We received an email from Jack London about his grandson, Miles Guralnick. Jack wrote: “Miles hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His parents are Michael and Rebecca Guralnick. Miles is the grandson of Sam and the late Sharon Guralnick and his wife Rebecca is daughter to Belva and me.
“Miles just graduated with Highest Distinction from the U of T Rotman School of Management, but has decided to pursue a career in Medicine. He is in Israel for ten months participating in a research group at Hadassah Hospital studying the effects of psychotropic drugs on mice and concurrently studying some Talmud!”
(Ed. note: Miles has not yet entered into a medical school, however. After we published this article in our March 1 print edition, we received an email from Miles’ mother Rebecca thanking us for helping to publicize Miles’ fundraising endeavor, but also pointing out that Israel no longer accepts foreign students into any of its medical schools. We responded to Rebecca – thanking her for the clarification but also saying that the information she just gave us certainly comes as a surprise. Upon further investigation we did discover that, beginning this past fall, Israeli medical schools were no longer accepting foreign students for study. Apparently Israel suffers from a shortage of doctors – like almost any other country. Many Israelis themselves have had to leave the country to study medicine.)
Jack also sent the following information about a fundraising effort in which Miles is involved (The information is directly from Miles’ website):
Hi, my name is Miles Guralnick! I have been living in Jerusalem for a gap year for almost four months so far. Running has been a fantastic way for me to explore the city—and a great excuse to eat a lot of falafel! Since December, I have been training for something big…
On March 17, I am running the Jerusalem Marathon in honor of Tikvah for Parkinson, an organization that offers extensive in-person and online programming for patients with Parkinson’s, including exercise classes, support groups, and lectures. As a volunteer, I assist in weekly boxing classes that strengthen participants both physically and mentally. It is always a highlight of my week!
My family has been personally affected by Parkinson’s, so it makes me happy to see how Tikvah for Parkinson is able to help patients regain their livelihood.
To finish this race, I need your help! I am fundraising for Tikvah for Parkinson to ensure that they can continue to provide an inclusive community for anyone with Parkinson’s. I am looking for at least 26 donors who are willing to sponsor a mile of my run. Obviously, more contributions are welcome, but the first 26 will get a special shout-out! After donating, please fill out the Donation Info Form to specify whether you would like to dedicate your donation to someone else.
See you at the finish!
Miles Guralnick
If you would like to donate to Miles, go to https://milesforparkinsons.wixsite.com/marathon