Miracle Of Miracles
Published: August 25, 2005
By Dov Gilor — On the Shabbat of his bar mitzva, my grandson, Dvir Gilor, read the entire weekly Torah portion!
Surely you are saying, “So what, many boys read the entire weekly Torah portion.”
But, Dvir was born deaf!
After the service, for the first time in our synagogue in Hashmonaim, a child delivered the Dvar Halacha. Dvir opened by saying, “I was born deaf. It states in the Mishne that a deaf person (cheresh), a fool and a child are exempt from doing mitzvot. The Rambam writes that, `Anyone exempt from performing an action, cannot exempt others from their obligation.` So, if a deaf person is exempt from all mitzvot, including the mitzva of reading the Torah, then did any of you fulfill your obligation to hear the Torah read this morning?”
The congregation sat spellbound both by Dvir’s self-confidence and by the question. Was it possible that we must reread the Torah?
Dvir went on to say that the Rambam explains that the cheresh mentioned anywhere in scripture refers to the mute who cannot hear and cannot speak. Someone who speaks but does not hear or someone who hears but does not speak is not a cheresh and has the obligations of any other Jew. Dvir also quoted one of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s (zt“l) last responses that someone who speaks but cannot hear is obligated to read the Torah and therefore can exempt the listeners from their obligation. He also quoted the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Ner Tamid in Hashmonaim, Rabbi Aharon Adler, who quoted Rabbi Tendler, who ruled that a cochlear implant, like Dvir has, changed his status to that of a hearing person with all of the attendant obligations.
“In conclusion,” said Dvir, “Don’t worry, if you listened to my reading of the Torah today, you have fulfilled your obligation.”
When Dvir finished his short speech, the congregation’s spontaneous response was to applaud.
At the bar mitzva party, Dvir’s father, David, using a PowerPoint presentation, told the story of Dvir. We heard of their joy at his birth, of their sadness when his deafness was discovered and of their decision to do everything in their power to help Dvir succeed in life.
David spoke of the “guiding angels” sent to us from heaven who helped transform Dvir into the intelligent young man whose bar mitzva we were celebrating. He especially thanked Dr. Carol Froelich, the educational director of “Micha” (Deaf Children Education Org. in Tel Aviv), who provided guidance and emotional support during the early years of Dvir’s development.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: