Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
"Shalom, my name is Yoel Shteinberg and I am a volunteer for United Hatzalah (emergency medical services organization) in Beit Shemesh. On Friday I was shopping with my wife and as usual I took my walkie-talkie with me. While shopping, I received a call regarding an older woman who had fainted in the city's main shopping center. I sped there with several other medics who were on call. We treated the woman but she became extremely anxious and began to hyperventilate. One of the medics tried to calm her down but then the woman asked if we could sing her Shabbat songs.
I am a singer by profession and perform at weddings to gladden the hearts of brides and grooms. I began to sing 'Yah Echsof' -- 'Lord, I long (for the sweetness of Shabbat).' This is an ancient Shabbat song we sing at home every Friday night, and here I was singing it in the middle of a shopping center in order to revive a woman who had fainted.
The other medics joined in the singing and little by little we saw color return to her face. We gradually saw her vitality return until, within a few minutes, she had returned to herself completely.
I have provided medical assistance numerous times, but I never saw anything like this. I have been taught many different emergency treatments, but I did not know that singing Shabbat songs was one of them. Actually, though, this is precisely what Shabbat does for our souls each and every week. Shavua tov."
