Man at the Wall - Men Only

(gentle instrumental music) - I grew up in a conservative Jewish home. - I set the record for most absences from the Reform Hebrew School. - I never heard of the (speaking in a foreign language), never heard of them. - My whole appreciation of Jerusalem at that point was going to the Wailing Wall. - Then I felt the tap on the shoulder. I turn around, and he says, "Are you Jewish?" - And he said, "Would you like to see what yeshiva is like?" (gentle instrumental music) - Three and a half thousand years ago, when Hashem told us to build him a (speaking in a foreign language), he did not say, "Build me a sanctuary so I can live in the building." God doesn't need a physical structure to live in. He's God. What Hashem wanted was for us to make a space in our hearts and minds and invite him into our lives so that we can have godliness shine through us. What stood over here so long ago was only a testimony to that deep connection that existed between us and Hashem. As soon as that inner space was contaminated by hatred, jealousy, indifference, and apathy towards one another, the (speaking in a foreign language) was destroyed. This (speaking in a foreign language), as we reflect and contemplate galus and geulah, what we have to think about is how to rebuild this structure, and that involves loving one another, helping each other reconnect with (speaking in a foreign language), and there's no greater example than Rav Meir Schuster. Rav Meir stood right here at the (speaking in a foreign language) for almost his entire adult life, looking out for people, for wandering (speaking in a foreign language), and try to bring them closer to Hashem. That was the epitome of (speaking in a foreign language), caring about another Jew. When we talk about Rav Meir Schuster and we try to describe who he was, it becomes glaringly obvious that it makes no sense how this person single handedly inspired an entire generation to (speaking in a foreign language). Rav Meir grew up in Wisconsin in the 1950s. He attended public school until he was 11 years old, after which his parents sent him to the local Jewish day school that was run at the time by Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twersky. Rabbi Twersky sent him to yeshiva two years later, and Rav Meir went to Ner Yisroel in 1960. If you were to walk into Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in 1960, and you were to look around the (speaking in a foreign language), and you had to guess who is going to end up impacting an entire generation of (speaking in a foreign language), your last guess would be the shy, soft spoken, quiet, reserved kid sitting and learning in the back of the (speaking in a foreign language). How did this man, who didn't have the personality or the background, inspire and change so many thousands of people to (speaking in a foreign language)? - I met Rabbi Meir Zvi Schuster in 1966. I went to Ner Yisroel from 1964 to 1968. - Meir Zvi was the one who encouraged me to come to Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, and he was my (speaking in a foreign language). In the morning, about seven o'clock, he would be going from room to room in his robe, and it was like, "Come on, Shloimy, get up. "Get up. "Get up, Shloimy. "Get up," and he was, I tell you, he was an (speaking in a foreign language). It was like, that was his (speaking in a foreign language). - He had a special (speaking in a foreign language). That's for sure. I mean, his (speaking in a foreign language) was, whoever needed help, he helped, and he did it in a very (speaking in a foreign language) way, very gentle way. - He couldn't talk. He was shy. Meir Schuster is gonna go up to complete strangers and then talk them into going to yeshiva? I would say it's impossible. He was so naturally an introvert. (gentle instrumental music) - When you saw him (speaking in a foreign language), you wanted to be a part of that. The way he looked up, he was speaking to Hashem, and maybe I have some misgivings. If I could've maybe listened in a little bit, maybe I could've asked, Meir, what were you asking (speaking in a foreign language) for? I think I probably would've heard that Hashem is my best friend, and I'm getting reacquainted. I'm sharing my life with him. He's sharing his essence with me, and when you saw him (speaking in a foreign language), you wanted to be a part of that, and I was touched by just watching him (speaking in a foreign language). I became a different person 'cause I saw Rav Meir (speaking in a foreign language). - I once heard a great story about the (speaking in a foreign language), Rav Shach. When the (speaking in a foreign language) passed away, Rav Shach gave a eulogy, and he said that he had never seen an (speaking in a foreign language) Hashem, someone who serves Hashem, like Rav Chatzkel. After the funeral, one of Rav Shach's (speaking in a foreign language) came over and asked him, "How could you say such a thing "about Rav Chatzkel? "The Rosh Yeshiva saw the (speaking in a foreign language), "the (speaking in a foreign language)." Rav Shach told him, he said, "Every person has a (speaking in a foreign language) "and in that (speaking in a foreign language), "he can be the (speaking in a foreign language). "Rav Chatzkel was the (speaking in a foreign language) "in going against his nature." In our generation, the giant in going against his nature was Rav Meir. Rav Meir was not a natural conversationalist. He didn't like to talk. He only spoke if he absolutely had to, so