Beyond Limits: Shmuel Klein’s Journey from Traumatic Injury to Inspiration

Since October 7, 2023 many Israelis have sustained life-altering injuries, such as loss of limbs or brain injuries. From the peak of physical ability, they must adjust to loss of independence.

Shmuel Klein can relate. Forty years ago, the former Monsey, New York resident suffered a traumatic injury.

Just 22 years old, in his final semester of Queens College, he was looking forward to starting his dream job at a commodities firm. But during a party on a ski trip in Vermont, he became intoxicated with punch spiked with 200 proof grain alcohol. Horsing around, he jumped off a couch and landed badly.

He was rushed to a hospital with a spinal cord injury and alcohol poisoning. It was unclear if he would survive.

“It was not a good time,” said his mother, Sally Klein, who received a call around 2 AM. The family rushed to Vermont.

“I was thankful I had my son,” said Sally.

The gravity of his injuries was soon apparent. While he retained some use of his arms, he could no longer walk or effectively use his hands. He needed help bathing, dressing, toileting, and eating.

Despite their shock and sorrow, Shmuel and his family found glimmers of hope. In March 1985 Shmuel unexpectedly regained some sensation in his extremities.

He was eventually transferred to New York University’s Rusk Institute. In his darker moments, he would imagine plummeting from the roof of the Rusk Institute to end his suffering. But he didn’t even have the physical ability to make that choice.

“It was horrible,” he said.

In addition to being an avid skier, Shmuel had been a hockey player and had an active social life, including frequent travel. The accident took all that away, leaving a void and a question about what his future would hold.

Shmuel credits his parents’ positive outlook for helping him find strength to live each day.

“My mother said, ‘You’ve got your brain, that’s all you need.’”

Intensive Therapies

Shmuel and his parents, Sally and Mel Klein, pursued a series of intensive physical therapy options, including working with Vladimir Cuzan, a Russian boxing coach in Brooklyn, and visiting a clinic in Hungary, then under Communist rule.

It was not possible to regain his lost abilities but maintaining strength would keep Shmuel healthy and prevent further loss of function. For example, Cuzan helped Shmuel build upper body strength and balance.

Of the therapies he received, Shmuel made the most progress with Tom Williams, a former coach for the Houston Oilers.

“He really pushed people to the limit,” said Shmuel, who moved to Houston for three years.

Williams and his staff helped Shmuel learn to “walk” again. They fitted him with leg braces, tied his hands to a walker, and placed him in a standing position, with an aide behind him. By learning to shift his weight, he was able to “walk” again.

After his accident, Shmuel was denied health insurance coverage, so his parents paid out of pocket for his housing and care. In Houston Shmuel could only afford to live in a low-income section of town, far from the Jewish community. On Friday afternoons members of the community would visit to deliver Shabbat meals. They also provided assistance when needed.

For example, when a caregiver failed to show up for a shift, Shmuel spent a whole weekend in bed, with no access to food or drink, unable to call for help. By Sunday afternoon, when his parents in New York were unable to reach him, they called members of the Jewish community who immediately went to help Shmuel until a caregiver returned.

After Houston, Shmuel moved to Los Angeles. There, he tutored students in various academic subjects and worked as a bookkeeper. By then he had mastered various tricks to accomplish tasks requiring fine motor skills. For example, he could hold a fork in his palm against his thumb to eat and push a mouse with the side of his hand to draw.

“He learned to do digital artwork, incredible artwork,” said Uriel Sigala, a former neighbor.

In recent years, technology has given Shmuel more independence, from his cell phone with speech to text capability, to his motorized wheelchair, to the elevator in his home in Yad Binyamin, in central Israel.

Throughout his life, finding consistent caregivers has always been a challenge, but in Los Angeles, Yakov Flack worked with him for eight years.

An army veteran, Flack had moved to LA from Louisiana for a job as a civil designer and to learn about his Jewish heritage. He was laid off from his job and considering moving back to Louisiana when a rabbi connected him to Shmuel.

Flack is physically strong and could maneuver Shmuel’s wheelchair with ease. He also helped Shmuel continue “walking,” using the method developed by Williams. In the many hours they spent together, Shmuel and Yakov talked about Jewish ideas and texts.

“I learned so much because of him,” said Flack. Even now, with Shmuel in Israel and Flack relocated to Houston, an 8-hour time difference, they continue to study Mishna by phone four mornings a week.

In LA, they were regularly invited for Shabbat meals at various homes where Shmuel would talk about his life, inspiring others. In turn, the experience exposed Shmuel to topics in Jewish learning he had not studied before, such as the works of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Meditation and mysticism helped him find more purpose in his life.

Getting Married and Having Children

While his impairment has limited Shmuel physically, he has accomplished things considered nearly impossible for a quadriplegic, such as getting married and having children.

Over many years, he had been set up on dates without success.

