Scheduling Surgery during Intifada

Oct. 2002

Experiencing major surgery is never easy. It often involves a great deal of physical and mental preparation, some of it discomforting and even painful. The last thing one wants to hear just when the preparation stage is complete and they are about to embark on the surgery itself, is the word "postpone". However, when it comes to Intifada, scheduled surgery can become a very complicated affair.

Lillian was admitted to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital on the evening of Aug. 3rd. Her daughter, Sharone, arrived at the hospital the next morning to keep Lillian company until the scheduled 1pm surgery. When Sharone arrived, she noticed an air of tension at the hospital. The atmosphere seemed unusually hectic.

What neither of them knew at the time was that that same morning, at the Merom intersection near the ancient city of Safed in Northern Israel, a bus had been blown to bits killing 7 and wounding 50. Many were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. Not long after that in East Jerusalem 2 telephone company workers were murdered in their truck when a gunman opened the door of the cabin and shot them at point blank range. 14 pedestrians were wounded in the ensuing crossfire with police. The most critically injured were rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem. On the other side of the country in Avnei Hefetz, East of Netanya, 6 people driving near their village were wounded as gunmen in a passing car shot at the 2 parents, their 2 children and a teenage hitchhiker. At almost the same time, a bomb exploded under an army truck. The soldiers were sprayed with gunfire as they tried to escape the burning truck. The ambush occurred near the Arab city of Ramallah.

The head nurse advised Lillian and Sharone that due to the extreme nature of the emergencies with terror victims in highly critical conditions Lillian's scheduled surgery would be delayed and possibly postponed. After a draining week of pre-op preparations, this was very unsettling news. However, a few hours later Sharone was told that Lillian was entering surgery but that she should be patient with the surgical team regarding updates on their progress as they were swamped with emergencies that took priority. She suggested that Sharone would have a good 3-hour wait, which could be passed most comfortably in the waiting room.

Perhaps under normal circumstances this was true. However, on the afternoon of Aug. 4th, what Sharone and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Rosenberg, found in the waiting room was, in her words, "a nightmare; all these families crying and crying, clinging to each other, hanging on each other for support, sobbing over their loved ones who had suddenly and senselessly been struck by terror and they just didn't know if their family member would make it. It was simply a nightmare." At the same time, she was heartened by the absence of any feelings of blame or revenge against the people who had perpetrated such heinous acts. She saw no signs of anger or hatred. Sharone was impressed that their energy was focused in a positive way on the recovery of their loved ones. This has been a common theme throughout past 2 years of the tragic mosaic known as Intifada.

In addition to a very tense atmosphere, there wasn't even standing room available, much less a place to sit. Sharone and her husband decided to wait outside on the grass, away from the reminders of the day's tragedies. However, there seemed to be no escaping the realities of Intifada; the grass courtyard bordered the heliport which was running at full capacity with a barrage of helicopters rushing in the terror victims.

Lillian witnessed this first hand during her hospital stay. After a lifetime of philanthropic efforts, Lillian was sensitive to the suffering of the terror victims she met during her own recovery. Lillian, Phi Beta Kappa, Suma Cum Lauda math major from Barnard (BS '43) and concert pianist, came to Israel for the first time with her husband, Edgar in 1969. Edgar, Yale Grad, Anthropology '42, taught at Yale from 1946-48 after serving as the Jewish Chaplin of the First Marine Division during WWII. Upon their return to the US in 1970, Lillian started the Music for the Children of Israel foundation.

After making Aliya with Edgar in 1978, Lillian expanded her community work to support teachers working with children who had physical and emotional difficulties. Since the start of the Al Aksa Intifada, Lillian adjusted her philanthropic efforts to serve the urgent needs stemming from the repercussions of terror acts against civilians. Her foundation began to support music therapy for victims of terror. So when her nurse encouraged Lillian get up and move around, she began visiting with the patients who had been admitted due to terror.

In the next room Lillian met Yaffa who had been at the Auschwitz concentration camp between the ages of 10 and 14. She is Czech, speaks five languages and is religiously observant. "For so long now I wake up weeping for all the suffering of the Jewish people then and now," she confided.

Down the hall was Eugenia. She lives in Haifa. Eugenia went to have lunch with her daughter at Hebrew University. They were eating at the Frank Sinatra cafeteria when the explosive was detonated. Sitting in the hospital bed, speaking with Lillian, she completely disregarded her own wounds and spoke only of her daughter in intensive care. She told Lillian that at this point they held out little hope for her survival. Lillian decided to visit Eugenia daily. The following day Eugenia reported, "we almost lost Inna last night, but now she's as she was." The pain was too close to the surface. She broke down, "If the Arabs want to kill us, why don't they just shoot us? Why did they have to fill my daughter's lungs with nails?"

After Lillian was released from the hospital, she remained in phone contact with Eugenia. A few days later when they spoke, Eugenia had wonderful news, " It's a miracle - Inna had movement in her right hand, then she opened her big green eyes - I'M SURE SHE KNEW US!" Since then, Inna goes in and out of consciousness. Her nose and mouth are full of tubes. She can't communicate. But the family remains hopeful. Lillian keeps in close contact providing moral support. Her foundation continues to help the ever-increasing number of terror victims.

As close as Lillian is to the victims of terror, she was taken aback at the degree to which Intifada permeated her life. The last thing she was thinking about as she prepared for surgery was that Intifada might indirectly influence this personal experience that was seemingly so distant from the spheres of politics, military and terror. But in actuality, almost no aspect of life is spared from the influence of Intifada.

Carice Witte
BK '83