Yom Kippur inspiration from the Klausenberger Rebbe

THIS YOM KIPPUR YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OUR MOST VULNERABLE PATIENTS

THE DOCTORS TOLD ME MY BABY HAS A

BENIGN TUMOUR THAT KEEPS GROWING

Laniado's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Team Performs One of the World's Rarest Operations

The NICU team at Laniado is no stranger to handling challenges during childbirth. With over 8000 deliveries annually, more than 500 babies require specialised care within the NICU. When they received an ultrasound report about a mother whose unborn baby had a rapidly growing benign tumour around its neck, there was immediate concern.

This situation called for an exceptionally rare surgery, one that had never been performed at the hospital before and was scarcely documented anywhere in the world. The risks of irreversible brain damage or death were high, and meticulous preparation was crucial.

Known as EXIT (Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment), the procedure involved a unique caesarean section where only the baby’s head and shoulders were delivered initially. The airways had to be secured while the baby remained attached to the umbilical cord. Only after ensuring a safe airway, the baby was delivered.

The team (18 specialists) were ready with various airway management tools, including the possibility of placing a tracheostomy. Fortunately, the baby was delivered safely, and the breathing tube was successfully placed.

The operation turned out to be a remarkable success, and a week later, both mother and baby Raphael were discharged home. The story garnered national attention, leaving everyone with a heart-warming and happy ending.

Mother and baby Raphael leaving hospital

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Yom Kippur inspiration from the Klausenberger Rebbe

On Yom Kippur 1945 The Klausenberger Rebbe zt’l (R’ YY Halberstam) found himself in Feldafing Displaced-Persons Camp in the south of Germany. The Rebbe, who would eventually build Laniado Hospital in Netanya, had survived unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Nazis including the loss of his wife and 11 children.

The Rebbe was severely weakened from typhus, nevertheless, he insisted on leading the Kol Nidre service in the Displaced Persons Camp. The Rebbe went to stand next to the open ark and began to speak his words directly to Hashem, crying bitterly.

The Rebbe spoke not from the prayer book but straight from his heart. In a wholly unorthodox manner, he called out the words of 'vidui' (the confessional prayer): ‘Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu…’ (‘We have become guilty, we have betrayed, we have stolen..’). Each word was inflected not as a statement but as a question ‘Did we sin? Did we rebel? Did we steal?’ Almost accusatorily the Rebbe asked ‘Did we really rebel? Did we really steal – from whom was there to steal from in Auschwitz and Dachau?’ ‘Dibarnu dofi' – we spoke slander, we didn’t have the energy to speak!’, Latznu – We scorned? Against whom could we do such a thing there?’ Word by word, the Rebbe dismissed each and every alleged sin of the survivors. ‘We did not commit evil acts, we did not sin wilfully, this vidui was not written for us’. The congregation stood in shock at this most unusual approach.

After a pause the Rebbe raised his voice, ‘But we are guilty of sins that are not written in the prayer book – when we recited Shema at night we hoped it would be our last and our suffering in this world would come to an end and we would join our families in the next world. When we woke the next morning and we had to thank Hashem ‘for returning our souls to us with great mercy’ were we not filled with anger and rage? When we removed the corpses from the barracks were we not jealous of those lucky people who had died? We must ask Hashem to restore our faith and trust in Him and we must pour out our hearts before Him'.

Loving your fellow Jew

The Rebbe had lost much, but he hadn’t lost his love for his fellow Jew. On the eve of Yom Kippur there is a custom which can be found in the front of the Yom Kippur Machzor for a parent to give his or her child a bracha (blessing).

On that Yom Kippur eve a young boy came up to the Rebbe and said, ‘My parents are gone and I have no one to give me the bracha, can you give me the bracha?’ Without hesitating and with a heart filled with pain and love the Rebbe gave that child the bracha.

Seeing this episode unfold another child went up to the Rebbe for the bracha, and then another, and then another, until 500 children, all orphans had received the bracha from the Rebbe. Needless to say, the Yom Kippur services started a little late that year but watching this heart-wrenching process unfold who could complain?