{"id":53655,"date":"2016-04-12T13:05:25","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T18:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=53655"},"modified":"2016-04-12T13:06:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T18:06:10","slug":"what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/","title":{"rendered":"What a Victim of ALS Can Teach Us About Our Power of Speech: Just Shine a Little Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine being a prisoner in your own body, fully aware, entirely conscious, thinking and emotionally feeling, and yet unable to move or speak at all. For many suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease, that is exactly what their life looks like day in and day out. Through a couple of viral videos, last week the Jewish world was introduced to an extraordinary individual suffering from ALS.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vpLawri0pOY\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz and his wife Dina, together with their seven children, were the dedicated spiritual leaders of the Chabad in Temecula, California. R\u2019 Yitzi was always the life of the party, filled with energy, enthusiasm, and love for all people. In 2013, however, his life dramatically changed when he suddenly started slurring his speech and found walking difficult. He was diagnosed with Bulbar ALS and soon after he was no longer able to walk and his voice disappeared entirely.<\/p>\n<p>In a short three years, R\u2019 Yitzi, forty-one years old, has become completely paralyzed and breathes through a permanent ventilator. His only means of connecting with the world is by moving his eyes which allow him to control a screen and choose the letters one by one that spell out words that combine into a sentence and turn into a paragraph. Remarkably, R\u2019 Yitzi publishes a weekly blog (<a href=\"http:\/\/yitzihurwitz.blogspot.com\/\">http:\/\/yitzihurwitz.blogspot.com\/<\/a>) with a Dvar Torah on the Parsha, which usually contains a message of faith, hope, and optimism. It takes him all day to write the message and leaves him exhausted and spent, but he wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n<p>He once wrote, \u201cI don\u2019t know why G-d made this happen, but there must be something I can accomplish now, that I wasn\u2019t able to before this. I have always taught others that everything G-d does is for the good although we don\u2019t always see it openly. So now, when this happened to me, I have to live with this same belief and deepen my faith, so that it is not just a matter of words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recently, R\u2019 Yitzi\u2019s family found an old memory card and discovered an original song he had composed called Shine a Little Light. Famous Jewish musicians worked together to produce a wonderful version of the song and music video tribute to him.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uGWoChObb40\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In cannot be a coincidence that R\u2019 Yitzi\u2019s story has gone viral during the very weeks that we read about the gift of speech and the power it contains. We must never take for granted the capacity to communicate easily or the potency in that gift. In fact, Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest of all men, teaches us (Mishlei 18:21) \u201c<em>Maves v\u2019chaim b\u2019yad lashon<\/em>, death and life are in the hand of the tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speech can be used to build, to create, to uplift, to encourage, to console and to provide confidence and worth. Or it can be used for what the Torah dedicates two full portions to, namely the consequences of using speech to diminish and destroy, to isolate and to denigrate.<\/p>\n<p>How we use our power and gift of speech says everything about who we are and what we strive to be. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, \u201cGreat minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Parsha of the metzorah, the one who is stricken with spiritual leprosy after speaking gossip begins by reminding us that the choice of whether to use speech for the purpose of being constructive or destructive is ours: \u201c<em>adom ki yiheyeh b\u2019or b\u2019saro<\/em> \u2013 if a person will have on the skin of his flesh.\u201d A number of commentators ask ,why does the Torah employ the term <em>adom <\/em>for<em> man<\/em>? Normally, when the Torah is teaching Jewish law it uses the word <em>ish<\/em>, why here does it say <em>adom<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Torah uses the unusual term <em>adom<\/em> at the beginning of the discussion of the metzorah to remind us of the original use of the word <em>adom<\/em>, in the chapters of creation in Parshas Bereishis: \u201c<em>Vayehi ha\u2019adom l\u2019nefesh chaya<\/em>, and man became a living being.\u201d This pasuk describes man gaining life and becoming a living creature, in distinction to animals. Unkelus translates the terms<em>l\u2019nefesh chaya<\/em> as <em>l\u2019ruach melalela<\/em>, meaning a talking being. According to Unkelus, what distinguishes man from the rest of creation is the ability to talk, to communicate and to express.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Torah chooses to use the term <em>adom<\/em> in introducing the laws of the metzora in order to remind us of the original <em>adom <\/em>and that as a <em>ruach m\u2019malela<\/em>, a speaking being, we have a choice. We can use words to construct or destruct, to build or to destroy. The Sefer HaChinuch writes, \u201cThe greatest treasure which the human being possesses is the power of speech, because through this, he is greater than all other creatures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, formerly a prominent Rabbi in Atlanta, writes in his memoirs of the most difficult question he was asked in his entire rabbinic career. He once received a call from a woman who was desperate to meet with him. When they met, he asked her what is so urgent, how could he help? The woman went on to say, \u201cRabbi, I have cancer of the larynx and next week and I am having surgery to have my larynx removed.\u201d This was before the advent of the device that when placed next to the voice box emits an electric voice. And so she asked him, \u201cRabbi, I will never be able to speak again, but I can chose the final words my lips will ever utter, what should they be?