Rabbi Yehoshua Frankenhuis – Miracle Baby

[Music] Welcome to Inside Arts Crow, where the books that we read and the people that write them come to life. You know, sometimes in life there's something we desperately need, a Yeshua, a salvation, and we dive in and we do all types of things and we do it for a long period of time and then it just doesn't happen. It doesn't come to fruition and we give up and we learn to live with the reality. That's what we tell ourselves at least. And for many people it was that way until Ades this past year when something happened that changed the Jewish world and gave so many people hope that Yeshua could happen. And that was an incredible moment. The moment of miracle baby when Kushvki 88 years old had his very first child a baby boy. That moment filled the Jewish world with hope. That moment filled the Jewish heart with an understanding that Hashem could do anything. And it's a pleasure and an honor to welcome to Artskill Studios Rab Yeshua Frankenhouse who came here all the way from Arit Israel to share with us a little bit about this incredible book, the book Miracle Baby. Rabbi, shalom. Shalom. The privilege is mine to be here with the team at Art Scroll. Thank you so much for having me. It's definitely Rab Yeshua, you know, you've been close to the Rashiva for almost two decades. You're the Mashki in the Yeshiva in Rep Kashki's yeshiva. Um you're a RV of a Kahila and Bamesh Benalia and you're a busy man. yet you found time in your schedule to write this book because clearly it was compelling to you. Can you do us a favor? Can you take us into the moment when the yeshiva, the tamid across the world found out that after 88 years the rashiva finally was a father? Wow, that's a question definitely to be honest to do justice to this I can't. It's like we know anyone who hasn't seen back in the time of the B mikdash any anyone who wasn't there and didn't experience it it's almost impossible to describe it. What I can share with you is is that that special moment that morning when we all got to hear the exciting news that moment was a life-changing moment for all of us. The sima began then and I think all the talidim around the world can say they're still living off that sim. Was there singing or dancing in the yeshifa? What happened? Was there shock? So there was definitely a huge element of shock. People were like amazed. And I have to share with you not everybody throughout the time that the Rashiva was waiting for children believed that was going to happen. Right? And those people who perhaps didn't believe that the Yeshua was actually going to come and then they they saw it, they heard about it, they were really shocked and singing and dancing. Absolutely. When the Rashiva arrived back, wow. Wow. That was a moment never to be forgotten. You know it's interesting in the book you also describe the moment after the birth in the hospital of this incredible miracle. Everyone in the hospital even the totally secular staff realized this was something that was unparalleled maybe since Aframavinu and Ssara. What was happening in the hospital? It's so unique how the rashiva used the first few moments after becoming a father. So the Rashiva used those moments, those first moments not for himself but for others. Many people would have taken that special moment just to cherish the time with yourself with a baby but he dedicated those moments fully to giving people brahas to giving people. The Rashiva mentioned numerous times that he didn't see the birth of baby aliu as a matologist for him but actually as a gift for the entire generation and you could see that throughout if it was by the birth as you were mentioning yes he was so selfless you know he was very tired and he was in the highlight of his life in every sense but he was giving over to others rather than to himself but throughout that whole week the rashi was giving and giving and giving and those that know the rah Shiva every every moment is precious if he can learn another he's going to do that but he was giving hours and hours just to be yeah you you read that you describe it so beautifully in the book just like the many facets of the rashiva just constantly focusing on other people as opposed to himself what I found particularly meaningful was that when the news broke across the world. The Tamidim literally felt that they had gotten a new baby brother. If the rashiva was their father, then this was a new baby brother. And you could talk about this like just came to they just got on a plane and they came to Israel. like the yeshiva had to deal with like a whole influx of it was almost like a absolutely it was spontaneous and lots of talim not just from around there but from England from America South Africa they they just got on a plane and said how can we miss our baby brother's breasts and they came there and they they really felt they really felt this was a father. At the time there was even consideration that was being spoken about chartering a full plane from the UK. There were so many Tomid who wanted to come. The tamidum who were there were telling each other this is a family sim you know especially the the the the