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A talk to mothers of special needs children Yaldei Shluchei Harebbi, Rabbi Yossi Paltiel -5784
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Yaldei Shluchei Harebbi (a talk to mothers of special needs children) (5784) In conjunction with the Kinus HaShluchos; a talk to mothers about the realities of life with a special needs child. To donate or for dedications to continue the holy work לנדבות והקדשות להמשיך את עבודת הקודש https://secure.cardknox.com/chassidusonline
Categories:Torah/Chassidus
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
has a lot of questions people call me
people call the office people
call and we thought of none other that
that can maybe address some of these
questions um I think the most fitting
person for such a job would be
especially after he released a two-part
video I hope you all saw it about
parenting parenting a child with special
needs um we asked to come present and
try to answer some of the questions that
we had that we post him that some
mothers post them before event okay
hello everybody sh I do inside in case
you don't know and I do Q&A we did talk
at two parts on special needs children
which is how I ended up here my uh
qualification to talk to you is the fact
that many years ago my wife and I lost a
child who lived almost four
years everybody's situation is different
everybody's situation is different
obviously
and the underlying issue I the
underlying issue more than anything else
is how how do we do this what am I how
am I going to do it before we get to
moods and amuna how am I going to do
this so uh I guess on some level I'm a
kindred spirit I belong to that club I
once spoke for Friendship Circle
friendship C is my nephew Bal jusy is my
sister's son so they did a evening and I
came and I spoke to the
women and uh many parents
came and including people that I
knew and after my talk a neighbor of
mine came over to me and says you know
Rabbi I really wish I wasn't so special
you know people that go through these
tests are special they are we are you
are these uh this join us these
tests are
awesome and if they don't don't destroy
us they make us Giants and we all wish
we could stay midgets we literally we
all wish we could remain little tiny
people and not have to deal with these
realities the good news and the bad news
about God is that he's not replacing him
anytime soon there's one and he's in
charge he's always been in charge and he
will always be in charge and he knows
what's best for each of us in his
own and this is the situation that he
put us
in and this is how we uh I guess we
approach Our Lives I don't think anybody
in this room would
disagree with the
fact at whatever age in our lives we
are these tests uh mature us they sober
us they really really make us appreciate
what's really really
important you know we're
leiters we sell what's important for a
living we're we sell what's important
for a living and all of a sudden what's
important becomes real becomes very
real and um as much as we don't want as
much as we prefer not to have
it it does an enormous amount into
growing us
up and as as a man I may say even
growing our husbands up which is a very
very
big as spoken by a man these kinds of
things
really make
us appreciate what's real and what's
important and what needs to be
done and um if you think I have any
answers I don't have any answers if I
came into this room with answers you
tell me gave question I don't need
answers this is
really it's really sitting together and
sharing if no other purpose other than
to share to
talk and um that's somehow helpful and
useful even though the answers are very
complex they're not simple at
all and uh we do what we have to do we
do what we have to do and as theb says
we do it one of my favorite stories with
theb one of my favorite stories with
theb is that uh in the 1970s about 50
years ago a came to the an El I don't
know who this man was I I read the story
inima many many years
ago and he told the reab that he doesn't
he's not so good with America he''s been
in America since the war at that point
it was close to 30 years and the
American yish K American is not for him
and by the way 50 years ago was a lot
closer to what it was in the old country
than
now and he said to
the I don't know how to navigate how I
can't handle the new version of it
all and the reab said to him in
yish
which means in English the said to him
what do you think I wouldn't prefer it
to be when lived when T rolled in the
streets but the able to put me in this
generation I'm going to do what needs to
be done now and I'm going to do it
and this is our goal to do what we need
to do now no matter how difficult it
is I'm going to do it with joy so I'm
here to answer questions and the overall
answer to all your questions is I don't
know I don't I have enough I'm smart
enough to know that I don't know you
know how long it takes a man to learn
that so what's the point what's the
world is a big point because even when
not knowing is knowing and sometimes not
knowing is more than
knowing um so this is a conversation you
you wrote me some very powerful
questions some very very powerful
questions and I try and some of the
questions came in late so I I couldn't
order them but I tried to put the
questions in the order of that I wish to
talk to these
questions but
uh you know when people came to the deba
with these kinds of
issues when the people came to the Deb
with these kinds of issues
what did the
do what did the he came to the with the
kind of issues and the saw problems
every
day swam in a sea of
tus and you know we're coming now from
the yard of
the and the Sea of that the swam and she
swam with him and she always complained
about the fact that deprived the of the
good news the bavis and how difficult it
is is you know even with theis a person
