A fellow by the name of Lavi Greenspan came to speak to Moriah Middle School students recently and ended up inspiring everyone. As Rabbi Bernstein said, “Bodybuilders have muscles from head to toe, but this man is much stronger than they are.”

Before Lavi reached the age of 26, he’d undergone six surgeries, a journey which began after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The first operation took nine-and-a-half hours, followed immediately by another six-hour surgery. Only a short time later, Lavi had to return to the hospital for another four-hour surgery. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved, and Lavi was told he would have to go through another 4-6 hour surgery, which was completely successful.

But his ordeal was still not over. Levi realized his jaw was not working properly, and he had to undergo yet another surgery to remove excess scar tissue. And finally, after a minor car accident, and an encounter with meningitis, involving even more surgeries, Lavi became completely blind by the time he was 26 years old.

Any normal person might have lost faith in Hashem, but Lavi Greenspan is no ordinary man. Throughout his tales of troubling surgeries and increasing hardships, Lavi kept thanking Hashem for his successful surgeries, his friends, his family, and his life. What he told us motivated us to realize what blessings Hashem has bestowed upon us. All the more inspiring, Lavi went on to say that he is more spiritually connected to Hashem than he was before, and even recites the blessing on eyesight each morning.

One thing that Lavi repeated to us multiple times was that Hashem doesn’t give us a test that we cannot pass, and he is living proof of that. Lavi has worked as a lawyer for eight years, passing the Bar Examination after he became blind. Lavi Greenspan’s incredible story of his miraculous survival and even more miraculous accomplishments affected all our hearts.

By Rebecca Barel