"A Second Chance: Rani Revivo's Miraculous Encounter"

It happened about two years ago, turning Rani Revivo's life upside down. At 45, the electrician from Yavne experienced a severe cardiac arrest at work, battling for his life for 12 days in the intensive care unit of Kaplan Hospital.

The emergency team arrived to find him unconscious, without a pulse or breath, lying on the floor at the building's entrance. The rescue team from United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom performed CPR using a defibrillator shock—something that later proved life-saving.

Revivo was taken to the hospital with multiple organ failures, and initially, the doctors gave him little chance of survival. "The resuscitation lasted about 66 minutes, with electric shocks," Revivo recalls. "The doctor present was ready to declare time of death, as he saw no hope.

And then, suddenly, a woman appeared—I don't know who she is, and it's hard for me to describe her. She insisted on continuing the chest compressions. When they delivered one last electric shock, a pulse was discovered."

"They Told My Wife to Prepare Goodbyes"

Revivo was moved to the intensive care unit—here, too, doctors weren't optimistic. "They told my wife to prepare the family for goodbyes," he recalls in a trembling voice.

The medical team fought for his life for 12 days until his condition started to improve, and he finally opened his eyes. "Once I woke up, I told my wife who I met," he says.

He is referring to Rabbi Yoram Abergel, of blessed memory, whom he had known before the incident and felt deeply connected to. "I was in the yeshiva, surrounded by myrtle trees arranged in water-filled jars. I took one, blessed it, and smelled it. Then I saw the Rabbi's tallit lying in a box near the ark. I picked it up and smelled it. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I saw the Rabbi standing before me. He said, 'A person, before passing and ascending to heaven, knows 30 days in advance, and there's nothing one can do. But it's not your time.' The Rabbi simply hugged me and led me out through the door, and then I knew it wasn’t my time."

A commotion erupted in the hospital when he opened his eyes. "I remember waking up and seeing the doctors and nurses around my bed who had given up, calling in my family. The takeaways from this experience are to live in the moment and cherish family, because you never know what will happen. I was truly reborn, and Rosh Hashanah is definitely not the same for me," he concludes.