A DAY AT THE CHABURAH #whataday EP. 35 | ENGLISH

No, I am shocked. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Okay, it's 5:42 a.m. And we are on the way to a very special place. Shalom aleichem Reb Alex. Shalom aleichem. How are you? >> So nice. Hashem. >> Okay, so I walk in here from the outside it looks like a regular apartment building. So it's a hidden gem. Yeah. It took me a second to figure it out. I thought it's raw from the outside it looked like it's raw. This is by design. We can >> Yeah, then I hopped when I came in. It's good shmek, it's warm. And people are already here before 6:00 a.m. That's right. Everyone's getting together. Got to start the day right. Okay, so what is this place called? So we call it the Chabura. Okay. >> It's really not a Chabura in traditional sense. It's more than that. It's a community and it's a program. It has both components in it and that's basically um what it has been for many years now is that >> years? 11 years. >> 11 years, wow. Uh maybe even 12 now. Um it's a it's a program for guys that come back from Yeshiva in Israel, settle in here, um at least temporarily, start shidduchim, looking for jobs, um dating and have their kavius with learning. So it has grown over the years with Hashem involved. I saw two bachurim learning very flustered when I came in. Right. >> a little jealous. A little jealous. We got a lot of guys on fire here. Yeah, it's crazy to see, you know, this is something that we're probably going to learn throughout the day and I saw it with my father. That my late shul had a the Yiddish of fire that all of us are supposed to have. But some of us are not all our lives. Maybe I should join the group. Okay. I'll decide in a few hours. I think today you're going to be a part of us. That's okay. So what do we got here? This is the coffee station. The shul is we call it base Hashi and it's named after Hashi Frank who there's a wonderful family here. He passed away many years ago and this was actually his apartment. And he owned the building and he He gave it for a shul? So yeah, his his kids, his family basically allowed us to use it and we've been doing it since then and it expanded outwards. There's a library here. Look at this. Real coffee. It's a very unique idea. Like I remember he said to me when I first met him, this is not a Yeshiva. I'm still trying to find the word in English what it is. Really, like to put a one word caption on it. >> That's why they have to use the Hebrew word "chabura". Chabura? Chabura? It's a it's a pro I don't know what it is exactly. I know what it is. I don't know how to put a a one word into it. But to give a macon for a baal teshuvah to come back from Eretz Yisrael where there's very big risk. In fact, I experienced that in the 1980s. I came back the first year I came back after like 2 years. Cuz if there's nothing holding you, what's going to There's no family support. There's no community support. There's no real support. There's no There's no peers. There's no There's nobody to talk to like that. This is the So here you come and they he makes them very responsible. The guys got to get jobs. Why I have a one of us going to law school. So you know, you know, you have to be serious. And they they help them with shidduchim. Wow. So it's it's it's the transition into the into the mainstream of Am Yisrael. >> If I'm allowed to say, a lot of the mainstream can use this program. Could be. Could be. I could I could use this. So come along with me when you Let's make a kabbalah. Lean on Lean on him. Thank you so much for your time. It's a brocha. It's a brocha. This is This is wonderful. Before I was religious and I came to Borough Park once for Purim, I was like, "Where am I?" Wow. I didn't know what Yeah, yeah. You thought it like an Amish town or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. About the Borough specifically is everyone is here doing the same thing, and we're all striving to grow. So we're all working, we're all um learning in the morning, at night, we're all dating at some point. We're all doing living very similar things, so we can lean on each other for advice and for help. Amazing. >> Everything, yeah. Do you feel like this is home now? Yeah, definitely. Wow. Obviously, you want to push yourself in like growth in Judaism, but it's a lot nicer when you have the environment that naturally does it for you, and you're around like-minded guys who are all like trying to grow in Yiddishkeit still. So, I think that's definitely the best part. Okay, a good word about the kabbalah. Oh, this is great. It gives me like I wouldn't wake up at 6:00 a.m. for a lot of other kabbalahs. So, you know. A lot of the boys come to me for Shabbos and for meals, for help, for advice. A lot of times I speak to these boys Friday nights or Shabbos morning when they eat by me, and I speak by the table about different and the other Torah and mussar, etc. And lot of times I feel that I'm not I'm teaching them, but I'm learning from them. Because some of these boys went through so much that we never we never went through our lives with these boys. I never I never tasted pork and all all this kind of stuff. I never had this mesirus nefesh like these boys had, and that they turned around and they came back to where they are. I also see there's a Small groups of people learning here. Yes. So that's people who don't want to have brusa or was it optional? Yeah, everyone has their preference. You know, some people want to learn with a brusa. Some people want want the sheer. It's interesting to have a program where you have so