It is said that Rabbi B. Cohen Shlita of Tiberias, an important rabbi who teaches Torah in public, also runs a Talmud Torah in the city, but beyond his greatness in Torah, he has a very great love for Israel, especially with "your people" Israel. One day one of his acquaintances approached him and said: "There is a lawyer from a kibbutz of Hashomer Hatzair near Tiberias, who wants to become a little smarter in the study of the Talmud and the like, but he does not want to repent, only to be wiser and nothing more." Rabbi Cohen, who is a very busy person and did not have free time, rejected the request. But that acquaintance did not let go of the matter until Rabbi Cohen agreed and asked that the same lawyer come to study between two and four in the afternoon.
From the window of his house, the rabbi saw that when he got out of his car, he wore a kippah on his head, and when he exited, he took it off. Thus, several months passed, and in the meantime the two finished Tractate Berachot. A full year has passed and the lawyer has not yet shown signs of spiritual strengthening. The rabbi tried to gently hint to him: "Listen, this is not studying geography... This is the Torah of the living G-d, and the main study is in order to keep and do. Perhaps it is worth starting with some small mitzvah." I won't do things that don't come with my good will." The rabbi began to study the laws of repentance with him in the Rambam and so on, and so another full year passed. The Rav, who was endowed with great and great patience, continued to persevere in his studies with the lawyer, despite his many occupations. The Rav, as usual, followed the lawyer on his way to the car, and saw that he had not taken the kippah off his head. After a few days, the Rav saw that tzitzit was already peeking out of his clothes, and he also began to recite a blessing over each and every thing that he put in his mouth, and he repented completely, adding more hours and hours of Torah study. Unfortunately, however, his wife did not agree to join him on the new path he had chosen. She did indeed respect her husband's desire to walk in the path of God, but she did not want to do so because she had never been brought up that way.
They separated with understanding, but did not divorce. In the meantime, he moved to Tiberias and she stayed on the kibbutz, coming once a week to clean his house and tidy things up. The lawyer prayed with all his heart that his wife would also return to her quarry. The interesting thing is that yeshiva students had just come to offer registration in the "Values" seminary, and she gave her consent to join it. After about two days in the seminar, she saw that "this is it", apparently this is the truth and there is no other truth, and if she stays here she may still repent. She "suddenly remembered" that there are things that should not be neglected in the kibbutz and that she must go back and deal with them before it is too late, literally. Her husband, a lawyer, immediately went to the ceremony for advice with one of the most important rabbis there, and the rabbi pretended to be standing at the entrance to the lobby and busy with something. And just arrived the lady with a folder facing the exit. Then the rabbi approached her and said, "You should know that your questions that you asked in the lectures were very interesting and you made us very smart. There are only a day or two left, don't worry, everything will be fine. You have to stay..." Finally, the woman was persuaded by the rabbi to stay.
When the seminar ended, she took the stage and declared: "There is G-d! That's the truth! I also thought that here at the seminary they would brainwash us for four days and want to bring us back to repentance. I will admit that I came here to 'fight' and to show everyone that 'they will not succeed in influencing me.'" Suddenly the woman began to cry and in a voice choked with tears, she added: "I discovered here what they kept hiding from me all the time, and they didn't even give me the opportunity to know about the observance of the Torah, the mitzvot and the faith. I saw here at the seminary the wonderful rabbis, whom I hated all the time, because the media blackened them in my eyes. I came to the seminary because 'I just wanted to know'. To hear and decide for myself, and also because my husband was so insistent and wanted to please him... "I am now, in front of everyone, saying to you without hesitation: A-N-I H-O-Z-R-T B-T-T-S-V-B-H!" Long applause that vibrated the walls of the hall could be heard from all sides, and there was not a single eye that did not shed a tear.
No, the story doesn't end here. The wife returned to her husband and they both lived in Tiberias. Ostensibly, everything is supposed to be straightforward, but Rabbi Cohen sees that the lawyer has been crying hard for several days in the Amida prayer and emitting sighs from his heart that break a person's body. Even after the return of the Shatz, he is still completely immersed in the Amida prayer and speaks to his Creator with all his pure heart, until Rabbi Cohen approaches him and asks: "What happened that you cry like that? G-d, the woman and you have completely repented, and G-d has already forgiven you for all your sins!" "True, Rabbi, but a few days ago I received a phone call from my son who is abroad, and he said to me: 'Dad, I deserve Mazal Tov! I'm about to get married, and soon I'm coming to Israel with my future daughter-in-law.' If so, how can I not weep with tears to God to save my son from the clutches of Amalek?" – the lawyer wept.
At that time, Rabbi Cohen was forced to move from Tiberias to Jerusalem, to Yisha Bracha Street. After a few weeks in his new home, Rabbi Cohen heard a knock on the door of his house in the evening. A young man was standing on the doorstep. "Hello, are you Rabbi B. Cohen?" – the young man asked. "Yes," answered the rabbi, "but where do you know my name?" "I am the son of a certain lawyer and I study here in a yeshiva for repentant people. My father told me that I would come to you so that you could help me a little bit in the Talmud because I am still having trouble with it. Only a few days ago I came from abroad, and by God, I realized that this is my place..." It turned out that this was the same son who was about to marry a non-Jew and survived. From that day, every Friday night, the young man would come to Rabbi Cohen and study with him until midnight. Today, the young man is already a yeshiva with his wife and children. These are the sons of man... The righteous rabbi, Rabbi B. Cohen, always says in a joking way: "After a hundred and twenty years, I have a good lawyer who will defend me in heaven..."
This leads us to the conclusion that we should not despair in educating our children when suddenly one of the sons or daughters has gone astray. Life experience shows that parents who gave their lives and invested all their energies in prayer and exertion and did not rest for a moment – G-d had mercy on them and brought their children back to repentance. On the other hand, parents who said, "What can I do?... I don't have the strength anymore! This child 'kills' me", etc. – from mere talk, miracles did not happen! And we have actually seen cases in which they did not despair, even though the chances of salvation aspired to zero, and they miraculously saw salvation above nature in the education of their children!
