My Life in a Flash
MRS. CHERYL (CHAYA BRACHA) SPANGENTHAL
An oral history project dedicated to documenting the life of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The story is one of thousands recorded in over 1,900 videotaped interviews conducted to date. While we have done our utmost to authenticate these stories, they reflect the person’s recollection and interpretation of the Rebbe’s words.
The pain would return for six months or so and then gradually subside. Although the pain did not go away completely, the quality of my life improved substantially.
At one point, during one of my pregnancies, under the insistence of my obstetrician, I underwent an ultrasound. The doctor was quiet during the procedure, but afterwards he told me that we needed to follow up with further tests. The results came back positive for spina bifida, a serious condition involving a malfunction in the bones of the spine and the spinal cord.
When I told the Groners about the diagnosis, Rabbi Groner said that whenever one has some uncertainty regarding a medical condition, they should get multiple opinions. Following his advice, I took the test results to another doctor to get his opinion, and then did a re-test with two more doctors. Without disclosing the findings of the initial test, I merely asked them to let me know their findings.
The subsequent tests also came back positive. The doctors could not be fully certain, but all of them said that there was a very strong likelihood that my baby had spina bifida. My husband and I started to discuss the possibility of raising a child with a severe disability while managing my own health issues and trying to raise our other children, as well as thinking about how this would affect them. We had a big decision to make. Eventually, I came to a conclusion: If this is what G-d had in store for me, I would accept it and find a way to manage.
A month or so later, at a regular prenatal appointment, the obstetrician said there were further complications. Apart from the spina bifida, I also had placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta drops, thereby blocking the cervix and preventing normal delivery. There was also a strong possibility of this causing a spontaneous abortion.
Rabbi Yossi Groner suggested I tell the Rebbe, so I wrote a note expressing all of my concerns. I also mentioned that I had been planning to attend a seminar in Minnesota with Rabbi Manis Friedman, a chasidic lecturer, but was concerned that flying would further increase the risk of an early stillbirth.
Rabbi Groner sent my note to the Rebbe, and soon after, I was excited to receive a letter with his response. “You will have a healthy baby,” the Rebbe wrote, “and that child will go on to have many children and bring you a lot of nachas. You must trust in G-d that things will be good.”
I felt completely reassured that everything would be alright, and from then on, I acted as any woman with a normal pregnancy would, including attending the conference in Minnesota. And, thank G-d, when the baby was born, everything was normal!
Two or three weeks after the birth, Mariashi Groner suggested that we go to the Rebbe to thank him for the blessing and to show him the baby.
This time, when we arrived in New York and went to 770, there was a small line of people waiting to see him near his office. I watched as the Rebbe came out and stopped to speak to the first person in line, and then moved on to the second person. “Here is the baby,” I was planning to say. “Thank you!” Then the Rebbe came to Mariashi, and she spoke to him. Once again, I felt this palpable, tremendous energy radiating from him. Then the Rebbe stood in front of me, and I looked up.
I was not expecting what happened next. As he looked at me, it was like a camera flash went off, but much deeper than that. It felt as though the Rebbe saw right through me and connected with a part of my soul that I had never connected with myself.
I was so shaken by this experience that despite what I had planned to say, I could not make a sound. The whole meeting probably took a few seconds, but since then, and through some other major life events, I have had the sense that the Rebbe was with me.
Mrs. Cheryl (Chaya Bracha) Spangenthal is a retired school teacher and nurse who has resided in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 1982. She was interviewed in November 2015.
