THE VOICE WITHIN

THE VOICE WITHIN

A popular speaker on ethics and spiritual growth, Rabbi Paysach Krohn has authored the ‘Maggid’ series of books full of life lessons. One of his stories is about a man at a fundraising dinner for an American school where disabled children are given the opportunity to learn.

The man begins his speech with a question: “When there is no interference from outside, Nature does everything with perfection. My son Shay could not learn as other children do. Where was the natural order of things in him?”

As the audience pondered, the father continued, “I believe when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped, comes into this world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child”. He then shared his experience thus: —

One day, Shay and his father were walking past a park where some boys were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” Shay’s father knew most of the boys would not want someone like Shay in their team, but he also understood that if Shay were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed boost.

Shay’s father approached one of the boys, not expecting much. The boy said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth innings. I guess he can be in our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth.”

Shay struggled over eagerly to the team’s bench and put on its shirt with a broad smile. The father had a tear in his eye and the boys could see his joy. In the bottom of the eighth innings, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth innings, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field.

Even though no hits came Shay’s way, he was ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth innings, Shay’s team scored again. Now, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this critical juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, they did. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher from the rival team, recognizing that Shay’s team was putting aside winning for this moment in Shay’s life, lobbed the ball in gently. Swinging clumsily, Shay missed and the pitcher again tossed him a soft ball. This time, Shay somehow made contact, hitting a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would have ended right then. But instead of throwing the ball straight to the first baseman, the pitcher threw the ball high over his head, out of reach of all team-mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, “Shay, run to first!” Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he scampered to first base, wide-eyed and startled.

With everyone egging him on, as Shay started running awkwardly for the second base, the right fielder, the smallest boy in the rival team, intentionally threw the ball out of reach of the third baseman. As he stumbled into third base, Shay was helped by the rival shortstop to turn in the right direction for the final run.

With screams of “Shay, Shay, all the way!”, Shay began his home run. As he stepped on the plate, he was cheered by everyone on the ground for hitting the ‘grand slam’ and winning the game for his team.

That was to be Shay’s last summer. But even as his short life was over in the winter, the memory of the game must have warmed his heart till the end. After all, was it not that day he had seen his father deliriously happy, his mother weeping joyfully at home as she heard from them what a ‘hero’ he had been?

“That day,” said the father softly as he ended his speech, “this was how the boys of two teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world”.

— the harbinger

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