Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and This World: The Jewish Values Network is hosting Dr. Mehmet Oz and his family on their first visit to Israel from July 28th – August 4th. The trip was initiated by Rabbi Shmuley who recently awarded America’s most famous medical practitioner and his wife as Champions of Jewish Values, together with Elie Wiesel and Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson at the annual This World: The Jewish Values Network gala dinner in New York. With the generous support of the Adelson’s, Rabbi Shmuley invited Dr. Oz and family on a voyage of Jewish values through the Holy Land. The two American media personalities had originally met as colleagues during their time together as radio hosts on Oprah and Friends.
Among the highlights of the trip will be visits to the Western Wall, Yad Vashem, the Israel Museum, the Dead Sea, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Tiberias, Safed and Masada. Dr. Oz has also been invited to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, Dr. Oz will make a personal pilgrimage to the tomb of Maimonides, the medieval Jewish doctor who served as personal physical to Sultan Saladin and serves as a symbol of Jewish and Islamic coexistence.
Dr. Oz and Rabbi Shmuley will also join forces for two public appearances. A panel discussion on the values needed for a Middle East renaissance will be held at the Jerusalem Press Club and Mishkenot Sha’ananim, moderated by Steve Linde, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post. An additional panel discussion on the civic duty of physicians and clerics, as the ballast of society, to speak publicly on leadership matters will also take place at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
“I am delighted to travel to Israel, especially being accompanied by my wife Lisa and our four children and son-in-law. Being of Turkish extraction, I have always appreciated the deep ties and friendship between the Turkish people and the Israeli people. Being an American I appreciate Israel’s friendship with the American people and my own close friendship with the American Jewish community. I am grateful to my dear friend Rabbi Shmuley for organizing this trip and equally grateful to Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson for their unparalleled generosity in making the trip possible,” Dr. Oz said.
Rabbi Shmuley added, “For a long time I’ve wanted to bring Mehmet and Lisa to Israel given their amazing friendship with our community and the global impact Mehmet makes through every medium to preserve and protect human life. So when we recently honored them, together with Elie Wiesel and Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson, as Champions of Jewish values, the Adelsons, as the world’s foremost supporters of Israel and Jewish causes, were kind enough to make the trip possible. I think Mehmet and Lisa are going to have the greatest time and I’m so happy that our families will be traveling together.”
This World: The Values Network is grateful to the Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies, and its director, Rabbi Shmuley’s close friend Rabbi Shlomo Gestetner, for co-sponsoring and facilitating the trip. The Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies is a thriving Jewish educational institution and is one of Birthright’s largest trip providers. Mayanot is dedicated to strengthening the Jewish people through inspirational Jewish education and to encouraging its students to become leaders in their communities.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of the world’s most respected doctors and professor of Surgery at NY Presbyterian/Columbia University, hosts The Dr. Oz Show that airs in 118 countries, including Israel on the Good Health channel. In June 2013, his show won its third consecutive “Best Show” Emmy.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the international best-selling author of 29 books has been labeled “the most famous rabbi in America” by The Washington Post and Newsweek and one of the fifty most influential Jews in the world by The Jerusalem Post. He is founder of This World: The Values Network and winner of the London Times Preacher of the Year competition and the American Jewish Press Association’s Highest Award for Excellence in Commentary.