the suda of the bris which was you know the closest meeting the actual bris was you know was thousands and thousands of people from people looking for Yeshua and all kinds of other uh people but that but the suda was you know much more the talid and the people close to the raasha it felt like quite honestly a family reunion that's so nice that's amazing and it was all around this incredible Shim that brought to the world and that's something that you keep coming back to over and over in the book and it's a very compelling read wrote it very very well just saying thank you the fact that Shiva keeps saying that this was not his gift but it was it was a gift to all of Israel and to me that's very inspiring because I think that's why a lot of people just wanted to come to the sima to be a part of every little part of the simka because this this this this experience seeing something like that just It fills a person with hope, with amuna, with so to you for writing an opportunity and a vehicle for us to get that amuna and um at what point did it pop into your head that you should write a book and why you sorry for putting you on the spot? That's a great question. So to be honest by the beginning when a lot of people were coming to the raash with questions and with a desire deep desire to get from this story the rash was giving a very lot of his time giving that over and I was alongside him. I sat next to him and I was seeing what the rash was saying and eventually the rash even gave over to me the task of he said there's a limit to how much I can do. I've got to go back to learning and he felt that I had taken in enough of the and the I was able to give it over and I gave it over to quite a lot of people afterwards and when that happened I felt like if I was to be alongside the Rashiva by this very special time and the rasha has a feeling that I have taken in as a taken in what he's giving over and the rasha gave so much of his time because he felt it was so important to take from this story. Then I felt that it was my duty, my obligation, but more than anything my privilege to go and stand alongside with the Rash in that mission and continue spreading the light this book uh spreads. So, so you you went over to him, you said, "Is it okay if I write a book about you and about the situation?" How did that go? So, it was actually a lot more than that. It wasn't just can I write it about you but the Rashiva actually dedicated many hours sitting with me reviewing uh reviewing you know particular chapters reviewing the entire the entire chapter making changes adding things um he he he actually gave a huge amount of time for it and uh likewise the Revitson she really gave many many hours and she doesn't have that many hours because she's juggling a baby a baby a yeshiva and so many other things. You know, she's busy with shim and you you name it. Read the book, you'll get a, you know, the tip of the iceberg, as they say. Uh, how did she find a time for it? I don't know, but she did. And, uh, yeah, it was a, you know, it was very much a a project done together. It's interesting you say this because you know growing up all the years I didn't learn by but the word on the street for us was that Ritzvi is the he's the quintessential Masmid he's always learning I know you read in the book on a 12-hour flight he never took his head out of his gar which by the way turned into a donation but you got to read the book to to know to know that um so it's so fascinating to me that the Rashiva spent so much time with you reviewing the book and giving to other people which on some level cuts into his learning and I guess that's a that he made that that's you know a calculation if I have this opportunity I need to use it has he shared that sentiment with you absolutely absolutely what was very striking though was he gave huge amounts of hours but very very calculated I'll give you just as an example a lot of media wanted to interview within that week those two weeks three weeks And he was willing to do it with many of the you of the newspapers and magazines and different uh you know cav lines. Uh he did that but he always asked beforehand who is it what do they want it for? And whenever it was forget something less positive whenever it was just someone coming because it's an interesting story you know sensation exactly nice coverage he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. It was very much making aes and being what happened in Israel? Did the secular press pick up on this nace? Did they turn it and you know was it like a Greg Kesha? What happened? Do you know? So it spread throughout Eric Israel, the Karedi press, the secular press and actually throughout the world, even the non-Jewish world. There were quite a few who found it fascinating and wrote about it. Can you just give us a glimpse? Um I know you've been with Rasheed for so many years, but there's decades and decades of incredible amuspay toiling and learning. Tell us a little bit about the hassada. And now you know you write in the book about the Rashiva's intense hmada and diligence and non-stop learning. Okay. So as you said that yes there's quite a bit about