Medical clowns offer serious relief for Israeli kids recovering from trauma
Brashness, innovation and willingness to take risks put Israel at global forefront of growing discipline as the country continues to reel from Oct. 7 and subsequent years of conflict
By Deborah Danan(opens in new tab) Courtesy of The Times of Israel
JTA — Shorty, the aptly named 4-foot-8-inch medical clown, stood between two young patients riding coin-operated toy cars in the lobby of Tel Aviv’s children’s hospital, alternately blowing and eating bubbles as the children giggled.
Between mouthfuls, Shorty asked the girl’s mother why her daughter, about 6, was in the hospital. For a tonsil operation, the mother said, which had been performed by a Dr. Shaked.
Shaked is the Hebrew word for tonsil. Shorty stopped blowing bubbles and turned to face her. “You’re joking,” she said, slapping her palm theatrically to her forehead. “That’s it, I’m done. I have no reason to be here.”
Decked out in a baroque lace cravat, a disco-themed baseball cap and a pin that reads “Life is short and so am I,” Shorty is the alter ego of Shira Friedlander, one of seven Dream Doctors medical clowns assigned to Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, also known as Ichilov.
Photos courtesy of Dream Doctors