A Mitzvah and a Miracle for a Mongolian Child

Every citizen in Israel is well aware of the medical treatment given to Syrians who cross the border from the hostilities in their country and Israel has welcomed them and has saved hundreds of them from death. I know of no other country in the world which would provide free medical treatment and hospitalization to citizens of fiercely enemy countries.  Israel is the great humanitarian nation.

Very recently, a surprising situation occurred. How a Buddhist couple from Mongolia ever managed to arrive in Israel is completely beyond me. But arrive they did, with no financial means and no common language for communication. How they arrived, how they paid for air and land transportation, remains unknown.

Shortly after their arrival, the woman gave birth to a baby girl in an Arab Red Crescent hospital in East Jerusalem… our very first Mongolian-Israeli born citizen.

When doctors discovered the newborn’s condition they found a hernia of her diaphragm below her lungs. The Honorary Consul of Mongolia in Israel  (I did not know that we had one)  immediately contacted the Shaarei  Tzedek Medical Center in West Jerusalem and the baby girl was transferred there for surgery.

Dr. Yaron Armon, director of the pediatric surgery department performed a very successful surgery.

In response. Tsend Mukh Orgil, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mongolia, sent a warm letter of thanks and appreciation to the doctors, medical and hospital staffs and to the people of Israel who helped to save the life of a Mongolian baby.

For us, it was both a mitzvah and a miracle. What the immediate future holds for the Mongolian parents and child is not yet clear. For the time being, they will remain in Israel where the baby will continue to get free medical care.

Amichai Orkabi, Mongolia’s Honorary Consul in Israel, stated  his pride to the entire world.

He said “This case is the best example of our basic values as a society”.

It is also based upon our Jewish religious teachings. “He who saves one life it is as if he has saved the world”.

The situations between Syrian refugees fleeing from oppression and possible death and that of the Mongolian Buddhists may not be quite similar. But all those who have been saved and helped have expressed immense gratitude to our country for accepting them and to our brilliant medical personnel for restoring to them their lives.

We can never withhold medical care to those in need, neither to friend nor to foe. It is a mission that Almighty God has given to us to be His partner in the care and healing of the ill and suffering.

As Israelis, it must serve as a constant memo of the values which we hold precious. Even those who hate us and who seek our destruction have come to us in times of a crisis seeking our world-renowned medical care. And they have never been refused. And after their recovery, they return to their own country still plotting the destruction of Israel. Where is the gratitude?

I don’t know what Mongolian name the parents will give to their baby daughter. I would like to propose the name Tikvah  (Hope) in the hope that she will grow in health of body and mind and bring honor to her parents and country, while never forgetting that her life was saved in Israel.

A mitzvah (righteous deed) and a miracle for a Mongolian child.