Where
is God's Perfection?
In
Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning
disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire
school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional
schools.
At
a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered
a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After
extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out,
"Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God
does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand
things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts
and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?"
The
audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's
anguish, stilled by the piercing query.
"
I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings
a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks
is in the way people react to this child."
He
then told the following story about his son Shaya:
One
afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some
boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.
Shaya
asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shaya's
father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most
boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood
that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable
sense of belonging.
Shaya's
father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if
Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his
teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands
and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in
the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try
to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
Shaya's
father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told
to put on a glove and go out to play short center field.
In
the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs
but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning,
Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases
loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled
to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture
and give away their chance to win the game? Surpassingly, Shaya
was given the bat.
Everyone
knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even
know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However
as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps
to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to
make contact.
The
first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One
of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together the held
the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The
pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly
toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung
at the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.
The
pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown
the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and
that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the
ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach
of the first baseman.
Everyone
started yelling,"Shaya, run to first. Run to first."
Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down
the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached
first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown
the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who
was still running. But the right fielder understood what the
pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far
over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run to
second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as
the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards
home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop
ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted,
"Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from
both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home."
Shaya
ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on
their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a
"grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That
day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down
his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."
True.
It's attributed to Rabbi Paysach Krohn, a popular lecturer
and best-selling author of the ArtScroll Maggid series of short
stories. In a message to
truthorfiction.com Rabbi Krohn said, "Every single
word in the story is accurate. I heard it from Shaya's father
himself - who is a close friend of mine"
