Thousands of American doctors volunteer to help Israeli victims — but have yet to get the call
Yigal Marcus’ dining room in Hashmonaim, Israel, has been converted to a command center for processing volunteer forms. Courtesy of Yigal Marcus
By Louis Keene October 11, 2023
Yigal Marcus was just trying to recruit a few doctors — his two brothers who live in the United States — to volunteer in Israel in case the country faced a physician shortage. But his wife overheard him, and texted a friend, who texted her siblings, and soon Marcus’ phone was blowing up.
In the next 48 hours, more than 5,000 medical personnel from more than 40 countries around the world committed themselves to the cause. Now Marcus, an American businessman who lives in the Israeli town of Hashmonaim, has involved his kids and their friends in helping organize their responses.
“Everyone wants to come,” Marcus, 48, said. “Literally, ‘I’m ready to go’ — ready to get a flight tonight.”
Marcus, who sits on the board of trustees of Hadassah International, the fundraising arm of an organization that runs one of Israel’s largest medical systems, said that Hadassah had informed him that so far no medical volunteers were needed. He said he has also been in touch with the country’s Ministry of Health, who has had them stand by.
“In the event of a serious escalation, which I think unfortunately, people are expecting, this system may very well be overwhelmed,” Marcus said, adding that while hospitals are fully staffed, there may be a backlog in treating the regular population that volunteers may be able to fill.
“We’re telling people: Be patient,” he said.
‘Our calling’
Marcus made aliyah from Teaneck, New Jersey, in 2016, to run the Israeli office of AllianceBernstein, an investment firm.
He said in Hashmonaim, a West Bank settlement of about 2,500 people, the atmosphere is one of “eerie silence and nervousness.” None of his three kids is in the IDF — his eldest daughter recently completed non-military national service — but he said he has several friends whose children have been deployed to Gaza.
As he waits for his volunteer list to be of use, he has joined the ranks of other volunteers making supply kits of food, clothing and toiletries to send to bases.
“We are a people who chesed is our calling,” Marcus said, using the Hebrew word for kindness. “And we’re rising to the occasion.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