many guys who are so similar to you and all in the same boat. Cuz you get so much chizuk from each other, you know, like when you're surrounded by guys in your scenario when you're going through a struggle by yourself, it's the most painful thing in the world. But when everyone is going through it together with you, it's no longer the pressure is longer just on one person. It's spread out across everyone else, and together you overcome it. Amazing. Yeah, my favorite slogan in Israel that I saw during the war, I was there during the war, was there a poster that said "Beyachad Nenatzeach." Together as one we will win, you know? You do mindful davening every day. I saw you do mindful davening. I did. I did. I can feel it already. I'm telling you, this is this is not for the camera. I can feel it. It's true. When somebody comes from the outside, there's a You know when you come to the Kotel, there's a feeling. You agree? He's with me. We we're on the same boat. On the same page. >> It is 6:40 a.m., okay? And the place is packed. There's a How many people there's here? At least 30, I would say. Probably more, yeah. Probably more. And steigering as if it's like in the afternoon, late afternoon. This guy This guy has not been stopped since he was here in 46. We're going to We're going to catch him. Yes, Baruch Hashem. I'm realizing now how how essential this is because okay if they come back to America they don't really stand a chance for normal life. I mean it depends on the guy but definitely everyone needs a support system, you know, because they start they could end up talking to the wrong people or get you know someone who's not looking out for them. Um and it happens to people a lot all the Jewish they if they're not if they're not in a community where they have people that are really care about them that that will filter through the resumes or You know when I when I was I was in the same boat as well. Oh really? >> Oh that's how you started. Yeah but there was yeah. Where were you? I was learning in Monsey. I was before that at Yeshiva Torah. I mean I'll tell you more after the show we do this afterwards. Yeah yeah yeah no we can do this afterwards but you look so Yeshivish. You're like so integrated that's one of the points they integrate to make them comfortable being Sent to normal schools they normal everything yeah. And this is this is stability 100%. I didn't have kids for like 20 17 years. 17. So I went to Rabbi Yuman Eisenberg and I said my shul used to live in this whole entire place. So I went to the Rabbi Yuman Eisenberg and said I don't have kids. He said open up a library which is downstairs a library. Baruch Hashem today there's a boy next door sleeping. So I don't have a choice to be here or not. If I'm not here in the morning the guilt gets me. How can I not be out of bed right next door to the base medrash. If I wasn't here would I come here? Yes. I'll tell you why. Everybody is searching for authenticity. Everybody wants authentic people. This is this You know you have a little mussar you wake up you get authentic when you walk in here you see people that gave up everything just for a plot of good model. I'm an FFB. All you want is to be here. This place, a guy was walking by and he walked in and he says there's I feel the magnetic vibes outside. I felt it when I walked in. This is why you want to be here. It grounds me. Where are you going in life? Even the bathroom that are not making in the Shiva, they're here. Cuz they don't feel judged. They feel loved. They feel they could just be themselves. Good place. This is a place where the guys have a home. This is a place where they have in Rebbe and his wife a father and a mother and a Bubbe and a Zaide and a family. This is a warm place. The guys feel part of the community. Balabattim that lived in the around in the neighborhood are eager to have the boys come eat with them, come spend with them Shabbos and Yom Tov, sleep with them in their Sukkah. It it's it couldn't it's a perfect it's a perfect because you have the Boro Park warmth guide and the seed in that want to be part of this and at the same time you have guys who are so inspired and it's it's it's they inspire us, we inspire them. It's a two-way street and I say every day that the Shechinah shines in this Bais Medrash. The Chabura is like that uh song, you can check out anytime you want but you can never leave. Nobody Nobody ever leaves the Chabura. But if you move away, you still come back once a month. >> What's so special about it? It's real. It's real. I found a a community in Boro Park where everybody's on the same page and he just wants to grow. Do you get inspiration from the guys? I wouldn't be here otherwise. And sometimes if I manage to inspire them, they always the one who's giving always gets more. So, yes, I receive here more than more than I give. It makes it very easy to transition from Yeshiva not really having a community coming from Arizona and not having a set Yeah, not not having a set way to like live a frum life and then come back, start working, have a set seder, meals, everything's taken care of. It's all you made all you made the mistake because in this place it represents side Torah as we just pointed it out. So, I avoided the feeling that we said before the inspiration of the davening. I said we lose them. You have an opportunity here to invite a lot of the members for Shabbos for a meal. Do you invite them the last minute or you invite them throughout the week? >> Oh, so so there's a lady here who is like master ceremonies. She's running the show and she knows