Dreams Never Dreamed

by Kalman Samuels

Overview

Traveling to study in France for the summer, Canadian college student Kerry Samuels made a stop that would change his life. An unlikely chain of events landed him pursuing theological study in Israel, changing his name to Kalman, and marrying his wife Malki. In 1977 their infant son Yossi was injured and rendered blind, deaf, and acutely hyperactive. During the difficult and isolating years of Yossi's early childhood, his mother promised to dedicate her life to helping other children with disabilities and their families if Yossi's world of darkness and silence would ever be penetrated. Inspired by their son's remarkable breakthrough to communication, Kalman and Malki established Shalva, one of the world's largest centers for disability care and inclusion - creating a better society for all. In Dreams Never Dreamed, Samuels juggles life's bitter and sweet in pursuit of good. Driven by humorous stories and insights, this memoir is both heart-wrenching and heartwarming at once. A story of hope, courage, and leadership, it demonstrates that ordinary people can create extraordinary change and transform life's challenges into opportunities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592645251
Publisher:	The Toby Press
Publication date:	02/20/2020
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kalman Samuels, a Vancouver native, is the founder and president of Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The organization has become a world leader in the field of disability care and serves as an official consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The author resides in Jerusalem with his wife and family.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 Early Days 1

2 The Road to Jerusalem 9

3 My New World 23

4 Matchmaker 28

5 In Silence and Darkness 34

6 New York 42

7 By His Own Yardstick 51

8 The Pact 59

9 Medics, Mystics, and Mealtimes 65

10 The Letter from Dr. H. 74

11 Coming Home 84

12 A Seat at the Table 93

13 Payback Time 100

14 Settling In 102

15 Parallel Lives 109

16 In Search of Payback 115

17 Into the Legal Labyrinth 122

18 Goliath Stumbles 131

19 Diamonds Are Forever 138

20 Peace of Mind 146

21 Justice, Law, and the Daylight Between 149

22 Opening Doors 156

23 Intestinal Fortitude 162

24 Respite, Despite… 169

25 I Want to Close Down Shalva 173

26 Growing Up with Yossi 180

27 The Wachsmans 183

28 "It's Obvious, Kalman" 189

29 Beit Nachshon 196

30 Me and My Mommy 204

31 A Stressful Choice 212

32 Volvo 214

33 From Crayons to Perfumes 219

34 Forrest Gump 225

35 Pushing Forward, Expanding the Network 230

36 Stepping Up to the Professional Plate 240

37 Batting a Thousand 243

38 Bombs and Bombshells 248

39 Paying the Bill 255

40 The Exorbitant Price of Free Land 274

41 Back into the Legal Labyrinth 267

42 Moving On 273

43 Jerusalem! Our Feet Stand within Your Gates 276

44 Bologna 281

45 Unforeseen Security 286

46 From Dentistry to Oral Hygiene 288

47 Of Sheep and Prophecy 295

48 Toward Opening 301

49 The Shalva Band - Ambassadors of Change 309

50 Inclusion and Reverse Inclusion 320

51 Of Yossi and Dreams 325

Acknowledgments 333

Glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish Words 335

Photographs 341

Editorial Reviews

2020-04-25
An Israeli couple becomes inspired by their experiences with their son to dedicate their lives to educating other children with disabilities in this debut memoir.

Samuels was born and raised in Vancouver (his Canadian bona fides include getting The Guess Who to play at his high school during his tenure as student council president) and first visited Israel as a college student. He loved the country so much that—against the wishes of his secular family—he decided to move there, join a Hasidic community, and switch his educational course to Jewish studies. At the age of 21, a matchmaker introduced him to Malki, who would become his wife. The couple soon began to raise a family, but one day they noticed that their second child, Shalom Yosef or “Yossi,” was ill. As a result of a faulty vaccination, Yossi’s eyes became glassy and he began to suffer from convulsions and hyperactivity. Samuels and his wife ultimately took Yossi to New York to receive a full diagnosis: Their son was permanently blind and partially deaf. They had great difficulty finding a school for Yossi, as most were equipped to educate a blind student but not a partly deaf one or vice versa. Back in Tel Aviv, they finally found an instructor who was prepared to teach Yossi sign language by signing words into his palm, including shulhan (table): “We were all sobbing as Shoshana began to demonstrate on the palms of Yossi’s sister and brothers how to spell shulhan, and how to sign the other letters. She told them: ‘You, too, are going to learn the letters, and you’ll at last be able speak to your brother.’ ” Malki was so inspired by the treatment that she asked Samuels to help her make it available to other families in need. Their vision was a center with after-school therapy and support for children with disabilities. The result was Shalva—the name is the Hebrew word for serenity—though the difficulties in bringing such a place into being proved to be greater than either Samuels or Malki could have imagined.Samuels’ story is a remarkable one, offering an immersive portrait of both Israel and the state of disability care in the 1970s and ’80s. The author’s prose is competent but a bit dry. For every heartwarming (or heartbreaking) moment, there are many more dedicated to the logistics of starting and running a nonprofit: “Inroads had been made, but the bills kept piling up. Within six months, I was taking another week off from Binational for another visit to New York, but this time I was better prepared. On a shoestring budget I created a short but moving video, which included testimonials from parents of Shalva children.” The most touching sections are the ones that deal directly with Yossi, whom the author renders with great warmth and subtlety. Also compelling is the extent to which Samuels was driven by his own faith while at the same time recognizing the limits of traditional religion’s ability to educate disabled children. Those interested in the history and development of disability care will be particularly moved by the Samuelses’ story.

An inspiring and poignant, if not always riveting, account of love and healing.

Kirkus Reviews