Maccabi Tel Aviv players, together with "Achim LaSemel", visited the Tel HaShomer rehabilitative hospital
Four Maccabi Tel Aviv players – Captain Sheran Yeini, Gal Alberman, Rafi Dahan and Eli Zizov – paid a special visit to the Tel HaShomer Rehabilitative Hospital to mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukah. The four team representatives, along with two representatives of "Achim LaSemel", an organisation of team fans volunteering for the community, met with patients in the various wards and gave out Maccabi Tel Aviv scarves and hats, along with traditional holiday sweet cakes called "suvganiot", all generously donated by Said Abulafia of the legendary Abulafia Bakery on Tel Aviv's Ibn Gvirol Road. Joining the players and helping with the holiday gifts was Henry Avital, a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan and regular home game attendant who was injured in the first Lebanon War and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
The players visited as many wards as possible, including the therapeutic pool and physical therapy ward, giving out "suvganiot" and gifts to all comers. The patients – youngsters, soldiers and adults, some of whom were also Maccabi Tel Aviv fans – were all surprised and delighted to see the Maccabi Tel Aviv stars.
Gal Alberman explained the significance of the visit: "We're trying to make a contribution in all kinds of areas that go beyond our daily routines and even if it isn't easy, to try to bring some joy into people's lives. What's important was to wish them a happy holiday, health and success with their rehabilitation and we hope by doing that we manage to help them a bit. You can't compare the kind of injuries we get out on the pitch to what the patients here go through. It sounds like a cliché, but seeing the people here really does put life in perspective".
This is not captain Sheran Yeini's first visit to a hospital as a Maccabi Tel Aviv player: "I've been to many hospitals in recent years, people respond to it and are pleased by these visits. There were soldiers here and a casualty from the Burgas terrorist attack, as well as others for whom this is their everyday life and it is great to be able to come here and bring them some joy".