exactly who needs a Shabbos and who doesn't need a Shabbos. The Chaburah is really one by one special young people who are highly intelligent, who are doing this not as a fad. It's something that many years and they're staying all the time. Like I think to myself you could hear the the grass grow the way they are staying and that they're ideas they I mean they have the technical skills to become they are accomplished they go to the best universities they put all that away to be either shams and they work also so that they have the combination that is ideal in terms of being able to be self supporting and learning and the the closeness You see that Eisenberg is the way he cares for each and every one of them is like a venue Wow. He He counsels them. He gets them jobs. I get calls from him all the time. >> Wow. >> You know, and he places people and he's very successful. They call him Rabbi. Uh-huh. This is their mentor but not in a simple way in a way that all their issues I know Sean buys issues and people get married and they're all for So he's there for them the entire time. He's there for them. There was one a person who got in trouble with the law. And he didn't rest till he got got it settled. So I think this is a very worthwhile place. I didn't know Hasidim before this. And so you get a little scared. You know, the different dress the the different way of speaking. It's a little intimidating. Yeah, it's a little intimidating. >> By nothing. It's just Yeah, just then you walk around and you get to know the guys here and you realize that they're just like us and everyone is just a normal person. Alex, are we going to see one of the apartments? Till this second I had no idea that there is apartments. You probably know all the neighbors by now. Sorry. >> Hello. Sorry for crashing your party. I was just It's the Rolls-Royce of the where is the off-ramp it's the halfway house however you want to call it, but this is the place where you feel comfortable after your Shiva. And your your family, where is your >> I'm from Boston. So, you go visit them? >> Yeah, so for Thanksgiving. Oh, Thanksgiving. You were there just now. >> Every few months. Yeah, I was just there. It's a whole thing. You know, half the table's kosher, half the table's not kosher. I'm like triple wrapping everything cuz even double wrap, I don't know when there's like, you know, different tripods. >> you this is tell us the fastest. You have no idea. >> Like there's no other chance. >> This is the Rolls-Royce. >> You don't want the guys to come back and kind of still feel like they're in the Shiva. You want them to be in good conditions where they, you know, feel normal. They're kind of a lot of the guys are actually accomplished guys. They just put their life on pause to come to Yeshiva in Israel, learned. A lot of them are very successful. So, they don't really want to be in an environment necessarily that's like very much, you know, they want to be comfortable. So, and then they hopefully not for too long. They get They get married and This is probably in a better room than you had in in in Machon Yaakov. No offense. So, this we actually built up last week. We We just got these in. All three of these pieces. I don't know a lot of Yingletten Bar Park that have this. I don't know a lot of people in in Bar Park that have such a nice apartment. >> The oven's also new. The microwave is new. Toaster Toaster oven I mean, we've got They set it up for us. It's It's incredible. It's new. It's literally It's been used once, I'll be honest. Who pays for these? The guys are working. We pay rent. Yeah. Oh. We pay rent. This is not a charity. I think you're cheating on life. You have the Khaburas are backing. It actually is very nice. I'm not even kidding. Shalom aleichem. Finally we get to meet. Yes. >> The first time we met was by the matzas in some holiday. >> I remember. Yeah. They featured They featured that video recently. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. I have a You're part of that video, by the way. So, you're bringing a bunch of matzos. Now is the first time I have My father came here a few times. >> He was here 2 weeks ago. >> Yeah, and I had no idea. He always tells me the Khabura, the Khabura. I had no idea what he's talking about. As soon as I walked in here today morning, I felt it. Now I know what he's talking about, and now I'm convinced by Rabbi Berkowitz that I have to taste Friday night. I hope there's still a spot slot for me if if I come. We may send you to the homelands. I don't think it's going to happen. But, the only double that here is is is one of the popular ones. Here is the engine head, the mover and shaker. What is happening over here? What is going on over here? >> we basically kind of outgrew our space here. Yeah, I can see that. And we're looking for more space, but we're limited. So, we we brought on board the new uh contractor, Hesky Rosenblum. And he came up with an idea that we could get rid of this whole chunk here, and open up the show another 250 square foot. This whole thing we can >> All the way there? What is this? This is part of uh the next apartment. And we're trying to see if we can make for them we could rearrange their apartment. The Kushners are very, very good to us. This is actually their dining room. This is their house. And they extended their space for the Quoits of Mayim over here, and the library downstairs for children. >> Yeah, so 200 square foot would give would be very nice. Yeah, and they were testing the ceiling here. Cuz you have this plaster ceiling, and they want to know