News and Events

Divorced Couple Remarry in a Rambam Internal Medicine Ward

Publication Date: 7/30/2024 9:00 AM

Four years after their divorce, hospitalized patient Karen Mallach and ex-husband Esteban Petlyuk remarried in one of the wards in the Herta and Paul Amir Department of Internal Medicine A at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel. Their spontaneous and unconventional wedding ceremony opens a new chapter in their romance, which began in 2011.

Rabbi Piotrkowski officiating at the marriage of Esteban Petlyuk and Karen Mallach. Credit: Rambam H
CC.Rabbi Piotrkowski officiating at the marriage of Esteban Petlyuk and Karen Mallach. Credit: Rambam H CC.

Haifa residents Mallach and Petlyuk (both 49) married in 2011 but divorced nine years later. The couple maintained a relationship that gradually blossomed in the four years since their divorce. When Mallach was admitted to the Herta and Paul Amir Department of Internal Medicine A for treatment, Petlyuk seized the opportunity and proposed at her bedside.

The couple wasted no time. Rambam Rabbi Avraham Piotrkowski was called in and solemnized their second marriage in the hospital ward in the presence of family, friends, and medical staff. The bride was dressed in Rambam pajamas and a veil. It was a romantic and emotional event, with everyone crying tears of joy and excitement.

“I didn’t believe it would happen so quickly,” said the groom after the event. “We are married again and are very happy.”


Click on the photo below to watch the wedding.