JANUARY 4 • 2024 | 25

Five days a week from 8 
a.m.-5 p.m., Saar worked with 
a wide range of needs. Many 
patients were wounded IDF 
soldiers, but patients also 
included those with Parkinson’s 
disease, multiple sclerosis, 
amputees, and people who 

were in car or motorcycle acci-
dents.
For 50 days, or nearly two 
months, this was Saar’s routine.
“We tried to help people get 
their spirits up,
” he says. “We 
showed them there’s a way to 
get out of this. We wanted to 

give them hope and strength.
”

READY TO GO
Saar, who is also involved 
with APF — or American 
Healthcare Professionals and 
Friends for Medicine in Israel, 
a North American volunteer 
organization that supports 
Israel in the event of a national 
emergency — is no stranger to 
volunteering services.
While he returned to Metro 
Detroit on Dec. 7, he said the 
need is still there.
If the war escalates, Saar, 
who is semi-retired, says he 
wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer 
in Israel again in January. This 
time, he says he would stay for 
up to six months.
His wife, Itzi Saar, who also 
specializes in rehabilitation 
care, may also join him.
“I didn’t buy a roundtrip 

ticket [the first time around] 
because nobody has any idea 
how long this is going to take,
” 
Dany Saar says of the ongoing 
Israel-Hamas war. “If the 
war opens in the north, the 
situation could be a lot worse.
”
He says hospital systems like 
Sheba Medical Center will need 
all the help they can get from 
trained medical professionals 
who understand the Hebrew 
language and needs.
Still, having volunteered 
there for 50 days, Saar feels 
confident in hitting the 
ground running if he were to 
return to Israel early next year 
to volunteer rehabilitation 
services.
“From the time we leave 
until we hit the ground, it’s 
close to zero,
” he says of any 
learning curves. “We’re pretty 
much set.
” 

The rehabilitation clinic at 
Sheba Medical Center in Tel 
HaShomer (near Tel Aviv)