what's on top. You could do some uh engineering to get this place incorporated. >> To look the same. A lot of things happened today just by hashgacha. Yeah. The the the the Rosh Yeshiva came. Yeah, today was amazing that we had that opportunity. We didn't expect it. >> happen every day. And you were scheduled to come 2 weeks ago. >> Yeah. And we moved it up somehow. Everything is going to show up. It's amazing. Maybe we'll go to the Rabbi Oh, what What this? Construction area authorized personnel only. This place is always on the construction. And all of our boys are on the construction and that makes this place so attractive. Who put this up here? This is always here. This is a good idea. You did you get it? It's not the real construction that we call construction. This is soul construction, right? Maybe we should put soul over here. I love this one. You can see this money right away. I think every show deserves this. Of course. Who put this here? My cousin called me fresh. He has this company. Ah. Soul station. It's good to have a handy cousin. If a person wants to grow and real growth, not fluff and bluff here's the place. Nobody cares about money. No, status is and people are here because they want to be here. They're not There's no game. There's no No agenda. I was a talmud of Rav Kopelman in Yeshiva in Lucerne, Switzerland. And he often would speak by the shmooze about when you go out of Yeshiva and bouncing Torah in their heads. And we asked Rav Kopelman, why you talking about the future? We're here in Yeshiva, talk about learning and davening and steigen. He says, "But where you going to spend most of your life?" Wow. Outside of Yeshiva. So should I talk about Yeshiva? Should I talk about Most of Yeshiva is not don't know this. Dovid Hamelech says and tells them, "Lichu banim shimu li." Go children, listen to me. So he says, "Bo'u banim, come children, listen." >> Right. He says, "Often when you leave you finally realize what you were taught in Yeshiva. And all the tools that you got were for life." So I feel you know, this is good for everybody. Everybody that leaves Yeshiva needs to have the manna makom hazeh, my place, where I'm doing is amazing. But I think especially by the children need that uh and benefit from that environment. And I think when they go to Shabbos meals, which we strategically uh arrange and have them go to great people. They create a vision in their mind and they say, "Okay, you could have a family. You could be a a successful businessman." >> They start seeing it And >> in real life. >> Yeah, you could have a children around your table. And you could also be from and you could be Wow. professional. And they create these visions and then like, "Okay, this is the family I want to be like." And then What is there an official shadchan or how does it So, we have uh in-house shadchanit, who's Mrs. Weiner. She's been a shadchanit since she was a girl. She dreams about shidduchim. But baruch Hashem, the Weiners have increased their family. And shatova They continue uh having nachas. So, Mrs. Weiner's a little busy, but we've got many big shadchanim that we bring here. And we'll set them up across the street by the Spitz family or by the Stefanskys. And they would interview our boys one by one. Wow. And we do this every couple months. What's the biggest challenge in this place? Dealing with their nefesh, giving them dormitories, making sure that they come to the shiurim. >> is not the right word. It's a labor of love. Okay. There's no challenge. It's It's amazing. I love I love doing it. I love I couldn't think about my life without this. This is like Wow, I I used to dream about baal teshuvah. People ask me, "Why do you need to serve supper every night?" >> Right. And my theory is these boys are coming from non-kosher homes. We came home from yeshiva, our mothers cooked us a beautiful supper with a soup, a protein, a vegetable, a carb. That's so right. >> ate normal. These boys, if they come home from work and they go buy fast food, they're not going to come to night sayder. They're going to scramble. They're not great at cooking. Some of them are good, but So, that This way they come, there's already dinner. It brings them together. >> They come to Shiur. It's so important. >> They learn Kabruso and they have a great night together. Now that we saw what the guys do in the morning, I'm going to introduce you to what they do during the day. The main goal of this place is I'm realizing to teach them tools of life, to integrate into >> Right, guys need to integrate after Yeshiva. They They want to They're at the age where they want to start Shidduchim. They want to grow in their professional careers. They want to have the Seder, which is what you saw today. So, let's go to the first site. >> Let's do this. L'chaim. So, we are at one of the sites. Can you tell me a little bit about your background? My background? Um as far as I come from Upstate New York, like Sullivan County. That's where you were born and raised? >> I was born and raised there, the country. >> nice place to be. Yeah. So, how did you start? Getting involved in Yiddishkeit? Yes. Um my sister took me She asked me to come on a Birthright. The Birthright program that I was on was actually subsidized by Aish. I wound up leaving my job. I was working as a bartender in in White Plains. Really? And then I I wound up staying in Aish for 2 years. So, the Chabura actually was started like right when I got here. So, it wasn't like It wasn't the Chabura yet. It was Rabbi Rabbi basically, um giving out his soul. Yeah, Rabbi was there to