Immediately after Shabbat Teshuva, Yosef boarded a plane from Israel, and was offered to serve as a public emissary at the Great Synagogue in Chicago on Yom Kippur. On the eve of Yom Kippur, he boarded the plane for another domestic flight in the United States, and an hour later it became clear that there was a malfunction in the plane. The pilot announced that they would have to make an emergency landing nearby. "Welcome to South Carolina," the voice on the public address system sounded, "We'll stay here until the problem is fixed and then we'll continue on our way." Yosef's blood froze in his veins, until the mishap was over... For him, it meant staying in a strange and strange place until after Yom Kippur, tears began to flow from his eyes.
He took his small suitcase, in broken English he asked about Jewish families and answered that they were few. A taxi driver brought them to the door of a Jewish house, he knocked on the door with his heart beating with fear and apprehension, a few seconds of stuttering in front of a Jew who was looking at him with curiosity and astonishment. "No, there is no synagogue here, in fact there is something only that it is locked all year round... You know what? If you're a cantor and you're stuck here anyway, why not? It could be a nice plan, there are a few Jews here, maybe we'll be able to find a few more vacationers, will you agree to pray for us?"
Yosef went to the hotel that the Jew had instructed him to do, with a few cans in his pocket and a sea of pain in his heart, half a day left to prepare. At 4:30 he left the hotel in the direction of the synagogue, a small dusty room greeted him, about 3 minyanim of Jews were waiting for him with interest and anticipation.
He wrapped himself in his prayer shawl and turned towards the stand in front of him and began to pray "Kol Nidrei... And we will forgive the entire congregation of Bnei Yisrael..." The voices that came up behind him were at first faint and slowly grew louder and louder, excited and awakened. After two hours of prayer, people went to shake his hand, said goodbye to him and made sure that he would appear again tomorrow morning.
An elderly Jew approached him hesitantly, "Rabbi, I want to ask if I am allowed to fast? I didn't eat much today because I didn't think I would fast, tomorrow evening I will be 75 years old and I didn't fast a single fast, this time I am thinking of changing my habits and fasting, thanks to you I will fast tomorrow," he got up and left slowly.
The next day, Yosef arrived at the synagogue at 7:00 a.m., the elderly Jew was waiting for him in a corner wrapped in a tallit that he had obtained from somewhere, one by one the people gathered, 50 people stood waiting to hear his voice, he thought in his heart the power of the shlichut crying out from the walls of the synagogue and close to G-d that the Jewish souls who are with him are seeking. There were moments when he had to turn around and say or hint that they would say after him, flipping back and forth and they did as he said with awe and came back after him in a crying voice.
The Musaf prayer was over, he announced that in an hour the afternoon prayer would begin, the people returned to their homes, only the elderly Jew remained there. "Tell me, is everything that is written in the Machzor correct?" he opened the cycle and showed: "And the Lord said, 'I have forgiven according to your words,' 'And repentance, prayer, and charity remove the evil decree,' 'And you are merciful and receive returns' – I meant these, that a deaf man hangs on Yosef with expectant eyes.
Tears welled up in the eyes of Yosef, a baby who was captivated in the full sense of the word, and he flipped through and showed him other expressions that speak of God's love for His people. "Hashem is our Father, He loves us because we are His sons, no matter what happens to us, He is always waiting for us to return to Him." The man in front of him held his hand, his hand trembled slightly, and his voice trembled slightly: "This is the first time I have heard these words, Rabbi Yehudi, have you heard me? First time."
He sat down heavily on the chair and began to tell: "I was born in Jerusalem into abject poverty, there was nothing in our house, when I was about 11 years old a well-groomed and spoiled boy from Hungary came to our class, always had a few coins in his pocket. Sometimes he would distribute sweets to a few children, I was never one of them. One day he went out for a break and left the coin on his desk, I couldn't resist the temptation and took the coin. What happened next was expected, he raised his voice in tears, which shows that a thorough search was conducted and the coin was found in my possession. I received a chain of punishments that would not embarrass a professional thief, a few sentences were etched in my memory as a firefighter: "How do you behave? Hashem is ashamed that you are a Jew, you are worth nothing and you will never be able to repent." These sentences seeped into me like venom, as soon as I could, I said goodbye to everything sacred and dear, from the whole Dinkota version and stuck to other ways, the stinging insult accompanied me all the time and I remained in one of the left-wing kibbutzim.
My family cut off all contact with me, I started my home, I had a son and I have two grandchildren. Two weeks ago, my two grandchildren came to visit me for my birthday, I was happy to meet them, but I haven't met one thing yet, myself. Since the age of 12, the day I left home, I didn't have the privilege of meeting with the boy who someone told him he had no chance anymore. Who cannot be good even if he wants to, the child to whom the gates of repentance have been closed. And then yesterday morning I heard surprisingly that a rabbi who is a public emissary came here, at first I laughed? Yom Kippur? I have never fasted, I have never started a period... And here's what I hear? That Hashem is waiting for me, that He wants them to repent. That he allows me to pray to him even if I'm wicked," the elderly man's shoulders trembled with tears. "Your act was not so serious, a grave mistake was made by those who told you that you would not be able to fix it, it was a serious mistake that you thought there was no going back, Hashem is waiting for you, for all of us, for all those who wonder and make mistakes... It's never too late." Yosef said.
"When you repeated the words, 'And the Lord said, 'I have forgiven according to your words,' over and over again I felt how the walls cast in my heart were dissolving and falling, your voice, the melody, the prayer and the humming, made their way straight into my heart and whispered to me without a voice, 'You can go back to my father.'"
Yom Kippur was over, Yosef felt that this trip was not in vain, that on Sukkot he would have a guest, the man with whom he had met and perhaps also his son and grandchildren...