told me cl my uncle he told me the got
400 letters a day 400 letters day which
he opened by himself each
letter so there was letters of bavis
there was letters
of yeah but at least
half at least half we we're paying
questions and when the got these letters
from what we know I mean what we don't
know we don't know what we know for the
most part
de gave practical
instruction the didn't speak to the
emotion the didn't speak to the why he
spoke to the what and often times it was
quite strong you know I know of a person
who was very upset about their lot in
life and they wrote to the Reb and the
Reb said this is what needs to be done
and they wrote to the Reb a second time
I didn't ask what needs to be done I
asked you
why and the Reb said now you can't ask
why there's work to be done do it and it
was a very tough pill for that person
particularly was a very very tough
pill and there are two reasons why there
two reasons why I
think the addresses the question from a
practical perspective number one because
this what you need to
do and number two that's the only way to
approach the why it really
is the idea that first I'm going to feel
and then I'm going to do as Americans we
know how bankrupt that is what America
is all about first I'm going to feel and
then I'm going to do and you never get
around anything cuz you're waiting for
the right mood and you do what you have
to do you do what you have to do as
painful as it is and somehow in that
doing there's a little healing a little
healing and maybe even maybe even a drop
of wisdom maybe even a Dr of
insight but this is what theb teaches
and he's a smart guy the you know he's
very
very he doesn't only know everything
that's happening in the heavens he
understands us in our lives and
our and he very very much responds to
our situation in the way that's best for
us even when it may seem to us like he's
skipping steps when he goes past the
empathy to the direct
instruction it's this is how you give
empathy from the Reb's perspective I
tell people all the time the rebba could
be as tough as he was because we knew
that he loved us you know another person
does that we feel
very
unappreciated
felt but the Reb very often told us what
to do then rather than explain why
because this is the only way to to this
what we have to
do and to some degree maybe it gets us
to a little a little managing it
emotionally and perhaps
even so I I have this list of questions
that you wrote and none of you have any
mercy on me at all the questions are
powerful and but some of the questions
many women asked it's interesting I got
the same question for five or six
different ladies and I my heart melts
Mish and I try to structure I I
rearrange the order that I received the
questions in in in the order in which I
wish to talk to them I I I'm up against
the two o00 wall is what I'm
figuring so um I'll try to touch on some
of these points a little bit there's no
answers here people there's no answers
it's AO this is a conversation this is a
discussion and uh I hope I hope I lift
you up really I hope I I I don't make
you sadder that's not helpful right
nobody needs that you didn't come in for
that and if something that's practical
comes out of it that'll be a miracle
That'll be
amazing so the first issue is uh our
spouse right spousal support spousal
support is a huge thing as well
supporting each other in the journey is
the first point I wish to talk
to
um in my
experience in my experience
one of the most difficult things to do
is to go through this kind of anov is
with somebody else and the the place
where you sort of can identify so
directly is when it comes to decision
making you know some have to make
decisions decisions that affect you
decisions that affect your whole family
decisions that affect y they're their
lifetime decisions and you can't make
them twice
and there's no trial and error you know
you make this decision you got to stick
with it whatever the decision is keep a
child home don't keep a child home move
to a different city not move to a
different city I don't need to tell
you and when there's two of you and you
don't
agree it's very difficult cuz there's no
gr it's one of the most poignant moments
in my life where wife and I had to make
a decision and we
disagreed and and the the the the Wis
the wisdom that you got for the wise
people
is one of you is going to be wrong one
of you is not going to get what they
want you can't do it in a way that's
going to please both of you and you're
talking about something very deep and
very real and very po personal and very
emotionally costly I'm not going to tell
you who we listen to but I it's
something which I think about often and
it's it's one of the most important
pieces of wisdom was a situation that if
I hadn't had the situation I wouldn't
have had to face
it and um it's just life sometimes you
have to make a
decision and you can only do it one way
you cannot do it both ways and uh you
hopefully make the right decision and
you hopefully forgive each other
whatever it is you disagree about
hopefully you forgive each other because
this I can tell you for sure and I
believe this with my whole
heart I teach I teach girls and boys I
teach B and girls teach my seven
Seminary girls and we do Q&A in seminary
with the girls and QA with the boys I
put up Q&A online but I never put the
Q&A that I do with the girls and boys
online because I I want to keep my
job what happens in the classroom I do
separate Q&A to put online where I'm
much more in control but we got into a
conversation with the girls and the
girls were a bit
surprised but I told them what I
believe I believe that according to
T in a family the most important thing
is the couple
and ultimately it comes before
everything the you and him that's the
root that's the anchor of the
family and sometimes you have to make
big sacrifices to keep that
