Jews in the land of Disney: Dr. Daniel Layish - a mench par excellence

Dr. Daniel Layish shouldn't be with us today. He only exists because of the remarkable foresight, bravery (and perhaps luck) which led to the exodus of his paternal grandparents from Slovakia in December 1939 to pre-state Israel.

Layish is the ZOA Florida Board liaison for Orlando. "With everything that has happened in Israel and on our college campuses, the ZOA's mission is more important today than ever. We are proud of Israel and will not waver in our commitment to her."

Aaron and Hedwig Fleischer fled Slovakia in December 1939 on a tugboat meant for carrying coal with only the clothes on their backs and small knapsacks containing all their precious belongings. The knapsacks were soon thrown overboard when a storm threatened to overturn the tugboat. The newlywed couple's journey was successfully completed when they landed in Haifa in January 1940.

Slovakia aligned itself with Nazi Germany after declaring its independence from Czechoslovakia in 1939. They were the first Axis partner to consent to the deportation to its 70,000 Jewish residents, most of whom perished.

By the end of the Shoah no one in the Fleischer's family left behind had survived.

"Our surname was 'Fleisher,' meaning butcher. My grandfather took out the 'F' and the 'er' and that's how we came to be known as Layish," said Layish.

When Layish's grandfather arrived in Israel without a visa, he was incarcerated in the Atlit detention camp, a British prison camp that held thousands of Jewish refugees south of Haifa. For unknown reasons, they didn't incarcerate his grandmother who began getting settled into what was to be their new life, in a new land.

From 1936 to 1939 the British Army's operations were focused on militant Arab violence directed against the immigration of Jews from Europe into Mandatory Palestine, which reached its height during this time. Britain imposed a limit to on the number of Jews allowed to enter in the attempt to end the disturbances and to secure the support of the Egyptians and oil-rich Saudis ahead of the war in Europe. This policy provoked Jewish resistance and spurred the creation of groups like the Hagenah and the Irgun Zvai Leumi, let by the future Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

"My maternal grandfather fled to Israel from Slovakia with the understanding that once he had set things up in pre-State Israel, he would bring his wife and child over. Unfortunately, after leaving them, it was too late. The open door had shut, they couldn't get out and like many Jewish families in Europe were slaughtered in the Holocaust. In time, his grandfather established a life in Israel, remarried and had a daughter, my mother (Yael)," Layish said.

"My mother's family was living in New York, when she was 16 years old, she took a trip to Israel. On that journey in 1964, she met my father, fell in love and after over a year of letter writing, back and forth, my father moved to Forest Hills, New York. She was 18 and my father was 21 years old when they were married. I was born a year later in 1966. I grew up on Long Island with my two younger brothers who came along a few years later."

Layish's father worked as an electronics technician, specializing in the black boxes that airliners carried onboard. Most of his career he was employed by Pan American Airlines. "As a perk my family traveled for free, which allowed us to take trips to Israel during summers. In fact, the benefit came in handy when it was time for my bar mitzvah, which was held in Kiryat Bialik, Israel."

Layish chose to become a doctor because of an incident that happened to his youngest brother.

On a trip with the family to Hawaii, his brother passed out and was rushed to the hospital. His blood sugar had dipped dangerously low, a result of Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. The family was going to end their trip, turn around and go home but the doctor encouraged the family to continue on because his eight-year-old brother would feel horrible for ruining the family's vacation. Layish, who was 15, was taken by the doctors holistic and kind approach to the situation. "This incident was the catalyst that put me on the path to becoming a doctor."

"I always gravitated toward science in school and by my senior year in high school I knew this was the career I wished to pursue."

Layish attended Boston University in 1984 where he entered a six-year Liberal Arts/Medical Education program. After the first two years he graduated magna cum laude earning his Bachelor of Arts degree with a minor in psychology. In 1986 he entered B.U.'s Medical School program and in 1990, graduated magna cum laude with his medical degree.

During his time in Boston, he was the president of the Israel Student Alliance. His love for Israel continued and has never waned.

Two months later, Layish moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he began his internship in Internal Medicine at Barnes Hospital, with an academic affiliation with Washington University.

Layish met his first wife during this time and had their first son, Adam. "During those four years it was a quite busy... a formative time in my life. I was also growing as a physician and beginning to better understand myself. After completing my residency in Internal medicine, I realized that I wanted to specialize and pursue my career in pulmonary medicine," he said.

A year after completing his residency in internal medicine, in 1994, Layish moved his family to Durham, North Carolina, to pursue his training in pulmonary and critical-care medicine at Duke University Medical Center. After three years he completed his fellowship and took a job at Central Florida Pulmonary Group, P.A. in Orlando. Today he is vice president of the practice.

"My other two sons were born after coming to Orlando. In 1997, Rafi came along and in 1999, my youngest, Elliott was born."

In 2015, difficulty came into his life when he and his first wife divorced after 24 years of marriage. In 2017, Layish married Staci (Nee, Dillon). He proposed to Staci on top of Masada during their first trip together to Israel.

A tragedy occurred in November 2022 when Layish lost his youngest son. "He was smoking pot that he didn't know was laced with Fentanyl. The loss was devastating but there was nothing I could do. I turned to my faith and began wearing a yarmulke every day. It has become a huge part of my life. Rabbi Yanky Majesky was absolutely amazing in my time of need. In fact, when I called him for the first time, he pointed out that his death was during Shabbos on the 10th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. In an act of honoring my son, I learned his portion and was called to the Torah, where I read from it for the first time. No one should ever lose a child, but my faith has allowed me to survive. Also, my love for my family has sustained me."

Currently Layish is co-director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, director of the Orlando Clinical Resource Center of the Alpha-1 Foundation and Medical Advisor for "Think of Me Please" an organization dedicated to protecting immunocompromised individuals.

He is clinical associate professor, Department of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University. He is also associate professor of Medicine at the College of Medicine at the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Daniel Layish will bend over backward to help anyone. Always looking to help people with a smile on his face.