Share with a friend:

Dr. Shraga Wexler
Israel

See what other graduates are up to:

Read about Grads' Breakthrough Stories
See profiles of Grads Making a Difference

Featured Grad Site:
Visit a site created by
graduates*:

ILovePossibility.info

*Landmark may link to sites that graduates have and will rotate the sites that we link to from time to time.

Taking the Time to Listen

Although troubled times are nothing new in this part of the world, this is our time to be alive and witness them. Israel is a very small country, and there is no one who is not deeply impacted in one way or another by the generations of strife here. My youngest daughter is in the army, as is required of our young people in Israel, and this of course makes it doubly difficult for my wife and I. Fortunately, my whole family has participated in The Landmark Forum, which continues to unfold in our lives as a source of strength and empowerment in many ways.

I had been a successful physician for many years when I took The Landmark Forum. After The Landmark Forum, my patients who had known me for many years began to notice a big change. For the first time, I found myself taking the time to really listen to them, make them feel comfortable, talk with them, and make them feel as though they were an equal partner in their health care. I was more satisfied with my work, and the peace of mind that came with that satisfaction was apparent to everyone around me. I was even able to get into communication with several former patients and ask them to talk to me about things they hadn’t been able to tell me before, and they became my patients again.

Meanwhile, my family was noticing the same big changes. One of my daughters, who was then 15 years old, finally said to my wife, “you know, maybe we’ll do the Forum as well!” – and one by one they all did. My relationship with my daughters is now extraordinary. When my eldest daughter became pregnant, I couldn’t believe it, but she asked me to deliver her baby! I felt uncomfortable with this request at first, but she insisted, and it turned out to be an amazing experience for our whole family, especially the second time. It was so great not to have my lack of comfort, unease, or feeling embarrassed stop me.

In my practice, fellow colleagues had suggested that I go abroad and learn endoscopy. I let my fear of failure and my embarrassment about learning a new field with younger doctors go and I became one of the first doctors in Israel to do this procedure and have it available here in an expanded way. Even doctors from other countries where these procedures are not done are sending their patients to my institute.

Like many people in the Middle East, I am committed to finding a way to end the long years of conflict. Sometimes as I lie in bed at night, however, and think of my daughter in the army, or hear the sounds of ambulances nearby, rushing to a bomb site, I find myself filled with frustration, fear, and hopelessness. Fortunately I am able to fall back on the work of Landmark and emerge with a renewed commitment to making a difference in whatever way I can.

In the past I have led several Introductions to The Landmark Forum in Ramallah (the Palestinian capital), and a dozen Palestinians did go on to participate in the courses. If you were to come and visit a Landmark Forum today in Israel, you would see such
a diversity of participation – secular Israelis, Arabs who are Israeli citizens, even Orthodox rabbis! By continuing – step-by-step – to build bridges between these very different communities and points of view, we hope to build a new future for our children and our children’s children.