greeted with the auspicious news that Israel Hatzalah founder Eli Beer had recovered after three weeks in a medically induced coma at a Miami hospital. His wife, Gitty, and five children, urged the community to pray for his well being and their prayers were answered when the 46-year-old awoke on April 9th. Beer entered the Miami hospital with pneumonia-like symptoms 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 during this critical period. Eli had been separated from his family for four months after leaving on a fundraising trip to India, London, Turkey, New York and finally Miami-where he contracted the coronavirus.
To know Eli is to love him, his friendly demeanor and open-hearted personality are treasured by all. 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 saving lives; 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. When Eli awoke from coma his body was still having trouble acclimating. After a week of intense physical therapy to aid him in walking and to strengthen his muscles and lungs in the surgical unit of the Miami ICU, philanthropists Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, arranged for a private plane to return Beer to Israel so he could reunite with his family and colleagues. Miriam Adelson, a hands-on savior, assured Beer was given optimal treatment during his stay at the Miami hospital, including plasma donated blood from recovered patients.
Upon arrival at the Israeli airport Beer was greeted by hundreds of Hatzalah volunteers. Stepping off the tarmac, an emotional Beer can be seen crying as he recites the Shema and thanks G-d for his recovery. Despite donning a mask to cover his face, the video of Eli shows readily visible tubes emanating from his arms as he leaves the plane in a stretcher. Eli’s path to healing will undoubtedly be arduous as he is unable to reside with his family in Israel who live in a fourth floor walk-up. However, when he does return his passion for saving lives will be even more unyielding than before.
