I Wish I Could See | Mr. Lavi Greenspan

My name is Lavi Greenspan. I grew up in Hillcrest, Queens. I remember, growing up, how I used to ride my bike to Fresh Meadow, Queens, and there was like a park there, and I used to love just sitting there by myself. I liked the nature, I remember the parts of the trees, I remember the grass. I remember Friday night, sitting with my father, mother, my brother and sister. I remember the bushes in front of my house, how beautiful they were. When I was 24 years old, they discovered I had a tumor. And the tumor was right on the pituitary gland near the optic nerve and they told me I would need two operations to remove the tumor and after that, I would need some radiation. Baruch Hashem, Hashem was tremendously kind to me. I had no hair loss, no nausea. And then in September 1997, I was driving on a highway and I cut a guy off, I went right in front of another car. I did not see the other car. I realized something was wrong with my eyesight, if I can't see a car on that side of the highway. And I thank Hashem daily that no one got killed, no one got injured, no car got damaged. So I went to one eye doctor, he referred me to another, then I end up by a new ophthalmologist at Mount Sinai Hospital, Doctor Joel Mindel, and by the time I went to see him, I can no longer see out of one of my eyes. He said: You're going to go blind. And I went 100% totally blind around Chanukah of 1997, when I was 26 years old. People ask me what made me continue on. When you appreciate what you do have, you realize what gifts Hashem gives you. My Eishes Chayil will tell you this, Every night before I go to sleep, I thank Hashem for being married, for having parents, for Hashem being my father. I thank Hashem for Tzitzis. I thank Hashem for medicine. Just having feet, having toes, having a hand, having fingers, having a brain, just being a Jew. Being a Jew is an incredible present from Hashem. I just can't tell you, just thanking Hashem. There's so much to thank Hashem every night for. I'm physically blind, I can't see anything, but you know what I do see is י-ה-ו-ה. Because Hashem is saying: Lavi, I'm carrying you. And He really is. I can tell you stories that you won't even believe. I’ll tell you one story. My parents have a jar of sucking candies on the dining room table, they used to have it, and I went to get a sucking candy. It wasn't there. I went all around the dining room table, couldn't find it. I sat on the couch, wondering where it could be. I'm not lying to you. In my head, I saw a finger pointing to the left and it wouldn't stop. I went left of the couch. That's where it was. Because Hashem is saying: I'm carrying all of us. Realize what a present Hashem gave you. To see is an incredible gift. Don't abuse it. Don't lose it. Think about, when you’re walking down the street and you see an inappropriately dressed person, individual, just think about what an incredible present Hashem gave you in seeing and how it should not be abused. And if that doesn’t help you, think about me, Lavi Greenspan, who's blind, who would love to be in your shoes, who would love to be able to close his eyes. Just think about that. Your life will be so much better, full of purpose and meaning, and you'll be such a more happier person. And I wish everyone just Hatzlacha and Bracha in their life. Can I ask you for a favor? Yeah, please. Could you ask Psachya to give me his credit card? That I could see still. I'm just joking.