teach guys in a small Beit Midrash on uh on 16th Avenue. And at the time I was dating a Shiksa. I was dating a non-Jewish girl for 5 years. I was almost going to get married to her. Wow. I was going to get married to her. And then like I was at the Kotel on Friday night. And I asked somebody by Davening. I said to him, you know, where are we in the Davening? I had no idea what was going on. I wasn't You know, I wasn't Davening nothing. Yeah. And the And I said I'm lost, you know, I don't know where we are. And he turns around and says we're all lost, don't worry. Wow. >> So when he said that to me, it hit hard. Rabbi helped me get married. I couldn't find My family didn't support me getting married. I didn't come from a firm family and her family either. So, Rabbi really helped us We were probably one of the first marriages that were part of the Khabura. >> have you been married? 10 years. Four kids later. Yeah. I've only I've only seen bracha since I've come here. I actually moved away and had to come back because of that. So, we are driving to the second location now. That's right. That's going to be where? Beyond New Jersey. Before the Khabura really, I'll tell you just a little bit about my background cuz I wasn't born in in America. I was born in Ukraine. Knowledge of Yiddishkeit, nothing. When I was a kid, I knew we were Jewish and I knew it's important to marry Jewish in in my family, but I we didn't celebrate Pesach, Yom Kippur, nothing. Wow. So, how did you discover? So, um I was studying in England. I came to America when I was 19. I went to college in California, met the Chabad Rabbi first, came close with him. At the time I was so on fire from just to get out and go to Israel and like immerse myself. The way the Khabura came about is one of the friends of mine that were at Aish HaTorah with me called me up and invited me for Shabbos and also he was getting engaged. Uh he became introduced to Rabbi Eisenberger um and built a relationship and um basically kind of put it on the radar that there is a problem where guys come back from Israel and a lot of times they kind of don't have a makom. >> By the way, if you're watching this and you don't know what a makom is, it's a place. Ah. It's a place to be. It's a place to feel >> belonging. Blooming. That's the >> Belonging. Belonging? Belonging. Let's do both. A makom is a place to be blooming and belonging. Very good. The goal is not to kind of, you know, bring people in that are going to be dependent. Everyone Everyone after yeshiva wants to establish themselves, have a career, a career path, have a seder, not fall off, Yes. build a family. So, the goal is really to do that. And shidduchim? Yeah. So, we >> Shidduchim is a whole 'nother topic. Shalom bayis is a whole 'nother topic. >> Right. >> Is there anything else that I didn't mention? Um yeah, I mean, in terms of work, there's different guys doing different things. So, we try to help network. Um we should have at this point we've built out a pretty extensive network of of people that know about the habura or a lot of people are looking for our kind of guys to hire. That's right. >> One day I'm going to have a water day covered Cybertruck and it's going to be rigged with cameras inside so I don't need to hold >> It already is, by the way. The standard standard Cybertruck has a ton of cameras. Oh, really? Yeah, they have like on the side on the side and >> No, inside. Inside, I think they might also have. Oh, that would be perfect. There you go. Oh, nice. Yefen. >> Yefen. Okay. There's our man. Hey. What's going on? You made it. I did. Austin. Good to have you. I've I've seen Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're having too much fun. Baruch Hashem. I'm a business analyst here at Keeko. Meaning? Really, I just do a a of Excel work, but I'm really looking at margin analysis, try to different opportunities within sales, um what to push forward, what to pull back on. And I do a lot of management with a lot of the buyers. I graduated in at school in 2020 at from Rutgers. And they had a kind of a deal over me at that if you kept Shabbos and kosher and learn 4 hours a week, they would give you free rent in Highland Park, New Jersey. Really? >> Yeah. I think it was at a bar. And it was I'm not sure if you're probably never been, but like it's very loud. And so, they play music very, very loud. Okay. And you're standing with your friends, and you can't actually hear what they're saying cuz it's so loud. So, you're like yelling to the person next to you. And I realized I'm like, this is such a waste of my time. Like I I literally am here standing in like a circle drinking like a $20 drink for not being able to hear anyone speak and just like going to go home at like 2:00 a.m. And I was like, this is this is worthless. Waste of my time. So, at that point I was like, all right, I'm done with this. And then for like the next 6 months or whatever, I was fully gone and then went to Yeshiva. In reality, I credit the Habura with really like starting my life again because I came back from Yeshiva, I had no job. So, I had no place to live. And so, I moved to Borough Park and they found me a job here. I've I met my wife here through the through the Habura in a way. >> got involved. Maybe. Maybe. It's it's for sure. Yad Hashem is very evident. >> How long are you married for? Since January of 2025. So, yeah. Almost 2 >> Happy anniversary. Thank you. Wow. This used to be my office. No, uh the one down there. You see this bracha right here? Come. You put it on the wall? I put this on the wall 12 years ago