KI TAVO
My Greatest Role Model Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK
Two major things happened this week to me. My eldest son began his time in Yeshiva in Israel and it was the third Yahrzeit for my beloved mother Sonia. There is a powerful story about my mother that happened during my time in Yeshiva, which I recalled this week as the two events coincided. It was one night in our dorm room and one of our room mates was upset. I think, if I recall, it was an issue with a girl he was dating seriously, (they eventually got married!) They had had an argument or something and I tried to offer my sympathies. He turned to me and said, ‘Andrew, thank you, but don’t worry, this really isn’t a problem – you have much bigger problems to worry about.’ I was perplexed. What were my ‘bigger problems?’. I asked him for an explanation. He looked at me strangely, ‘Andrew, your mum has multiple sclerosis’. I froze, he was correct of course, she had been diagnosed in the late 70’s and it had got gradually worse. By that stage, in the early 90’s she was starting to use walking sticks to get around and walked very slowly. I froze, because I had never seen it as a ‘big problem’. I was so upset and ran to the phones to call home. (In those days it was quite complicated to do that!) I spoke to my mum and told her about my roommate and how upset I was, and I apologized for not seeing her disability as a problem.