When one reaches a 101st birthday, amid the mazel tov wishes are inquiries seeking to learn the secret to longevity. Rachel Mizrachi, a fifth generation Tiveria resident who just underwent an emergency cardiac catheterization in Poriah Hospital has some advice for us.

Dr. Yochanan Chassin, who heads the hospital’s cardiac vascular unit, says Mrs. Mizrachi is the oldest patient he has ever performed a catheterization procedure on. She arrived with severe chest pains and Baruch Hashem is doing fine now as a result of the procedure.

Rachel speaks of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and when asked her secret, what keeps her going, she responded, but not exactly with what her doctor wants to hear. “I davka eat the things the doctors warn us against. I enjoy lots of eggs and butter, lamb with a lot of fat and meats. It’s not a matter of good fortune but one’s genes” she explains, telling reporters “my mother lived to 103 and my grandmother to 100.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)