Young mother Chana Meislish & her husband Rabbi Tzvi Meislish were excited: They were on their way to the hospital to have a baby. They packed their bags and made phone calls to babysitters & parents to notify them of the news. Like any parents, they were ecstatic to return home with their new child.
Little did they know, Chana would also be returning with a life-altering illness. Nerve damage caused by her difficult birth led to an unusually severe case of fibromyalgia. Slowly, Chana’s health deteriorated. Now she is unable to function or accomplish any regular daily tasks. It is a heartbreaking twist that no one in their family saw coming.
Rabbi Meislish has bravely stepped up to do what his wife cannot. There is a limit however to what one man can accomplish: He has taken on the motherly roles of bathing, dressing, feeding, and supervising his 5 young children, the youngest of whom is only 1 year old. Remarkably, he also manages to maintain his full time job as a mechanech, mentoring boys at risk.
If this all seems superhuman, that’s because it is. Rabbi Meislish can no longer carry the weight of his burden. His work suffers due to his childrens’ needs, and his children suffer due to the demands of his work. Most frighteningly, they can no longer afford the treatments Chana needs to manage her crippling symptoms.
Rabbi Meislish dreams of having the financial security he would need to give his children some sense of normalcy: Simple, underappreciated treasures like clothing, food, a safe and warm home to live in, and a mother whose pain, while debilitating, is at least managed. In order to achieve this ‘dream,’ a reality still more difficult than that of most, he is appealing to the public for help. A Chesed Fund page has been opened to help this family survive.
Readers can see the full story, as well as Rabbi Meislish’s video message, here.
