Near Death Experience
On April 15, 2010, Mark went in for a minor surgery to remove some cancer that was in its early stages. The doctor said he would be home in just a few days. As he was going into surgery a friend mentioned to him that she had a friend whose daughter was going in for major cancer treatment at the same time and in the same hospital. Mark offered to visit her as soon as he was able to walk.
On April 27, Mark opened his eyes for the very first time. He could barely see, move or make much sense of what was going on around him. But he had a strong memory of a vision he had while he was asleep. You see Mark suffered from a terrible infection that as a result of the surgery almost killed him. His temperature was so high they had to put him into a coma to try and save his life.
But the vision is still so vivid for him as he retold it to me in person on August 26th, 2010.
Mark had come in to first of all thank me for Chabad being there for him and his family during this difficult time, he was visited by 2 young women who brought him challah on Friday for Shabbat while he was in the hospital and the many calls he received from the Rabbi's at CJC. And secondly to share the vision with me.
In the vision he saw the young girl being taken to heaven with her religion and he saw his grandmother telling him to go back it was not yet his time.
As soon as he had enough strength he called his friend to find out how her friends daughter had fared with her treatment. He told him that unfortunately she did not make it and had passed away. He later found out that she died at the same night he had that vision. He eventually got back some of his strength and went to visit the mother to share with her his vision hoping that it would bring her some comfort which it did.
When Mark was young his grandfather would always go to the synagogue but would give the rabbi a very hard time about religion. It was almost like he only went to annoy the rabbi.
When it came time for his bar mitzvah his grand father said that he would automatically become a bar mitzvah even if he would not celebrate it and it was up to Mark to decide if he wanted one or not.
Being a 12 year old he chose not to have one, learning Hebrew just did not seem exciting enough compared to baseball and tv, a decision he would live to regret for many years. After this near death experience he really wanted to take care of his Bar Mitzvah although it is 60 years later.
Not wanting to wait we had a small but meaningful Bar Mitzvah celebration right there and then. He was overjoyed. It was a tearful and joyful ceremony, a sixty year dream finally coming to fruition.
He attributes his miraculous recovery to G-d and to his devoted and loving wife who nursed him back to life.
I wish Mark a full and complete recovery to full strength and many happy and healthy years ahead.
Mark is an inspiration for me. He has such a deep connection with his heritage it resonates so deep within his soul.
We are told that during these special days of before and after Rosh Hashana our soul which is usually buried deep within our consciousness is more easily accessible. We can tap in to that reservoir of hope, strength and power, and connect with ourselves on the most profound level.
During the rest of the year this would be a difficult challenge, but this time of the year it is much easier.
Seize the moment and reach out and touch your soul, reach out to others and make your life and theirs a whole lot deeper and more meaningful.
Now is the time when doing mitzvot comes more naturally, start a habit today when it is easy, it will stay with you even during the rest of the year.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Zalman Marcus
Sara wrote...