Rabbi Gindi* had a nephew, his brother’s son, who was learning in the Philadelphia Yeshivah. He recommended his friend Yehudah,* whom he had known for five years in yeshivah and whom he held in high esteem, as a shidduch for his cousin, Leah* (Rabbi Gindi’s daughter).
Nothing was done about it because Yehudah was learning in Eretz Yisroel at the time. Six months later, another nephew, Rebbitzen Gindi’s sister’s son – who was learning in the same Israeli yeshivah as Yehudah, also suggested him for Leah.
A Boy with Good Middos
Although this boy sounded like the type of son-in-law he wished for – a boy with good middos who studied at top-tier yeshivos – Rabbi Gindi was not optimistic that Leah would be set up with him. “A Sephardi boy of such caliber must have a long list of girls waiting for him to become available,” he told his sister-in-law. “Besides, he and his family live in California. How would we even connect with them?”
“Maybe their community will invite you to speak there and you will make a good impression on Yehuda’'s father,” Rebbetzin Gindi’s sister suggested hopefully. The Gindis smiled indulgently. “That’s highly unlikely to happen,” Rebbetzin Gindi said. “My husband is rarely invited to speak out of state.”
He was Amazed!
Exactly one week later, Rabbi Gindi was called by the secretary of that very shul in California, asking if he would be interested in participating in a guest lecture series! He was amazed! Out of thousands of shuls across the world, he was invited to speak at the specific shul where Yehudah’s father davened!
Rabbi Gindi accepted the offer and flew to California. After his speech, he was introduced to the sponsor of the evening – who was none other than Yehudah’s father! Their meeting went very well.
How did Yehudah come to learn in the Philadelphia Yeshivah? It was uncommon for students from his community to attend out-of-town yeshivah high schools, let alone one located across the continent! Several years earlier, a young man from Brooklyn who loved learning Torah ran out of funds and was going to have to leave kollel. He found out about a Lakewood kollel opening in California that was willing to pay him what he needed to continue learning. He moved his family there to continue his studies.
Yehudah and His Father
The first year he taught in the local shul’s night program. The two students he was assigned were Yehudah, who was in eighth grade, and his father. The rabbi learned with them for the entire year, during which he often mentioned and spoke highly of the yeshivah he attended in his youth, the Philadelphia Yeshivah.
By the end of the year, both father and son were convinced that Yehudah should go there for high school. That is how Hashem brought Yehudah up to the level he needed to be on to marry Leah, whose father wanted a young man from a top yeshiva for his daughter. And this is how Hashem introduced Yehudah’s father to this special rabbi, by bringing him all the way to California to speak. (Living Emunah on Shidduchim)
Reprinted from the Parshas Balak 5784 email of The Weekly Vort