together I equated to the spoke of a of
a wheel a wheel has many you know a
bicycle wheel has many little spokes
many sticks and at the sented there's an
axle and the axle has to be fixed it
can't be
shaking the axle of of every home is the
husband and the wife is the
unit
and sometimes there are situations that
are incredibly emotional and you have
disagreements and the disagreements
could be you
know about things as Petty as you feel
like the other person isn't carrying
their share the load for
example and uh I believe that t
believes that the center of every home
is him and the hers the Mis and the MS
is a
couple because the greatest thing we
give our children the greatest thing we
give our
children is our love to our spouse is
our Union with our other because that's
their
security their security their
safety the space in which they grow
up where that makes them not be afraid
of
life that makes them look at the world
through positive eyes rather than
through negative eyes is our home and
our home is me and my husband or me and
my
wife and um in general you know couples
live together and over time you know you
accept each other you look away at
certain things you don't look away at
certain other things and when you have
moments like these we have these kind of
challenges everything is heightened
everything is
harder and everything is much more
serious and you have
to I think you have to put your husband
first I told this to the Seminary girls
and the girls got really upset and the
girls gave me a hard time theam would
not have thought twice about it and I
was actually what did you tell the their
wife I trust me if all the B heard said
to the you'd be happy
but but I talk to a certain kind of I
teach in called it's different kind of
yes we have different kind of
conversations that you're allowed to
have
in um I was actually very impressed with
the wisdom of the girls they talked
about situations I was very surprised
that single
girls raise the kinds of questions that
normally people raise from the
experiences of living like what do you
mean how H
how you know my husband and my kids it's
it's it's a very very difficult uh deal
and every rule has exceptions I mean
this rule particularly has exceptions
but um this is my understanding this is
my experience for sure it's my
understanding that the best thing we can
do for everybody involved including our
situation is not drift apart because you
know very well and this you read in all
the psychology books
that EST strange couples challenges of
life causes couples to drift apart even
if they don't mean to it's just you're
busy and it's a big mistake it's a big
mistake because this is this is the
anchor it's the anchor of our children
it's the anchor of our home it's the
anchor of our Tas and really ultimately
it's our
anchor
and you know I know guys pretty well
because I'm a guy I'm not a woman and
men and women are very
different and um you have to know how to
dial a man's number to get him to pick
up the phone you know it's a trick it's
you have to know how to do it but you
have to figure it out oh a woman told me
a story I'm sorry for doing this but
there's nothing trivial about this a
lady comes to my classes she's a smart
girl she tells me a story she lost her
wallet lose your wallet and call up your
husband yeah so she says I lost my
wallet and all my credit cards and don't
ask so I didn't call out my husband I
lost my wall because knew what was going
to happen I called him up I say you know
I'm so ashamed of myself I really I'm
embarrassed to tell you what happened
what happened I can't tell you none to
tell me what happened anyway he was so
helpful cuz she knew how a dial his
number if you tell your husband you lost
your your W you get a lecture you tell
your husband I'm ashamed and I'm
embarrassed I need help M wants to help
you I said where' you learn that when
you learn that trick but this is this is
the game you know this you're all
married to man you know the
game if at all possible if it all
possible I agree with this to go through
life in general a couple gets you get
married and you get closer and closer
over a time because of
the don't forget that don't say I'm busy
don't be a martyr you know I think
that's one of the things don't I'm
busy you have this is this is the
foundation of how we deal with life and
with challenges and in the end I think
unless you're really m a lemon and
they're not you know guys are guys but
not all of them are lemons you know some
of them are uh useful in many
ways um and we have to we have to put
that we have to remember that value
because in the end it in the end it's
right in the end we see in hindsight you
want to do things as a couple you want
to lean on one another you have bad days
he has bad days you want to work it
through together and um and I agree I
agree that it's it's an it's someone
that has to be in general in life and
especially when you have difficulties to
do it together and you have to make him
get involved I mean you know this you
have to make him get involved you have
to make him pick up the
phone and uh with love not with anger
with love
and um if you can if you do that to any
degree of success I think it'll be a lot
easier on you even if all gives you as
emotional support and I'm sure he does
much more than that uh I I think it's
very very
important uh number two how do you speak
to the guilt inside of you with your
busy life other children that you aren't
doing enough you know it stands in the
at wonder if you're giving
enough
[Music]
you know when they gives us tests it's
not our fault do you know that when the
aish get a test we didn't do it he did
it life he did we were players in his
world he's the boss he does what he
wants and we respond we react we engage
in the life that he gave us and as much
as we think you know when we're young
and getting married we think we're in
