Los Angeles Jewish Home

Residents at Eisenberg Village and Fountainview were treated to an insider's perspective on the Middle East from Jerusalem Post chief political correspondent Gil Hoffman during a visit to the Jewish Home. The aptly titled "most optimistic man in Israel" by Israeli television provided insightful, thoughtful, and engaging overviews of the region's current events, from Israel's perspective.

Residents, curious to learn about international events, packed the Eisenberg Village multi-purpose room and Fountainview theater for two back-to-back presentations.

Touching on hot topics like Iran, Syria, Egypt, the Palestinians, and Israeli government affairs, Hoffman presented an optimistic outlook for the Jewish State — that despite the sensationalist stories we read daily, Israel's position in the region is actually extremely strong.

Hoffman described how the world was no longer quite as threatening to Israel as it once was.

From Egypt becoming so pro-Israel some of their newspapers referred to the Jewish State as their "savior" to Syria having only 10% of its military capability, the overarching message was that Israel is much safer than it was only a couple years ago.


On Iran, Hoffman explained that UN sanctions and Netanyahu's "red line" left the potentially nuclear arch-nemesis reeling, and that the world is largely on Israel's side.

As the conversation delved into the conflict with the Palestinians, Hoffman described how Hamas is being quickly marginalized across the region, and how American-led peace talks were progressing well.

The presentations concluded with Hoffman describing how, in Israel, "at the age of 65, we're finally growing up. We can look back on what we've built with pride." Now in a more stable position regionally, the current Knesset was elected mostly on economic issues, is far more moderate than in previous years, and potentially more malleable toward lasting peace terms with Israel's neighbors.

"They loved him!"said Eisenberg Village activities director Caryl Geiger. "They really raved about him."

The benefit to the residents was more than simply entertainment.

"What he did was stimulate the residents intellectually," Geiger explained. "We had such a big response, and the residents had great questions for him."

Residents continued the lively discussion about the topics covered during Hoffman's presentations following the events. "So informative" and "excellent speaker" were repeated over and over.

One new resident at Eisenberg Village thanked the Jewish Home staff for organizing such a marvelous event.

"I've been here only a week — I'm so impressed," she exclaimed. "And they tell me events like this are normal!"

The Fountainview audience was just as enthusiastic. Shelley Smilen, director of resident services, recalls, "One resident shared with me, 'He was funny, humble, and informative — when is he coming back?', and that’s quite a statement coming from this gentleman!"

Special thanks goes to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for bringing Gil Hoffman through its Israel Speakers Bureau.

Labels: Egypt, Eisenberg Village, Fountainview, Gil Hoffman, Iran, Israel, Israel Speakers Bureau, Jerusalem Post, Jewish Federation, Knesset, Middle East, Palestinians, Peace, Politics, Syria

Tell Dr. Doron Melamed that aging is inevitable, and he is among the first to agree. The critical question, he points out, is not whether the process can be avoided – it’s whether, at certain levels, it can actually be reversed. His breakthrough research has proven exactly that.

Based at Haifa’s Technion, one of Israel’s most prestigious universities, Melamed leads a team of researchers that has accomplished something extraordinary: showing that it is possible to turn back the clock on the aging of the body’s immune system. The idea, he says, is not necessarily to extend survival, but rather to help people live healthier. “Older people suffer more from infectious disease and cancer,” he notes. “If we are able to improve their immune systems, they will age healthier and enjoy an increased quality of life.” His finding matches up exactly with the Jewish Home’s commitment to healthy aging, which includes a focus on helping seniors live high quality, productive and independent lives.

Melamed is an immunologist – someone who studies the development of immune cells. As the body ages, those cells see a marked decrease in development, ultimately leading to an immune system comprised of old cells that have a limited capacity to respond to infection. In the scientific community, conventional wisdom has long held that this age-dependent change in immune cell development is part of a progressive and irreversible process. Working in collaboration with colleagues, Melamed has turned that conventional wisdom on its head. “We conducted a ‘proof of principle’ experiment in which we took an old mouse whose lymphocytes [a type of white blood cell] were poorly generated and transformed it so that it was just like a young mouse in terms of generating cells,” he explains.

The potential implications of his work are remarkable and far-reaching. Restored to full health and functionality, immune systems would be better equipped to fight disease, enabling seniors to maximize enjoyment of their golden years instead of “going every week or two to a physician, having to take multiple pills each day and facing repeated hospitalization,” Melamed says.

In partnership with researchers at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital, Melamed is conducting a clinical trial in humans to determine whether his discovery holds true across species. “I think it will take another two or three years until we start getting data from the clinical trial about whether or not this will work,” he forecasts. Once the efficacy of his treatment is determined, Melamed predicts it will be another several years before physicians and scientists begin identifying the full range of opportunities for human use.

Funded in part by coveted grants from the Israel Science Foundation, Melamed’s research continues to distinguish him as one of the country’s most promising young scientists – someone capable of seeing things with new eyes. It’s a metaphor he finds appropriate. “Aging was always considered to be progressive and irreversible,” he says. “Suddenly, someone comes along and wonders whether that’s just the way we see it, and that maybe, if we adjust our vision, we would come up with a different result. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Labels: Age Reversal, Aging, For the Body, Healthy Aging, Immune System, Immunology, Israel, Israel Science Foundation, Melamed, Technion