Suddenly Silenced: Nira's Journey from Hearing Loss to Hope

It was the night of Simchat Torah nearly 20 years ago when Nira Tsuriel rushed into the living room in panic. “I can’t hear,” she cried. In the crib before her, her baby was crying, yet she could not hear his voice. Her family moved around her, but everything felt like a silent film.

The Night Everything Changed

At the hospital, the doctor’s words were devastating. Within a few hours, Nira had lost most of her hearing, and the prognosis was uncertain. “It’s probably just a virus,” the doctor first suggested. But the reality would soon prove far more complex.

The ordeal had begun during Sukkot. At the time, Nira lived in Givat HaAvot in Kiryat Arba with her husband, who was learning in kollel near the Cave of the Patriarchs, while she worked as a teacher. She began to feel unwell but waited until after the holiday guests left. “Only then did I realize how sick I really was,” she recalls. Her fever had climbed to 104°F. Her head felt unbearably heavy, and despite taking medication, she could not sleep.

Photo: Shutterstock

In the middle of the night, she sensed her baby crying but could not bring herself to get up. By morning, she went to the clinic, where the doctor reassured her that it was a passing illness. “It sounded strange, because I felt awful, but I accepted what she said,” Nira remembers.

Her condition worsened. During the holiday meal, she struggled to hear her family even when they were sitting across from her. Hoping that rest would help, she went to lie down at a neighbor’s house. As she lay there, strange sounds began to fill her head, like the noise of helicopters and heavy machinery. That was the moment she understood something was seriously wrong.

She ran back to her sister-in-law’s home, calling out, “I can’t hear. I can’t hear.” Her husband realized immediately that this was no ordinary illness, and they went straight to the hospital.

After long, painful hours of testing and uncertainty, doctors concluded that Nira’s hearing loss was caused by a rare bacterial infection attacking her nervous system. The damage, they warned, might be irreversible.

Choosing Faith Over Fear

What helped Nira endure those frightening days was her husband’s unwavering faith and encouragement. Drawing on the teachings of Rabbi Nachman about the power of thought, he urged her to focus on hope rather than fear. Slowly, Nira began to redirect her inner world toward prayer, gratitude, and personal reflection.

Photo: Shutterstock

Over the course of her hospitalization, her condition improved. What had begun as an 80 percent hearing loss gradually became more manageable. Instead of focusing on what she had lost, Nira chose to be thankful for every sound she could still hear.

Today, Nira views her experience as a life-altering lesson. She speaks openly about the gifts we often take for granted and the strength that can grow from pain. Through her story, she seeks to inspire others to hold on to faith and positivity, even in moments of deep uncertainty.

“Every good thought we choose,” she says, “has the power to shape reality in ways we never expect.”