Dr. Rahamim Melamed-Cohen was born in Jerusalem into a family of Rabbis. He was an educator, a scholar and an artist. At age 57 he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and given two to five years to live. That was well over a decade ago. He is still alive, though completely paralyzed save for his eyes. But with the help of state of the art technology, he has since written numerous books, including a study of the importance and different appearances of eyes in the Bible.

The way Rahamim has overcome physical difficulties and challenges, dealing with unexpected troubles and obstacles to achieve his extraordinary accomplishments is a testament to the human spirit, the notion that nothing can stand in the way of our will (“Ein davar ha’omed bifnei haratzon”). In this inspiring program, Rouhama Danto will present the remarkable story and work of Melamed-Cohen.

Descending from a long rabbinical line, Rouhama Danto is a longtime educator who has graduated as a Commercial Artist from the Tel Aviv School of Art and has received a BSc in science from the University of Tel Aviv, a Master’s degree in Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary and a degree in Art and Stage Design in N.Y. She has produced a series of educational films in Israel and has worked as a consultant to the Jewish Board of Education in Cleveland and taught at Associated Hebrew School in Toronto. She has been a members of the executive of Yad Vashem and is still a devoted member of the Society for The Protection of Nature in Israel. Rouhama currently lectures on Bible, Art, Israel and Judaica.