In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters
to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in
Chush for their entire school career,
while others can be main-streamed into conventional
schools. At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of
a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be
forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he
cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya?
Everything done in Heaven is done with
perfection. But my child cannot understand things as
other children do. My child cannot remember facts and
figures as other children do. Where
is Heaven's perfection?

The audience was shocked by the question, pained by
the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing
query.

"I believe," the father answered, "that when Heaven
brings a child like this into the world, the
perfection that it seeks is in the way people
react to this child."

He then told the following story about
his son Shaya:

One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park
where some boys Shaya new were playing baseball.
Shaya asked, "Do you think they will
let me play?" Shaya's father knew that his son was
not at all athletic and that most boys
would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father
understood that if his son were chosen to play it
would give him a comfortable sense of
belonging.

Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field
and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around
for guidance from his team-mates.
Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and
said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the
eighth inning. I guess he can be on our
team and well try to put him up to bat in the ninth
inning."

Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.
Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play
short center field. In the bottom of
the eight inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but
was still behind by three.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored
again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with
the potential winning run on base.

Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually
let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their
chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew
that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't
even know how to hold the bat properly,
let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to
the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the
ball in softly so Shaya should at least be
able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and
missed. One of Shaya's team-mates came up to Shaya
and together they held the bat and faced
the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher
again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly
toward Shaya.

As the pitch came in, Shaya and his team-mate swung at
the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to
the pitcher. The pitcher picked up
the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the
ball to the first baseman.

Shaya would have been out and that would have ended
the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and
threw it on a high arc to right field, far
beyond reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to
first." Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He
scampered down the baseline wide-eyed
and startled. By the time he reached first base, the
right fielder had the ball.

He could have thrown the ball to the second base man
who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But
the right fielder understood what
the pitchers intentions were, so he threw the ball
high and far over the Third baseman's head. Everyone
yelled, "Run to second, run to second."
Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of
him deliriously circled the bases towards home.

As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop
ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base
and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya
rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him
screaming, "Shaya run home."

Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys
lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero,
as he had just hit a "grand slam" and
won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now
rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their
level of Heaven's perfection."

by Rabbi Paysach Krohn
"Tales from the Maggid" (artscroll publishers)
http://www.artscroll.com/Authors/Rabbi_Paysach_Krohn.html

Contact information
Mark James
phone 516-835-9996
my email is dannsirs@yahoo.com