Everybody loves Raym…er…. Sha’are Zedek??

December 2, 2009 - 10:11 AM by David

Phil and Monica Rosenthal - gotta love them.

In the world of Jewish and Israeli philanthropy, this might be one of the stranger matchups.

Everybody Loves Raymond creator and executive producer Phil Rosenthal is teaming up with Dreamworks Studio and Tel Aviv-based TTV Production to produce a six-hour documentary series focusing on Jerusalem through the prism of the capital’s Sha’are Zedek Hospital.

Scheduled for release in 2011, the as yet unnamed project is going to highlight contemporary Jerusalem and reveal the various social, political and cultural nuances that characterize the city through the lives of doctors and nurses in the hospital.

It’s unclear from the press release that announced the partnership whether the film is going to be a real documentary or a promotional tool for the hospital, but with Rosenthal and Dreamworks involved, it’s bound to be high caliber.

Working along with Rosenthal – who’s wife Monica played the role of Robert’s wife ‘Amy’ on the long-lived comedy series starring Ray Romano – will be screenwriter Jeremy Garelick, who recently wrote the hit comedy The Hangover, and veteran Israeli producer and head of TTV, Zafrir Kochanovsky.

“Jerusalem is a place that demands to be explored through the medium of documentary filmmaking and we believe that medicine is a perfect conduit to do so,” Rosenthal said in the press release. “Dreamworks has long sought to create a documentary piece that conveys Jerusalem but we wanted to avoid limiting it to the more obvious undertones of politics or religion. In discovering Sha’are Zedek we believe we have found a perspective that allows us to tell this story in an original and no doubt captivating way.”

The Rosenthals landed in Israel midweek to meet with Kochanovsky and his team and discuss the script. They will also attend a benefit evening Wednesday night – Everybody Loves Sha’are Zedek – for the hospital’s new Wilf Children’s Hospital. The attendees will enjoy multimedia presentations by the Rosenthals focusing on the power of humor and their experiences in developing one of television’s most successful sitcoms.

I’ve often thought that a hospital in Jerusalem was an ideal location to display the diverse cultural tapestry that engulfs the city and reveal that there’s alot more coexistence going on than anyone – including most Israelis – realize. Jews and Arabs are all doctors, nurses and patients, the families of those hospitalized are thrown together in a common bond, and it’s there that sometimes, the best comes out in people. If the planned documentary succeeds in showing that, then it will truly be worth seeing.

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