Pastor who discovers Jewish roots leads church to mass conversion!!!

[Music] Colombia a country that not too long ago was the world's capital for drugs violence and crime this area known as communa 13 is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country and was once considered to be the most dangerous neighborhood in the world you couldn't even walk these streets without getting shot at or killed you see that nearby Mountain over there that's the largest mass grave in South America over 250,000 bodies are buried there and they're all victims of the senseless violence and crime that was rampant in those [Music] days today A lot has changed the street stre are much safer but having two security guards is still a good idea the place is alive people are selling fresh fruits drinks t-shirts ponchos and souvenirs everywhere and the poor neighbors are dancing on the streets trying to earn a few pesos and you wouldn't believe this in the middle of all the chaos the dancing in the music playing in the background someone is holding an old torn sitter covering his eyes and [Applause] davening you're probably wondering what's going on here and what am I doing here well let me take you back to the beginning of of one of the most incredible experiences of my [Music] life a few weeks earlier Rabbi schlomo Fifer who during Co started a global nightsat program called Torah at Twilight where hundreds of kids log onto Zoom from different parts of the world to learn together forwarded me an email from a woman named juie charet juie writes that her son of Ramy is friends with one of the Boys on this program who lives in Colombia and is the son of a rabbi elad Vias who was a former pastor of a church and when he discovered Torah and Mitzvah hundreds of his church members converted with him to Judaism I couldn't believe what I was reading I called juie and asked her if she would arrange a trip to Columbia so that we can document this amazing story she was more than happy to do [Music] it so there are no direct flights from laay to Columbia and we had to make a stop over in Miami after a full day of traveling we finally arrived I kept wondering the entire time what would RAB alad look like what would he be like given his different background culture differences in language I wasn't even sure how we would communicate but as soon as I walked out of the airport I saw rabad for the first time and I felt like I had known him forever he had a warm smile and just a wonderful way about him he came to pick us up from the airport with his son yak and one of the community members who spoke English reab yahushua litak he was going to be our translator but as soon as we walked out of the airport building no words were necessary we burst into dance and song and it was that moment that set the tone for the entire [Applause] trip [Applause] we loaded the van and in our Dy from the airport R alad gave us a brief history about the first Jews who arrived in Colombia from Spain centuries earlier Jews had lived in Spain for thousands of years going back all the way to the times of gasb in fact if you look at the end of ovadia the navi describes how the founding members of the Jewish community in Spain hailed from the most prominent and important families in yush the AER Spanish jury flourished for centuries they even enjoyed a period known as the golden age that was a time when Jews integrated into Spanish culture and Society to the point that they had access to the highest levels of political and Military Powers many Torah Giants came out of Spain the Riff rambam Rush Raja and later the B safe and the abarbanel and the list goes on but sadly all that came to an end with the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued a decree expelling all Jews from Spain except for those who converted to Christianity hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to leave their homes behind and find refuge in nearby countries but many of the middle and upper class Jews who enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle didn't want to leave so they stayed and converted openly to Christianity but secretly they kept observing Torah and Mitzvah they're known as the convertios the moros The Haunting tune of kidre dates back to that dark period in our history when the conversos the moros would secretly come to shum Kipper Knight and ask to be released from their vows to the church so that they can Davin on the holiest night of the year with their fellow yiden but unfortunately many of them were found out they were tortured persecuted and burnt at the stake and eventually was too dangerous and unbearable for the miranos to continue living in Spain as secret Jews and in the early 16th century many of them made the dangerous trip across the Atlantic to South America arriving at the coastal city in Colombia called caha but even there they couldn't escape the Inquisition they were still forced to live openly as Christians and now hundreds of years later their descendants have lost their way and today there are millions of our brothers and sisters spread all over Colombia South America and Beyond but in recent years there's been a massive Awakening their n shamas are suddenly waking up and yearning to come home which brings us to the incredible story of Rabbi alad and his community RAB alad was born as ju Carlos Vias in [Music] they [Music] for because the church was Evangelical they were Christian zionists so in 1998 they sent them a tour to Israel to explore and learn about the land the culture and the country's connection to Christianity but what he actually learned on that trip left him totally [Music] confused [Music] in [Music] vir all signs were pointing towards a Jewish Heritage but as the leader of a massive church with 3,000 followers he felt he had no choice but to ignore it he came home and continued preaching and teaching Christianity one day he was giving a private lecture to 40 church members on his father's Farm after the lecture he was walking out to his car when suddenly out of nowhere a few gang members jumped him from behind they held him at gunpoint and dragged him into a nearby [Music] jungle it was very difficult for R to talk about his time in captivity it brought up so many traumatic [Music] memories I [Music] mean [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] as he spoke about the jacket that kept him warm during captivity he got up walked over to the closet and took out that jacket and he showed me how He restored it and now wears it once a year on pesak night remembering his own slavery in fact the only other possession he had with him was was a Bible and every day in captivity he would read the pum that described