Ishay Ribo performs at gala to support hospitalized children
Founded in memory of Gilat Eisenmann, a dynamic 11-year-old girl who died in 2008, the Gilat Foundation offers live therapeutic theater to hospitalized children.
Expanding its mission of hope and healing in Israel, the Gilat Foundation hosted its first annual gala at the ALYN Hospital Rehabilitation Center for Children and Adolescents on October 5 with an intimate evening by Ishay Ribo, whose inspiring music is a soundtrack of hope and healing for many.
Founded in memory of Gilat Eisenmann, a dynamic 11-year-old girl who died in 2008, the Gilat Foundation provides live therapeutic theater to children in hospitals in the Netherlands, Curaçao and now Israel.
The organization’s first large-scale local fundraiser was created to raise awareness of the critical role therapeutic theater plays in pediatric care, especially during times of national trauma, and to help expand performances from four to eight hospitals nationwide.
The elegant evening, produced by A to Z Events, was attended by Gilat Foundation board members, donors and newcomers to the organization, as well as the Dutch Ambassador to Israel, Marriet Schuurman.
“We believe that theater is a medicine that no doctor can prescribe,” said Jair Eisenmann, Gilat’s father, founder and president of the foundation. “What makes it magical is that children can forget about pain, treatments, isolation and even war for a few moments. We help them smile, which helps calm fear. For many children, a Gilat performance is the first time they have laughed in a long time.”
Ishay Ribo with ALYN patients and event attendees Kayla Katzin and Beila Bueno de Mesquita. (credit: Yechiel Sadeh)
President Isaac Herzog thanked the Gilat Foundation via video for its vital work for the children of Israel. “As you gather here tonight, you are celebrating something truly special,” he said. “I am so grateful to the Gilat Foundation and Gilat’s father, Jair, for reminding us of our true strength as a nation, our ability to embody light and love, to touch each other with generosity of spirit and enable true healing. Thank you for transforming your personal pain into a beautiful light that touches others.”
Some of the children treated at ALYN came down from their treatment floors to enjoy the show. Among them was 17-year-old Kayla Katzin, who suffered a traumatic brain injury following a recent car accident.
A thank you to Ishay Ribo
“Thank you to Gilat for organizing this incredible concert,” his father Avraham said in a brief speech to the audience. “Ishay Ribo’s music has been a great support to us during difficult times, and it has had a powerful impact on Kayla during her recovery.” Kayla bravely joined her father on stage to tell the crowd that “two things help me feel better during my long recovery: music and making me laugh. Gilat gave me both!”
The evening concluded with an elegant dinner in the hospital garden, where guests reflected on what they had witnessed: the transformative power that music and theater can have in the face of trauma and suffering.
While performing on stage, Ribo made great efforts to interact with the ALYN children who were able to attend. He said: “The founders of the Gilat Foundation, Jair and Tali Eisenmann, chose to keep their daughter’s memory alive forever in the holiest of ways, through the smiles and laughter of other children. »
