Certified nurse-midwife Gila Zarbiv, who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, fell in love with Israel when she was eight years old.

During her college years, she spent summer and winter vacations in Israel. The first time she walked through the labor and delivery unit at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem one summer, just to see it, she knew that was where she was meant to be.

Right after college, she immigrated to Israel and studied to become a nurse at the Henrietta Szold Hadassah – Hebrew University School of Nursing.

Listen to Gila describe the miracle of saving a 1.3-pound baby, Hadassah’s pivotal role as a bridge to peace, and the trauma of hearing about the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.