charge wow we think we're in charge
right but we learn quite quickly that
we're in charge of nothing except our
own
imagination and the imagination fluts
away with that terrible disease called
reality we're not in charge abish is in
charge and
um when we're never allow to forget that
we didn't do this we didn't do this he
did it we're trying our best we're
dealing with it he did this you know you
know whoever wrote this question you
know the answer to this question the
answer is do your best but
obviously doing your best doesn't feel
right it doesn't feel adequate it
doesn't feel
right
I taught T the boys for many years I'm
not going to help you with this but I'm
just going to talk a little more on I
taught boys t for many many years and in
chapter 31 P there's a few quotable
quotes it actually says this word in the
[Music]
T direct
quote me I did not create
myself I think once in a while we need
to tell ourselves that an
me we didn't create this we deal with it
we deal with it to the best of our
limited ability and that's all the abish
expects it's all the aish that expects
you know I I reached the point in my
life we let me let me say this okay we
we many many years ago we lost a child
okay and since then our life has been a
bowl of roses we've never had another
problem all of our kids are
angels they're socially Adept they get
perfect March in school they're so easy
to marry
right
no what can I tell we're all living in
the same world we're all going through
you know a man quoted me on Friday and I
I was so happy to hear it a doctor in
this neighborhood says me you know Rabbi
I often quote when you said I said what
did I say he said you said you know I
have a lot of problems but every one of
my problems is from
a if I didn't have any kids I wouldn't
have any problems probably except i''d
be boring and lonely and angry and
prematurely old which I'm anyway
that so I so I take them that's how it
is this is this is what we got every
once in a while we should tell ourselves
I I didn't do this I'm dealing with
this in his infinite wisdom we all
appreciate that is smarter than us and
knows better we didn't do this we try
our best that's all we can do is try our
best and to so what I wanted to say say
is it sounds so obvious but for me it
wasn't so obvious you know you live life
and you have one Challenge and a second
Challenge and a third Challenge and a
fourth Challenge and you you the way I
say it as a man is and I I guess on some
level it's true of women also because
it's an American thing not just a man
thing is you want to be in charge you
know in America there's 10
commandments the fir I have a copy of it
at home by the way if you want I can
send it to you the first the 10
commandment is I am God my God there
shall be no God to me other than myself
those are the first two
Dias I'm in charge I make my life I make
it all happen I I I choose I plan and
exactly what I choose and exactly what I
plan is exactly how it plays out
right so when you're starting your life
when I got married I was full of
confidence why I'm in
charge you're not even in charge of you
why
not enj I mean you're not of anything
but that's what you think you're a
little
kid and then life comes and you realize
more and more and more that you don't
have first you're not in charge and you
don't need to be in charge and then you
learn another form of being in charge
it's altogether another type of being in
charge which is acceptance one of the
hardest thing in the world is to accept
I you know the hardest person to
accept yourself forget about your
husband and he's a
yourself you look in the mirror and what
do you see I don't like this and I don't
like this and I don't like this I don't
like this the
abish he's a smart guy and created
this I didn't make this and life doesn't
give you a choice life doesn't give you
a choice you resist you want to stay in
charge you want to stay and as long as
you stay in charge you're wound up like
a like a like a top that's about to spin
this so much stress so much tension and
when you start to realize all I got to
do is accept my kids aren't perfect my
kids aren't what I want them to be uh my
shabas table does not look the way I
envisage it to look the way it used to
be with my older children who are now
married out of the house that's just way
it goes I'm not bad I'm not negligent
I'm doing my best this is the reality of
the
situation and um is it easy to accept
it's very hard to accept that's why the
question is being asked I suffer guilt I
feel like I'm not doing anything well
because I'm spread so thin can't do much
properly can't look at my other children
properly can't look to my husband
properly can't look to the child that
I'm preoccupied with I can't take care
of myself properly it's a bunch of I
can't can't can't can't it's all
true and the truth is the real real
truth
is it is about
acceptance and first of all it's POS
acceptance of our limit ations if my
limitations don't allow me to do this
better it's not expected of me Hashem
gave me the situation Hashem gave me
this child Hashem gave me this husband
Hashem gave me these children Hashem
gave me this what I'm doing is exactly
how it's supposed to be and it's not
easy to accept it's not but it's
literally mamish in the last few years
that this idea I'm almost 60 I I think
I'm older than most of the people in
this room maybe I'm wrong but I uh I
have my glasses off and uh I I believe
I'm older than most of the people in
this room it's been only recently that
it's become so clear to
me that if you you know you let they say
in the 12 step let let go and let God
and I lost it's it's really I don't have
to car the where of the world on my
shoulders I have to do what I need to do
I don't even have to worry about it but
that's very hard to do it's very hard to
do but it's it's a piece of wisdom that
