For a few minutes this week, my life got flipped upside down. On Monday, I was overcome with back pain and decided I had to start excercising. Therefore, early the next morning I exercised and went to move a box of paper goods, that weighed about 5 kilos. As I picked it up and turned my body, I felt my back suddenly stiffen and freeze. At that moment, I had lost my ability to bend or turn.
My immediate reaction was to rush to the hospital, but my wife calmed me down, and said a visit there would probably not resolve the issue. So, I lied in bed and placed creams to alleviate the pain while an arrangement was made to visit a physical therapist. A few hours later, I slowly walked in to the office, and it did not look too promising. The therapist himself, was holding a cast on his right arm. “Could he really help me?” I thought. He guided me to a cabin where I lied down with my face down staring at the shiny white and speckled floor.
Luckily my youngest son was there to inform me on what was being done to me. At first, I heard the therapist say, “You are really a mess.” Then he started placing pressure on different points of my back and ribs. That is when I finally broke out in a scream, as the pain was unbearable. After a few minutes, I did not feel the hands or hear the voices. There was total silence and I was alone staring at the floor. It was then that I thought, I really have no idea what he was doing to me, as I could not see anything.
In this motionless position, my head suddenly began to itch from the lack of better cushioning. Unfortunately, I had no way of scratching it. The only thing I could try to do, was fall asleep, and ignore it. Incredibly within a minute, I dozed off and wondered what lesson could I learn from all of this?
In the womb & out
When a child is born, they come out kicking and crying. They are full of boundless energy. As they grow, we observe them and wonder where did they get all that energy? I think I know. Lying down in that position for so long I imagined being closed up in a tight area for nine months only hearing about sports, food, worldly pleasures, and people yet never actually seeing it. In the womb, the fetus knows that these things exist, but they cannot put a word to an object they have never seen.
However, once the child is born, it wants to discover the world that they heard about in the womb. Their energy is merely an expression of their desire to discover. That is why, a mother’s actions while pregnant affect the unborn child. If the mother studied Torah or went to prayers during pregnancy, then the child would want to discover the meaning of all that they had heard.
When a child believes he understand this world (teenage years), then their energy diminishes. They remain calmer human beings, less energetic, and more reserved to themselves. The discovery process has ended.
However, until then your eyes can go side to side like a ping pong ball trying to follow their movements. There are also children that are born that are not active. When they are out of the womb, they behave just as if they were still in it. It is as if they are not interested in discovering the world, and they are what we call special children.
Impurity enters where open
This week’s Parshah teaches us about the laws of impurity and how to purify oneself. One of the cases is where there is a high level of impurity in a home and there are many vessels made of ceramic. If the vessels were tightly sealed then the impurity would not enter. The opposite is true if the vessel were not tightly sealed.
A special child, is an example of a vessel that is closed. What occurs around them, does not affect them. They are in their world, and in their eyes it is perfect. They do not feel a need to discover their surroundings or interact with it. In fact, because they have less of a connection with this material world they are more attune to the spiritual one. From everything and everyone you can learn something. Even when your life is flipped upside down.
