Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
"Shalom Sivan, This is Michal Kopinski. Yitzhak, our fifth son, was born with a rare genetic mutation. During the last few years he has been a student at the Nitzanim school in Jerusalem and has made enormous progress. He has learned what it means to be a friend, to set goals and follow through, to be independent, to love the Torah.
Each year the school holds a Bible contest in which each student receives a personal study guide according to his ability. Our Yitzchak is deeply attached to Torah stories. He does not know how to read but he has a good memory, and therefore the school staff encouraged him to try to compete in the Bible contest this year.
Yitzchak charged ahead. He took the study guide pages home, devoted himself to studying them after hours, and was chosen to be the representative of his entire class in the contest. This accomplishment represents incredible resilience since Yitzchak did not speak until the age of three and began to walk quite late.
It could never have been predicted that he would take such a challenge upon himself. This testifies to his self-confidence and his ability to persevere, assisted by a constant push from his teacher Ayalah and her aide Gili.
Yitzchak was confused by one of the questions and did not win the contest, but all of us were truly uplifted by what he achieved. It gave us tremendous inspiration in seeing how each individual can strive and progress and how everyone - yes, everyone - has a personal connection to the Torah."
