As the Aron opened, and the two Sifrei Torah came into view, a lump formed in my throat. “A King can only be a ruler, if He has a kingdom.”
Around me at our FC Minyan, were mothers of special children who had clothed, shlepped, and brought their special children and siblings to shul so that they could hear the Shofar. At the same time, sitting at home were so many across the community, who were unable to make it to Shul for the toll it would take on them; the effort required was too much. The chances of them getting everything ready and then the child refusing to enter, or him having a meltdown just as Shofar is about to start are real. Tough decisions that a Special Parent has to make. Giving up how they want their Rosh Hashana to look like, for the benefit of their child.
A conversation that I recently had with a FC mom had entered my mind and the reality and the power of it made my eyes fill with tears. “This took me years and years, and so much internal effort; but when I lay myself down before G-d and said, ‘If this is your will, I accept it.’ I found that a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
So as the Aron opened on Rosh Hashana morning, my mind was thinking of all the mothers who had done this work. Who had told Hashem, that they will do whatever they can to raise His Special Child. That everything that they had been taught their whole life about being in Shul on Rosh Hashana, about Davening, about how this is how to connect to G-d, had all shifted and changed. They have lifted their hands to Heavens, and murmured with complete sincerity; “We have accepted you as our King, as our Father. We accept the life You have chosen for us. We are your nation.”
-Mrs. Chani Majesky