cuz I was like right out of Yeshiva and I was like a flaming ball of chew and I was like I was like oh they don't have a bracha for a shabbos or so I just like I just took it and it's still good and it's still here 12 years later. That's crazy. Nobody has the guts to take it off. Why would they? It's beautiful. Look at this. Very good location. Oh, it is outside the bathroom. It's right outside the bathroom. Oh, it is. Okay. Look at that. How funny is that? 12 years ago. You still look like a flaming ball of chew. Okay, great. This is the main warehouse? >> This is the main warehouse of Kayco. So, 90% of all food that will go to like a kosher supermarket like a like a Landau's or >> Pini. Oh, okay, good. or an Evergreen or whatever it might be comes out of this warehouse in Bayonne. Wow. >> see we're actually getting ready for Passover which might packed. Usually it's not as full like everything on the ground or anything like that. Yeah. It's because like you see this? Yeah. This is the Yud Matzah. Oh, wow. >> So, it's it's getting ready for Passover. We are 4 months ahead. >> We are We've been planning for Passover since the end of last Passover. Wow. >> So, really it picks up steam around like a month before Rosh Hashanah. So, everything's been ordered ready to go. >> So, when do you plan Rosh Hashanah? Uh right after Purim, probably. Wow. >> So, it's everything gets rolling 6 months in advance at least. >> So, like so you're right now Passover. >> This this right now you can see it's packed. It's packed as a Passover. Wow. >> Yeah. When was the first time you heard about the Chabura? Before it was a Chabura. Really? Yeah. Every great thing starts with a great seed. And the seed of the war started with Rebbe learning with somebody who needed help was finding his way back and it wasn't a war it was a war and from a war it became a war and from a war it's becoming a war of the day so I've seen it evolve and the beautiful thing about this war is that it's still very much true to its original mission which in many businesses you know you start a business you have a great idea you make a product and you love it and you taste it and then you become big and you open another store and another store and another store but the taste of the product doesn't taste stay the same so the authenticity of the war is very much in its original form. He asked me what should be the possible on the on the codish. I suggested we make a message. Amazing. You like it? >> I love it. >> I'm going to tell Rebbe that's it. It's a sealed deal. I love it but you know you know it's funny because initially when I came to the war I thought that I'm going to come to the war to be but to help people. It's a little bit of a joke because you come to the war and I got to tell you all of us from from birth people are being inspired they're carrying us we're not carrying them and it's a real reverse reversal of how I started so you come to learn to teach and you end up walking out and you learn. I should have warned him about the voice of Exactly. No it's what it says below limit below limit and then it's a limit. So this should be on the bottom of the codish. Thank you so much for inviting me nice meeting you in person. Yeah one >> Okay. Okay, welcome to the center. That's nice. We have about 250 students. You know, so we're outgrowing the space very fast. So, we're looking, you know, for something bigger. >> in here? What do you Shabbos, learning on Monday nights, twice a week. >> Yeah, three kids. So, you bring them also for Shabbos? >> Yes, we have a whole back area where we where we have a Shabbaton here. Like this upcoming Shabbos, like August is going to be here. I'm sleeping here, he's sleeping here. >> does this happen? Every every how many times? >> do Shabbaton's in communities, and then we probably once or twice a month host it in the space here. Wow. Yeah. So, how do you get the students? You stand in the lobby with brochures? You We stand on the streets, we have students that exist, and then we we encourage them to bring their their friends, and all through word of mouth. >> their friends, like there's word of mouth. Word of mouth, word of networking. Didn't they Didn't they have the Free Palestine stuff? Free they have the Free Palestine stuff? That's This this was the top spot for it. This was the center of all that stuff. All the other communities, this was the center. Like the encampments, like all this stuff started here. >> It was It was good for Kirov, what do you mean? I love that it's um Jewish learning, and it's really interesting, but it's also grounded in like relatable day-to-day, philosophical, and applicable. It's so crazy for me to fathom the fact that you started You were a regular student at Columbia University. You knew nothing. And you found Rabbi Zach somewhere in the that you got introduced to Yeshiva in Lakewood. You did how how long over there? There about a year. There about a year, and now you're part of the Khabura, and I saw you 5:45 when I walked in in the morning steiging away, and I told my Rebbe how jealous I am of your learning. And that's crazy because you started in Columbia University. So, first of all, I look up to you and I wish you a lot of Siyata And second of all, I want to know how would you describe the Kabura to someone who doesn't know anything about it? So, I think it's um It's a a very interesting program that you you don't have many of. It's guys that went to Yeshiva. Most guys in the Kabura their family is not from. They came back from Yeshiva. In Yeshiva you're in an environment where you're