Yom Kippur Miracle of Nansi Brandes: 'I Was Millimeters from Death'

After suffering from a severe infection and being transferred to the intensive care unit at Ichilov Hospital - where he stayed for an entire week, singer and entertainer Nansi Brandes rushed to soothe viral rumors suggesting he was on his deathbed, with days numbered. Brandes recounted feeling so ill on Yom Kippur that he feared he might suffer a heart attack. "We drove to the hospital in the streets of Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur eve, feeling deeply embarrassed. I just wanted them to rule out the risk of a heart attack," he related in an interview with Galey Tzahal.

Nansi Brandes at his grandson's Bar Mitzvah party in the city of Yavne'el

By Hashem's grace, the doctors dismissed the possibility he feared, but as he was diagnosed with a virulent bacterium, he had to be hospitalized. "I was in severe condition, millimeters from death," he recalled. "Had I arrived the next day, they wouldn't have been able to help me. Today, thank Hashem, and I say this because I have a daughter who returned to faith - I can say I'm outside of all this chaos".

The daughter he referred to is his eldest, who approached Judaism a few years ago, strengthening the entire family thereafter. Brandes further added, "In the synagogue in Bucharest, they organized a mass prayer for my health. The immense love I received, the interest, and prayers for my well-being, gave me the strength to continue."

In related news, watch a video from a year ago where Nansi Brandes speaks at his religious grandson's Bar Mitzvah - "I live in a different world and need to convince my secular friends, explaining to them what true happiness I find in my religious family.":