A Mother's Love

Pvt. Shimon Ohana, on his first combat assignment, leapt forward to protect a child and took a bullet in the chest. When he arrived at Hadassah-University Hospital he was initially declared dead. After surgery and treatments, the medical team was able to revive Pvt. Ohana. But his recovery stalled because he refused to eat. They spoke to his mother Rachel and found out that Shimon was a picky eater. So the surgeon asked her: what does your son like to eat? Well, only her homemade meatballs. So, Mrs. Obama was sent home to Beersheba to cook her son spicy Moroccan meatballs. The next morning, she returned with the meatballs, and she started to feed her son. As Sofer describes it: “When Shimon finished his first meatball, he made awful gulping sounds. At first Rahel thought she’d injured her son, but then she realized he simply wanted more. His doctor nodded. Shimon swallowed another meatball and made the same scary sounds. Four meatballs later he was calm and quiet. Before long he left the hospital on his own two feet. “The story continues to a happy ending, Shimon with Shimon recovering, getting married, and having children. Perhaps this is the first time a mother’s meatballs saved a child’s life. -Barbara Sofer