Natalia will volunteer in the Corona Department in Wolfson • Hila will make the holiday with her route company • Ofek and his unit police will work to enforce the closure • The stories of five Israelis who will make this Rosh Hashanah their work
While most of us will gather around the holiday table and be in the arms of the family, even if only the nuclear family this year, there are thousands of Israelis who will make this Rosh Hashanah their work - yes, also because of the corona.
If there is anything that connects them it is the sense of mission, which allows them to overcome the difficulty of working even on a holiday.
Photo: GPO
Natalia Cernio, nurse
Natalia Cherniou (41) from Holon is a nurse in the Corona ward at Wolfson Hospital, and will mark the holiday eve with her patients in the Corona ward, while her partner and young son will mark the holiday eve alone.
"I work for three years as a nurse at Wolfson in the neurology department," says Natalia. "It's a situation where you have to help and volunteer. My child is 7 years old and he understands everything, and I also tell him that when he grows up - I'm sure he will help people too."
Coral Rose, Pharmacist
"On New Year's Eve, the question is always asked who will be on duty and who will stay with the family," says Vered Almog, 54, Beilinson's director of pharmacy services, who this time it was her turn. "We are here backing up every medical procedure, every surgery and every treatment. "But this year will be a special year. On the one hand there is a closure and no one will travel to his family. On the other hand, everyone wants to stay with his family precisely because of the atmosphere of sadness and even the feeling of loneliness."
"This year we have Corona patients who require special preparation of the pharmacy, and their treatment is dynamic. If they need a particular drug, we need to order it from the Ministry of Health and treat the entire treatment chain. Above all, I hope that as every year, I hope there will be transplants and life savers "In that case, when I'm in the hospital, I do not feel like I'm leaving my son and daughter behind, because I know I got up from the holiday table for a very meaningful and valuable endeavor."
Hani Ingram, medic
Hani Ingram (37) started volunteering at MDA only about a year ago, but since the corona broke out, she has been absent from her home on all Israeli holidays: on Purim, Passover, Independence Day, Shavuot and even Lag B'Omer.
"In my private life, I serve as a teaching assistant at Kinneret College, among other places. For the past six months, my students have become accustomed to zooming lessons when a protective suit covers me," says Hani, who serves as an emergency medic and corona model.
Tomorrow Hani will continue the tradition, and will once again be on duty on New Year's Eve.
As on previous holidays, the sense of mission, she says, outweighs the great difficulty in never having to celebrate with her husband and her two young daughters again (ages 6 and 7 and a half).
"At the beginning of the corona, my daughters were with my parents in the center, from Purim until after Pesach. The girls felt very proud of what I was doing, and my mother, who herself had previously volunteered at MDA, gave another boost.
My family is amazing and I also live in Masad, which is a small community with a supportive community.
My husband Yuval will celebrate with the girls and our capsule in the community.
I still do not know where I will be placed.
Whether on duty at the station or taking corona samples. "
Halo Saturn, warrior
"I will mourn Rosh Hashanah with my second family: the Track Company," shares Hila Shabtai, RPG in the Cheetahs Track Company, March 2020, "In a complex period like this, I am proud to be on guard even on a holiday, far from home.
The greatest meaning in serving in the military, is to do so at all times, unconditionally and unconditionally.
That is why I want to say to all those who close the holiday wherever they are: the most important task to which we are committed is the security of the state, and in fulfilling our mission we allow everyone to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at home and feel safe and calm. "
Ofek Goldring, cop
Even thousands of cops will not rest this holiday.
One of them is Chief of Staff Ofek Goldring (19) from Rishon Lezion, who serves in the Shahar 101 Central Unit. blockade.
"I enlisted in the border because I always wanted to combine combat and policing in my service," says Ofek. "Our involvement in the field of crime is interesting, and of course the service in the most sensitive places in the country is very satisfying.
I feel I am greatly affecting the confidence in the sector in which I serve.
I close a holiday at the base, which is not easy at this time: my parents do a holiday alone with my little sister, and it's a little sad that I can not be with them at the holiday table.
And yet, I understand my role, and that I along with my unit members are supposed to enforce the closure and guidelines.
"If I can ask for something next to the request to act in accordance with the instructions, it will be heard by the cops who will be out. I and other cops will be there for you."
Meital Yasur Beit-Or, Hayali Yaakovi-Handelsman, Adi Hashmonai, Hanan Greenwood and Itzik Saban participated in the preparation of the article.