that dotted throughout the book. Um but it's incredible to live to live through it to see what it means to be a masmid on that level. Every Talmid who was in the yeshiva will just say something as simple as havdala shambas the raash would always do havdal downstairs for his talmid his children his kundal and he did a nice slow beautifuld the way you're supposed to take shabas out sing afterwards uh the hdahala songs but as he's finishing the song he's already running it's seda grabbing his gar getting It's not about the big things. It's not about the stories which we have in there about a half a year of tiny st or or or or various other beautiful stories. But it's a but it's what the Talmidium really experienced in all those small moments. There was never a moment moment which was too small to and that's how you become a god from those small moments. Very much big people focus on the small things like they say. You know what else was really interesting to me? Um, the rashiva was kind of like the figurehead and his pictures on the front and as is baby Ali Yahoo, although his face is very Zeiss. You'll see a lot of great pictures in the book, but there's a whole another side to the story and that's the story of the Rebbitson, which is written very beautifully in here. Give us a give us a taste of the Rebbitson's journey and meeting the Rashiva and eventually being part of this incredible amazing um nest and Kim Shamay. Okay. case as you correctly said justice will only be done by reading the book and uh even that I have to say it's you know it's only touching on a little bit of what actually is going on over there but um the rabbitson actually had a deep shifa to marry a talim now she ended off hitting the jackpot getting married to the raasha but her shifa wasn't getting married to anyone on famous or wellknown. Hashifa was one thing getting married to a Tam who sits and learns Tyra all day. A lot of us have dreams. We want to reach heights and it remains dreams. By her there was no such thing. She in every RN and Gashimist way made it her life mission. She was davening to Hashem going to Kavarim if it was the Pvar. Amazing how she she went to the Pvar and said we all know how the Pvichar stood there by the mountain and spoke about doing the impossible and that's what happened. She said ponovich of gandavin for me. Everyone laughed at you when you were trying to do the impossible and the impossible happened. And she the rabbitson was saying I want the same. And and she she was so practical. If you look in the book, there's a really cute picture of her calendar. Wow. Talk about that. That's that's so amazing. It was so real by her that she actually, you know, we speak about how she was uh she was, you know, as she calls it, pumped up with a she had jotted into her calendar, which is a very msugal day for getting married. You know, which is this way before the whole suggested. Yeah. you know it was less than two weeks from when uh you know it was suggested until they were uh married. Um and this was way before by her it was real you know we sometimes believe but yeah it can happen you know to take a penna right that shows you're really holding for sure it's it's real it's real trust it's real confidence were you by the wedding of the of the regen I was also an incredible moment if you're bringing that up people for quite a while wanted to see pictures of of the wedding. That was maybe one picture which went out round and about and uh when we brought out this book, the rabbiton graciously took out the hard drive which um no one had ever seen before, gave the pictures and those are the pictures which are in the book. So it's uh you know got something very special over there. This is something that you discussed which to me was a real eye opener. You know sometimes in life we dive in and we dive in and and then the Yeshua comes like we breathe a sigh of relief finally it came. It took a lot of years and we look at those years or we look at those months or that time period as you know it was it was a necessary evil to get to that point but what I realized in reading the book and you talk about this in a very nice way is that Shashiva did not view 60 plus years of dominating for a child as as as a a necessary evil. He viewed it very differently. How did he view it? So I actually find this very point the biggest of the story. The fact that he had a baby was a tremendous but the fact that the Rashiva could say that I see all those 65 years of waiting as a gift from Hashem. 