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20 Iyar 5762 - May 2, 2002 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
What is Best for Shimshi?

by R' Zvi Zobin

The doctor finished examining little Chaim, wrote out a prescription and then turned to Chaim's mother. "You are looking pale, Mrs. Reuben. Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"Well, I'm feeling very tired," she replied. The doctor turned back to his pad and wrote out another prescription.

"Here, Mrs. Reuben, try this; it should take away the tiredness."

"But, doctor," said Mrs. Reuben, pushing back the piece of paper. "I should be feeling tired. I go to bed after 2 o'clock every night and I have to be up by seven to get the children off to school. The only way the medicine you are giving me can take away my tiredness is by stimulating something which should not be stimulated. I accept my tiredness and I know that the real way to get back to normal is by going to sleep at a normal time."

I remembered Mrs. Reuben's story when we were sitting with Shimshi Levi to discuss what to do about his increasing problems.

At cheder every week they learn about one page (two sides) of gemora with Rashi and Tosfos. They are tested every week and after they have learnt six pages, they are tested on all six pages. They also learn and are regularly tested on Kitzur Shulchan Oruch, Chumash, Nach, spelling/grammer and math. Cheder finishes at 5:45 and then most of his class goes on to Masmidim until seven o'clock. However, Shimshi goes home and then from 7:20 p.m. until 8:00 he has a private tutor because he usually does not understand the gemora.

Apart from the extra lessons, Shimshi has to go to a physiotherapist because his physical coordination is not sufficiently developed.

He wants to be a big talmid chochom when he grows up and he knows that great talmidei chachomim go to bed late, so he feels guilty if he gets to bed before ten o'clock. The school bus comes to pick him up at eight in the morning.

Shimshi explained that the first lesson after davening is usually light because the teacher knows that most of the children are still half asleep. The teacher complains that Shimshi cannot sit still for the one-hour sessions of his lessons and that he does not understand the gemora as well as he should.

Shimshi is ten and a half years old. He has a full working day and is severely deprived of sleep. He gets very little exercise during the day and has little time to play. He runs out of the house in the morning and usually eats his sandwich during the first break at 10:30. That means that until that break, Shimshi has not eaten for nearly fourteen hours.

The question facing Mr. Levi is whether he should try to remediate all of Shimshi's problems. And that is when I remembered Mrs. Reuben's story. Considering the conditions under which Shimshi is working, it is perfectly normal that he should have all the problems he has. It might be possible to give Shimshi a schedule of remediation and medication which would enable him to complete each day as is expected of him. But what would be their long term effect? And if we do not attempt to help Shimshi, what will be the long term effects of his not producing the quality of work which is expected of him?

What is really best for Shimshi? What should Mr. Levi do?

 

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