True tales from the corners of our world

Rabbi Hershkowitz's Story

The Background

Today Rabbi Chaim Hershkowitz (name changed) is involved in many special projects. Looking at him, one would never guess the challenge that came his way as a young man — and the way he used it to change his life for the better. Here is his story, in his own words.

It was 1984, when I was 26. My wife and I had been married for a number of years and had still not been blessed with children. Someone suggested that we visit a fertility specialist at UCLA Medical Center. For the purpose of this story, I will refer to this individual as Dr. Keith Jordan.

It took months to get an appointment with him. When the day finally came, we waited another two hours in the waiting room. When we finally got our ten minutes of the great man’s time, he instructed us to take a certain test.

“If the answer comes back negative, it means that you are not treatable,” he declared.

Not the world’s greatest diagnosis, but I am a positive person by nature, so I chose not to dwell on the darker possibilities.

Two weeks later, though, I came home and found my wife in tears. She had called the doctor to get the result of the test. Not only had he delivered the crushing news that it was negative, but he’d rubbed salt in the wound.