I work part time doing monoclonal antibody infusions for people who are Covid positive and are high risk. A patient came in today, elderly male, accompanied by some of his family. Tattooed numbers on his arm. I told him that I was taught that whenever I see those numbers, I should ask for a bracha, so I did.


The man started to cry, and and told me that he was in several concentration camps. He personally met Mengele 3 times during the war for Selection, and he watched his mother and siblings get Selected for the "other" line. When he told the guard he wanted to go with his mother, the guard yelled at him, called him a "Jew dog," and told him to go where he was told. That was the last time he saw his mother. It was evident that all these years later, his grief was still fresh.


He gave me a bracha that all the patients we are helping should be well and not have to come back to the hospital again, and that myself and the other healthcate workers should be well and have strength to continue to help people. I cannot imagine a bracha from this man going unanswered. I wanted to share this with my family of healthcare workers, so that we each partake in this bracha. Amein V'amein.


Yaakov Shereshevsky, RN
NY