CEO of Arachim Rabbi Yosef Walles in Lakewood

hello my name is Joseph Wallace I'm the CEO of arim arim being a very large C organization operating worldwide it's main operation is in Israel but we operate in various countries throughout Europe North America South America South Africa Asia uh the uh main purpose of this organization is uh bring Jews back to uh Jewish style life and um I myself I'm a product of such an organization I went through a seminar that the organization uh did 35 years ago and basically the whole structure of the organization is uh based on the seminar system 35 years ago I went to such a system to a seminar it was first seminar that was done by the organization it was like a test Cas seminar and I came went in as a non from Jew cirular and came out from a little bit of a background my parents are both hoca survivors they were married off right after the Holocaust they were liberated in Germany D were married by the closenberg Aria and although they both came from very Orthodox families father's from Poland mother from Hungary I grew up secular in Israel and at the age of about 12 12 and A2 they decided to immigrate to the United States uh when they came to America they decided to move to the Bronx New York and grew up in the Bronx went to uh J high school high school and had very little connection with the Jewish style life of course did not keep Shabbat or anything of that sort um I went to City College graduated engineering got married in America to an American Girl s Sandra Wallace today she s minin thing and U we after I got married uh went we moved to Israel served in the Israeli Army was in the Israeli Air Force for about 4 and a half years ended up as a captain went through the war of attrition yum keeper war and when I was discharged we decided to move back to America moved to Los Angeles and started a business in Los Angeles basically on U military aircraft Parts did very well and after about three and a half years of business decided to move back to Israel and contined the this type of business in Israel did very well bought a house inana had three sons and Liv lived a very nice comfortable life uh successful business and so on and one day uh I made a change what brought about the change uh short story I went to a restaurant to buy some uh non koser meat for my family take out food and when I was standing in line to buy that type of meat for my family uh he called the story story that I heard at home but never uh never really absorbed it as we say the story about my grandfather who at the last day of the war was tested by the Germans in front of all the survivors and that specific consultation came he was given a piece of pork meat and the SS officer in charge right at the day of Liberation just before they were liberated he took the piece of pork and he took my grandfather and he told him if you want to be freed with everyone else and he did this in front of all the other survivors you must eat this piece of Po and if you eat it you'll be freed with everyone else but if you won't eat it you'll be the last one to die in Camp and he pulled out a gun and he point in his face and he told him make a decision real quick if you eat it you go home with everyone else see your wife your children and if you won't eat it you'll be the last one today to die in Camp this was the day of Liberation just before the Germans left the camp and he said he won't eat it and they shot him that's why my grandfather died and that story came to my mind or whether I called it story when I was standing there in line to buy that food for my family in a way I was in a shop although I knew that story all the time but the contradiction of standing here in line and Earth and buying with my own money when I can eat anything I want same type of food meat non koser meat that my grandfather died for at the day of Liberation the fact that he acted in such a way in such such contradiction to what is happening with me both me to a point that I just stepped out of the line at by but I started investigating what in the world made my grandfather die under such conditions at the day of Liberation and how in the world is it possible for me my grand his grandson does such an opposite move and he buys the same thing for his children I stepped on a line I Le by started thinking and thinking and eventually I went to that seminar the reason I went to that seminar was I wanted to find out what made my grandfather make such a decision and I figured that the only way to find an answer to that was if I learn more about Judaism and that's what to that seminar with no intentions of becoming a full me at the end of the seminar I made a decision that I'm going to transform my life and become full and it wasn't easy my wife didn't go along so so easy with me our children were were that cooperative and we had families we had business relationships and so it was a very difficult move but I took that move and eventually the whole family joined and uh as a result of what has happened to me I decided to change my goal in life and rather to continue in my business I fig that the best thing I could do the best way for me to thank Hashem for the change that I made is to the same thing in running this organization and I joined immediately the organization which very very small at that time 35 years ago and decided that the best way to do the best business in the world is to run such an organization and velop it and introduce yish K to to Jews all over the world in every language possible and given the right followup and support and eventually become or became an organization which I had today which is one of the largest cure organization in the world we work with many other organizations various countries various languages and today that's what the goal of my life and eventually I hope that we will be so successful that we won't eat that anymore because the mashiah will come all Jews will become from and we can close shop so that's my goal closing shop that's about it