Michal Nagen, wife of Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Nagen, announced that Sunday night, that he was released from the hospital after having been hospitalized suddenly last week following a brain hemorrhage.
Rabbi Nagen, 55, teaches at Otniel Yeshiva in Judea, south of Hebron. He has published a number of books and articles on the subject of Jewish philosophy and Talmud. A colleague of the esteemed late Rabbi Menachem Froman, he is deeply involved in interfaith peace activities between Muslims and Jews.
Michal Nagen wrote on her Facebook page: “This morning, I received a message from our nation’s president, that magnanimous man, Yitzhak Herzog, that he intends to say a prayer for Yaakov’s complete recovery, and asks to know his mother’s full name [that is used in prayers such as this]. He said that he remembers us holding hands at a visit to the President’s House. True. Throughout the years, I have given Yaakov my hand because he is my anchor. In his presence I manage to weather the storms in my life. And now the tables have turned, and I hold his hand to give him support as he trods the path between life and death.”
She added, “In these fateful hours, Jews and Muslims from around the world pray for Yaakov. And I see in that a continuation of the lessons Yaakov teaches. Our Torah is merciful and kind. And it is the source of peace and connectedness. Our Creator gave Yaakov the task of showing how much prayer can help and how prayer has the power to change reality.”
“By Heavenly mercy, Yaakov returns to us more and more each hour, at an incomprehensible rate of recovery; in the last 24 hours, Yaakov has moved from intensive care to a regular ward and now, in these exact moments, we have returned home. I bless us -- Yaakov and me – that the day is not far off when we will continue to walk the Earth holding each other’s hands. Returning to the world the good with which we have been rewarded,” she concluded.
Rabbi Yaakov Nagen’s wife and seven children stayed at his bedside the entire time.
The surgeon who saved his life is Dr. Samuel Moscovici, senior neurosurgeon at Hadassa Ein Kerem Medical Center.
The rabbi’s wife, Michal, recalls: “Yaakov came home after a long trip outside the country and from one moment to the next, he was suddenly struck with a horrific headache. He told me it was the worst headache he had ever had. I knew that he had to be in a hospital in this condition. I immediately understood something was wrong.”
“We ordered an ambulance that sped us to Hadassah Ein Kerem. Rushing him urgently to the hospital was the best decision we could have made. We arrived at Hadassah Ein Kerem and received the best treatment possible. We were lucky to have Dr. Samuel Moscovici, who dared operate on his brain. I begged him to save his brain. ‘You need to protect this brain of ours,’ I told him at the most difficult moments, but I soon understood that he would save every person an not just our Yaakov.”
Before being released to his home, Rabbi Nagen asked, from his bed, to thank the Hadassah medical team on this special day of Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
“Today, the 9th of Av, is so symbolic. When we talk about destruction of the Temple, we are talking about the holiest place. And Hadassah Hospital if not a holy place, the place that brings life to everyone, the place where people work with dedication and in brotherhood for one another without differentiating religion or ethnicity. It is said that a temple must be a place of prayer for all peoples and here I was treated by Jews and Arabs alike, in love and brotherhood, and I felt it to be the fulfillment of the prophesy of the prophets.”