Grandma's army

A LIFE-THREATENING DISEASE Like the beginning of every new year - and especially after the one just passed - we hope that the new year will bring to the world a change for the better. Tragically, one thing never changes…. It should come as no surprise that Jews are in the forefront of scientists and others dealing with the COVID-19 virus. To name a few: Mikael Dolsten is the Chief Scientific Officer at Pfizer; Albert Boria is the   Pfizer CEO; An Israeli, Tal Zaks is the Chief Medical Officer for Moderna ; Drew Weissman is one of the two scientists responsible for pioneering a breakthrough with the development of the mRNA vaccine used by both Moderna and Pfizer; Jeff Zients will be Joe Biden’s overseer for the entire CORONA response; Dr. Rochelle Walensky   is Biden’s new Head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   It also comes as no surprise that Jews   are being blamed for the latest pandemic, just as they were blamed for the Black Death in the fourteenth centur

The story of Chanukah, a Jewish festival being celebrated this week, begins during the second century BCE. Israel was then ruled by Antiochus IV who decided to force the pace of Hellenisation on the Jews of the land of Israel. His aim was to completely undermine the moral foundations of the Jewish nation. Rome forced the Jewish people to accept its own moral code: novel, human, fresh and tempting. At the time, the Greeks were the world’s greatest in many fields. They were unparalleled in their advances in art, architecture, literature, drama, philosophy.   In many ways, their achievements have never been surpassed. The battle between the two sides   was based on the question which way of life is more authentic. The ancient Jewish way, or the modernistic Greek way. That which places spiritual values at the centre, or that which considers materialism as the basis of nation building. That which worships the body or that which   crowns the soul. This was the unique distinction betw

  Life and death battles don’t figure only in wars. People all over the world are battling the COVID virus. Conversely, people battling a chronic disease are facing a life or death situation, against much greater odds. Since dialysis is a temporary solution, people suffering from kidney failure are faced with no other alternative but a kidney implant.   The kidney’s main task is to filter toxins and remove excess water from the bloodstream. Healthy people have four to five times the kidney capacity needed for this. Even with one remaining kidney, there is still plenty of spare function and one can live a perfectly normal life. An organisation called “Matnat Chaim” “The Gift of Life” was established in 2009 by Rabbi Yeshayahou Haver who himself was the recipient of a kidney donated by a friend. He was prompted from witnessing tragic situations - such as the death from kidney failure of a young 15 year old boy, whose older soldier brother was killed by terrorists. They were the o