we all need to put into our brains and
let it percolate down from our mind into
our
lives that I all I can do is my best all
I can do is my best and that's good
enough because that's all the abish
expects of me it's all the Reb expects
of me and it's really all I should
expect of myself and has do the rest
hasem has do the
rest now the questions go from Heart to
Heart are you understand questions typ
for other children not to be resentful
of the attention and Havoc needed for
and because of their sibling I mean this
is you know if it's hard enough to
include your husband in this Paradigm
how do you include the
kids again if anybody thinks they came
here for answers you got the wrong guy
and maybe if I don't give answers that
makes me the right guy because anybody
who knows what to do doesn't know what
he's talking about it's so personal and
so complicated and so day by day it is
it's life this is not this not a MIM
this is
life so I just want to tell you this I I
know people who are struggling with uh
children with special needs I know more
than one or
two and I know different
types I know people who are destroyed by
it absolutely destroyed they they they
walk around cron you look in their faces
they just they're absolutely destroyed
by
it and then you see other
couples who have figured
out how to include their child in their
home with their child's
limitations in a way that that child
becomes a source of a lot of the cheer
in that
home there's different kinds of needs
special needs children and everybody's
situation is different some of them are
angry some of them are angry and some of
them are frustrated some of them are
destructive but often they're just
simple now I don't know your situation
and I can't
generalize
but some people figure out how to
include the child in the house and the
child becomes the center of laughter the
center of love and it becomes if I may
use these words a win-win you figure out
how to make it into something
positive the only piece of advice I have
that's practical to this question is
include the other children with this
child as hard as it is
you explain to them what's going on tell
them the truth and they ask what am I
allowed to tell my friends in school
don't ask me because I'm very
open-minded about these things I think
if my kids are not going to get married
they're going to get married whether
people not whether people do or don't
know the situation in my home I I'm I'm
too American in this way we're all rigid
uptight Russians so everything is a
secret you know everything is the KGB is
coming after me I don't think it's so
terrible of people know what's going on
I'd rather know the truth than make up
lies which is what people do when you
don't tell them
but to whatever extent it's possible to
include the other children and of course
the trick is not to include the other
children as a task it's not a job you
know a job is setting the
table if it's possible and to the extent
that it's possible to make it into
something positive we we help this child
because he or she is my brother and my
sister um because this is what we have
to do
and we find language and we find
circumstance to get the other kids
involved in a way that they don't see it
as a chore as a mish but as something
that's meaningful that they wish to do a
lot of it is our attitude really a lot
of it is how we approach it how we feel
if we uh walk around with a lot of
negativity that's how they see it if we
figure out in our own minds in our own
Hearts how to accept the situation and
to deal with it as it is in other words
not expecting
magic maybe we could communicate that to
our other children and get them to feel
like they want to be a part of it I
think it's the only way to do this it's
the only way to do
frankly um and I think it's the only way
to deal with this um I have seen
situations including situations very
close to myself where kids give and give
and give and then later they resent they
come back and they have ESS
there is no perfect
formula but I think it's very very
difficult to try to have two realities
the reality of the child that's not well
and the reality of your remaining
children and um it's a goal it's a goal
a goal means that it takes time I have a
neighbor
whose sibling passed away which was
probably
65 and I went to so this is a long story
that goes back close to 80 years this
child was was had a was a special needs
child in an age where there were no
services and there was no homes for them
and this
person would come into their the homes
of their siblings and just bring
laughter and it was this way because
that's how the parents approached it and
this CH when that person died after
living a what we would call a very
compromised life a life of they never
got married they never had a job they
would never take care of
themselves their siblings missed them
cuz they brought something very positive
into their world but that didn't
happened by itself it only happened
because the
parents spun it that way the parents
sort of so we're going to this is part
of who we are this is what we are and we
have to we're going to make this work
I'm we going to make this into a
positive and a happy thing and often
times that special needs child can
become the center of a lot of
Celebration a lot of happiness and an
issue which I think is big for all of us
as we raise our kids and our kids move
away is cohesion right I don't know you
I don't know any of you and I I don't
know what kind of relationships you have
with your siblings how close you are as
a family right but you wish and your
hope that your children are going to
grow up and get married and be very
close to one another um and maybe you
say well as close as I am to my siblings
or closer than I am to my siblings
whatever your scenario is this could be
glue this could be glue if we if we
figure out how to manage it correctly I
