Mishpacha Magazine

A Second Chance

I cannot imagine the pain my wife and parents endured watching the chevra kaddisha come for me

We spent months stranded in Brazil waiting for a baby of our own

“Those boys just understand each other,” I heard my mother telling my father once. “It’s not a typical friendship, it’s a whole different animal”

A trip back to a Polish village digs up a miracle story of hope and bravery against all odds

I thought about Shlomo and this story often as my life turned over, as my world ended

Somehow he manages not to be needy even though he can’t do the simplest of things: to cross the street

I hung up, disturbed and confused. I’d heard a lot about the “system’s” discrimination against families from other backgrounds

One little lie, an ocean of hurt, and years of yearning

Behind my mask is a boy the rebbi said would amount to nothing

Today, baruch Hashem, there are many organizations that provide support to patients and to the extended family, but in those days there was nothing

She didn’t give up. “The music on the radio is garbage,” she insisted. “Can’t you play a Jewish CD for the kids?”