When the dignified elderly gentleman attired in a tailored suit of fine cloth the color of dark-yellow oriental spices or a bronze-yellow Mediterranean sun took the outdoor stage at Rambam Health Care Campus on May 18th, spread his hands wide, and addressed an audience of family, friends, business associates, and RHCC leadership and staff in these few, simple words – "Thank you, I love you" – his listeners knew from his generous deeds that this is a man who means what he says.

The speaker was Mr. Sammy Ofer, 86, who grew up poor in the Haifa seaside neighborhood of Bat Galim (lit., Daughter of the Waves) near today's Rambam and went on to achieve fame as a global shipping magnate, art collector and philanthropist.

The event was held to honor Mr. Ofer's $25 million gift to RHCC, which he pledged in the Second Lebanon War's aftermath and earmarked for two purposes -- construction of a 750-bed underground emergency hospital and renovation of Rambam's Departments of Surgery, Urology and ENT.
 
In his remarks and thanks, RHCC Director General Rafael Beyar called construction of the underground hospital "a national project in answer to a national strategic need."

Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Chair of Rambam's Scientific Advisory Board and 2004 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, told the audience that Mr. Ofer's contribution represents an occasion both happy and sad: "The Israeli government should be responsible for building a fortified underground hospital for the more than 2 million citizens of Northern Israel," he chided, while praising Mr. Ofer's largesse and placing it in the context of a global Jewish culture of charitable giving. "In Japan, Germany, Spain and elsewhere, you will see fabulous architectural structures, but the walls are empty. Here in Israel, you see the walls covered with the names of people, of donors, from Israel and abroad. Among Jews, we're speaking of an ancient culture of philanthropy motivated by an obligation among community and family members to look after one another whether near or far."  

The event was emceed by veteran investigative journalist Mr. Rafi Ginat, a personal friend of Mr. Ofer's. "Sammy is a business tycoon with the soul of a child and a large heart," he said affectionately, charming the audience with anecdotes of Mr. Ofer's happening to meet youngsters whose stories moved him, such as the waitress who served him a meal or the boy selling flowers at a traffic intersection, and whose educations he went on to personally finance.

Perhaps the event's most emotional moment came when Captain (res.) Tomer Bohadana, who was seriously wounded while serving as a company commander in a paratrooper reserve unit during the Second Lebanon War, and whose life was saved at Rambam, took the stage.

"What did I think of when I was on the stretcher? I thought of my unit, and I thought that I have to stay conscious because at Rambam they, the doctors and the high technology there, will take care of me," he said before publicly thanking Rambam's doctors and nurses and personally thanking Mr. Ofer: "Soldiers have to know that there are people that they can depend on to back them. Although you don't go shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield, we know that you are with us."

The event concluded with the inauguration of the newly designated Sammy Ofer Tower (formerly known as the Main Building), and was held in superb springtime weather that set fluttering the rooftop's Israeli flags and the plum-colored banner that concealed the building's cornice until the moment came for the unveiling of the building's new name.