May 28, 2009

Shalom,

For nine long months, I prepared myself, physically and spiritually, for the birth of my second child. But I had no clue just how moving and life-changing this experience would turn out to be.

Throughout my pregnancy, I combed the Bible for verses pertaining to childbirth. Though this search led me to many beautiful insights into the meaning of life and of motherhood, none of them resonated. None were the exact verse that could carry me through the pain of childbirth. Now, I see that God was just waiting for the right time to reveal the verse that would strengthen and uplift me at the time I needed it most.

While I was preparing to bring a new life into the world, a dear friend of mine, Shira, was fighting a painful battle with cancer. Shira was the most beautiful, smart, courageous, and spiritually wise person that I have ever met. She drew life from God’s word and from the Land of Israel the way that a plant draws life from water and the sun. She was a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend who inspired every person whose path she crossed. Throughout her struggle, her face was never without a smile and her hands were never without her prayer book. Her words were always positive, despite the pain she was forced to endure at the young age of 25. This was true until she drew her last breath just a month before my son was born.

Speaking about his wife at one of the services in her memory, Shira's husband described her deep faith and trust in God: Shira was in pain nearly every moment of the day and yet she held firmly to the belief that "God brings redemption in the blink of an eye." During Shira's illness, he said, this biblical verse was constantly on her lips. The knowledge that God is in control and could--in the blink of an eye—change her pain into relief and comfort enabled her to endure anything. Each time her pain eased, she praised God for redeeming her from the suffering she knew all too well, even if it was only for a moment.

During my labor, I followed Shira's example. Whenever the pain seemed unbearable, I remembered that "Salvation from God comes in the blink of an eye." I confidently repeated this in my mind and, before I knew it, the pain had subsided. Instead of focusing on the pain of the contractions, I used them-contractions - as a new opportunity to strengthen my faith.

When the nurse told my husband and me that our baby would be born soon, we immediately took out our book of Psalms and sang songs of praise to God. We wanted these ancient and immortal words to be the first ones our child heard as he came into the world.

Ten minutes after the nurse came in, at 9:30 a.m. on a magical Shabbat morning in the holy city of Jerusalem, our healthy, beautiful, baby boy was born. My husband and I looked at each other with tears streaming down our faces. We didn't need to say a word, because we both knew in our hearts that we were thinking the same thing - what a life-changing, beautiful, and redemptive birth we had just experienced!

After our son's birth, I thanked God for His grace and for Shira, who had taught me so much. From her I learned that, although there are great hardships in the world, God brings comfort. If we place our full trust and hope in Him, He can give us the ability to endure those hardships. What an amazing lesson to accompany such a blessed event.

With blessings from Jerusalem,
Yael