able to support it. You have a rabbeim around you. You have um your friends are around you. So, it it's a very kosher environment. But then you you leave Yeshiva and often times people leave. They go back to the same friend groups that they came from. They go back to the same neighborhood and unfortunately they um drift off >> Right. Right. So, what you're doing now today, you're coming back here every day. Every day? Uh twice a week. Twice a week and you're trying to give back to people who are going through the same thing. So, I'm actually I do learn with one of my friends here, but I'm here because I'm actually doing a master's program now in Columbia. Really? student again. Just doing a master's program, yeah. Dressed like this? Yeah. Nobody spits on you. Nobody is No. I don't I mean I'm here very limited. I come in for class and I leave right away. So, I'm not like I don't hang out here. How do you deal with it? Like going back to that crazy environment after you're obviously from? Right. I I don't know. I'm not I mean I come in I go to class and then I leave and I go back home. So, it's not like >> not like a whole uh Right. It's like a part of my day that I'm somewhere I'm going for 2 hours. It's not like I'm spending my day. I think that's another big plus of the Kabura that it it gives you enough power that you're not bothered by the world. You you're integrated into the world and you're bringing Hashem into the world versus going to isolate and forget about everything. This is This is You should be very proud, Alex. >> I started really becoming from on my own because I had a little bit of background I'm saying went to like a Jewish school my whole life. So I knew you know you know you know that what I meant to keep Shabbos you know you know that what I meant to keep kosher and stuff like that. So I was trying to take those things on on my own. By the time I was already keeping Shabbos and keeping kosher on my own for close to a year. My or Manhattan opened up. And so my or is typically doing kiruv on campuses but they opened their first young professionals thing. So in addition to what I do at my or I also have a regular 9-5 tech job. I work as a data scientist so after my using the Shiva I went to graduate school. And so data science you know that was a master's degree that I got and I work as a data scientist at this marketing science firm. And I come to campus twice a week. You take off from work twice a week? No. So I come and I do my come here at 9:00 a.m. I log on to my computer and I start working right away. During my lunch break I meet with one student and then right at 5:00 p.m. I start to meet with two students back to back. >> working? >> Yeah. That's genius. Yeah. Who came up with this? You're a data scientist I get it. Okay. Now we're finally back to what would you say is the punchline of the Habura? What is your passion? How would you describe it to someone who never heard about it? The way that I describe it I think a lot of people think of the Habura as like a place to hold you over when you come back from your Shiva you know like to keep the pot hot. But I think it's much more than that. I don't think you know like that it's like a blech. You know like the idea is that there's a lot of guys that come here and they keep on growing and stuff like that. >> is a hot plate for Shabbat. So it's not just to keep the pot warm. >> I'm translating the BT you get it? Yeah yeah. No. No I think there's so many guys that come here and it's not just so that they can continue what they're doing, but there are guys that jump and grow in ways that in the Yeshiva they weren't able to. And it could be because the intensity of the environment, you know, like when they were in Israel versus here, you know, the words more balanced. But for whatever reason, I've seen friends of mine that in the Yeshiva maybe were not, you know, so into learning that all of a sudden, you know, like they light up when they come here. I think also in terms of giving guys the opportunity to integrate. Yeah. Whereas like in like a BT Yeshiva, you're in such a bubble. Right. And then, you know, they go to Borough Park, which is like the Wild West you know, in the Frum world. And you get exposed to everything, and it I allows the guy I think to integrate, you know, in a healthy way. So, we just arrived in Manhattan to location number two. That's right. And who are we meeting now? We're going to meet our good friend Mark Ossian. He's an attorney here in this building. And he will share his story. Rabbi Jacobs from the Khonya Kollel. When I sent out a cry for help, he sent me to the Khabora. I met Alex. And uh the rest is history. How has it been for you? I love it. Are you kidding me? I've been here for three plus years, maybe four years at this point. I'm married. I stayed. I think we weren't so observant. But I had Hebrew, and I was very Zionist. And uh then I went to public high school, went to Duke. But Dafka to not be in a Really? Jewish place, yeah. The Khabora I know on the one hand, it's my Eretz Yisrael. It's the only place in Chutz La'aretz, I think, that you you sort of feel Kedusha in that way, like pumping in the streets. In America, it's definitely the only place where you feel like you're not in America, which I love. Like there are lots of places with Yiddishkeit, but like there's no place where you're like you come off the subway and there's Yiddish in the streets and there's payos bouncing around and like, sometimes traffic is stopped because there's a uh hachnasas sefer Torah. Like, >> Right. that's incredible. You