Music
from the Soul
by
M. Levitansky
"Impossible." "Unbelievable."
"Truly a miracle."
Those were the reactions
of staff members at Alin Hospital in Jerusalem last Purim when they found
nine-year-old David Rosenberg clapping his hands to the beat during a
musical performance by Zimra volunteers for the hospital's mental health
patients.
After suffering a
fall eight months earlier, David had developed a mental health condition
that left him uncommunicative. That afternoon, instead of delivering mishloach
manos to neighbors and friends, David's father sat by his son's bed in
despair, wondering if he'd ever get so much as a sigh from his immobile
son.
David's father's
ruminations were disrupted by greetings from a Zimra volunteer, who handed
him mishloach manos and told him to bring David to the dining room where
Zimra would be putting on a concert in honor of the holiday.
When David started
clapping his hands halfway through the concert, the stunned staff quickly
called David's doctors. They had no explanation for David's behavior -
but Zimra founder Shimon Shnitzer did.
"We
don't just play music," says Shnitzer, "ours is music from the soul. When
you put your soul into something, there's no telling what effect it will
have."
Shnitzer, the son
of Holocaust survivors, has used music to lift people's spirits for years.
His parents' home was always filled with fellow survivors, many of whom
were never able to adjust to the realities of life after World War II.
Shnitzer and his brothers and sisters developed a rapport with many of
these guests by playing music to lift their spirits.
A few years ago, medical
professionals got wind of what they were doing and asked them to perform
for mental health patients in local hospitals. That's how Zimra got its
start. In 1994 Shnitzer turned his hobby into a non-profit organization
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of the mentally ill in Israel
through a wide range of recreational activities.
Music therapy is Zimra's
most popular - and successful - activity. Throughout the year, and particularly
around the Jewish holidays, Zimra volunteers visit dozens of hospital
wards around the country and bring joy to the mentally ill through music.
They
perform at one hospital per week, entertaining a minimum of 400 people
at a time. Their goal is to increase their number of performances to 20
performances a month, but Shnitzer says they'll first need to raise about
$30,000 to set up four additional bands and supply them with instruments
and sound equipment.
It's a program Shnitzer
says is worth investing in, and personnel at mental health facilities
throughout Israel concede that it works.
"As mental health
therapists," says Dr. A. Sella of the Eitanim Mental Health Center, "we
are well aware of the need to bring to our patients joy and happiness
as much as we can. Music is one of the therapeutic touches that we use
very often. Zimra visits three times a year, singing and playing music
for our patients in the hospital. Their contribution to our treatment
is enormous."
Ivria Oron, a representative
of the Gehah Psychiatric Hospital Blank agrees: "Zimra's contribution
to our patients is phenomenal. They bring them joy and happiness, they
dance with them, sing and entertain them. These evenings are unforgettable,
and the patients are always looking forward to the next time."
In addition to providing
music therapy, Zimra's 140 volunteers visit patients in the hospital and
in their homes, and distribute food packages.
In 1998 they
made 3,500 visits a month to mental health patients and delivered more
than 50,000 Shabbos meals and 100,000 holiday meals. They also provided
1,000 sets of arba minim on Succos, 5,000 sufganiyot on Chanuka and 10,000
mishloach manos on Purim.
Now
the organization's goal is to collect and distribute two tons of apples
and a quarter ton of honey to 10,000 ental health patients for Rosh Hashana.
"People often spend
hours busying themselves for Rosh Hashana, sending New Year's cards and
preparing large meals," says Shnitzer. "What they don't realize is that
there are thousands of mental health patients who don't have the opportunity
to really experience Rosh Hashana, and to them even an apple with honey
can make a tremendous difference."
Zimra volunteers also
put much time and effort into helping the mentally ill marry and set up
homes of their own. Not only do they find them suitable marriage partners
and then make entire weddings, but they also find them places to live,
supply them with furniture and appliances, and give them guidance on marriage
and raising children.
"Zimra believes that
all human beings are entitled to lead meaningful and rewarding lives,
including mental health patients," says Shnitzer. "We help them claim
that right."
According to the director
of volunteer services at the Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital, what Shnitzer
and the Zimra volunteers are doing is more than what many hospitals could
ever do for their mental health patients.
"We make every effort
in medicine and nursing to help the patients and to bring them quality
of life, but all our endeavors cannot replace the family and friends they
are missing," says Sara Ophir. "Zimra fills a great need, bringing friendship,
happiness and music into the patients' lives."
Or
as Shnitzer likes to put it, "Where clinical treatment for mental health
patients ends, ours begins."
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