Dafna Meir was a tremendously admired nurse, working in the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva. Half a year ago, she was murdered by a terrorist, stabbed to death outside her family home in Otniel, where she lived with her husband, Natan, and her six children.
Yet the legacy of her life's work lives on.
Ally Schiff, a young American who completed her nursing studies at Johns Hopkins University around the time of Meir's murder, decided to make aliyah so as to follow in Dafna Meir's footsteps, and work in Israel as a nurse.
As featured on Channel 2 News, Schiff got to meet Natan Meir, Dafna's husband, at the Western Wall, five days after making aliyah with Nefesh B'nefesh around two weeks ago. She expressed how much Dafna had inspired her in making her life-altering decision.
Natan responded by telling Ally how exciting and emotional it was for him to meet her. "With this amazing thing you're doing, and in this emotional place... the words run out when describing it."
Schiff then read out a personal prayer written by Dafna, the "Nurse's Prayer", in which the desire is expressed to be able to see God's hand in the healing process.
"Dafna wrote that when she was studying about medications," Natan reminisced, "I found it in her locker, and publicized it. I heard that it's been translated to lots of different languages, and has even reached the Christian world."
Speaking about what Dafna might think if she heard Ally's story, Natan added: "She would be so happy to hear about this amazing thing. I know it's so difficult, leaving everything in America behind to come here, especially when that includes your family. It's another building block for the country, people like this coming here."
The meeting at the Wall was the first between Schiff and Natan Meir, but not the last. A few days later, Ally Schiff was the guest of honor at the Bat Mitzva of Na'ama Meir, Natan and Dafna's daughter.