Selichot – Presentation of LES Award

   For our Selichot program this year, Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El will present “Keep Hope Alive – A Conversation,” 8:15 p.m. Saturday, September 1. The program will be presented by renowned inspirational speaker Michael Segal, of Houston, Texas, and MBIEE’s Rabbi Charles Sherman, who has lectured extensively throughout North America and is the author of the acclaimed memoir, The Broken and The Whole, Discovering Joy After Heartbreak: Lessons from a Life of Faith.

   The two men have a long-standing connection. Segal is the son of Rabbi Jack Segal, a colleague and acquaintance of Sherman. In 1981, the younger Segal was driving his college girlfriend back to her dormitory when he stopped to get gas and interrupted a robbery. He was shot in the head, suffered traumatic injuries, and was not expected to live. His parents, who had rushed to be by their son’s side, were told that if he did survive, he would never be able to communicate or understand anyone.

  
Segal proved the doctors wrong. He was transferred to a Rehabilitation Hospital, where he learned to walk and talk again. His girlfriend, Sharon, stayed by his side. A year and a half after the shooting, Segal returned to college.

   Segal had to change his goals, but he created new goals. After graduating college, Segal pursued a master’s degree in social work. He is a social worker at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, focusing on patients and families affected by traumatic head injuries or spinal cord injuries. He and Sharon, now his wife, have a grown daughter. Segal travels extensively to share his “comeback story,” an inspirational message of hope and perseverance. “I used to dream of helping people with broken bones,” he told a reporter from The Houston Chronicle. “Now I help with broken spirits.”

   Segal visited Congresswoman Gabby Giffords while she was recovering after being shot in the head in 2012. Giffords and her husband wrote about the visit and its positive impact on them, in their memoir, “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope.”

   The same year that Segal suffered such a tragedy, Rabbi Sherman’s family was devastated with news of their young son’s brain lesion. The surgery to remove the lesion led to his son’s stroke, leaving him vent-dependent and a quadriplegic at the tender age of four.

   Segal and Rabbi Sherman will reflect on healing and moving forward after great hardship. “It promises to be a special and enlightening evening,” says Rabbi Sherman. “Mike and I will have a frank discussion, and share some ideas and strategies for living a joyful and faith-filled life, despite tremendous challenges.”

   “Mike has an incredible story to tell,” says Rabbi Sherman. “Everyone, no matter their station in life, can learn from his heart-wrenching experience and from his incredible journey from victim to survivor. There is an expression I like: How do we move from ‘Why me’ to ‘What now?’ Mike embodies the energy and optimism required to move from despair to hope and possibility.”

“We are excited to have Mike share his story with us,” says Rabbi Sherman. “We invite the entire community to come and experience an evening that will be full of truth and hope and one that speaks to the power of optimism and love.”