\u201d Rabbi Feldman describes this as his most difficult question.<\/p>\n<p>What would you answer and what would you choose? Would your last words be an expression of love to a spouse or children, would they be a statement of your faith, would it be a prayer that you offer or a song you sing? If you could only speak one more time, what would you say? And, if that is what you would say if you had one last chance to speak, why not say it now? Why not value every opportunity to communicate as if it is our last.<\/p>\n<p>Last week\u2019s Parsha, Shemini, discusses the laws of kashrus, of what we eat, consume and ingest. Rav Yisroel Salanter points out that it is followed immediately by this week\u2019s Parsha dealing with lashon hara to remind us that what comes out of our mouth is as important as what goes into it.<\/p>\n<p>Though Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz is paralyzed and only able to painstakingly communicate through his eyes, he continues to inspire with his indomitable spirit, his courage and faith and his joyful soul. If that is what he accomplishes with the greatest limitations, imagine what we could do if we all used our power of speech to shine a little light.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fcbk_share\">\n<div class=\"fcbk_like\">\n<div class=\"fb-like fb_iframe_widget\" data-href=\"http:\/\/rabbisblog.brsonline.org\/victim-als-can-teach-us-power-speech-jusyshine-little-light\/\" data-colorscheme=\"light\" data-layout=\"button_count\" data-action=\"like\" data-share=\"false\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"\" title=\"fb:like Facebook Social Plugin\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"1000px\" name=\"f9a7a2ca6d85a8\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/v2.0\/plugins\/like.php?action=like&amp;app_id=1443946719181573&amp;channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstaticxx.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter.php%3Fversion%3D42%23cb%3Df2c657d688ce81c%26domain%3Drabbisblog.brsonline.org%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Frabbisblog.brsonline.org%252Ff3185d93638571%26relation%3Dparent.parent&amp;color_scheme=light&amp;container_width=0&amp;href=http%3A%2F%2Frabbisblog.brsonline.org%2Fvictim-als-can-teach-us-power-speech-jusyshine-little-light%2F&amp;layout=button_count&amp;locale=en_US&amp;sdk=joey&amp;share=false\" width=\"1000px\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine being a prisoner in your own body, fully aware, entirely conscious, thinking and emotionally feeling, and yet unable to move or speak at all. For many suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease, that is exactly what their life looks like day in and day out. Through a couple of viral videos, last week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":733,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What a Victim of ALS Can Teach Us About Our Power of Speech: Just Shine a Little Light - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What a Victim of ALS Can Teach Us About Our Power of Speech: Just Shine a Little Light - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imagine being a prisoner in your own body, fully aware, entirely conscious, thinking and emotionally feeling, and yet unable to move or speak at all. For many suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease, that is exactly what their life looks like day in and day out. Through a couple of viral videos, last week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-12T18:05:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-12T18:06:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/\",\"name\":\"What a Victim of ALS Can Teach Us About Our Power of Speech: Just Shine a Little Light - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-12T18:05:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-12T18:06:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f7905021c0f2a6e200f7cce16e4710\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/community\/what-a-victim-of-als-can-teach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/b3f7905021c0f2a6e200f7cce16e4710\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Efrem-Goldberg_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Efrem-Goldberg_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is the Senior Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS), a rapidly-growing congregation of over 650 families and over 1,000 children in Boca Raton, Florida. In 2010 Rabbi Goldberg was recognized as one of South Florida's Most Influential Jewish Leaders. He serves as Co-Chair of the Orthodox Rabbinical Board's Va'ad Ha'Kashrus, as Director of the Rabbinical Council of America's South Florida Regional Beis Din for Conversion, and as Posek of the Boca Raton Mikvah. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Hillel Day School, Torah Academy of Boca Raton, and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Additionally, Rabbi Goldberg serves as Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America and as Chairman of the Orthodox Union Legacy Group and is a member of the AIPAC National Council. Rabbi Goldberg grew up in Teaneck, NJ, attended Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh in Israel for two years, graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in psychology, and received Semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University. 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In 2010 Rabbi Goldberg was recognized as one of South Florida's Most Influential Jewish Leaders. He serves as Co-Chair of the Orthodox Rabbinical Board's Va'ad Ha'Kashrus, as Director of the Rabbinical Council of America's South Florida Regional Beis Din for Conversion, and as Posek of the Boca Raton Mikvah. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Hillel Day School, Torah Academy of Boca Raton, and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Additionally, Rabbi Goldberg serves as Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America and as Chairman of the Orthodox Union Legacy Group and is a member of the AIPAC National Council. Rabbi Goldberg grew up in Teaneck, NJ, attended Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh in Israel for two years, graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in psychology, and received Semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University. 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