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At a ceremony at the Dolphin Reef, in Eilat, a glass was erected in memory of the city's mythological pediatrician

As a child, Martha Kahanov even dreamed of being a bus driver, but found her career in public medicine.

Thirty years ago, she settled in Eilat, and became a revered figure among the residents.

Around her are stories about a smiling and colorful woman, who "lives as she wanted."

She continued to work in the clinic even at age 73, until the cancer stopped her

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• Eilat

• Pediatrician

Eli Ashkenazi

Saturday, 06 March 2021, 08:15 Updated: 08:24

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"The city of Eilat is crying."

Martha Kahanov (Photo: Official Website, Hadas Ayalon)

Two weeks ago, a group of residents from the city gathered at the Dolphin Reef in Eilat to say goodbye to Dr. Martha Kahanov - a pediatrician and well-known and beloved figure in the city, who passed away a few days earlier and commanded her body for science. From all in her hometown. Attendees picked up a glass of wine or beer in her memory, and reminisced. One attendee said her two daughters are studying medicine because "they want to be like Dr. Martha."

For 30 years, Dr. Kahanov worked as a pediatrician at Clalit Health Services Clinic in Eilat. Her co-worker, Nurse Rachel Ben Naim, said she “has become a figure known to all city residents because of her professionalism, dedication and love of the profession and her personality.

She was a happy and optimistic woman, and interested in every child and adult who came to the clinic.

"" The city of Eilat is crying, "it was written in the city newspapers after her death from cancer, and she is only 73 years old.

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Kahanov (Photo: Official Website, Moore Arkadir)

Kahanov was born in 1947 in Bulgaria to her parents Boris Valvira.

The family also included Martha's sister, Annie.

The Kahanovs were pharmacists and pharmacists in Sofia.

During World War II, they were deported from the city to one of the villages, and also there opened a pharmacy.

Two years after Martha was born, in 1949, the family immigrated to Israel - initially to Jaffa, where most of the immigrants from Bulgaria arrived at the time, and finally settled in Ramla, where the father, Boris, opened another pharmacy.

As a child she was not overly interested in studies, and her dream was to be a bus driver when she grew up.

The parents worked long hours to support the family, and the two sisters were independent and spent long hours in the city cinema.

Music was also a central part of the family's life: the father played the piano, and classical music was played on the turntable for many hours.

Since then, Kahanov's great love for classical music has accompanied her throughout her life.

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"In all my years at work I have never met a doctor like her"

At the end of the 1960s, Kahanov left for medical studies in Italy, and upon her return to Israel, she began working at Soroka Hospital.

Hadas Ayalon, her niece, said that her aunt slowly fell in love with pediatrics, and found her purpose in it.

In the late 80's she dreamed more: in 1989 she came to work for a while at Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat, and after coming to the city she met Nachman (Natalio) Meisels - and the two became a couple.

Following this, she moved to Eilat.

In 1990, she began working as a pediatrician at the Clalit Health Services Clinic in Eilat, and worked there for 30 years in a row, until a month ago.

Over the years, she became a familiar figure to all of Eilat, and a doctor revered by parents and children in the city.

A memorial service at her favorite place in town.

Dolphin Reef in Eilat (Photo: Walla! NEWS system, Maayan Roda)

Elon emphasizes that for her aunt "working in public medicine was a principle. She did not think of working in private medicine," while her friend Rachel Partok says that in Kahanov's eyes, pediatrics was a kind of mission.

"In all my years at work, I have never met a doctor like her," said Ben Naim, her nurse friend.

"It was all for the children. Every child she cared for was like her child. There were days when everyone finished work and went home and she would stay in the clinic until ten at night. Parents would call her at all hours throughout the day, and she always answered kindly and helped in any situation."

Ben Naim noted that many of the children and adolescents she cared for insisted that Dr. Kahanov continue to be their doctor even after they had grown up and completed their military service. “She was kind and caring.

When a patient entered her clinic he gained her full attention, without guarding and looking at the clock.

"She had a special sensitivity not only for the child - she saw the whole picture, of the whole family," Ben Naim added.

"Live her life just the way she wanted to"

In time, Kahanov gathered many friends in the southern city.

Partok said that wherever she went, people would greet her and talk to her.

She noted that "what stood out in Martha was her lack of judgment for human beings. She accepted each person as he is."

Along with the eternal smile and joy that radiated from her, Elon says that her aunt "stood out with her colorfulness and developed fashion sense."

"Every day the staff at the clinic waited to see with what dress and what piece of jewelry she would come to work with. Her wardrobe is small only from the bookshelves and the music," she added.

She said, "She lives her life exactly the way she wanted and not according to accepted social conventions."

"She stood out for her colorfulness and developed fashion sense."

Kahanov (Photo: Official Website, Moore Arkadir)

Beyond working hours, Kahanov loved to hang out and travel.

Even when her kidneys were damaged and she had to undergo dialysis, she continued to travel the world and listen to concerts at the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival.

She continued her work even after she had already passed the retirement age, and also in parallel with her medical treatments.

A month ago she came to work and felt unwell, and had to evacuate by ambulance.

"I hugged her and kissed her, and she told me she was afraid she would not go back to the clinic anymore," Ben Naim said.

It then became clear that the weakness was due to cancer, which had already severely affected her.

She returned to her home in the city she loved so much, with family and friends by her side, and there she died.

She asked in her will to transfer a sum of money to animal welfare each month.

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