when he would be at the Kosel and approach people, you can actually reduce his entire conversation to just two questions, "Are you Jewish?" And if the answer was, yes, he would follow it up with, "Would you like to hear a class in Jewish philosophy?" That was it, and you sort of wonder to yourself, how could somebody convince someone else to take a class, bring him to a yeshiva, go to (speaking in a foreign language), or (speaking in a foreign language), with two questions? - We moved into the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. I went down and went looking for a man who I only knew by description, and there I saw this tall, lanky man, wearing a black suit and a black hat, bearded, and I walked over to him and introduced myself, and I said, hi, I'm Michael Kaufman. I just moved into that apartment. I pointed to our apartment overlooking the Western Wall, and I said, I'm at your service. In the middle of our discussion, as I stood there, he did a complete about face and made a beeline away from me and towards the Western Wall, and there I saw a young man, about in his early twenties, with a backpack on, and he had his head on his arm, which was at the Kotel, at the Western Wall, and he tapped him on the back, and I watched as he engaged him in conversation. About a minute or two later, he headed towards me and without even slowing down he said, "I'm going to (speaking in a foreign language). "I'll see you later." That was my introduction to Rav Meir Schuster. Can you imagine a person like this, who was as shy as can possibly be, going up to a with it young college man or woman, and getting that person, persuading that person to change his direction in life and becoming a religious Jew? - Anybody who you would speak to would give you the same profile. He was not cut out for this job. It's not something that you would ever hire him to do, but he was somebody that cared. - It didn't come easy to him to have a conversation. It was very to the point questions, and there was no flourish. There was no side conversation. - He just wanted to get the job done. There was no ego. There was no shield between him and the people. It was just him saying, "This is what I want you to do. "This is what you need to do." It just attracted me 'cause it was so truthful. It was so real. - One person told me. He said he went back to L.A. He wasn't from. He got a knock on his door, 11 o'clock at night. It was Rav Meir. Rav Meir searched, tracked down his address, went to this unknown place, knocked on the door, and said, "How are you doing?" That's all he said to him. "I just came to find out how you're doing," and the person was so astonished by that act of care and concern that that reconnected him with his Judaism, and he found his way back. Rav Meir wasn't doing it as a technique. Rav Meir, he would genuinely remember this person and wanted to know how he was doing. - The greatness of Rav Meir was that he made himself into a great person. - My family and I were truly blessed to have the (speaking in a foreign language) of becoming close with Rav Meir Schuster, as having stayed here with us for approximately one week every year for almost 20 years. I was walking with him to (speaking in a foreign language) one Shabbos morning, and I said to him, I said, I don't even know what we're supposed to do. I don't even know what we're doing here, and he stopped, and he never stops, and he turned to me, and he looked me in the eyes, and he put his finger on my chest, and he said, "Do you want to know what we're doing here?" I didn't answer him. He said, "Do you want to know what we're doing here?" And I said yes. He said, "Our job is to bring light to the world "and God forbid darkness. "That is what we're doing here." And he turned and he continued walking, and I said to myself, for the first time I understood who he was. He was on a mission. He was driven. He was driven to relight the flame of every (speaking in a foreign language) that was in jeopardy or possibly could be lost. He was gonna spread as much Torah and light to the world as possible, and he thought, and he knew that this was his mission, and he certainly believed it was ours as well. - Do you know what's really interesting? What inspired Rav Meir to come out here every single day for 40 years is a story that you and I heard tens of times, the famous story with the Netziv. When the Netziv made his (speaking in a foreign language), he made a party for his family and friends and told them how when he was a kid, he was struggling with his learning, and his parents were about to send him to learn how to become a shoemaker, but he begged them, and he cried, and he asked them for another chance. And the Netziv said, "Imagine, had I become a shoemaker, "I would have come up after a 120 "to (speaking in a foreign language), "and they would've asked me, "did you learn Torah?" Check. Did you (speaking in a foreign language)? Check. Did you do (speaking in a foreign language)? Check. Did you make (speaking in a foreign language)? Check. Where are your (speaking in a foreign language)? I don't know about any (speaking in a foreign language). I got shoes. Netziv said, "Now, when I come up "to (speaking in a foreign language), "I can be proud that I fulfilled my potential. "I'll show them the (speaking in a foreign language) "and the (speaking in a foreign language)." Rav Meir, when he heard the story, he felt like he has to discover what is it that I have to do with my life. How can I do it? So he and his friend, Rabbi Chaim