don't get that anywhere. >> Tightness about parking means you have a bitachon issue. Serious. Daven to Hashem, say, "Please give me parking." Shabbos. We're in America, but you forget that. Easy to forget. And I'm just hearing this niggun and it's just like I'm like following it. I don't know where I'm going. I just like hear the sound and I'm just like following this niggun. It's like a fairy tale. I hear Ka Echsof. I look inside. It's a bunch of men There's a tish? It's a It's like not even a tish, honestly. It was just like a bunch of guys who were part of some shtiebel. Wasn't even a tish. Different ages. Some mostly older, but like different ages. And they're just like singing. Ka Echsof. And they're just going and it's like I'm outside freezing just like listening. I'm like, "Wow, this >> By the way, we're freezing now. Yeah. And we're in Manhattan. Yeah. Let's do a small Ka Echsof. Me and you. >> Okay, let's do it. The whole thing? It's a long one. Okay. >> No, just the the the the the beginning. Let's do it. We need it. Okay. Ka Echsof If no ayam Shabbos Ayayayaya Hamaaseh maasim misachehdes miskalah sechel That's the idea that Hashem is everywhere. So now we finish with Avi. I called him Avi the entire time. His name is Mark. I'm so sorry. I call Mark. I'm sorry. I apologize. But he didn't even say anything. He left it like that. He was comfortable, but we were so cold, so probably he didn't want to waste the time to correct me. Um so Mark, we just finished with. And now we're going to the third location in Manhattan, which is We're going to see our good friend Aviv Reich. Aviv, what does Aviv do? Aviv works as a chief of staff at Meridian. Mortgage company. For whoever knows, it's a legit company. It's very legit. It's a little It's a little bigger than the local mortgage broker I know. No offense, yes, Tzitzit. Ah, hi. When you put up the card, that that only the floor you're designed to go to is what it gets? That's what it is in New York. By the way, we're going to floor 26. Good match with him Aviv. Beautiful. It's Meridian Capital. This is not your average, you know, New York real estate company. Well, maybe it is your average real estate company because we're very Jewish, very high mission. Yeah, but not the ones we know. You see what I mean? Mezuzahs on the elevators right here as we go in. Oh, nice. Mezuzahs on the elevator. Oh, my god. Was that when I was a teenager and into college, I was looking at Judaism as something very very shallow, very traditional, and very constructive. Um, that the only motivation that I would have to go to synagogue to read from a book that I don't really know what it means. I can read the words, but like really, what does "Blessed art thou, God, Lord of the universe?" What does that even mean? The person who was running the class said, "I want everyone to go around the room and tell me what Judaism is. What's the point of Judaism? What's the purpose of Judaism?" The answer that the rabbi gave was in one sentence, the point of Judaism is to actualize your potential. Every single person has a God-given potential and a PDF manual implanted within them and the Torah is your code to bring it out. Wow. If you don't have that guidance, you're going to get lost and you're never going to be the person that you're meant to be. Wow. Listen, the the Khabura it's a place where you connect to real Torah and real Jews and real connection to Hashem. None of the external trappings. Rabbi Eisenberger cares about every single Jew and it's filled with Jews who dropped everything in their life and even fought everything in their life to come to Torah because they saw the pure emes of it. I thought that I knew things about Judaism, but I was missing the neshama behind it. And if you teach real Torah, a neshama knows emes when it sees it. Alex, are you coming? I'm coming. Yallah go. Wow, it's getting dark already. It's time for us to take to the final part of the program. So, we're going back to water park. >> Today we have a siyum. So, I overheard that you said to your daddy, "I want to finish Rosh Hashanah already." Did you just miss Rosh Hashanah? Yes. Live, like we just came. I wanted to interview him and we just finished Rosh Hashanah. What do you know about the Khabura? How would I explain it to someone who you doesn't know what it is? It's a place that >> place >> that helps people learn more about Judaism and gives them jobs. Simplify way. It is. I've been here about 12 years. Wow, momma from the beginning. >> Yeah, I was the third guy here. >> The third guy. I met Rabbi B, he sat me down in his living room. He gave me gave me a five course meal. We learned Kadushan. I saw the dorm, I never left. And it's the building I live in today with my my wife. Wow, when did you get married? I got married nine years ago. You have to really ask yourself whether any of us really are at that level. I wanted to say that I saw a place of Mesiras Nefesh of Rebbe's one piece of heart. He thinks from his heart, he doesn't think from his head. And he's all day just looking for ways to give and give more and more. He told me about the plans, I don't know if you guys know. And I just want to wish you guys that you should continue being the light you are, and you have so much more to offer to FFB's. I hope the light is going to translate through the video and many more people will gain from it and maybe come visit and and gain um with a with a real experience as well. You should continue on your ways Hashem. Hopefully soon we'll dance all together in Beis Hamikdash. What a day. L'chaim. L'chaim. Oh.