65 years of waiting as a gift from Hashem. and embrace it and say that's what built my rrookness. That's what brought me close to Hashem. That's incredible. You know, of course that comes together with all those years of seeing the rasha actually holding on tight, seeing the rash and all those years beforehand actually believing asking people for brahas for zeros kayama. You know every you know after every Yam Davining and various other occasions singing Zarel Cayama you know many people would be saying like hello move on but he he actually believed it and lived it and then to say all those years was a gift. It's very special. I'll tell you something fascinating. I read I read that there's one chapter right in the beginning of the book where the rabbitson and speaks about how many feelers were dabbed for this childhares his pali you know share with us that concept because I think it's a very very special concept what's the word what's the what are the what's the yiddish term that they refer to for this child ah translate so this is one of those things which is very difficult to translate because yiddish captures the uh the the essence very well but um perhaps I'll just uh I'll just give an outline of uh of of of what it means. Um you know, everybody in life has their struggles. Sometimes a person reaches the eventually and they think well all those years were wasted. I got my say it's a shak I got my shak a few years late and the shidd is the same shiddink he has a a about it we can't cover the whole piece but he brings from the story with uh where um where basically Hannah realized she was going to lose a child and a offered her I'll give you another child even greater and she wasn't willing to go for it even So a greater sadic what could be better and why what was the reason because for this child doesn't seem to answer the big question why are you not willing to have a different child who's greater explainer of pinos she was saying something very profound if you have a yeshua which you were waiting for for a long time and finally you have in your hand that baby that sha that or whatever else it is. It's not the same child. It's not the same. It's not the same Yeshua. It's something else. It's a better and of course that's what Kana was saying. You might give me another child who will be better and greater and whatever. Absolutely. It still won't replace this child because this is this is the child which I've been dabing for. It's a child entrenched with filler and nothing can replace that. And of course this is baby aliu. Of course it's a tremendous Yeshua but at the same time it's a kint. Um and uh the of course the message for all of Kalis at this stage who everyone has their private uh things they're waiting for challenges and Yeshua they're waiting for and of course Khalis as a whole are waiting for so many Yeshua when we do get to the Yeshua it's not just waste of time it's a buildup to having a better Yeshua that's that's so that gives so much strength I when I read it I shared it I shared the with a lot you know, with a broader audience and a random Yisha mama reached out to me who has a daughter who's been going through a very difficult and deep design for many years and sometimes like for what she said when she heard this that this child is in her child it filled her with so much because she realized that every day where she struggles and every tear that she cries and every capet of him like she has for this child is investing and it gave her a lot of hope. filled her with with you know filled her with a tikvah a certain understanding that this child will be okay and they won't just be okay they're going to be amazing they're going to be galding maybe better than the rest of my children so you don't you don't realize you write a book and then the impact and effect travels very far and so for for putting that together and for sharing it because it was me I share that further and that's what's so beautiful about a book a person picks up a book they read a book and they could share it further they could share the story further so buy the and you'll get the and obviously the goes further as well. Um, as someone who's known for a long time, what's really interesting about this book is you only have a little tiny snapshot of the life of a that's really what it is. And it's interesting because we don't usually write books about people while they're alive. We wait till and then we write about them. But it's so interesting to learn a little bit about his earlier years, about his incredible hass and his due diligence and the places that he visited. There's one thing which jumps out at me. I'll lie to share this if you don't mind even though you should still buy the book. And that's that's what happened to him when he first moved. I think it was to France and he couldn't sleep for three nights in a row. Do you know what I'm referring to? Share that share that story. It's amazing. Wow. So the it just brings out how Rashiva through his his is his his kadusha. He arrived in the apartment he was supposed to be staying in and this was in Fr. He was in France. Yes. Okay. And uh you know he went to uh he went to rest, he went to sleep and uh wasn't falling asleep. Okay. You know it happens to all of us, right? Back to new surroundings, right? Okay. So uh sat there one night but it happened again and again. It was repeating itself and the Rashiva actually made the people go and check the you know the entire house. He said I feel there's something not cades. I feel there's something tummy and people checked in the house you know from top to bottom and they couldn't find anything there. So they were saying Rashiva Tazov you're not falling asleep because you're not falling asleep but it wasn't matter and uh he made them search again until eventually they