Ishay Ribo performs at gala to support hospitalized children
Founded in memory of Gilat Eisenmann, a vibrant 11-year-old girl who passed away in 2008, the Gilat Foundation provides therapeutic live theater to children in hospitals.
Expanding its mission of hope and healing in Israel, the Gilat Foundation held its first annual gala at the ALYN Hospital rehabilitation center for children and adolescents on October 5 with an intimate evening performance by Ishay Ribo, whose inspirational music is a soundtrack of hope and healing to many.
Founded in memory of Gilat Eisenmann, a vibrant 11-year-old girl who passed away in 2008, the Gilat Foundation provides therapeutic live theater to children in hospitals in the Netherlands, Curaçao, and now Israel.
The organization’s first large-scale local fundraiser was created to educate the public about the critical role therapeutic theater plays in pediatric care, particularly during times of national trauma, and help expand the performances from four to eight hospitals in the country.
The elegant evening, produced by A to Z Events, brought together Gilat Foundation board members, donors, and newcomers to the organization, as well as Dutch Ambassador to Israel Marriet Schuurman.
“We believe theater is medicine no doctor can prescribe,” said Jair Eisenmann, Gilat’s father – the founder and chairman of the foundation. “What makes it magical is that children can forget pain, treatment, 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’ve laughed in a long time.”
Ishay Ribo together with ALYN patients and event participants Kayla Katzin and Beila Bueno de Mesquita. (credit: Yechiel Sadeh)
President Isaac Herzog thanked the Gilat Foundation via video for its vital work on behalf of Israel’s children. “Coming together here tonight, you are celebrating something truly special,” he said. “I’m so grateful to the Gilat Foundation and to Gilat’s father, Jair, for reminding us of our true strength as a nation, our ability to embody light and love, to touch one another 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 being treated at ALYN came down from their treatment floors to enjoy the performance. Among them was Kayla Katzin, 17, who suffered a traumatic brain injury from a recent car accident.
A thank you to Ishay Ribo
“Thank you to Gilat for arranging this amazing concert,” her father Avraham said in brief remarks to the audience. “Ishay Ribo’s music has been such a support for us through trying times, and it is having 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 has given me both!”
The evening concluded with an elegant dinner in the hospital’s garden, where guests reflected on what they had witnessed: the transformative power music and theater can have in the face of trauma and suffering.
While performing on stage, Ribo made great efforts to interact with the children from ALYN who were able to attend. He said, “The Gilat Foundation’s founders, Jair and Tali Eisenmann, have chosen to keep their daughter’s memory alive forever in the holiest way, through the smiles and laughter of other children.”
