By: Binyomin Eretz:

“I just want him to be able to lead a normal life”. These were the tear-choked words of eight-year old Shlomie’s father.
Shlomie’s parents, Rabbi G. and his wife, are generally on the receiving end of tears. They are not used to tearfully pleading with people to help them.
An American born couple whose idealism spurred them to make Aliya and raise their family in Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi G. serves as a prominent Mechanech who has been instrumental in helping countless kids at risk get a second chance to succeed and excel. But now Rabbi G., and even more importantly, his eight-year old son Shlomie, are begging for a second chance.

A Rare Pediatric Neurological Condition
Shlomie was recently diagnosed with CSWS (continuous spike wave syndrome), a rare pediatric neurological disease that strikes healthy children between the ages of 1-11 years old. As time passes, the spike wave damages areas of the brain while the child sleeps and potentially lowers his IQ by 5 points every passing year. Without intervention, a child degenerates into a state of autism and at times even total lack of communication and possibly worse. To better understand how rare this case is; one of the leading medical centers in the United States has only seen 12 such cases in the past 20 years. It is imperative that Shlomie receive medical intervention immediately. Otherwise his condition will progressively degenerate to the point where he will chalila become incurable and unreachable.

Over the next few weeks Shlomie’s parents are scheduling to visit some of the premiere medical centers across the country. The greatest specialists at hospitals such as The Cleveland Clinic, UCLA, NYU Medical Center and numerous others have been pouring over Shlomie’s medical charts and brain scans trying to devise a surgery that will allow him to once more be the happy, thriving child that he was before tragedy struck and he was diagnosed with CSWS.

It will be a long haul, but as soon as it is determined which hospital is best equipped to undertake the very complex, still experimental surgery that will with G-d’s help give Shlomie a new lease on life, Shlomie will begin to undergo what is estimated to be a protracted hospital stay.
Shlomie’s parents have been left with no choice other than to temporarily transplant their large family of nine children to America for what will be a months’ long or even potentially year long stay in America.
What can a couple with a large family, limited resources and exorbitant medical expenses, do to pay for the costs?
Beg for funds. Beseech good-hearted Jews to help them try to ensure a normal life for their child.

The Giver has been Forced to Become a Taker
It is something that Rabbi G. never thought he would have to do. He was always the one assisting other people’s children, helping them get a new lease on life. He was the one who would sensitively comfort distraught parents when they turned to him for help in saving their child who had deteriorated and was engaging in dangerous behavior, both physical and spiritual. He was the one with a track record of helping countless kids at risk… Now he is himself at risk… risk of spiraling debt; risk of being rendered helpless as his son Shlomie’s condition deteriorates…with nothing standing in the way of Shlomie’s possible recovery and potential to lead a normal life than money.

This is the predicament of Rabbi and Mrs. G., loving parents who want nothing else other than to help their son Shlomie have the opportunity to lead a normal life.
Please help Shlomie to be a normal kid again. Please save Rabbi and Mrs. G from the indignities of begging for help. They are suffering so much already. They have been forced to uproot their family, their lives, all so that Shlomie will be able to lead a normal life.
With a tear in his eye, Rabbi G., keeps on reiterating, “I just want Shlomie to be able to lead a normal life.”

Please help Shlomie regain the gift of health and lead a normal life by clicking HERE, or sending your generous donation payable to “CBJ – Shlomie’s Fund” to:

Lakewood: Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen 37 5th Street, Lakewood, NJ 08701.
Chicago: Rabbi Zev Cohn, 2949 W Coyle Avenue, Chicago, IL 60645
Milwaukee: Rabbi Michel Twerski 3100 52nd Street, Milwaukee, WI 53216
Miami: Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro 1265 NE 171 Terrace, N Miami Beach FL 33621
Five Towns: Rabbi Aryeh Zev Ginsberg, 7 Derby Avenue, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
Monsey: Rabbi Labish Becker, 2 Algonquin Cir., Monsey, NY 10952
Brooklyn: Rabbi Mordecai Twerski, 2905 Avenue K, Brooklyn, NY 11210
St Louis: Reb. Paula Rivkin, 4 Millstone Campus, St Louis, MO 63146
Baltimore: Rabbi Tzvi Schur, 3740 Menlo Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215

Please be daven for a refuah shelayma for Shlomo Noach ben Rina Miriam