Elishai is a teacher in Eretz Yisroel who works with immigrant youth. Recently, he was traveling on a bus and met an older man, who was wearing clothing that clearly identified him as a religious Jewish Rabbi, including a long coat and black hat, and this Rabbi began to engage with Elishai in Torah learning during the bus ride.
As the bus approached their destination, the older Rabbi turned to Elishai and asked him about his work. Elishai told him about his young students, and noted that many of them feel far from Torah and the Jewish religion.
The Rabbi’s Special Story
The Rabbi was silent. After a few minutes, he began to tell Elishai a story. “Next month, I’m going to take early retirement from the Bais Din where I have worked as a judge for the past 25 years. But you should know that I didn’t always look like this. These clothes, the beard, the religion, it’s not something I learned from at home.
“My parents were older Holocaust survivors, and they didn’t have the emotional ability to give me the attention that I needed. I spent my time in the streets, and before my Bar Mitzvah I was already practically a criminal. By age 15, this is how I was known among my local community, as a criminal.
“My friends and I often spent the Holy Shabbos playing soccer near a local Shul, and the ball would often fly into the Shul courtyard. One week, I kicked the ball very hard. It flew out of the field and toward the Shul just as the Rabbi came out. The ball went so far and hard, that it hit the Rabbi’s black hat and knocked it to the ground. My friends and I fell down laughing. The Rabbi came over to me, and I said mockingly, ‘Shabbat Shalom, would his honor the Rabbi like to make Kiddush or join the game?’
Asked About His Parents
“The Rabbi was not upset, he looked at me and asked, ‘Where are your parents?’
“I answered, still mocking, ‘My parents are dead.’
“The Rabbi said, ‘Come with me.’ It amused me, so I decided to go with him. We reached his house and went in. He made Kiddush and gave me some to drink, and asked me, ‘Are you hungry?’ I answered that I was starving. The Rabbi gestured to his Rebbetzin, and they set the table and gave me food. I ate like someone who hadn’t eaten in a week.
“The Rabbi ate just a little, and mostly looked at me and talked. I later realized that I had eaten his share, too. When I finished eating, he asked, ‘Are you tired?’ ‘Exhausted,’ I said. The Rabbi offered me a bed. I went to sleep, and slept there the whole day. When I woke up it was Saturday night.
Gave the Boy Money to Go to the Cinema
“The Rabbi asked me, ‘What would you like to do?’ I told him I wanted to go to the cinema and see a movie. He asked, ‘How much does the cinema cost?’ I told him one and a half shekels. He gave me the money and sent me on my way, and before I left he told me, ‘Please come again tomorrow,’ so I listened and came to his house again the next day.
“I ate, slept, and got more money for the cinema. This happened again another day, and many more days to follow. Over time I discovered that there were 12 other kids like me, from off the street, who came to this Rabbi’s house. I couldn’t be ungrateful, and I also began to really love him. With time, he started to teach me about the Mitzvos. He bought me a pair of Tefilin and he would sit and teach me Torah.
“All thanks to him, I eventually went to Yeshivah, and ended up learning to be a Rabbi, and ultimately, a Dayan on a Bais Din. He married me off, came to my children’s weddings, and was Sandek at my grandsons’ Bris Milahs. So, I am telling you all of this to please don’t despair of your students,” the older Rabbi told Elishai. “You see me as I am today, a Dayan in a Bais Din, but once I was just like them.
Just love them. Love them like they were your own children, just as my Rabbi did with me.”
As the two began to descend from the bus, Elishai asked the Dayan, “What was your Rabbi’s name?” The man responded, “What do you mean, was? He still is. He’s very old, he’s 92, but Baruch Hashem he is still alive.”
“And what is his name?” Elishai asked again.
“Rav Ovadia Yosef,” his fellow passenger answered!
Reprinted from the Parshas Vaeschanan 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
