Targum/Feldheim
a 398-page book which includes as a Big Bonus a CD of songs
from TOFA'AH
"The Miracle Next Door to the Miracle Next Door"
a reluctant review by Sheindel Weinbach
WHAT? And another big WHAT? Is that how one reviews a book
that has just been released on the market and whose review is
purported to boost sales?
I almost sent Malka Adler a check to cover the cost of the
complimentary copy of The Miracle Next Door with an
attached note saying that I certainly wanted to HAVE the
book, but did not feel capable of REVIEWING it.
But I didn't. I shall simply plunge into how I feel about
this book with a bottom line at the very top, that it is
definitely one to have and cherish and buy, and, of course,
read. Little by little.
While there are some books that can be read in one sitting,
this will take a long, long time to complete. And I still
haven't. In fact, I might even recommend reading it backward,
chapter by chapter, just to reassure yourself that Yissie has
actually survived and is thriving.
Whoever said that Life is not a Bowl of Cherries?
In fact, it's a bowl of cherry-ifs, maybes and many
very's.
Some of them are big and juicy and sweet, with zing,
The specie that they call "Bing."
Then there are the sour ones, that make you pucker,
But if you pass those by — why, you're a sucker.
Because life really is a bowl,
And you've got to take it, whole,
As it comes, sweet and sour,
Thanking Hashem by the day, the hour,
And in this book, even by the minute,
As you'll see, once you're in it.
Take a deep breath through your healthy nose,
Not through a `trache' or oxygen hose,
And thank Hashem for every breath,
Yours — and Yissie's — who's been so close to
death
Time and again, but thanks to prayer and determined will,
Of so many devotees, including Malka Adler, he is with us
still.
You will find yourself gulping for breath, and holding back
tears many times as you struggle through this incredible
book. And if it weren't for the Miracle Next Door, and this
time I mean Malka Adler, the kindly neighbor, it would be a
much sourer cherry in the bowl to swallow.
O.K. so I've got the reader going around in circles. We
oldtimer YATED readers know Malka Adler from way back; she
even predates Sheindel Weinbach. But we know Malka as a Sunny
Slice of Life, a chocoholic, a lovable Mary Poppins kind of
lady who's always good for some laughs and the uncanny
insights that lie behind good humor.
Malka has matured. Not that she's conquered her craze for
chocolate. But here, she emerges serious. Most of the
time.
Malka tells the incredible story of an incredible
shidduch, to begin with. And once you're hooked into
the book, you just can't help reading on. So we've met Yona,
the life of the women's fabulous song, dance and band called
Tofa'ah, which is literally translated as Phenomenon, and
related to Hofa'ah, Performance. A Phenomenal Performance
Group.
There's many a hard pit to swallow along the way, when we
discover that vivacious Yona is handicapped with a
degenerative disease that has her in ups and downs. Downs in
a wheelchair, but springing miraculously back up when a
performance is scheduled. And if you haven't been to a
Tofa'ah evening, you're missing out on something big in
kinetic energy, spiritual and otherwise.
We feel along with Yona who is childless for half a dozen
years, and then has Yissie — Yisroel Meir.
There are so many things wrong with him at birth that he is
given zero prognosis for survival. Period. So now turn to the
last pages and see him at six and seven, a very lovable
child, breathing much on his own, eating real food, beginning
to vocally talk, to walk, ride a bike, swim, eyes shining,
communicating.
As for the in between, go read all about it. I cannot begin
to describe the dozens of dozens of times when the breathing
apparatus fails, the oxygen runs out, or the times he
undergoes surgery on the heart, cleft palate, lung, gastro or
whatever is most ailing him at the moment.
Suffice it to say, that he has survived beyond all
expectations except those of the people who love him and
trust in Hashem.
Malka's humor has provided relief, not only comic, for this
difficult book, with beautiful insights, chizuk
galore, entertainment, food for thought, all beautifully
presented in a well paced manner that interjects excerpts
from Yona's diary, from her own, written notes from friends,
nurses, doctors, vignettes and lots of uplifting poetry.
A special book. But emotionally wringing.
So Malka, if you feel I've done this review an injustice,
I'll be happy to pay for the book, and eat my words. And
print another one...
Yours, Sheindel
