Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger - Moments of Greatness

[Music] Hello everyone and welcome back to Inside Art Scroll where the books you read and the people who write them come to life. Wow, you did that really well as a practice. Oh, what a and what a pleasure to have Rabbi Hiser back here back home. It It feels like Yes, it feels like it feels like you never left. Yes, it does. The warm confines of the beautiful Arts Girl studio. Definitely. I would be remiss if I didn't tell you first of all that you've done a wonderful job over the last year or so since you've taken over and I will say sitting here many many wonderful memories of the dozens and dozens and dozens of interviews that I was to conduct between these four walls and it's just to be back here. Thank you for inviting me for sure. Thank you for having me to discuss this new book, Moments of Greatness, and just to be back within the world of art scroll here. You know, it's no secret that um I have very fond memories of my years that I spent here and now I'm of America. I went from one legendary entity of Kl to another. To be able to have worked for two of the brand names for Claus is very very special. And so to be back here and sit with a good friend and smoo and reminisce and talk about great books. What could be better? And I'm going to give a little inside arts girl here if you want to say that. First of all, when I started I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and picked up the phone and I called you and your mom gave me great guidance and I'll be honest, I watched a lot of the interviews to get a good feel. So really everything that I do do is to a certain extent to your credit. So you should I think you're being too humble. Can I know her? You you have a world of talent yourself and uh you're an accomplished author as well and you you're doing great things for Cla Israel in all your different areas. So this is just another feather in your cap and uh it's great to and the other piece of insight information is that this is very liberating to me and I'm going to tell you why. Because one I remember like probably a year or two ago when I was like into the weeds of writing my book and we'll talk about what that what means to be in the weeds of writing your book at the end I was like okay I'm gonna get a good interview with Rabbi it's going to be worth it and I finally published my bookmanu and I said what's going to be with the interview and they're like Rabbi his transitioning to so I'm like is there anyone that could do it and someone on the team is like if you write the questions and maybe one of us could interview and I'm like I'll be okay. Listen, you could have called me. I would have been happy to come in for the standin. I hear I hear what you're saying. So, first of all, a tremendous mazle on your fourth release. Wow, that's such an accomplishment. It's it's a matonim. Every book is a miracle. Every book is is a world of effort and time. Um both on the writer's part and then on on Arts Scroll's part of pulling it together. You know that Arts School has the best editors in the world, the best graphics people, Ellie Cone with his cover, and then the production team. There's no one who does it better than Arts Girl. So, to be able to put out a fourth book with Arts Girl is absolutely incredible. I never I never thought I would put out one book, and each book is a new experience. And I'm I'm humbled to be sitting here and talking about moments of greatness because like I said, it's just surreal. It it really is. So hashem to be able to see this day and I could very much identify with the title moments of greatness. I know a guy who wrote a book called flashes of greatness and we talked about that actually before they selected this topic and they didn't feel that it was a contradiction but I'm happy that we're both on the greatness track. This is that we strive for. It's all about bringing out people's greatness, inspiring them, uplifting them. Your book which came out earlier this year and this book they're stories of inspiration. That's what they are. All four of my books are comprised of stories of inspiration. I will tell you that it's been getting harder and harder to get good stories. And part of that is credit to the people who came before us who have been writing stories for decades. Rabbi Cone, Rabbi Spiro, and others. You know, kind of we've kind of used up the typical inspiration plot. We know where it's going. Yeah. You know where it's going. And it it gets harder and harder, but we keep pushing forward. You know, I write a column every week in the ATED called Food for Thought, which was really what started my career, so to speak, in story writing. And I read a column every week in the AT called Food for Thought. I thank you. I I told Rabbi Nelson Sherman today that there are two things in the head that I read. His response to the round table and your story. Thank you. Thank you. That means first of all to be mentioned in the same breath as Rabbi Sherman in in any way is an honor. Um, but it has gotten progressively harder over the years to come up with material and uh I recently checked my my food forthought column is a at least a decade old already. Wow. So I'm writing it for a long long time and every week to come up with something meaningful to write to come up with an original story that hasn't been heard before and sometimes you hear it from the protagonist themselves and you're able to verify it. Those are the best stories. But even the classic stories, many most of the stories have been heard, most of the stories have been written. It's getting harder and harder to write. But it just makes the challenge more fulfilling. And to be able to publish books of stories, it takes it to a new level because there's a certain level of eternity and posterity that you associate with a book as opposed to a newspaper column. And each one has its own level of sebook. So I enjoy doing both. And um and this new book, I think I'm not an objective observer because I'm so involved in it, but I think each subsequent book has better stories than the previous one. I just think as time goes on, you you hone your skills a bit more and you become pickier in the stories you'll publish, not less so. 100%. I I I felt the same way when I reviewed this book, and I read a lot of it just to get a really kishmaka feel. I thought that there were the stories in this book were head and shoulders. Not that the other ones weren't amazing, but this was they got you in your nishama. They inspired you to go further and they're just they're real life stories. Uh many of them of a gym. Um but even though they're stories about