Sofer, they came to the Kosel there, and he wanted to (speaking in a foreign language) to ask Hashem to open his eyes. - And I saw a guy in a backpack. He looked Jewish, and I said to him, Meir Zvi, let's go over to this guy. Maybe there are a lot of guys over here like this. I've been here at the Kosel a lot of times, and maybe we should do something about it. Let's talk to him a little bit, and we gave him a couple of yeshivos as a suggestion, and he said, "That would be very, very nice." Next two, three times, we did the same thing. I started up, "You want to know a little bit more "about Judaism, and stuff like that." Then about the fourth or fifth time he told me, "Let me try it myself. "I want to try it." Go ahead, Meir. I have no problem. So he started up, and he goes over to the guy. You like it around here? And it was very (speaking in a foreign language). I don't know how you say it, but it worked, and he got him too, and that's from what I hear that's the beginning of the whole story. He just kept on going and going and going for the next 40 years. - The time was ripe. This was in 1970 after the Yom Kippur War. In Moscow, Eli Esses was beginning his (speaking in a foreign language). There was a world wide revolution. - My parents didn't have much of a background, my father even less, and that kind of was typical for I think Americans back then, and that continued until my Bar Mitzvah. Bar Mitzvah was a very big event. My Jewish education ended promptly thereafter, and I never put two together at that point that the Bar Mitzvah should be the beginning of doing (speaking in a foreign language), not the end of doing (speaking in a foreign language). My parents didn't have a problem with me dropping it, and I applied to a couple of universities. I applied to the Naval Academy. I got an appointment with the Naval Academy as well, and I was on ROTC program. So that meant that they paid my way, and after four years in university, I was expected to graduate as a commissioned officer and join the Navy. So I went to Israel to work on a (speaking in a foreign language), and I was scheduled to be there for four weeks, working in the morning, learning Hebrew in the afternoon, and basically having a great time, meeting people from all over the world. During my stay on the (speaking in a foreign language), you were allowed to get one day off and to go wherever you'd like to, and I think my whole appreciation of Jerusalem at that point was going to the Wailing Wall. I went to the Kotel on an (speaking in a foreign language), and I was one of the observing Jews, trying to take it all in and staring at this wall that had been standing for thousands of years, and I got tapped on the shoulder by an individual I didn't know, and I turned around, and he asked me, "Are you Jewish?" And I said yes, and he says, "Would you like to attend a class "in Jewish philosophy?" And I was an open minded person, and I said, why not? I didn't have any other great agenda for that day, and he said, "Great." He says, "Come with me," and that was really the extent of the entire conversation. I don't know if he asked me any additional questions, but before I knew it, I was in front of Rabbi (speaking in a foreign language) and one of his famous 48 Ways to Wisdom classes, and I was all prepared to go on my way, but before I could leave the classroom, there was Rabbi Schuster. And he said, "Would you like to speak "to the rabbi who just gave the class?" And I said, I don't think so, and he said, "Come with me." They hustled me right in to see Rabbi Weinberg, and he says, "Did you like what you hear?" Yes. "Would you like to stay longer?" And I said, I really can't because I have a commitment to go back to the (speaking in a foreign language), and he said, "Well, what about "after the (speaking in a foreign language)?" And I said, I think I would like that. I had a commitment to the Navy, and if you don't show up, you can go AWOL, and the Navy is very strict about those kind of things. There was a time when the pressure was so great. I was considering leaving, and I had a conversation in the dining room with Rabbi Schuster, and I told him, I said, Rabbi Schuster, it's not right. I have a commitment to the Navy, to my country, and I have to go back, and he asked me. He says, "Well, you know a little bit about Judaism now." He says, "When did the Jewish people stand "at Mt. Sinai?" I said, over 33 hundred years ago, thereabouts. So he said, "Your commitment to Har Sinai "precedes your commitment to the US Navy. "You make the choice." Rabbi Schuster was part of me staying in yeshiva for the first time. He was part of my life in making sure I was taken care of when I was in college. It was through the family he set me up with that I eventually made a (speaking in a foreign language) with, and it was just, as I said, a continuum that lasted me through life, and I'm very much appreciative of everything he did and how much he cared. - Rav Schuster didn't see people. He saw (speaking in a foreign language). It didn't matter what color their hair was. It didn't matter how many earrings they had. It didn't matter what they looked like. He wanted to give them a chance to grow. He didn't see where they were coming from. He looked where they could go. That's who he was. - When we started filming for the documentary, I had no idea how much of an impact Rav Meir Schuster had on the world, on the Jewish world. When I started reviewing the filming and the footage and the interviews, I saw that my