Recently a group of women from the United States and Canada who are healthcare heroes travelled to Israel as part of the Momentum “Healthcare Hero Trip to Israel” program that focused on healing souls, connecting with peers, and drawing inspiration from Jewish wisdom and modern-day Israel.
The eight day trip featured Momentum’s signature educational programming, including world-class speakers, Israeli leaders and special programming designed for healthcare workers.
An important component of the experience was also encounters with Israeli mothers in the healthcare field, with a select group of Israeli women joining the program to share their experiences with the healthcare heroes from the United States.
Arutz Sheva met with Momentum staff and the healthcare heroes to find out more.
“We have the honor of bringing to Israel a hundred healthcare heroes. We call them heroes because they’ve been at the forefront of fighting covid in the United States and Canada,” says Dand Sender Mulla, director of Israel Office, Momentum. “These are all amazing Jewish woman who are coming here to Israel to connect with Israeli colleagues, but more than anything to fall in love with Israel, and connect to who we are as a people and our role in this world to repair the world.”
Sharon Litwak, Momentum community leader, Tarzana, California adds: “This group of healthcare heroes… is so special because all of them have been through the pandemic, and it’s been so draining for all of them. We’re hoping on this trip they’re going to recharge a little bit, both spiritually, physically, and just be supported by people who went through the same thing they went through.”
Dr. Robi Shalotsky Ludwig, Momentum participant, Manhattan, New York, explains that “what the pandemic highlighted for all of us is the importance of connection, and what happens when we don’t have that connection.”
“Now that we can safely be connected and be with one another again, there is this true joy in experiencing other people with that energy that happens that’s really indescribable,” she says.
Liwak adds that “most of them don’t know each other which is very different from other [Momentum] trips. But they will have something in common which is they’ve been through the pandemic as healthcare heroes.”
Shalotsky Ludwig remarks that “people are very kind and thoughtful and certainly bring their speciality to the table as a person.”
“It’s such an amazing and powerful experience,” she says. “Just meeting so many different women and what I'm seeing is women reaching out to get to know each other. People you would never meet if it were not for this experience. We’re all coming together with a love of Judaism, of being Jewish, and of having the true Israel experience.”
Mulla explains that “Momentum has been promoting and investing in mothers for a decade because we believe that Jewish mothers are the best agents of change in the future of the Jewish people.”
“When you invest in the mother, you allow her to make the right decisions for the identity of the children and her grandchildren,” she says.