found somewhere within that house tale. They removed the talem and he felt and right away he was able to fall asleep without any problems. Is that a surprising story for you as someone who knows Rashiva or it's absolutely not amazing um because I I I see it I I've seen it numerous numerous times again it's an inspiring story but the Rashiva sees on different talum things which we you know we as staff in the yeshiva like don't see and we're wondering like how do you know that and it seems to be exactly the opposite to the mitsas and uh then you So a few weeks later we get to see that he was so super right. He was so uh target you know this isn't something which happened once or twice. This happens all the time. It happened throughout the years and it keeps on happening. Um if it's in the yeshiva and we see it you know the rashiva has a particular insight into many many areas. um you know we saw during COVID there were many surprises during COVID not he knew what was going to happen you know every everyone was sure there was going to be her immunity and and he said eh it's all going to stay the same and that's what happened and various you know yes the answer is it doesn't s surprise me the slightest h have you um ever held baby Ilio plenty of times what does that feel It feels amazing, but nothing like standing on the side and seeing the Rosha play with his uh baby alo and his face filling with simka like we've never seen it before. And he's a person who expresses his sim. It's not like if this is a new sentiment. Yeah. It's it's you know when I you know when I'm sitting by the rashiva you know if it's we're talking and learning if we're working through inhiva and you know and and he's got his his baby is b next to him and he turns around and he you know and he sees the baby playing and he just smiles at the baby and the baby smiles back you know your heart melts your eyes begin tearing it's it's it's incredible. Wow, that's very special. Um, you know, as a Talmud or as Tamidum of great people, those who have this have it. We all have our moments which we remember about the rashiva. Is there a particular story or something personal moment about your journey with the risha that you would want to share? Maybe even something that's not in the book. So, this could be the sneak preview on maybe volume two. Wow. Okay. So, you're getting me a little bit on the spot. That's correct. Uh, I will share one uh one story, you know, with its simplicity. It's, you know, it's truly amazing. Gave me a little bit of a view into how the Rashiva cares and has into each and every Talmid. Um, when the Rashiva lost his first rabbitson, it was a tremendously sad uh moment. You know, every time a person loses his spouse, it's a sad moment. But if you take into account that he was waiting to have children, he was still desperate to have children. Uh and he was left basically alone in the world, you know, his closest relatives being his siblings. Um so that was, you know, that was a very sad moment. And of course, every Talmud goes and calls Dash Shiva to be a during the Shiva, after the Shiva, whatever it might be. I at that time was actually dating and uh I got engaged basically at the time when the rashiva lost his uh rebbitson. So I kind of had to make a phone call of but then also let the rash know that I was a how do you do that right not a moment I think anyone would uh envy correct um so the first level of godlas was when I called the rash shiva it was just after the shiva he took the nama and put the phone down I don't know but I'm assuming he knew or he could sense something and just cut it short for me M the rash afterwards it was for PES he came to England to Manchester and uh of course as a Talmud who was living at the time in Manchester I came in and he was in a particular house of a relative and the you know the the room was full of Talmid and I came in a little bit embarrassed timid yeah I'm everyone knows I'm a Kassan I couldn't even break the news to the rash after it happened what's going to be and I came in And I stood at the back, you know, like let's keep out of uh, you know, the spotlight. And Rashiva gave me a massive smile. Again, I'm one of a hundred all the way at the back. Massive smile. I says, "Oh, masletov." And, you know, totally forgetting about his s making sure one talmid isn't going to feel awkward even for one moment. And you didn't even have to tell him. In other words, he he acknowledged that he knew and he's excited and you're okay. Yeah. And and twice save me any uncomfortable moments. And if you take into account the amount of tidim he has, that's remarkable. That's godless. That's greatness. The book miracle baby, you should buy it. You should read it. You should get Rab Yeshua, thank you for sharing this for with the greater the greater taking your experiences and putting them um into this phenomenal amazing book. You should have a lot of and thank you so much for making the long trip all the way here. I'm confident that people that watch this interview are going to be very inspired by the book and thank you for the gift of Clau. Thank you for having me and spreading the light. Father. [Music]