kids' principal, Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg, was one of the people that was tapped on the shoulder by Rav Meir, and that blew me away because that means I was indirectly affected by Rav Meir Schuster. - I grew up in, we're in the Bronx, moved to New Rochelle, New York, when I was a baby, lived there till I was about 11 or 12 years old, when my family moved to El Paso, Texas, and I got Bar Mitzvah'ed in the Reform temple. We had to ask to be allowed to wear a yarmulke. My parents wanted me to wear a yarmulke when I was Bar Mitzvah'ed, but in the Reform temple you weren't allowed. I lived there until I went off to college, in those years, went to a small college in north central Texas, just north of Dallas, between Dallas and the Oklahoma border called Austin College. I was a political science major. It was before school when I went to the head of the department to get my schedule signed off on for the classes that I would be taking. Another gentleman came in. His name was Dr. Larry Fuesher. The head of the department introduced him to me and said he's joining the staff, and he's going to be teaching a course in Fascism, the Nazi Experience, and World War Two. So that sounded very interesting to me. I was fascinated by the topic and that such a thing would be taught, so I changed my schedule in order to be able to take that course, and then that year, in the month of January, the professors could teach any course that they wanted to, and it was for a month, and his course was a trip to Israel. So when I heard about that opportunity, I grabbed it. There were a group of 14 or 15 of us. There was one other Jewish person in the group, a young man named Bennett. I don't remember his last name, and Larry took us on this trip to Israel. (gentle instrumental music) We arrived in Israel. We were actually staying in hotels in the Arab section of the Old City because they were less expensive, and I remember that when I saw the Kotel, there's no reason why I should have any connection to it. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it represented, but when I saw it, and I was there, I was really overcome with emotion, and I was approached by a tall man who asked me the question, "Are you Jewish?" And would you be interested in spending Shabbos, having a Shabbos meal with a religious family, with an Orthodox family, and is there anyone else who's Jewish in your group? So I answered, are there other Jews? Yes, Bennett. Would we be interested in spending Shabbos with an Orthodox family? I think so. And we took off, trying as hard as we could to keep up with him because that man of course was Rabbi Meir Schuster, and he was a very fast walker. So we trailed behind him as he took us out of the Old City into (speaking in a foreign language). That Shabbos was very special. I still have it etched in my mind. There was a purity in the house, which was extremely simple. Rabbi Schuster took us to (speaking in a foreign language) to learn with someone who was there, and that was the first Shabbos experience. I decided to wear a yarmulke when I was on the trip because I felt very special being Jewish, but there was something that was awakened within me in terms of a desire to be Jewish, and that stuck with me even when I returned. I had thought about coming back, like I had said when I had left that I would be back. I didn't know when. I didn't know how, but I appreciated the fact that Rabbi Schuster wanted me to come back and that he would work things out if I ever did. When I got there, and it was again, a Friday night, so there I was at the Wall, and a tall gentleman tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, and he said to me, "Steve from Texas, right?" And that was amazing, that he remembered me. He said, "Is Bennett with you?" I said, no, Bennett's not with me. I'm in a different group. I'm on an (speaking in a foreign language). He said, "You decided to go "to an (speaking in a foreign language) "on a (speaking in a foreign language)? "I wish you would've come to yeshiva." So I said, well, this is what I started and what I decided for now. And he said, "Are you interested in spending Shabbos "with a family?" I said, well, that's actually one of the reasons that I came down to the Wall. I'm happy you found me, and I set back out following Rabbi Schuster to the same family, to the Finehandlers, who accepted me back like I was a long lost cousin. (dramatic instrumental music) So I made the decision that, even though I hadn't been in touch with Rabbi Schuster for many years, that I was going to go down, and I was going to give yeshiva a real try. I walked into the yeshiva offices, and of course who was there in the office when I came to enroll in the yeshiva? The person who was there was Rabbi Schuster. So he took a look at me. I held out my hands. I said, Rav Meir, put on the cuffs. Take me away. I'm turning myself in, so he was very happy. He gave me a big hug. He worked out the enrollment. I became part of (speaking in a foreign language), and I guess the rest is history. - Many years ago, I was standing with Rav Meir Schuster at the Kotel, and I was having a conversation and talking to Rav Meir Schuster at the Kotel, you're probably mostly talking to yourself because 90% of his focus was looking over my shoulder to see if there were any potential targets approaching, and sure enough, while I was standing there, I remember this tall, skinny kid with a backpack, with a long ponytail walking by, and Rav Meir Schuster hooked his arm into him, and he