After I announced that G-d blessed Shevy and me with triplets last week, a few people (with excellent memories!) sent me a video I posted exactly two years ago—January 2016.
In the video, I bought a lottery ticket for the $1.5 billion Powerball at a local convenience store and claimed that there is more chance of my wife giving birth to quadruplets than of me winning lottery. But hey, you never know!
And, indeed, exactly two years later, we've been blessed with triplets—odds of one in 4400. It feels like I have truly won the lottery!
I should probably buy more lottery tickets from here on. Now that I've defied the odds once, maybe I can do it again!
I spent a lot of my week at the NICU at Mount Sinai where my triplet preemie’s are being cared for by a team of tireless, devoted, and supremely capable doctors and nurses.
In order to be released, they need to accomplish three things: consistent weight gain, ability to drink from a bottle, and the ability to keep themselves warm without an incubator.
In the last few days, all three reached one of those important milestones—the ability to keep themselves warm.
It reminded me of this week's Torah portion where we read about the very first preemie, Moses, born three months early. Moses led the Jewish people to the foot of Mount Sinai—the ultimate incubator. Every single Jew—newborn, child, adult, elderly—was warmed by the ultimate heavenly fire, and given the task to go forth and spread that light and warmth to the rest of the world.
Just like the preemie’s brain needs to be jolted into realizing it needs to warm the body, sometimes we need a reminder that our mission is to teach, inspire, and invigorate others with the warmth of Torah and mitzvot.
My daughter is, thank G-d, almost ready to come home. She is a trouper, and so far she is well ahead of her brothers. We named her Avigail which means "my father's joy" because she has already brought us such intense joy. Her brothers, meanwhile, remain Baby B and Baby C.
I wish you all intense joy, warmth, and light in your lives! And may you also win the lottery! Shabbat shalom.