Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News from the Medex event to facilitate the immigration of physicians to Israel in New Jersey about the rise in people wanting to immigrate to Israel.
‘’We've seen over the last few months a real crystallization of a visceral connection between the Jewish people and Israel. We've seen an incredible upswing of interest, almost double the amount of interest that we have every year, in almost every profession and demographic. We're not surprised that when we would normally have approximately a hundred physicians come to a Medex event, we now have nearly two hundred fifty. It's from a host of different reasons, but mainly that there’s a struggle within our homeland and now they’re feeling connected more to where they're supposed to be,” said Rabbi Fass.
The event focuses on helping doctors in particular immigrate to Israel. Rabbi Fass explains what creates the need for such a focus: “Israel has an impending physician shortage. it actually has a physician shortage today, but it's going to get worse if there's no remedy. We created Medex a few years ago to have a one-stop shop for physicians interested in immigration. They can come to get their degrees licensed and look for professional placement even before they hit the ground. It reduces some of the leap of faith for some of these physicians. Normally, we bring around one hundred American physicians to Israel each year, and this year we're hoping to double that to around two hundred.’’
He commented on some of the help they’ve received from Israel: “The government of Israel sent over a whole delegation to process individuals even before they're citizens. It's incredible to see all the hospitals and medical clinics here to attract and interview potential physicians.’’
Tony Gelbart added: ‘’There's one thing that we've noticed this year - people aren’t saying ‘maybe in a few years’. Since the war broke out, they’re doing it now.’’
They say that Israel is facing a critical shortage of physicians: “Physicians volunteered during the war for all kinds of practices, but that shows how great the shortage is today. We will need to fill that void for the next five years. That’s why we're working with all the ministries in the government to help these doctors immigrate.”
Despite more than two decades in the field, both still find it an exciting endeavor. “You can see the thousand-year-old dream in the face of every potential immigrant. It’s an incredibly humbling responsibility for them to come to you and ask for help to make it happen.’’