The new pediatrics department of Ma'ayenei Hayeshua Hospital
in Bnei Brak was dedicated at a gala ceremony on Lag B'Omer.
The dedication was attended by maranan verabonon, as
well as by roshei yeshiva, dayanim, rabbonim, and
admorim.
The opening of Ma'ayenei Hayeshua's pediatrics department
constitutes an important milestone in the hospital's
development. Founded nine years ago by Dr. Moshe Rothschild
with the guidance of maranan verabonon, the hospital
of Bnei Brak has earned an excellent reputation for its
outstanding medical treatment and dedicated staff. The
hospital's halachic committee is headed by HaRav Shmuel
Halevi Wosner, the av beis din of Zichron Meir; HaRav
Nissim Karelitz, the av beis din of Ramat Aharon and
HaRav Yitzchok Silberstein, the av beis din of Ramat
Elchonon.
The hospital opened its doors on Rosh Chodesh Elul
5750, with the dedication of its maternity department.
Subsequently, gynecology, surgery, internal medicine,
intensive care and geriatric departments were opened, serving
the entire Bnei Brak community with mesiras nefesh.
When news of the hospital's excellence spread throughout the
entire Dan region, many of its residents also turned to
Ma'ayenei Hayeshua.
From the time Maran HaRav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky, zt"l,
HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein, zt"l and yibodel lechaim
arukim, Maran HaRav Eliezer Menachem Shach,
shlita, urged Dr. Rothschild to build the hospital,
one of his main goals has been to open a large, modern
pediatrics department.
"From the time of the hospital's inception," Dr. Rothschild
explained, "gedolei Yisroel have stressed the
pressing need to open a pediatrics department. One day's stay
in a hospital not conducted in the spirit of Torah can
destroy an entire year's chinuch. When a child must be
in the hospital for a lengthy stay, his chinuch al taharas
hakodesh runs the risk of total collapse.
"Gedolei Yisroel repeatedly warned against the
spiritual hazards to which children are exposed when they
encounter the secular media, Shabbos desecration, and
forbidden sights common in most hospitals. Although such
hospitals treat the child's physical illnesses, at the same
time they also subject him to the ravages of spiritual
maladies," said Dr. Rothschild. "Bearing this in mind, we
have opened a pediatrics department which will offer superior
medical care with the full guidance of maranan
verabonon.
"Fifteen years ago," Dr. Rothschild added, "while the
hospital was still in its building stages, the
Hospitalization Committee of the Health Ministry approved our
request to open a pediatrics department. However, for reasons
beyond our control, the necessary permits were delayed. When
the current Health Minister, Yehoshua Matza, took office, a
change in the attitude of the Ministry toward the hospital
took place and the permits needed to open the department were
granted."
The moment the permits were received, preparations for the
opening of the new department began. Dr. Rothschild has
secured over a million dollars in donations for the
acquisition of medical equipment. However, opening the
department will cost nearly two million dollars. "We hope
that the residents of the city, whom this department is meant
to serve, will lend a hand in the establishment of this
outstanding department which will benefit the entire city,"
Dr. Rothschild said.
The department offers many new features including: parents'
rooms next to children's rooms, game rooms, a kindergarten, a
classroom, and quarantine rooms for children with contagious
diseases. The walls have been decorated with beautiful murals
on the theme, ma'asei ovos siman lebonim. The
pediatric intensive care unit is intelligently located in the
center of the department directly opposite the medical staff
station.
When asked whether the hospital will be able to offer the
same standard of medical care that other pediatric
departments and medical centers in the Dan region offer, Dr.
Rothschild responded: "The pediatrics department of Ma'ayenei
Hayeshua will be equipped to cope with 85% of the medical
problems other hospitals encounter, such as respiratory
infections, meningitis, dehydration. As has been confirmed in
the past in many of the hospital's other departments, the
closeness of the hospital to Bnei Brak's residents is a life-
saving factor. An additional plus is that parents of
hospitalized children can return home within a few minutes in
order to take care of other children at home.
"The opening of the pediatrics department will also solve the
problem of prematurely born infants who, although having
reached the weight of 2 kilos, require additional
supervision. Due to their weight, however, they may no longer
be categorized as premature. Now such children will be
transferred to our pediatrics department," Dr. Rothschild
said.
With the opening of the pediatrics department, a children's
emergency ward will begin to function within the regular
emergency ward. The new ward will employ a specialist for
pediatric emergency cases and will function around-the-
clock.
In the coming days, the hospital will sign a contract with
one of the region's larger medical centers to offer certain
medical services, such as pediatric C.T., as well as
consultations with experts, including one of the country's
most outstanding pediatricians, who is currently serving in a
medical center in the Dan region. With the signing of this
contract and the appointment of its medical staff, the
pediatric department of Ma'ayenei Hayeshua Hospital will open
its doors, be'ezras Hashem, this month.
The Lag B'Omer Dedication Ceremony
This stirring event, attended by thousands of Bnei Brak's
residents, included the participation of the geonim,
HaRav Aharon Leib Steinman, HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz,
HaRav Nissim Karelitz, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and HaRav Shmuel
Halevi Wosner, whose presence signaled their deep esteem for
the hospital's founder and director, Dr. Moshe Rothschild.
Many prominent rabbonim, roshei yeshiva, dayanim and
public figures also attended.
The event was opened and moderated by Rabbi Chaim Walder, who
said that the 50,000 children who have been born since the
founding of the hospital are the foundation of the future
generation and the foundation of the future Torah world. He
stressed, "The hospital, then, is a source of emunah,
a source of chinuch and a source of Yiddishkeit."
In a moving address, HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner called the
hospital the largest house of chessed in the city, not
only material chessed but also spiritual
chessed, for it is a place where the purity of the
patient's neshomoh is carefully guarded. "In other
hospitals," HaRav Wosner said, "a child enters with a broken
body and a complete soul, and leaves with a healthy body and
a broken soul. In this hospital, the children will leave with
healthy bodies and healthy souls."
Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz, the mayor of Bnei Brak, whose hard
work and dedication on behalf of the city and the hospital
are innumerable, called Ma'ayenei Hayeshua, "the jewel in the
crown of the city of chessed." He also emphasized the
tremendous debt of gratitude every resident owes the
hospital's dedicated founder.
The Health Minister Yehoshua Matza, to whom the hospital is
deeply indebted for his assistance, said that the new
pediatrics department will be a great asset to the community
of Bnei Brak, and that he was very grateful for having
merited to help it obtain the necessary permits.
Closing greetings were conveyed by Prime Minster Binyomin
Netanyahu who said that the Ma'ayenei Hayeshua Hospital
represents the facets of unity, respect and understanding of
the needs of the various sectors of our community.
The singer, Ephraim Mendelson and the composer and conductor,
Moshe Moneh Rosenblum were thanked by the hospital
administration for volunteering their talents to the Lag
B'Omer ceremony which truly enhanced the festive spirit of
the occasion.
