- January 14, 2026
- 5:06 pm
- Israel
In Haifa, the laureates of the city’s title “Honorary Citizen of Haifa” were announced — in Hebrew, this is יקירי העיר חיפה. Among the 12 new laureates for 2025 was an immigrant from Ukraine: Mira Gross (מירה גרוס), a native of Chernivtsi.
The award ceremony took place on January 8, 2026, at the Krieger Center — מרכז קריגר. The official list of laureates was published there as well. In the municipality’s materials, next to Mira Gross’s name, her public position is indicated: «יו”ר מועצת בני ברית חיפה» — chairperson of the council of B’nai B’rith Haifa (בני ברית חיפה), with an explanation of her leadership in volunteer initiatives in the fields of health, women’s support, work with teenagers with special needs, and projects related to the joint life of different communities in the city.
Mira Gross’s story is an example of a “quiet” contribution that rarely becomes the hero of loud headlines. But it is precisely such biographies of the city that are usually noted: they contain decades of work, responsibility, human resilience, and a habit of seeing things through to completion.
What the title “Ikarim of Haifa” (יקירי העיר חיפה) means
The award “יקירי העיר חיפה” is not a popularity contest or a formal “checkmark” for one successful project. The municipality emphasizes: the title is awarded once a year and, as a rule, to no more than 12 people. The rules specify an age criterion: candidates are considered if they are 70+, as well as the importance of long-term residence in the city and that the “center of life” of the person is in Haifa. The commission, as noted, takes into account the demographic picture of the city when possible.
Simply put, it is always a story about a long distance. To be noticed at such a level, you need to be useful for years — in a hospital, in a school, in public structures, in city projects, in places where help does not look “media-friendly,” but without it, everything falls apart.
Chernivtsi → Israel: the beginning of Mira Gross’s biography (מירה גרוס)
In the official biography published by the municipality, it is stated that Mira Gross was born in 1948 in Chernivtsi (Ukraine). The names of her parents are also listed: Zalman and Sarah Berkovich.
It is separately emphasized that the family had the status of «מסורבת עלייה» — “refuseniks”: repatriation was not a simple procedure, and permission to leave had to be obtained. In 1972, she repatriated to Israel with her husband and three-month-old daughter. This detail is important not “for sentimentality,” but for understanding reality: her move to a new country did not begin with a “period of adaptation in peace,” but immediately with responsibility and domestic tension.
The same biography states that her husband is Leon Gross (ליאון גרוס), a football player for Dynamo Kyiv. For the Haifa audience, this is not an empty reference: Leon Gross was associated with Israeli football after repatriation, so the surname is recognizable in the city not only in the medical field.
Education and professional base: not “just a nurse”
Official data from the municipality adds details that are usually lost in a short retelling.
Mira Gross is listed as having a bachelor’s degree in biology and nursing. Later, she continued her studies and professional development — this is an important element of her career because nursing in Israel at the managerial level has long ceased to be just a “craft” and requires administrative and systemic competencies.
In this biography, there is no sense of “careerism for the sake of career.” Rather, it is a habit of learning and expanding competencies to be responsible for people and processes in the hospital without self-deception.
“Lin” (מרכז רפואי לין): 43 years of medicine and responsibility for the care system
Professionally, Mira Gross is a nurse. The official biography states that approximately six months after repatriation, she began working in the healthcare system. Later, she specialized in diabetes, and over time reached a managerial position at the medical center “Lin” in Haifa — מרכז רפואי לין (this is a Clalit structure, כללית).
Sources mention two close formulations: אחות ראשית (chief nurse) and מנהלת הסיעוד (director/manager of the nursing service). To sound precise and “without hesitation” in Russian, it is more accurate to write: head of the nursing service at the “Lin” medical center.
This is not a “desk job.” It is responsibility for care standards, training, and quality of nursing staff work, process organization, resource distribution, and communication between departments. Usually, at this level, a person becomes the one who keeps the clinic “in shape” every day — without unnecessary noise.
Mira Gross retired in 2016. If counted by public chronology (work shortly after 1972–1973 and until 2016), the figure “43+ years” seems justified. The Israeli publication Haipo in an article about her retirement states it directly: 43 years of work in the nursing and management system. The farewell evening is also described there, attended by about 120 colleagues according to the publication.
In a separate note by Haipo about the appointment of her successor, another important detail is added: Mira Gross was the head of the nursing service at “Lin” for about two decades. This is not just “worked for a long time,” but “managed the system for a long time,” which is a key point for the hospital.
Work beyond the hospital: education, public health, and systemic projects
The official biography of the municipality emphasizes: her activities were not limited to the walls of “Lin.”
Among the directions mentioned are projects on health education, as well as participation at the level of interaction with healthcare structures. The biography also features a Ministry of Health project related to promoting a healthy lifestyle, mentioning the format of lectures and meetings for different audiences — from children to the elderly.
These details are important for one reason: they show that her career developed towards public health and a systemic approach — when you think not only about the current patient but also about how to make people less sick and better understand what is happening to them.
After retirement: B’nai B’rith Haifa (בני ברית חיפה) as a continuation of “city work”
If the story ended in 2016, it would already be a strong biography.
But it continues — and it is here that the second layer appears, which the municipality directly associates with the awarding of the title “יקירי העיר חיפה”.
After retiring, Mira Gross continued her public activities in B’nai B’rith Haifa (בני ברית חיפה). In the official list of laureates, next to her name, the position is indicated: יו”ר מועצת בני ברית חיפה — chairperson of the organization’s council.
The municipality formulates the directions of her work quite clearly: volunteer projects in the field of health, support for women, assistance to teenagers with special needs, initiatives related to inter-community dialogue and “joint life” in the city.
A separate congratulation from the B’nai B’rith organization after the ceremony (dated January 9, 2026) adds specifics: she is credited with helping to open new divisions, supporting women, working with teenagers, with “lone soldiers,” and with immigrants, as well as promoting quality of life and health in the community.
It is important to emphasize this in simple language: it is not about “symbolic participation,” but about work that requires time, connection with people, organizational skills, and the ability to constantly engage.
In local publications related to B’nai B’rith, practical projects are also mentioned — for example, initiatives to help children from low-income families (such as providing school backpacks). They are useful as a fact: they show the scale of “earthly” work that does not require a camera.
Why Haifa noted such a biography
When the municipality describes the meaning of the “ikarim of the city” award, a clear criterion is mentioned: these are people who have left a mark on the life of Haifa.
Mira Gross’s story fits this criterion almost “textbook-like,” but without textbook pathos:
- aliyah from Chernivtsi, the difficult path of a “refusenik” family;
- decades of medicine in Haifa;
- leadership role in the nursing service at “Lin”;
- continuation of public work after retirement, in structures that really help people;
- combination of professional experience and volunteer practice.
This looks like normal city logic: Haifa recognizes those who have been doing work for years on which others depend. And does so without the need to turn a person into a “poster.”
Why this is important for the “Jews from Ukraine” section
Chernivtsi is a city with a strong Jewish history, and for many Israelis of Ukrainian origin, this geography is not abstract but personal.
Mira Gross’s story is not about loud statements, scandals, or “big politics.” It is about how Jews from Ukraine integrated into Israel through systemic professions and public responsibility: hospitals, education, volunteer networks, support for those in need.
And perhaps this is one of the most accurate ways to talk about “contribution”: not with slogans, but with biographies that show how many years a person has held the city in their hands.
NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency. – in our section “Jews from Ukraine“.