“I wasn’t so much into it,” he said, but when a friend set him up with Rivkah, a young woman who was also living with a disability, he agreed to meet.

“She was very down to earth,” said Shmuel. “She had a lot of emunah (faith in God).”

In 2002 they married. Both had dreamed of building a family.

“At the end of the day no one can say if they will have children,” said Shmuel. “If it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen.”

With the help of reproductive medicine, in 2004, Rivkah gave birth to healthy twin boys, Yosef Netanel and Yaakov Aryeh.

“It was pretty incredible, a miracle,” said Shmuel.

Twins demand a lot from any parents, but present particular challenges for parents with disabilities. The Kleins continued to employ caregivers for Shmuel and a nanny for the babies.

“Then again, everyone in LA has a nanny,” joked Shmuel. “Even if they don’t have kids, they have a nanny.”

When the boys were babies, Rivkah would bathe and dress them, and prepare meals. Shmuel would sit with them at meal time and feed them.

“We worked well together, taking care of the kids,” said Shmuel.

“Baby proofing” their home included constant awareness of where they moved their wheelchairs.

“Once they started to crawl that was really crazy,” said Shmuel. “I always had to remember what’s behind me.”

Moving to Israel

In 2006, Shmuel and Rivkah decided to make aliyah, which, like raising twins, is challenging for any couple, but even more complicated for those with disabilities.

”We felt we should get to Israel,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Housing in Israel was also more affordable than Los Angeles, and offered the opportunity to have a backyard. However, Shmuel and Rivkah would need a home customized to their needs which they could not afford.

Shmuel set out to raise money through his contacts in LA’s Jewish community. Over 16 years, he had made friends in many segments of the community, and they generously raised $100,000.

Rabbi Meyer May, the executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, was one of the individuals Shmuel approached for help. Years before, May had raised funds for Shmuel to purchase medical equipment.

“Every once in a while, you run into a person who is really amazing,” said May. “This is a man who by his very existence brings light. I’ve met with kings and popes and roshei yeshiva. I know all the greats. This man stands out as one of the truly great. This was my way of paying him back for that generosity of spirit.”

Shmuel was moved by the magnanimity of all those who contributed, including the Iranian Jewish community, which raised tens of thousands of dollars. For years he had tutored children from the community, charging just $5 per hour, at the request of a community rabbi.

“He told me, ‘The money will come back to you,’” said Shmuel “Ten years later, it came back to me in spades.”

The Kleins made aliyah in 2007 and settled in Yad Binyamin. A Filipino caregiver helped with Shmuel’s care, housekeeping, and child care.

During the boys’ bath time, both Shmuel and Rivka would sit in the bathroom in their wheelchairs while the caregiver handled the boys in the bathtub.

“There were bubbles all over the place,” said Shmuel. “The boys were cracking up and laughing. It was possibly the highlight of the whole day.”

Shmuel also played with the boys and read them bedtime stories.

As they grew older, the boys would ride with Shmuel or Rivkah in their wheelchairs.

“I would hold them with my left arm,” said Shmuel. “We would go slowly.” As they got a bit older, the boys would climb on the back of the wheelchairs and ride standing up.

While both Shmuel and Rivkah were devoted to their children, their marriage did not last. They divorced in 2017 but remain on good terms. Rivkah moved to the north of Israel and Shmuel stayed in Yad Binyamin.

Here For a Reason

Shmuel’s sons, who are now 20, live primarily with him. Yosef is training in the Israel Defense Forces and studying business and computer science. Yaakov is in yeshiva and will eventually enlist in the IDF.

Shmuel and his sons

Shmuel keeps busy with daily minyan, Torah study, trading in the stock market, spending time with his two dogs, and running errands.

In his motorized wheelchair, it takes about five minutes to get to a small shopping center.

“I try to get out once a day,” said Shmuel. “That’s therapeutic for me.”

His sister, Chayala Liebman, recently visited, traveling from her home in West Hempstead, New York. During her stay, she accompanied Shmuel on his daily outing.

“Each time I visit him, we pass a gan (nursery). All the kids come running to the gate to see him,” she said. “It’s adorable.”

Forty years after his injury, Shmuel has a life he could not have imagined at the time of his accident.

While he has come to terms with his physical limitations, Shmuel remembers the darkness he endured as he adjusted to losing mobility. Over the years, he has spoken to others with traumatic injuries, and has some sense of what he might say to wounded Israelis.

“I can only speak to you as someone who has a deep belief in God,” he said. “Because I had that belief, I was able to live day to day, year to year. I believe I am here for a reason.”

He noted there are now adaptive technologies not available 40 years ago. “That’s just going to get better. That’s encouraging, there’s hope.”

“Really remember who you were before the accident,” he continued. “Who you are is not necessarily the 10 fingers on your hands. Who you are is your soul, it’s deeper. If you have to dig deep for emunah, it’s worth it. We are here for a purpose.”

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