goes, "What are you doing, man?" He said, "What's wrong with you?" He says, "Are you Jewish?" He says, "You don't have to be Jewish to be at the Wall." He says, "You don't even know if you're Jewish?" He says, "I happen to be Jewish." He goes, "How do you know you're Jewish?" He says, "'Cause my parents are Jewish." He said, "Really?" He turns with him, and he says, "Tell me about your parents," and he starts walking off. He says I was walking with him. I was talking to him, and I said, "By the way, where are you staying?" He says, "I'm staying in the Christian Quarter." He says, "You can't stay in the Christian Quarter. "You're Jewish. "You gotta stay in the Jewish Quarter." So he says, "I'm perfectly comfortable there. "I don't want to move. "I'm happy there." He says, and I spoke to him, and I talked to him, and there was nothing I could do. He said, "So yesterday morning "I was on my way to (speaking in a foreign language), "probably (speaking in a foreign language) in the morning." He says, "I realized I was 20 minutes early, "so I said, you know what? "I'm gonna go by where the hostel "where this kid is staying, "and I'm gonna lean against the wall "and say some (speaking in a foreign language)." He says, "Can you believe it? "Five minutes later he walks out, "and I grab him by the arm, "and I said, you need to stay in the Jewish Quarter. "You're Jewish. "You don't understand it." He goes, "Rabbi, are you crazy? "Have you been waiting here all night? "What's wrong with you?" And he said, "Okay, take me where you want me "to stay tonight. "I'm happy to stay in the Jewish Quarter." He says, "And (speaking in a foreign language), "he's staying at the Heritage House, "and I have him booked at his first class "at (speaking in a foreign language) tomorrow morning." I said, the reason that happened is because he cared. He really cared, and I think God didn't want to disappoint Rav Meir Schuster. I really do. (gentle instrumental music) - I grew up in a little town called Willimantic, Connecticut, which has about 15,000 people, about 100 Jewish families in the whole area. When I graduated college, I was watching TV and John Chashlo came on the TV. It was the Channel 4 NBC. At the end of the report about the Yom Kippur War in Israel, he said, "And Israel needs 10,000 volunteers "to work on (speaking in a foreign language) "to replace the soldiers who are on the front." That was the first time I ever thought about going to Israel. I said, well, I wanted to go someplace warm. I wanted to go someplace far away, and Israel fit the bill. I was there for about a year, and I had decided that I was gonna go back to America and go into the Peace Corps. I had been accepted into the Peace Corps to go to Senegal. This was about February. In November I was supposed to go to Senegal, and I was leaving Israel. I was with a friend of mine who also ultimately became religious, and he had a car, so we drove to the Kotel. We parked the car about two o'clock in the afternoon, and we walked around Jerusalem. We ended up at the Kotel. I wanted to say good bye to the Kotel, and it was about eight o'clock at night, and we decided it was time to get out of here. We're going to Tel Aviv, and I walked into the parking lot, and there was a guy there, standing there with a snap brim hat, with a suit and a tie. He looked at me, and he said, "How would you like to meet a Rabbi?" And I said, how old is he? He said, "50." I said, too old, not interested. And then he looked at me and said, "How can you not be open to your religion?" This was in 1977, and my whole purpose in life at that time was to be open to experience. Well, that kind of like got me, and my friend, who was actually Greek, wanted to go see this Rabbi, and we argued a little bit. So we said, okay, we'll go meet the Rabbi. We went to this class that Rabbi Schiller taught. Rabbi Schiller was probably, his class was the most impressive thing I had ever seen. He was like the smartest guy I had ever met. He talked about Plato and Aristotle and the relationship between the oral law and the written law. I didn't even know there was an oral law, and when we got up and out of there, Rav Meir was waiting for us, and he said, "Rabbi Schiller would like to talk to you." So anyway, we went down to the office, and Rav Meir stands outside the office waiting for us, and Rabbi Schiller said after a long conversation, the Rabbi said, "Well, boys, will you stay here for a week?" And I said, Rabbi Schiller, you know, I said, I think you said some very good things for the Jewish people there, for the Jewish young men, but I'm going to Tel Aviv. Then I'm going to the beach. Then I'm going to the airport, and then I'm going to the Peace Corps, and besides, I have this ticket, and if I lose my ticket in a week, I'm gonna lose the ticket, and he said, "If your ticket is your problem, "you don't have a problem." He said, "I thought about why I wasn't gonna go back there, "and instead I enjoyed talking about Jewish philosophy." He offered me to live in Jerusalem for three months and go to classes from 9:00 to 1:00 in the morning. I thought, why am I not gonna be there? I'm not gonna be there because I'm afraid they're gonna brainwash me, and then I thought to myself, since I was 27 years old, if they can brainwash me in three months, they can have my brain, and I decided to go back for three months, and I have tremendous (speaking in a foreign language) because my entire life and lifestyle is a result of this guy who I would probably never have been friends