A child that was rejected, that is in all of us
"Fourteen and a half years ago, my nephew's son, Erez Benjamin, was born. I remember the day of his birth, which was supposed to be a celebration but turned into a tragedy.
When he entered the world, his entire body was covered in black dots, even on his face. The nurses in the delivery room placed him in his mother's arms and left the room. They probably didn't know how to deal with the terrifying phenomenon of a child covered in more black spots than one could imagine. I was there, and I remember the look on the parent's faces when the doctors told them that the condition was unknown and they hadn't found any diagnosis in their examinations. They also estimated that Erez Benjamin had no more than three months to live, as his condition was intense and devastating, like burning wounds in the soul. The sunny afternoon that was supposed to be bright and joyful turned into a dark cloud over our beautiful family. There was a circumcision ceremony that wasn't talked about much, and I was the godfather. I held in my hands a child with numerous black dots, from which beautiful eyes shone as if they were crying out to the world, "I'm not to blame." Years passed, and the child didn't experience a carefree childhood, at least not outside the house. So they simply hid the dots with the child in the house. There was nothing to say, no one to talk to, nowhere to go, nowhere to escape. Just to wait and mark the wall with my fingernails, another year passing by, and another year like a scream from a broken soul to the doctors who didn't believe in this child, giving him only three months to live, while he insisted on proving them wrong. Since then, the family has experienced waves of depression and broken spirits, with a lot of soul-searching, asking why and how. Why us? Where did we go wrong? They found themselves sinking into a whirlpool of turbulent waters that seemed to want to drown the entire family. Until one day, in the middle of the street, when Erez's mother took him for a walk in the neighborhood, despite everything, one girl said to her mother, "Look, Mom, what an ugly and disgusting child!" It could have ended there, but Erez's mother started laughing... and it was a turning point in the life of the family, especially the mother, Ruthie, who realized that in the whirlpool of turbulent waters, you can't fight against the current. You must close your eyes and sink with the stream to the depths, not fight the swirling movement leading to the abyss. Only then can you rise and emerge into the light. Because fighting against the current that pulls you into the depths of the sea of nerves and heartache is simply drowning.
And so, the mother decided to break the silence and not remain silent anymore. She started to shout and cry out, sharing her sorrow with everyone who came before her. And then suddenly, the story of the child with the dots became a national issue, discussed throughout the country. The entire country photographed themselves with spots on their faces, and everyone called themselves Erez. Fourteen and a half years have passed since then. Last year, I was at Erez's bar mitzvah (yes, the same boy they gave three months to live). He stood before the Torah, and his father didn't say the customary blessing of "Blessed be He who has exempted me from his punishment," but rather said, "Thank you!" That's what Erez's father said about a child sent to us all straight from the angels to be the mentor of understanding the different and the non-conventional.
A mentor primarily for his mother, Ruthie, who, with forces, she didn't know she had, turned her mental distress into a tremendous revelation of the beauty of the human soul that pierces the skies. She told her story about the book that she wrote, which revealed to everyone with courage how her child with the dots came into the world to be a mentor for all of us, teaching us to accept the unique and non-conventional. I attended a play at the Gushen Theater (Israeli Theater) called "The Boy with the Dots", and this is according to Erez's story, written by Ruthie. I don't remember ever being so excited during a show as I was this time when I saw a child with dots running on the stage and "bewildering" the audience at first, a child with dots that caused his sister to say that she is his "guardian angel," and he in no way treats her as a sister, a child who is an angel that we are ashamed of without him being guilty... I saw a dazzling display of colors, all the colors in the world, where the black is engulfed within them and not felt at all. Around me, many people shed uncontrollable tears because it's a story of a rejected child, like many of us, and it sometimes ends in isolation and sometimes in suicide. What I saw at the Goshen Theater was not just another performance, but a celebration of triumph over surrender and faith in the human spirit, a performance that is a lesson in acceptance and understanding of others, for those who may not appear like us. It deserves to be embraced wholeheartedly with a love that knows no bounds. The play is about a child with dots whose strength lies in his weakness, and whose soul, which resides within him, is more important than the body it inhabits."
Taken from Yehoram Gaon's official Facebook page. Yehoram is a famous Israeli actor and singer, and the brother of Yoav Gaon's late father. Yoav is of course the father of Erez.
