Baruch Wilhelm, 61, from Nachalat Har Chabad in Kiryat Malachi, was injured as a child in a car accident, which left him deaf. His wife, Rivka, 56, has been deaf since birth.
After decades of coping together, five children, and daily challenges, the couple decided to undergo hearing implant surgery together at Assuta Public Hospital in Ashdod. “We went into the surgery happily and left happily. For the first time, I heard the hands of the clock tick,” says Baruch.
“Our whole life was spent in a world of partial silence,” says Baruch. “When I was three, a car hit me, and since then my hearing loss has worsened.”.
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Rivka: “I was born with a hearing impairment. As a girl, I went to see the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and when I realized that I couldn’t really hear him – that’s when I realized the extent of the deprivation. So I made a decision: I will only marry someone who truly understands me.”.
The two met at a matchmaking event, and even there, not everything was obvious. “At first I said – it’s not enough that I don’t hear, so what about her? But when I heard about her, and especially after the Rebbe deleted the word ‘am’ from the question about the matchmaking event in his letter – I realized that this was what was meant for me. Within a week, I made the best decision of my life,” says Baruch.
The years passed, the children grew up, and the couple continued to deal with the reality of hearing loss. The coronavirus, with masks that hid lip reading, made it even more difficult. “I realized that I needed a more significant solution than what had been offered to me so far,” describes Rivka, who currently works as a protective coordinator at a school. “A speech therapist suggested that I consider an implant. I knew that technology had advanced – and it felt like the right step.”.
Baruch was still hesitant, until Rebecca took the initiative: “I told him – I’m going for it, are you coming with me? And he came.”.
The two turned to Prof. Sharon Avnat, from Assuta Public Hospital in Ashdod. ’From the first moment we felt we were in the best hands," they say.
The surgeries were successful.
Then came the most emotional moment of all: “When we heard each other for the first time – we just burst into tears,” Baruch describes. “Suddenly I heard sounds I didn’t know existed. At home on Shabbat I heard ‘tick-tick,’ I thought it was a leaking faucet – until I realized it was the hands of a clock. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”.
Rivka adds: “Baruch came back from the synagogue crying, he heard the prayer. For us, it’s a sense of mission – to tell other people that it’s possible.”.
According to her, "Right now, my husband's hearing quality is ahead of mine and he already hears excellently. I'm a little behind him. They explained to us that the real change will come in the coming months, but to start the year like this - it's truly a blessing.".
Professor Sharon Avnat Tamir, Director of the Ontology and Cochlear Implant Unit at Assuta Public Hospital in Ashdod: "The story of the Wilhelm couple is particularly moving, because they are two people who lived most of their lives with deafness, and together they chose to take the step that changed their lives. Cochlear implant technology has advanced greatly in recent years, and we are seeing more and more patients who are given a real opportunity to hear again.
""Success stems not only from the surgery itself, but also from the rehabilitation that follows and the commitment of the patients – and the Wilhelms are a wonderful example of this.".
