JJ Packer Sar El volunteer transition to Joanne Packer RN MSN – Part 1

The volunteer stint at Matzrap ended on a high note, with thank you cards from our bosses and many Kodak moments. The last evening was one of those: how well do you really know each other. I managed to stump the stars with my fundraising endeavors for the MS Society. We packed our bags; we cleaned the compound; we waited for the inspection; and we boarded the bus in record time! (I’d say less than 10 minutes)

Had a last night out with friends - great wine, food and lots of laughs! By noon the next day, I was at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, awaiting the arrival of the bus with the nurses from the Hadassah Nurses’ Council Mission. Our tour guide at Independence Hall was a delightful Albanian woman who was informative and funny. Of course I was thinking about my friend Sue’s Albanian family. It never occurred to me that Jews would have emigrated from Albania to Israel.

Independence Hall was once the home of the first mayor: Meir Dizengoff. (Say that fast Mayor Meir Dizengoff!) It is also the place where Ben Gurion declared the independence of Israel on May 14, 1948. The museum’s Hall of Declaration remains unchanged today. The original microphones are on the tables as well as a portrait of Herzl, the Zionist leader. A visit to this museum will make you want to sing Hatikvah, which we did!

It all seemed like a great start with 23 perfect strangers; unfortunately, I was ill prepared for the pace we would keep going forward for the next 8 days!
Our welcome Shabbat night dinner was an inauspicious beginning for what ultimately was a fabulous mission. The speaker, who will go unnamed, droned on and on and on….I excused myself at 9:30pm - dessert and coffee had yet to be served. (For the last 3 weeks, supper was a dairy meal that lasted 45 minutes at the most!) I had a light bulb moment that I hadn’t planned for a necessary transition and it was unfolding before my very eyes! (The positive oy sign is never good and I was invoking it regularly.)

Shabbat morning found me back at Kol Haneshama; although Friday evening services were extraordinary, Saturday morning felt familiar. We did a walking tour of the old city: exploring the Christian Quarter, which I previously mentioned. Enroute to the quarter we walked though Mishkenot Sha’ananim. This was the first neighborhood outside the walls of Jerusalem, built by Sir Moses (Moshe) Montefiore in 1860 as a more benign alternative to the wretched conditions of the Jewish quarter at the time.


This was also the neighborhood where we had a picnic lunch on our outing from the army base. Sometimes it takes more than one visit for the history to register. Not so in this case because I was quite enamored with the windmill the first time we were there. I did learn the history of Montefiore’s Windmill.

Sir Moses Montefiore was a prominent financier in the mid-19th century; a rare phenomenon for a Jew at that time. Much of his life was spent financially aiding his fellow Jews in distress. In this endeavor, he visited Palestine, as this neighborhood was formerly known during the Ottoman Empire, seven times. In 1857, this limestone windmill was built to provide a source of income for his planned neighborhood of Mishkenot Sha’ananim. Unfortunately, the prevailing winds were inadequate and the new steam driven rivals prevailed. The restored carriage in which Montefiore traveled is on display nearby.

Our wake-up calls were scheduled for us and we were up and out on the bus at 7:30am for our introduction to the Hadassah Hospital at Ein Karem. This felt like a real nursing conference with speakers talking about the history of Hadassah, current practices and the future of breath health; public health issues of the Arab population, and plans for the future of the hospital (think capital campaign). Many of the faculty from the school of nursing joined us at lunch.
I spent half the day with a pediatric nurse in an intermediate surgical unit. (There are no school nurses in Israel at this time.) Staffing at the hospital was a bit frightening for me with a ratio of 1:8. The parents were certainly involved in the day to day; but it was busy.



I had the opportunity to feed a little Arab baby who was a few days post-op. His mom was not able to visit due to an infection and dad had taken some time off from the bedside. Hannah, the nurse in the unit, recounted that she had one of those wonderful teaching moments with this baby’s father when the other children and their families were at the hospital’s Purim party. It was an opportunity for her to teach him with privacy about caring for his newborn.
The Abbell Synagogue at the hospital is the home of the famous Chagall windows. We were invited to a ceremony honoring a nursing colleague that was held in the chapel.

It was a Kodak moment for Penn Nursing Alum:
Dr Nira Bartel, Dr Orly Rotem and me! The reception may have been a snoozer, but the tour of the windows was a great one. Here’s the story behind them.

Hadassah @ Ein Kerem is one of the leading general hospitals in the Middle East. It is also the teaching hospital for Hebrew University’s medical and dental schools. When the US-based Hadassah women’s organization approached Marc Chagall about designing windows for the new hospital, he was so delighted that he donated his time and work for the project. Inspired by the Bible, he created 12 bright windows in primary colors with Jewish and esoteric symbols and characteristically Chagallian beasts. The techniques of the glassmakers created a very thin pane, which gives an illusion of depth. During the War of Independence, the windows were damaged in a bombing of the hospital. Chagall repaired the windows at no cost; he did replace one of the holes with a small circle of clear glass as a reminder of the battle for independence. During our tour of the windows and synagogue, Claudia, our guide, made reference to Anita Diamant’s book: The Red Tent (which she told me she read in Spanish)!

Our day continued with a tour of the Emergency room and the new Maternal and Child Center.

Group pictures were a frequent request from Pennie Branden, one of our intrepid leaders. The lobby of the Maternal Child Health Center is a unique design.

The colorful neon on every floor is kid friendly, but in time of need, the lobby can be converted into a mass triage center with oxygen and suction apparatus available in the ceiling (with the removal of the panels.)

Our day finished at the home of a nursing faculty member. It was a lovely evening, with great food and wine. Red wine helps! I must admit that I’m still in search of a few good laughs! This group really needed to lighten up!

More to come about my new best friend Henrietta Szold….