Israel's Past Present and Future

My day started out as any typical day. I met Rami as I had other mornings. As he would receive orders from different clinics for sterile instruments, we would hook up our electric cart to a stainless steel enclosed wagon and take it up to the clinic. We would pick up used dirty instruments in a different stainless steel wagon and pull it down to the basement to be run through the autoclave.

Another one of our tasks was twice a week we would travel through the hospital picking up paper to be recycled. There would be several pounds of paper each trip. I enjoyed working with Rami as it allowed me to meet and visit with lots of different people.

The highlight of the day was a trip to the Israeli Knesset. What an experience! It was established in 1950 after becoming a state on May 14th, 1948. It was moved to its Jerusalem location in 1966. There were so many things to see and hear about the Knesset that it is difficult to remember it all. Their Knesset is set up similar to our government with the legislative branch, judicial branch, and executive branch.

The first thing we saw was the scroll of Independence that declared Israel a state. There were three large tapestries hanging on the wall commissioned by Marc Chagall. They depicted Israel’s past (Moses and the Exodus), Israel’s present (becoming a state), and Israel’s future. There was a wood carving of seven species of foods grown in Israel. The Knesset was also in session, so we were able to observe them in action.

Claude Jewett, Jr.
Midland, Texas