Michael Zauder's Influence On Jewish Development

One person who truly influenced my Jewish development was my cousin Michael Zauder A”H. In the year 1982, a true angel was born. Michael was born with a disease called Familial Dysautonomia. Familial Dysautonomia is a disorder that affects the autonomic nervous system. Some of the symptoms my cousin went through and other people who struggle with this disease was: trouble feeling pain, temperature, skin pressure and the position of his arms and legs. This is just the beginning of the troubles my cousin had to go through everyday. Even with all of his problems Michael still tried to do the best he could to daven everyday and follow as many mitzvot he could.

A lot of people were scared of my cousin because he looked different. Therefore a lot of children his age would refuse to play with him. As a result, he had a very hard childhood. This caused our family to become closer. It makes me very upset that people were not willing to look past my cousin’s appearance to see the true pureness of my cousin’s heart. On April 20, 2010 the world lost a perfect
I have been part of Friendship Circle since the seventh grade. I have had the privilege of working with three amazing families within the past five years. I was put with both the children with special needs and their siblings. Even after I was switched into a different family I still keep in contact with the kids I met through Friendship Circle. The Gottesman Sunday Smiles Program is a hebrew school for kids with special needs that go to public school because they don’t have the programs in Yeshivot they need to be able to learn. I have been working for this program since the ninth grade. This school consists of three classrooms. Currently we have students from seven to twenty eight. The three classrooms are not divided by age but rather the mental state of the student. I also for the past couple of years have joined Yachad shabbatones when they were in West