Rabbi Isaac Hurwitz is as much a rock star as a Hasidic Jew can be. He writes regular Torah commentary for L'Chaim, a weekly newsletter distributed to schools and shuls run by the Orthodox Jewish movement Chabad. One of his songs was made into a widely shared YouTube music video. Rabbi Yitzi, as he's known, also runs a marriage blog that advises men how to be better listeners and partners. He welcomes countless scholars, students and friends to his home in West Hollywood, Calif., to chat, study, pray or play guitar.
This might not seem remarkable, but for the past six years Rabbi Yitzi, 47, has been weakened by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurodegenerative disease that infamously befell Lou Gehrig. Rabbi Yitzi has bulbar ALS, a particularly nasty form of the disease that attacks nerves and muscles associated with basic functions such as speech, swallowing and respiration. He has lost the ability to move and spends his days in bed. A ventilator expands and contracts his lungs so he can breathe. He receives nourishment through a tube and is at high risk of a stroke or heart attack.
Read Full Article »