A video of a doctor at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem dancing down the hallway recently went viral on Israeli social media.

Media personality Sivan Rahav-Meir reached out to the doctor, who explained that he was expressing his joy at the fact that it was his last shift in the coronavirus ward, as the ward is b’Chasdei Hashem now closed due to a lack of patients.

“Hi Sivan. I’m Naftali Gross. It’s erev the Chag of freedom, of Yetzias Miztrayim and that’s exactly how I feel now. This is my last shift in the coronavirus ward at Shaarei Tzedek. The last patients are being released, we’re closing. Who would have believed it? Baruch Hashem.”

“We’ve been living on another planet for the past year, far from anything we could have imagined. First and foremost, the dear patients and their families – who fought to breathe and live – literally. But the difficulties were far more encompassing, from the heads of the departments to the volunteers.”

“At times, tragedy followed tragedy and the successes didn’t manage to diminish the feelings of loss and horror – utter darkness. I can’t even remember how many times we said Vidui with a patient whose family members were unable to part from them.”

“I don’t know why our generation was destined for this battle but I know that together we wrote a chapter in history. One day, we’ll tell our grandchildren about this difficult period and Israel’s wonderous exit from darkness to light – with such apt timing.”

HaRav Kook writes that Yetziyas Mizrayim didn’t end, that we always need to continue: ‘Yetziyas Mitzrayim will forever remain the spring of the entire world.'”

“I emerge from the coronavirus ward, breathe deeply, and indeed I feel – spring has arrived.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)