with, would never have hung out with in high school, who was there every day, was simply the most persistent guy that you could imagine. Mrs. Schuster, when my first child was born, Mrs. Schuster knitted a sweater for him, which we still have, which all of my kids wore, and which is a prized possession, and now I'm thinking about it, we haven't brought it up, but now that I have grandchildren, it occurs to me now that we're gonna use it for the grandchildren. I think that there's thousands of people like that, who are out there who did more Judaism wise because they met him, and they ended up studying a little bit, and I think that was his purpose. - I keep on, to this day, bumping into people, and I'm always fascinated whenever I hear that somebody is a (speaking in a foreign language). I always ask them for their story, and the amount of people who tell me, to this day, new people that I'm meeting for the first time, that their experience began with Rav Meir picking them up, continues to astonish. - I was born in a completely non-religious secular Jewish family. Religious Judaism was something I just never heard of, never knew of. I always felt strongly Jewish my whole life. When Yom Kippur came, I was one of the few people in my extended family that would fast, and then on Yom Kippur afternoon, I remember, at 4:00 in the afternoon, we would drive to my aunt's house to break the fast. I remember my mother's sister, my aunt, saying, "Why don't you eat something?" And I said, well, no, I'm waiting until sundown. She said, "No, no, it's okay, you proved the point. "You can eat now." In 1983, when my medical school class was graduating, a friend of mine, his name is Steve. We decided to take a trip around the world together, sort of a graduation trip. We were in Amsterdam. We were in Luxembourg. I guess the major concentration of time was gonna be in Israel, so when we went to Israel, we were backpacking. It was on (speaking in a foreign language), and we had our backpacks on, no yarmulkes, and this guy comes up to us, who from our perspective looked like he was from Mars. He looked like something from out of this world. He had a black hat, a long beard, some (speaking in a foreign language) going behind the ears, if I remember correctly, black jacket, and he came up to us, and he said, "Are you boys Jewish?" We said, yeah, we're Jewish, and he introduced his name, his name, Rabbi Meir Schuster. He said, "What are you doing tomorrow night, "which is the last night "of (speaking in a foreign language), of Passover?" So my friend Steve and I looked at each other, said, I don't know. Maybe we'll go see a movie or something. We didn't have any specific plans, so he said, well, how would you like to spend it with an Orthodox Jewish family? So I spoke to Steve about it, and we said, you know what? For the cultural experience, like you might go spend time with an Indian family, or a Chinese family, just to see culturally what they do, yeah, we're Jewish, might as well see what an Orthodox Jewish family does. So we agreed, and we stayed overnight to the next day 'cause just really enjoyed the conversations. It was the most intellectually honest and open conversation I'd ever had. It was exuding integrity. I could challenge anything. I could ask anything. If I stumped him, he would say it. There was no need to show an ego, defend an ego, defend an idea because it was his. So Rabbi Schuster had put us there by Rabbi Kasnett, and then, we ended up staying the whole next day and then the next night, which was the eighth day of (speaking in a foreign language). We left wearing yarmulkes, and I made a commitment at that point based on the intellectual integrity that I'd seen in Rabbi Kasnett's home, and really the (speaking in a foreign language), not that I could have put a word to it at that point, that I would start keeping kosher from that point forward, and that was our first exposure to Rabbi Schuster. - I once asked Rav Meir Schuster, how many people did you approach? How many people do you think you sent to the yeshivas? And he was very hesitant to answer me. He said, "I don't know." I said, you have to have some type of idea. I said, do you have a number? He says, "More than 5,000." That's the first thing he ever said to me, and I'm sure it may have been a lot more. If you think about all the kids he sent to all the families, to all the homes, for all the Succos meals, for all the people he grabbed and sent in and out of different yeshivas, and how many that he had an effect on, one on one, I don't think anybody had a bigger effect. - I grew up in a Reform household in suburban Boston. - My father was considered a very Jewish guy within the Reform temple. He used to go every Friday night to services. He participated in the temple a lot, but basically none of us were turned on to Judaism at all. - I grew up in the public school system in Andover, and I went after that to Boston University. I majored in journalism. One of my motivations for becoming a journalist was because I had felt that I hadn't really come in contact with anyone that really had the truth in the world. I had gotten to a point of desperation. I didn't find anybody out there who I felt knew what life was about. I decided that I would come to Israel to see what a (speaking in a foreign language) was like. I was staying at a friend's house in Jerusalem, and it was the middle of the summer, and it was extraordinarily hot, and I couldn't get out of the house to even walk around at all, and after a few days