PetALS and Thorns

I entered a taxi one day, on my way to an urgent meeting. Please Hashem, I davened, let the meeting go well. Let me not fall or choke. Hashem, You are the Ultimate Goodness. I'm scared. Hold my hand please and let these incidents pass. The taxi drew to a halt, I paid the driver, and... I can't get out!! What's this? Help me! What is wrong with me? My feet don't move. It's as if a mammoth pump has sucked the energy out of my legs so that they are left lying, completely lifeless, on the taxi seat. Hashem, what is going on with me? What is going to happen to me next? Geveret! The driver is losing his patience. I flush, my redness stemming from embarrassment, and even more so from fear and dread. Geveret!!! Driver, I cannot get out... Thus begins the spinc-tingling story of the active and vibrant Mrs. Esther Klein, educational supervisor of the Bais Yaakov preschools in Jerusalcm, and an cstcemed lecturer and pedagogic center dircctor. When Mrs. Klein fell ill with an incurable, neurodegenerative discase, even the walls closing in on the best years of her life couldn't stop her from spreading her wings heavenwards with emunah and simchah. With simple and touching words, Mrs. Klein writes her story. Along- side her moving and touching expcriences, all the chapters of this book include spiritual and educational insights. For in the author's opin- ion, there is no point being touched and moved, if those emotions don't lead to action.