the pain of Amel when they were slaves of MIM and how Hashem heard their cries that gave him the strength he needed to survive those difficult days and suddenly he gets up again and this time he walks over to the Bookshelf and takes out a black covered book it was that [Music] Bible [Music] rabat's father had gone to school with Pablo Escobar older brother Roberto so he reached out to him to see if he can help him with the negotiations in the end they agreed to let him free for a much lower amount than the original price when one Carlos finally came home he was not the same person that was captured 30 days [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] earlier [Music] it turns out the most difficult moments of his life when he felt like he was being buried in the jungle and would never make it out alive in those moments the seeds of his soul were being planted and even though his body was weak his soul was on [Music] fire [Music] when one Carlos came home he decided to give one last sermon before he made his final exit and that was the sermon that changed everything rezzi Rodriguez who today is the assistant Rabbi and the saer of the kahila was part of the church back then and he vividly remembers that moment that changed his [Music] life [Music] for [Music] we actually went back to where the church used to be in downtown medin today it's a huge Casino it was Rabbi alad's first time back I remember standing there on the busy street corner with moped zooming by music blaring in the background and I could see RAB alad was struggling to just be there it almost felt like I was taking a holocaust Survivor back to Europe for the first time since Liberation I asked him whether he wanted to leave and he said no we got to stay and tell the story he was torn between wanting to forget the past and yet needing to remember it so that he never stops wanting to forget [Music] it [Music] he R to the building turned it into a Shaw and for three years they learned studied and reviewed all they needed to know 300 of the original church members members made it to the Finish Line they were ready to fully commit and become yiden they all converted to [Music] Judaism [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for for many years they didn't have a Mikvah they would risk their lives to go to a nearby River during the night to be toille recently reab alad was finally able to raise the funds to build in his backyard a beautiful new kosher Mikvah for his [Music] community one of the most moving moments of my entire trip was when rabad took me to visit the community Cemetery the law in Colombia doesn't allow for anybody to be buried on private property and it's extremely difficult to get government approval to turn any land into an official Cemetery so rebbe alad had no choice but to buy a plot of land in the back of a Christian Cemetery seeing the large cross at the entrance walking past all the Tombstones decorated with flowers and Crosses broke my heart I realized how the landscape of the cemetery paralleled the story of the community and the history of the miranos on the outside they seemed Christian but deep down there was a Jewish [Music] plot Rabat told me that his brother was the first one to be buried there he was born with a severe case of cerebral py he was disabled he couldn't speak or take care of himself and he passed away when he was just 37 years old we walked over to his grave sight and I watched his children cry over the grave saying to hilum it was an emotional experience RAB alad's wife Karen was born as [Music] Magnolia [Music] after the gas rabad and Karen married again and then they had two beautiful children their older son yak and their younger daughter Rael when I asked them how does it feel to have children who were born as full-fledged yiden Karen was overcome with [Music] emotion [Music] please [Music] for with such incredible parents it's no wonder why their kids are so impressive they're really proud to be children of Jewish leaders and the older they get the more they understand their parents' Journey the more respect the half of [Music] them [Music] it amazed me the level of responsibility they feel to be leading the community in their own [Music] way [Music] for I have never seen such kids in my life looks at his sister what amazing American pids can learn a lot from these kids for sure the highlight of my trip was giving the entire Community a gift from Ralia LTZ before I came to Colombia I called my friend RAB Galia LTZ from Arts scroll and I told him a little bit about the story and I said I'm going there now how would you like to send each family a gift aish p and a andalia graciously agreed juie charoit went to Art scroll headquarters and picked up boxes and boxes of the farim and she and her family slept it to Colombia on the last night of our trip we arranged a meal for the entire Community before we presented it to them we each said a few heartfelt words and then every family member stood in line to receive their Kish watching their excitement and their joy as they received it was their gift to me their enthusiasm for to and Mitzvah was contagious they told me that even if they wanted they couldn't afford to buy these f in it cost 380,000 pesos which is half a month salary and to have the opportunity to own their very own art scroll Kish meant the world to them and their families I picked up the guitar and we started singing essai the room became so charged with emotion as everybody sang along it felt like their souls were on fire as I strummed the guitar and kept repeating the words I lift my eyes to the mountains I thought of howar can also be be read Heim ancestors and how their ancestors came to live in these mountains in Colombia trying to hold on secretly to their yish kite and now I'm sitting with your descendants who are singing from the deepest depths of their nishas [Music] ezem [Music] one of the biggest struggles for this community has been acceptance people constantly test question and doubt their motivations they don't feel accepted into mainstream communities when I asked Raad after sacrificing so much how do you deal with rejection his answer blew me [Music] away [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] says that in the end of days Hashem who gathers all the scattered Jews promises I'll continue Gathering those yiden who are still scattered out there and add them to those who are already gathered we see that n being fulfilled today not just with RAB alad's Community but with millions of yid who are now yearning and searching to come home [Applause] Opening Our Hearts to them we'll bring the Gula One Step Closer as we get ready for Hashem to bring us all home