Rosh Hashanah is about new beginnings. A new year. New possibilities. A chance to look back at what has been and forward to what might still become.
But not every beginning is timed conveniently. Sometimes, it arrives at four o’clock in the morning, in the form of a frantic call from an expectant mother ready to deliver her child thousands of kilometers from home.
For United Hatzalah volunteer Dana Weber, a member of the Adele and Joel Sandberg Women’s Unit, these new beginnings are not uncommon, even in a remote location like Uman, Ukraine.
Every year ahead of Rosh Hashanah, thousands of Jews travel to Uman to pray at the resting place of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who placed particular spiritual significance on gathering for Rosh Hashanah. For generations, many dedicated followers have made the annual pilgrimage to his graveside for the holiday.
Among those making their way to the city this year was a pregnant Israeli woman.
One day she arrived in Uman, the next, she arrived in the local hospital labor and delivery ward. At approximately 4:00 in the morning, Dana received the call.
The expectant mother was in a foreign country, facing one of the most intense and vulnerable moments of her life. She had traveled separately from her husband, and he had not even reached Uman yet.
Despite the busy time of year, Dana went to her.
What followed was not simply another emergency medical response. For more than six hours, Dana stayed with the woman, first with the Ukrainian ambulance crew and then inside the local hospital.
She translated. She explained. She helped communicate with doctors and nurses. She made sure the mother understood what was happening around her and that the Ukrainian medical staff understood what she needed.
“Baruch Hashem, the baby arrived and now so has the baby’s father,” Dana said. “They are now all together for Rosh Hashanah.”
All of this is taking place while Dana is simultaneously managing the Goldstein Hotel, its restaurant and dining room as the city prepares for the Rosh Hashanah visitors.
One moment she is responding to a medical emergency. The next she is shopping for food, organizing the hotel or preparing holiday meals.
“I just came from the hospital and ran to the market to shop for the hotel,” she said. “I am managing the hotel, the restaurant, the dining room and the people who are arriving. We need to buy things and prepare the holiday meals. And every once in a while, there is another United Hatzalah emergency.”
For Dana, this experience is not entirely unusual.
She has lived and worked in Uman for more than eleven years and speaks both Hebrew and Ukrainian. Over that time, she has developed close relationships with the staff at the local hospital, including its administration.
“I am not employed by the hospital,” she explained. “I volunteer with United Hatzalah and I love doing it. But over the years they have come to trust me. And they know I am here to help.”
That combination of trust, familiarity and language has made Dana something considerably more than an emergency responder for the Israelis who find themselves needing medical care in Uman.
She has become their advocate and their bridge to a medical system they may not understand.
Her relationships in Uman are so established that her assistance does not necessarily depend on her being physically present.
“I know the hospital staff well, including the hospital director,” she said. “Even if I am not in Uman, I can call her and she helps take care of things.”
This was not even Dana’s first delivery in recent weeks.
“Two weeks ago, we received another call for a woman giving birth at home,” she recalled. “We did not make it to the hospital in time. A baby boy was born.”
A new life begins. A new chapter. All in time for a New Year.
