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Birth
i was born into a middle class family. my mother Fanny, was an artist, while my father Daniel, was an organic chemist. -
Period: to
Years
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Sister
my younger sister Yael was born. as kids the two of us never got along. as we both got older that changed. -
Fathers death
my father died of a heart attack when i was 4 years old. this left my mom to raise 3 children, my older brother, Jonathan was 7, my sister, Yael was 2. -
Renovation
my parents had planned to move out of abington because they wanted a bigger house. they almost bought a giant house in lower moreland with a pool. to me it seemed like a mansion . but unfortunately as a result of my fathers passing we were forced to resell the house and remain in abington. as an alternative my mother had our house renovated. we added 5 rooms to the house, essentially doubling our living space. -
Starting School
i started kindergarden at rydal elementary school. i stayed in the abington school system up through my high school graduation. my time spent in the abington school system was fun. i look back on it today rather fondly. i learned a lot and was treated well. it was a great place to grow up. -
Hebrew School
my mom enrolled me in beth Shalom's hebrew school program. It is a conservative synagogue and the hebrew school program is taken very seriously. as a kid i hated the synagogue but looking back on it now the program did a great job. i can read hebrew fairly well and know all the prayers in the conservative service. overall i'm glad my mother forced me to attend class 3 times a week up through 6th grade. -
Visiting Israel
my mother took us to israel for the first time when i was 11. It was an amazing experience for me, and its had a lasting impact. i met my entire family for the first time. my mom is israeli and has 8 brothers and sisters that still live there. i met all my aunts, uncles and cousins for the first time that year. since then i have been going back to visit them every summer. i am close wit many of my cousins to this day. we keep in touch via e-mail. -
Bar Mitzvah
i had my bar mitzvah in an orthodox synagogue in Be'er Sheva, Israel. it was my first real contact with orthodox services and practices. -
Semester Abroad
my junior year of high school i spent the first semester in jerusalem on a program called NFTY EIE. while on a kibbutz outside jerusalem for 4 months i learned secular subjects along with hebrew and jewish history. the jewish history class taught me what it means to be jewish and gave me perspective about my life as a jew. ultimately the experience made me appreciate my jewish roots and encouraged me to continue my jewish learning throughout the rest of high school and college. -
Poland
i spent 2 weeks in poland as a part of my jewish history curriculum. while there I saw the death camps Auschwitz -Birkenau and Maidanek. But i also saw and learned a lot more. our discussions and lectures in poland didnt focus on the horrible deaths those people faces but of the jewish lives they lived through countless generations. in the warsaw jewish cemetary we went from grave to grave and learned about all the different jews that lived there and the rich yiddish culture that is today lost. -
High School Graduation
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Temple University
i attended temple university for 4 years and graduated with a Bachelore of science in Biology. -
Japan
My sophomore year in college i decided to study abroad through a Temple University program in Tokyo, Japan. i spent the fall semester of that year staying with a host family and touring the country in between my studies.. among the places i visited were Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Yokohama. i have always been interested in other cultures, and going that far east on my own was very exciting. -
Medical school
After taking the MCAT my junior year of college, i applied to medical school. i was accepted into the medical program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. i completed my graduate studies at the university and my residency at Hadassa medical center in 4 years time. -
Finished College
i recieved my Phd in Medicine. i was officially a practicing physician. -
Europe
After graduation i got a job at a medical lab doing AIDs research. Then in a few months i accumulated some money and decided to go on a tour of europe. i left with a few friends of mine, starting in poland and hit almost every country in western europe. we stayed in hostels and took trains from city to city and country to country. our last stop was the United kingdom, where we took a plane back to israel. -
The Army
After returning from Europe i volunteered for the israeli army. First i was sent to basic training for a month, then followed a month of officers training. shortly after that my 4 years of service began. i performed a wide range of services for the army. for example, my first year i conducted physicals on new recruits and deemed them fit to serve. when a war broke out in lebanon again i was reassigned to an army hospital near the border. treating wounded soldiers. -
Teaching
my last year of Service in the army i spent teaching medical students. i found out a lot about myself that year. i had a knack for teaching i just never figured it out. also, i always thought i would dislike teaching but when i got there i found it enjoyable and fullfilling. -
On-Call Doctor
shortly after leaving the army i got a job at hadassa medical center as an on call emergency room doctor. -
University professor
after about two years being an on call physician i decided to give teaching a legitimate shot. before i knew it I was a professor of infectious disease and immunology at Ben Gurion University. -
My Calling
to this day i teach at Ben Gurion University. my research projects in cooperation with the university have been very successful. i have published dozens papers in scientific journals and recieved international recognition for my research.
