Joey's Story | How $100 Changed His Life Forever!

At the last minute, my mom signed me up for camp. She ended up paying $100. So, I told her it was the best investment she ever made. [Music] I never really grew up keeping Shabbat. And in camp that first summer, that was my first real meaningful exposure to Yiddishkeit. In the middle of sports or in the middle of something, and they'd say, "Okay, everybody go put on your white shirts like Reuven Feinstein's coming." And like like who's Reuven Feinstein? Camp was the first time that I really got to know like what a big rabbi is. I never knew what Tisha B'Av was till I got to camp. Very fond memories of like Rabbi Dovidowitz leading us in Eicha and like really like setting the tone for what Tisha B'Av is and really felt it. The first holiday program that they ever had in Our was at Sukkot in the girls' camp. [Music] [Applause] And that was like the first time I learned about like to sleep in a sukkah. Like I didn't know you slept in a sukkah till I went. [Music] So, I literally went to camp my entire 4 years in high school. And that led to deciding to go to Yeshiva in Israel. Our paid for my tuition to go for Yeshiva for 2 years. They also helped me pay for my flight. While I was still a bochur, I was always involved with Our. Like would always go there for a lot of chaggim. Before I got engaged, I took my wife to go meet Rabbi Mintz. Rabbi Mintz is somebody that I go to and seek for guidance. And he's just like at the most like a role model. If I look back now, I feel like if I never gone to Our in that summer, I don't think I'd ever end up where I am today, marrying the person who I married and being in kollel, wanting to devote my time to full-time Torah study. [Applause] I have three beautiful kids. My son, his name is Chaim Dovid, Esther, Chaya, and Avigail. They would not live the life that they live were not for Our. Chaim Chaya Chaim Dovid [Music]