inside, I got cabin fever and decided I have to see some of the sights before I go to (speaking in a foreign language). So the most important sight anybody, any Jew knows this, is the Western Wall. So I came to Western Wall, and someone tapped me on the shoulder when I was there, and I turned around, and Rabbi Meir Schuster, I didn't know him by that name at that point. He said, "Are you Jewish?" And I said, yes, I am, and he said, "Would you like to see what yeshiva is like?" My reaction subconsciously was twofold. First of all, this'll make a great story as a journalist, right, my experiences in yeshiva, and the other one was, I really want to go and show them where they've made their mistake. So Rav Schuster brought me to speak to Rav Noach Weinberg at (speaking in a foreign language), just up the stairs from the Western Wall. I actually was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the speakers there and the logic of their arguments. They were extremely persuasive in their argument. They weren't persuasive enough to prevent me from going to (speaking in a foreign language). I went to the program anyway. After an extremely disappointing experience on (speaking in a foreign language) after, I'm thinking five months or so, I came back to (speaking in a foreign language) to learn. - When I got to be 16, my brother went to Israel to be on (speaking in a foreign language). He invited me to come (speaking in a foreign language) time, when he was on (speaking in a foreign language), and he had already become interested in (speaking in a foreign language), in Judaism, and he took me to a (speaking in a foreign language), but didn't push too much on me, and he took me to a (speaking in a foreign language) here in the Old City by (speaking in a foreign language), and that was my only exposure to any religious Judaism ever, I think. And then I came home and never really thought about it more except for the fact that he became more and more religious and then started writing me letters. Two weeks into the next semester in Emerson College in Boston, after having received many letters from my brother, I got the feeling that my brother was probably onto something smart, and I came to Israel and basically never looked back after that. I never went back to college, stayed in yeshiva, and I took discovery when I first got here, and then just stayed in yeshiva till today. I've been here for over 30 years. - I have a family that I brought up here in (speaking in a foreign language) myself, and I have seven children, and at last count the same number of grandchildren. My sisters, I have three sisters, two of whom became observant in this indirect way, through Meir Schuster. Both of them coming after my brother and I had come here, both of them coming wanting to check out what authentic Torah Judaism was about. - So how did Rav Meir manage to convince thousands and thousands of people to just follow him blindly to yeshivas, seminaries, and classes, with just a few words? You see, it's not about the words we say as much as who we are and how we come across to other people. Rav Meir was, in one word, real. He was authentic. He sincerely and really cared and loved every single Jew, and that came through in the few words that he spoke. - Rabbi Schuster was maybe the ultimate salesman, the ultimate man to go out and find the clients, find the customers, and just to get them just to take a little taste of (speaking in a foreign language), and I think he knew and trusted that once they got a taste of what was real, they would see a difference. - If Rav Meir can make his contribution, basically meeting people, given his personality, which was really very shy and introverted, then any of us can do something for (speaking in a foreign language) that we don't think that we can do. - I'll tell you what Rabbi Schiller once told me. Years ago, and I've been very close to Rabbi Schiller, and from (speaking in a foreign language), the head of (speaking in a foreign language), and Rabbi Schiller told me at one point. He said that I would say that at least half the yeshiva came from Meir Schuster, and I heard the same thing from Rabbi Refson from the (speaking in a foreign language). He said, "At least half his yeshiva "would be girls that he picked up." Rav Meir lost a child many years ago. He sent a (speaking in a foreign language) to (speaking in a foreign language), who was the (speaking in a foreign language), the (speaking in a foreign language), and he sent a (speaking in a foreign language) to him, asked somebody to go ask a (speaking in a foreign language), if he has to sit shiva or not, because, he says, "It's (speaking in a foreign language), "and every minute I'm away from the Kosel, "or away from doing my work, "(speaking in a foreign language), so we're losing people, "losing kids, so am I (speaking in a foreign language) "to sit shiva?" - Rav Elyashiv (speaking in a foreign language) that he has to sit shiva, but Rav Elyashiv was so impressed by the deep sense of (speaking in a foreign language) that Rav Meir had for (speaking in a foreign language). He was so impressed by the care and the love that Rav Meir had for every Jew that he decided to take out of his precious time and come be (speaking in a foreign language) Rav Meir. If Rav Elyashiv could take out of his time to go meet Rav Meir, all of us today on (speaking in a foreign language) can take out of our time, and meet Rav Meir, get to know who he was, where he came from, and what he accomplished. Hashem said about (speaking in a foreign language), "(speaking in a foreign language) loves me so much "that I know that that love will translate itself "into the teaching of Torah "and (speaking in a foreign language) to his children." When somebody is passionate and goes out and teaches Torah and brings people closer to Hashem, that is a reflection of how close that person is to (speaking in a foreign language). (gentle instrumental music) - Later, when he wasn't well, and he lost his memory, and he came to visit while he was losing his memory, he came with a shadow because he knew it was only a matter of time before he wouldn't remember. I think it was sort of like going around and saying good-bye to his friends, that he was afraid he would not remember 'cause he knew what the diagnosis was, and he came to this house, and he had to look at me for a minute, and he stayed with me for 20 years, and then he went, "Sammy," and he gave me a big hug. He remembered me, but that was almost towards the end, the last time he came to America before he really wasn't well. It was terrible that he got sick so young. - My wife and I definitely wanted to go by and visit him, and we knew that he wasn't as well, and we knew that he had a condition that was already diagnosed, and we went to visit him. I think, the only thing he was disappointed with is that he couldn't be at the Kotel and help other Jews, and we have to carry on that legacy. - I spent some time with him, thanking him for everything that he had done, expressing who I was teaching and what we had accomplished. The adults who I had been (speaking in a foreign language) to teach, and the children who I'm (speaking in a foreign language) to teach and how that really all gets back to him. - He never stopped until he was stopped. Until that, the (speaking in a foreign language) literally stopped him. - It was a just tremendous deep, deep (speaking in a foreign language) that he felt, seeing me here, living in Lakewood, (speaking in a foreign language) wife, (speaking in a foreign language) children, member of a (speaking in a foreign language) community, contributing to the Jewish people in so many ways. He felt a deep, deep (speaking in a foreign language), and it gave me pleasure to see how much pleasure this man, who never wanted anything for himself, was able to receive and to enjoy from the fruits of his labor, which was the life that I was now living. - At our (speaking in a foreign language), in (speaking in a foreign language), since my wife had also been met at the Wall by Meir Schuster, we thought it would be very appropriate for him to be an (speaking in a foreign language) on our (speaking in a foreign language), and he, with a lot of (speaking in a foreign language), participated in our (speaking in a foreign language). My wife, Robin, and I have eight children, of whom five are married. Those five married children have resulted in, at this point (speaking in a foreign language) 13 grandchildren. The fact that we are where we are with dedicated Jewish children and beautiful grandchildren, and an opportunity to teach Torah and to spread Torah in such a meaningful way, was really the dedication and the warmth and the (speaking in a foreign language) of Rabbi Schuster. - When I came back to Israel in 1996, my oldest son was nine. I had a seven year old and a six year old, and when I would go to the Kotel and see Rav Meir, I would bring him because Rav Meir would (speaking in a foreign language) for the (speaking in a foreign language). He would (speaking in a foreign language) and lead the service, and I would bring them in front of him, and they would stand there, and I would say, this is how you (speaking in a foreign language). I want you to see the guy who made me religious, and the guy who you're here in Israel because of, and I want you to watch the way that he (speaking in a foreign language) 'cause again, it was this complete dedication. - Each of us shouldn't underestimate the impact we have on another person by just caring and sharing something that you deeply believe in. There are ways in which people touch you to help you come and become much greater than you thought you ever could become, and I think Rabbi Meir was one of those people who helped me see that, and all of us need to realize that we have plenty of assets available to us to touch the lives of other Jews and Rav Meir certainly is (speaking in a foreign language) us because he taught us that you just have to care, and if you don't care enough, then that's something that we have to work on, and that we can use him as an example. - The (speaking in a foreign language) that he has is a single person in his generation. (speaking in a foreign language) - When I just look at him, you stand in awe of a man like this, what he could accomplish, and I always thought to myself, could you imagine if you had such a passion, and you also have other things going with it? I mean, how much could be accomplished? I mean, what are you gonna tell the (speaking in a foreign language) after 120 years? Where were you? Where was I? I mean, what we could have done. Meir Schuster, he's somebody to really admire, and he was just great. I mean, you saw. There was nothing else. - I was. I was a side person, but sometimes you have to do something. You do it. That's all. Kiruv is the most important thing in the world today because we're losing so many. It's the most important thing, so it's imperative that you do kiruv, to reach out, to try to help somebody. (dramatic instrumental music)