I'm not saying this is easy and the the
most important thing that we need to
learn and understand is not because you
decide to do something is it
done it's a
process you know I remember when we
discovered that my son was ill I'm a man
so in five minutes I had all the
solutions I figured it out what we're
going to
do I mean it was beyond
stupid because so we can do this
this stage there's a you know there was
a prognosis how this kid illness is
going to progress I had all figured out
what what did I not include well number
one the just the exhaustion of taking
care of him number two in other words
not doing it but the emotion that comes
with it number two the other
children right number three the
pain so you you live this you live this
one day at a time and it becomes part of
your new normal
and it becomes part of normal you know
how to live this you learn how to live
this and you can learn how to live this
in a way that it doesn't have to be a
tragedy and it's on us it's on the
parents to develop that thinking in
themselves and to communicate that
thinking to the children I I tell people
a lot um this is a bit of an aside but
it's not much of an aside I tell people
a lot that um when you watch somebody
else suffer when you watch watch
somebody else
suffer your feeling
is that life is dark life is terrible
that all they do is
suffer what you don't know is that
person gets up in the morning and with
the time they get up in the morning they
go to sleep at night there's let the 18
hours or 17 hours or 16 hours of awake
time and they do hundreds of things and
they're not all sad many of them are
happy when our child was ill and child
was in the hospital for last couple
years of his life we would visit every
day we took our children it wasn't all
sad when somebody I could imagine how my
siblings looked at it oh what yeah but
it's not all bad it's life it was our
life for those four
years
and that didn't happen in a minute I
literally remember the day we were given
the prognosis and I remember how I
figured it out in 5 minutes and
obviously I realized how foolish
was but part of the the moving forward
was bu of living with this this is our
this is our life and if you figure how
to do that you can even make it into
something positive and then the other
children don't feel like they're neb
they're not neb they're really not neb
in the
end these things teach
lessons that are incredibly important
and Incredibly real
and as as parents who are parenting
children that's part of our
obligation to figure out how to
communicate that to our healthy
children that uh we're going to live
this one day at a time we're going to
make it work it's not either you or him
or you or her it's all of us and uh it's
it's different it's different than it
was
before but it's life and there's a lot
of happy moments a lot of happy moments
and it's something that we need to
figure out to do for ourselves
and then to be able to communicate to
our
children I'm sorry that I I could just
feel many of you want to throw things at
me I'm saved by the clock at 14 minutes
to get through this list now say ladies
the next question I was given five
times and I got to tell you my heart is
push it melting from the EM of you the
of
you personal question how to know
family is ready to
grow how to get through a following preg
how to get a following pregnancy in good
head space how to know when the family
is ready to add another being realistic
about everything everyone's needs
parents sh children and medical needs
and also keeping in mind wanting to have
large family and that another child
brings then I'm just reading all the
words the pregnancy following the birth
of a special needs
child okay and then the eight I should
have put before how to help other
siblings feel empowered not bured by
sibling so I got this how many times
four
times five
times
wow
as we know that that's the answer Only
theb Knows only the Reb knows
unfortunately the problem is you ask
theb and you don't know what theb is
saying but first of you got to ask
people you got to ask not getting enough
see you have to go to the Reb you have
to say okay
when I I I we all think about that every
day and one of the things that we think
about the Reb or that we should think
about the
Reb the Reb is a holy man you know that
he's a very very very big
sadic he lives in a world which is just
God's it's just God's I recently had an
exchange with a woman and and I think I
heard her
feelings I didn't mean to but she sort
of stopped the conversation
abruptly I did something on my Q&A about
special about the about psycholog
psychological help mental
health and uh she was happy with what I
said so she reached out to me and she
shared had a conversation with me and
the last exchange was why didn't the
debbit talk about it more why did the
debbit encourage more people to seek
mental health
support so I answered
her this is after a series of exchanges
and maybe I shouldn't have said it I
don't know I don't know what's right I
because it's not his
job you don't need a Reit not to get
pregnant but that you need a
ro you neededb to yes get
pregnant which I believe is the reason
when people would ask such questions to
the
Reb if the wanted you to have he told
you
himself
if the want you to do the irrational
thing he told you to do it that's his
job and if the agreed that you got to be
more realistic he would send you
to and the almost knew you know the knew
he could answer the question himself why
did he send to me now being a is not a
fun
job
um and being a who has to answer on
behalf of the is extraordinarily
difficult and would ask the what am I
supposed to say
say only a can answer such a question
only ad can answer such a question but
let's philosophies okay let's Pat
ourselves on the back let's entertain
ourselves okay we want to have more
children that alone is such
