Eli Reshef, MD

The Website of Eli Reshef, MD

  • Home
  • About
    • Dr. Reshef’s Bio
    • Why Choose Reshef?
  • FAQ
  • Educate Me!
    • Ectopic Pregnancy
    • Endometriosis
    • Egg Donation
    • Fibroids
    • Infertility
    • Insemination (Artificial)
    • In Vitro Fertilization
      • The IVF Journey
    • Male Factor Infertility
    • Menopause
    • Menstrual Disorders
    • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (POCS)
    • Recurrent Pregnancy Losses
    • Unexplained Infertility
  • Contact
    • Directions
  • Links
You are here: Home / Science and Research / Oklahoma City physician: Which America will we choose to be? (VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED?)

Oklahoma City physician: Which America will we choose to be? (VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED?)

February 1, 2017 By Eli Reshef

(Published in the Oklahoman electronic version, February 1, 2017  https://www.oklahoman.com/login?referer=/article/5536385?nok_redirect=yes)

“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt…” Leviticus 19:34

 

The plight of the passenger ship the MS St. Louis in 1939 was portrayed in the movie “Voyage of the Damned.” The ship departed Hamburg, carrying 937 Jews fleeing violent anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany. After being denied entry to Cuba, United States, and Canada, it was forced to return to Europe. Many of its passengers perished in the Holocaust.

The recent executive order by Donald Trump to deny entry to the United States to people from certain countries with Muslim majority is a painful reminder that virulent xenophobia is alive and well. We are poised to turn away refugees from the most atrocious war crimes and human rights violations committed in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, Iran, and Sudan.

Before we try to Make America Great Again, let’s ask ourselves what makes (or made) America great. “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many, One) is a 13-letter traditional motto appearing on the Great Seal of the United States of America and on more than 86 trillion dimes. The phrase suggests that out of many peoples, races, religions, languages, and ancestries has emerged a single people and nation (our Melting Pot).

Some of the most astute and poignant observations of our country have been made by foreigners. Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is a common assigned reading in college and has been termed “the best book ever written on democracy and on America”.

Even less articulate foreigners, many of whom have immigrated here from all corners of the earth, can clearly describe the greatness of this country. I can. Thirty-five years ago, I recited the Pledge of Allegiance along with 300 other ecstatic naturalized citizens, in a courtroom in Texas. The sheer exhilaration and euphoria I felt when the ceremony concluded was unimaginable.

In a cab from the St. Louis airport last summer, I heard the Muslim call to prayer on the radio. “You are either from Sudan or from Somalia,” I good-humoredly told the driver. Impressed and pleased, the driver told me about his plight from the Sudan. Pluralism- an ex-Israeli, a Sudanese, in the Gateway to the West state…

So never mind me, who unwaveringly thinks that America is great already. Ask more prominent people (or their relatives) about what makes this country great. Ask Iman, Christiane Amanpour, Jerry Seifeld, Albert Einstein, Hakeem Olaijuwan, Natalie Portman, Nadia Comaneci, Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla, Charlize Theron, Jackie Chan, Carlos Santana, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Gene Simmons… They are all immigrants or offsprings of immigrants.

So which would our new America be- the one recreating the Voyage of the Damned, or the one that continues to embrace “…your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” (Emma Lazarus)

 

Eli Reshef, MD, practices medicine in Oklahoma City

 

Related

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Meet Dr. Eli Reshef

The other day, another physician asked me if I had to start all over again, would I still become a physician and would I still choose Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility as my sub-specialty. I answered with a resounding “yes”. I feel very fortunate to get up every morning looking forward to going to work. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to help people every day, that is every day, including weekends and holidays. Read More About Me Here-

Dr. Reshef's Most Popular Posts

  • Latest
  • Popular
  • Point of View: Big downside to premature return to “normal”
  • Thousands of eggs, embryos possibly damaged at Ohio hospital
  • YOUR EMBRYOS ARE SAFE!
  • Employers Who Wish to Retain Staff Should Consider Having Infertility Benefit
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
  • Today Week Month All
  • OKC Doctor: Planned Parenthood defunding would curtail reproductive care options
  • There is no "baby deadline" test!
  • What You Really Need to Know About Egg Freezing
  • Vitamin D Deficiency- Is There Really a Pandemic?
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
Ajax spinner

Post Archive

  • May 2020
  • March 2018
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012

Contact Dr. Eli Reshef

  • We love people, not bots. Please select "Yes, I am Human" from the drop down below.

Recent Posts

  • Point of View: Big downside to premature return to “normal”
  • Thousands of eggs, embryos possibly damaged at Ohio hospital
  • YOUR EMBRYOS ARE SAFE!
  • Employers Who Wish to Retain Staff Should Consider Having Infertility Benefit
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
  • Subfertility May be Harbinger of Disease Later in Life
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Eli Reshef, MD

3433 NW 56th Street, Suite 210-B
Oklahoma CIty , OK 73112
Phone: (405) 945-4701

Post Calendar

March 2021
M T W T F S S
« May    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Copyright © 2021 · Eli Reshef, MD. All Rights Reserved.