Dr. Joseph Bruner’s famous photo which depicts an in-utero fetus squeezing his hand while he operates was publicized worldwide in 1999. Since then, he has saved countless lives, married Yafa, undergone circumcision and soon expects to immigrate to Israel. When asked if he perceives this as dangerous, he responded: “Dangerous? I feel safer in Israel than in Chicago and in fact each time I visit Israel I feel extremely secure.”
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Each time Dr. Joseph Bruner shares his story, he has a hard time holding back his tears. Sometimes he doesn’t even try, and just breaks down crying. Dr. Bruner describes himself as someone who throughout his life had searched for something missing and for the longest time has no idea what that was. In the end, he found it within Judaism and a love of the land of Israel. And so, at age 69, Dr. Bruner who was born and raised as a Catholic Christian in Nebraska, decided it was time to undergo a circumcision. Now - about a year later - he is planning to immigrate to Israel with his wife, Yafa Bruner Klarich.
“This is the fulfillment of my life’s journey, a dream that has finally become a reality,” Dr. Bruner says. “A hole in my heart has been filled through spiritual fulfillment, as well as my joining the Jewish nation.”
And it's not that Dr. Brunner's life was devoid of meaning. He has an extensive career behind him, and one historic photo that will remain part of his legacy. It was taken in 1999, during open fetal surgery, and was named "The Hand of Hope.”
The story of the photo begins with Samuel Alexander Armas, a 21-week-old fetus, who was diagnosed in-utero, as suffering from Spina Bifida (a severe birth defect in the spine). Dr. Bruner, who was then working at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, initiated a groundbreaking solution which included performing a Caesarean section during which a small incision was made on the fetus, after which the pregnancy would continue as planned.
Samuel's mother, Julia, heard about the groundbreaking surgery that could save her son, and immediately contacted Dr. Bruner who performed his 54th procedure of this kind together with Dr. Noel Tulipan. What made this one so special was the moment Samuel's hand emerged from his mother's womb and "squeezed" Dr. Bruner's hand, as if the fetus (Samuel) had thanked the doctor for saving his life.
Following the surgery, Dr. Bruner admitted that the fetus, like its mother, was sedated during the operation. He explained that he simply re-inserted the fetus's hand back inside the womb, after it had suddenly come out, before concluding the procedure. The image has become etched in the public consciousness and the method Dr. Bruner developed has to date saved many more children.
Although this success filled Dr. Bruner’s life with much meaning, which he acknowledges as incredible, but it did not bring him the greater satisfaction he was looking for. He explains that for years he searched for the right spiritual experience for himself in many different places, a search which concluded when he met Yafa and discovered the Jewish world.
“Although I grew up Catholic, I didn't feel like I knew God, so I tried additional ways,” he says and immediately begins to cry. "I apologize, it's very emotional for me, as I felt a lack of fulfilment and I knew from then on that I had to become a Jew."
We met Dr. Bruner and his wife at Nefesh B’Nefesh’s MedEx event in New Jersey, which was coordinated with Israel’s Ministry of Immigration and Integration and Ministry of Health, The Jewish Agency for Israel, alongside the Israeli Medical Association, during which an International Medical Aliyah Program (IMAP) was launched. The goal of it is to streamline the immigration process for medical professionals, ensuring they can integrate into Israel’s medical workforce upon arrival in Israel. This first-of-its-kind program was made possible thanks to the sponsorship of The Marcus Foundation, an organization committed to making a difference in the lives of countless individuals and communities. MedEx offers medical professionals an all-encompassing array of resources, services, and personal consultations and will now be offered around the world in various locations.
Israel hopes to encourage 2,000 doctors to immigrate
The goal of the International Medical Aliyah Program is to encourage the immigration of approximately 2,000 doctors from around the world over the next five years. Dr. Bruner is expected to be one of them.
“Yafa and I were friends for a while, but she moved to Israel with her children, and we lost touch”, Dr. Bruner says about his relationship with his wife and attributes a large part of the change that he has undergone to her. “After some time, we reconnected, and three years ago, we got married in Texas.”
Dr. Bruner explains that in the early stages of his decision to convert, he met with a Rabbi to discuss the process, but due to various difficulties he was unable to complete it. "When Yafa and I met again, I realized that I had to complete what I had already started - and become a Jew.”
When we asked Yafa what lead to her husband’s conversion, she emphasizes that it was not important to her if he became Jewish, but when he chose to convert, he chose to do it entirely as possible, including undergoing a circumcision. Yafa does not maintain a religious lifestyle, but Jewish tradition and values, such as Friday night meals and holidays, opened a new world for her and Dr. Bruner.
“That’s why we also joined a Reform synagogue, and he became more familiar with Jewish tradition and religion,” Yafa continues. Dr. Bruner also started putting on tefillin every day, after learning how to do so from YouTube videos, and explains that for him it is a spiritual experience. "Israel is probably the most spiritual place there is," he says. Dr. Bruner also proudly says that he likes to “both have fun in Tel Aviv while also enjoying the religious atmosphere of Jerusalem.”
On October 7, Dr. Bruner and Yafa were in the United States, but Yafa’s sister, Vered, was trapped in a bomb shelter inside her home in Kissufim, hiding from terrorists, while her husband was fighting terrorists that had broken into their Kibbutz. While she was in labor, Vered spent long hours in the bomb shelter with her children, waiting with a knife for the moment when the door could potentially open, and terrorists could enter. The following day, she gave birth to a son.
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Destruction at Kibbutz Kissufim after the Hamas massacre
(Photo: Menahem Kahana / AFP)
The couple recently visited Vered and her family at the hotel they were evacuated to in the Dead Sea and remained with them for two weeks. “At a time like this it is even more important that I come to Israel,” Dr. Bruner continues.
Yafa has two children, a 17-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son, whom Dr. Bruner calls his own. One of the main reasons for doing so was that he had previously been married to Yafa’s sister-in-law, who passed away and he didn’t want to lose his connection to her family. Today the Bruners reside in Midland, Texas, and are planning to immigrate to Israel together, and through that, Dr. Bruner seems to have found the answer he was looking for all his life.
“Israelis are like one big family,” he says, and does not give much emphasis to the divisions and polarization currently affecting Israeli society. “This is a period in history where many countries are facing extremism on both sides of the political spectrum, fighting over ideology, this is not unique to Israel, including the US, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.” Israel, according to Dr. Bruner, is not particularly different in this sense. For him, in any case, the feeling is one of his coming “home”.