a that we live in the America which we
live and we in our heads want to have
more kids that that's holy
that's that's really really wonderful
it's not just having a child as a
sacrifice no it's
not having a child is the most wonderful
thing in the world it's opportunity to
love unconditionally and to give and to
create and to make
a but the fact that we want
that says so much about
our it does it says an enormous amount
about our spiritual space and it's good
even if the Practical answer is no the
desire is so beautiful the desire is so
special really it is because it's it
really is the
ultimate
is I again I teach
kids kids teenagers and they look at the
whole religion as slavery you know they
I can't do this I can't everything I
can't do everything I can't do
everything I can't do
and of course my job as their teacher is
not to give them more instructions you
know you know what not only you can't do
this you can't even do this you didn't
know that right that's my job to teach
you I for better for worse I'm a I don't
teach my job is to get them to
appreciate that this is actually
wonderful this is the best thing that we
have and if you're and you live in the
real world it's never been trer than
right now now the world is spinning out
it's coming so crazy and yish is such an
incredible
anchor and one of the most profound
aspect that
anchor is that the deepest is a child
the deepest the deepest is a child we're
not burdening Society we're bringing a
blessing into the world we're not
burdening other children we're bringing
a blessing into the world and sometimes
abish should puts up in a position where
we have to ask that question
really I think the question alone speaks
Val s really I was asked five different
women asked that question and I I I have
to tell you that like I said I'm
assuming I'm older than most of you it's
it's wonderful that you have the
question only the can answer that
question I'm going to say one thought
and you'll take it anyway you wish it's
just an
Insight I think the answer to the
question is you should have the next
child a little bit before a little bit
before you're
ready
so what does I am I am I a little bit
ready so how do I know it's a very sens
subjective thing it really is but don't
wait till you're completely ready
because you'll end up waiting your whole
life and you know to be honest again I
don't know you I hope you can talk to
your husband about these things frankly
and you can make these decisions
together if you need to get a involed to
get a m involved um but if you could
work it through as a couple you know
it's you're never
ready in the best situation you're never
ready you know have we have a lot to do
in these that's my thought in other
words don't wait till you're completely
comfortable but don't be don't do it in
a way that is in your judgment and the
Judgment of your love and Judgment of
your husband Jud your Reckless not
thought
through um but but I I really I have to
say that having that question means
says it's good it's in my opinion it's
good now I got a very long question and
I got six
minutes I I think I asked that question
about yeah okay I I actually when we
were speaking the question actually
solidified in my mind the question
is does the Sim come from amuna that we
know that are children are perfect the
way they are or does the need to come
from on the level that the spoke what
did that he believed that the Abra land
is going to save me because nobody else
will come to save me and that's how he
got his Yeshua meaning I know we're
supposed to be joyful that we have
special needs children but to me the
level that you would need to believe
that your child is going to outgrow
their their special needs which doesn't
happen frequently or ever in the this
world is that uh is that something the
rebel wants from us or does the rebel
want us to have from that my child is
perfect the way they
are okay you know what the dev wants
from us the best we can
deliver that's not answering my question
it is it is and I'm going to talk to you
I'm not going to beat around the
bush um you think the Reba doesn't know
how flawed we
are how limited we are are he knows
quite well he's a smart
guy and he's so smart that he come down
to our level and he has us figured
out no re spoke about did and he's
speaking to the most wounded generation
in history I find it
odd the Reb who's dealing with Yen who
have the hardest time with liking
themselves are being taught something
which is so over the top now the reason
thatb is doing because he believes that
small and Shamus have an easier time to
reach the which is really what it is
small and shamas have an easier time
relating to in a way which is completely
Beyond themselves which is what like
shom did
is I want to tell you something now
maybe you're not going to like what I'm
saying maybe you don't need to hear it
but this is my Mantra this is what I
say I
find
that one of the many diseases of our
generation is that people have
NOA can you say that the people
have and no
amuna and there's something profoundly
unhealthy about that and unsustainable
about
that you know we all had Bubbas or maybe
you didn't have a Bubba but your Bubba
had a Bubba I don't know
you who were simple people who never
went to school literally they never they
knew how to cook
POA they never want to know anything but
they had such a
in and they gave you their am in their
they gave you their am in their hug they
gave you their and their candies they
gave when you came to the house it was
something so
simple and with no
expectation with no expectation just was
God exists
we're all really smart you know that the
world we live in is more informed than
ever in history ever it's not even
close and we're so unbelievably stupid
it's not even close cuz we don't know
what to do with this information we
don't know how to process what to take
what not to take how to use it and one
of the things that I think is true that
everything becomes an exercise
everything is
therapy is a
therapy is a therapy it's not it's
religion and you know the difference
religion is something you do every
minute of every day and every
night it's not an action and and a
reaction so I'll do this and he'll do
that that's not the relation
what the foundation of a person's life
and of a Jew's life is God is present
period I didn't say good I didn't say
bad I said
present we live in a universe full of
his presence rather than then void of
his presence aid went into the with a
terminal heart condition and he he knew
that he was on a he was on a clock but
he didn't know exactly when the clock
was going to run out and he said to the
Reb yish something to the effect I feel
like I'm on glass feel like working on
glass and the Reb said to
him you're in a Divine embrace the
didn't give him more years he didn't he
gave him a perspective if we live in
hashem's World imuna means we're
surrounded by Hashem
always it doesn't make him good doesn't
make him bad it means he's with
us
and it's
foundational to have that
sense as we get smarter it's the same
it's the god I am my God the shall be
now God unto me it's the same syndrome
if I have a relationship with Hashem I
choose it
wrong I have a relationship with hm God
they live in his space he's real I'm the
Invader I'm not in charge he is and
spiritually and psychologically that
means that before we make deals with God
before we negotiate
terms we just live in his
world that is supposed to give us all
warmth it's supposed to give us all a
certain measure of safety this is how
Jews have lived for thousands of years
we live in hashem's world you know the
re told my aunt
mam didn't tell life is wonderful they
knows what he's doing you're in the aish
this world you know what she told her
she's passed away I hope I'm not going
to be accused she told me the story she
said the words came out of her mouth
before she could stop them she would
never have
said she couldn't control was a nric
reaction you have to know her to
understand
her
and gave him one of those Smiles that
goes back
to who said who said how do you
know but it was it was not thought
through it wasn't an intellectual
question it was a pain question and the
Reb gave him one of those Smiles that
lights up the
world that's my opinion we live in
hashem's
world
and the context
of is am when I teach the kids I tell
them Amun is breathing
air is eating we talking is a choice you
know talking is a
choice you can choose
to you can
choose you can choose to D and give to
and you can choose to be miserable it's
also a choice I hate to say it's a bad
one it's a choice but talk is a choice I
choose to engage with God in this this
way but first I have
relationship that is
key if you have no then you don't have
you have super you Superstition it's
another
version Hashem has to be simple this is
what our parents gave us and if we B CH
and our parents didn't give it to us we
need to develop it for ourselves the
hardest thing for B cha is these things
cuz they're unspoken it's not in a
book it's the mother's milk I live in
hashem's world
and's pretty good and there's no other
one by the way not can TR can't trade
him in there's no other
God I'm not answering your
question I'm just offering you this
Insight if you put in the framework of
a you're healthier and your B is
healthier the answer to your question is
it's your choice it's your
choice did I says it and the says it is
true and more than it's true means he's
giving
a you think it's easy to do with no it's
hell that's my point like how he it was
his choice that he's a tough guy you
have no idea he is but you know how much
am he has in his
Kish is this enormous amount of am inish
sh's was something that has done before
people have gotten free from jail his
case happened to be extreme but nobody
in the room's illnesses have ever been
cured in a natural way so the answer to
your question is you
decide how you want to approach it you
have a
choice but you don't have a choice to
feel abandoned by God no that's the
question is on the joy you're happy
either way of course you're happy you
know your kid's Perfect come on out of
all of my kids is the only one I don't
have to worry about that grow up from
get married she's good the way she is
she doesn't eat now she could not eat in
30 years it doesn't make a difference
but where does the joy come from does
the joy come from the Abra made her
perfect that now I mean I'm going to
help her but listen I'm Scot free I need
to worry about my other kids this one I
worry about or does the joy come from no
you have a mission to believe that the
abish is going to make it revealed good
and a r I'm going to tell you first of
all the joy has to come from living yes
the joy has to come from life yes not
from a particular version of it you're
not happy because did this for you or
that you're happy world clearly says
that the comes because you know you've
done everything in your power but means
that it's going to be revealed good in
this world so are you looking at a child
who's disabled as they're already
revealed good because like Mr SCH said
that the way they are now is perfect
then you could have just enjoy they have
it right they don't have it right or are
you looking at it that no in this world
they have a disability and and in order
to to bring out something that really is
positive in this world you need to
change your perspective I'm telling you
the answer
again it's your choice Tak me okay good
good I I know what to choose it's your
choice choose carefully okay we got to
stop I have more to talk about but let's
stop okay thank you for listening to me
I hope I didn't disappoint you please
visit
inside.
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