gdylum, they're stories that I think we could reach for and that's very powerful. I think we all want to be great. The greatness theme and just being able to to get a story which helps us reach for something a little bit out of our grasp is very inspiring and very So this is a great book. Also, it's an easy read. It means to say the stories flow. They're gach and whatever. So, great gift. Amazing gift. Just to double click on something you said a minute ago. So, you're hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of stories in between the books and between the column and the ATED. Where do you get your stories from? Like, is there some little secret guy who comes knocks on your door each week and gives you one misa? So, I'll tell you. First of all, being able being able to write a weekly column helps me because I've been out there and people already feed me stories. So, I'm constantly being fed stories. People will email me stories or a tip. Call this person, call that person, they have a great story for you. That's one way that I get a story. Um, then, like everyone else, my ears are always open for for inspiration. Whenever I hear something, I'll I'll jot down some notes and if I'm able to track down the person who the story happened to, of course, I'll do that. Another secret weapon that I have that no one else has. Let's see. Let's see. I don't think anyone else has this. I don't know if you want to say this. They know about this secret. The secret I have is my brother. Oh, okay. That I didn't I have one brotherhizing. avan lakewood a mag for over 20 years an outstanding and also a mayan gabber a wellspring of ver and stories if if the well ever runs runs dry I call my brother he's never failed me yet wow now it's it's a secret I guess anyone else could call him I hope he's going to forgive me people are going to stop calling him but people know can I no hurry he's he's an unbelievable He's an unbelievable talent and and it comes from from years and years of immersion in in Liatra and just an ability to to retain. He has this retention. I don't know how he does it. People call me for stories all the time on a specific topic. My brother's much better than me. He's much better than me at it. It happens to be now we're recording this shortly before Pes Shabaso and Shabas Shouva those times of year I often get calls from Rabonim. I'm sure you do as well. I get calls from Rabon. I need a story on this and this topic. I need a story on Chuva and so on and so forth. What could I use for Nila for Kidra? So I do get calls all the time and I could give stories but on specific topics. when I call my brother, he thinks for a few seconds and somehow he's able to give me good and I'm very appreciative of it and he it really it's a it's a tre it's a secret weapon. So, hashem, I'll tell you something. I thought about you. Um, two, three weeks ago. I was at Kosher West, which is in your backyard, and some random guy comes over to me. I have no idea who he is. He told me his name. He said, "I need to tell you a story." And I'm like, "Maybe I'm on Rabbi Iser's turf fair. I don't know." But obviously, he felt that he should tell me the story. And it's true. It's so beautiful. And people come over and they want to share their his inspiration with other people. But, you know, my brother is RV, not so far from where you live, if I'm not mistaken, cuz he's rubbing Prospect Park. That's correct. right off of Prospect Street in Lakewood. You live a couple minutes away from Gabul here. Okay, let let's jump into the book. So, there's one thing I I write that right away strikes me about all of your books. I think it's all the books is that there's pictures. Yes. Um besides my first book, right? There's But my second book, Food for Thought, too. That's when I thought of this idea just like I do in the Yat. I try with every story to put in a picture and it makes a huge difference. I think it really does. It takes a lot of time collecting pictures and it makes the layout much harder but layout people here at art school are very gracious about it but it it it just brings the stories to life. You could have great great stories. Uh and Barashem it's inspired some other authors through art scroll to do the same and start putting in even with a few stories in a book the pictures make a huge huge difference. Speaking about the pictures Google maps was to make it into your book. Why don't you talk about that because it's so fascinating. That's right. That happens to be that uh Raasha Goldberg from Toronto who does more than one story about Yes. who I became very close to because of my food for thought column. He would call me from time to time just to be mazic and tell me how much he enjoyed uh he enjoyed the stories in the one of the stories in this book talks about how Google maps captured rema during bay manim sitting on his porch and learning and I brought out a lesson from that about where we are and what what is Google maps capturing us doing so yeah that is very special you're right I almost forgot about that Google maps made it to the But you know a a lot of the pictures are uh generic so to speak of GDM but still when you read the story and you see the picture and it's the person who performed or inspired with that moment of greatness it really gives it much more flavor. Um maybe it's GDAY because it's two authors you know two pretty fresh authors in some level. Why don't you talk share with the audience what goes into writing a book? Forget it. we got, you know, the editorship and the whole the whole readers, you know, the proof reading and stuff Arts Girl has assigned, they're amazing, although they give you VIP care like, so you hear a story and you got to remember it and then you have to write it. Share a little bit about that experience. When do you write and how do you write and how much time do you dedicate to writing? That's a great question. First of all, as with everything, it's pure siata. It's pure. There's nothing else. There's no talent. We don't do anything. It's all the from beginning to end. That's that's I I think that's a pre prerequisite to anything is realizing that's the from beginning to end. And whatever ability or talent we think we have is really just a camouflage for theum coming through for us. That's be we could end the conversation right there. True. As far as writing, you know, when you sit down to write, sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I'll write it and I and I won't like it and I'll start again from scratch. Um, I think it's like any other skill. As you do it, you get better and better at it. I've been writing since I'm a kid. It's something that my mother really drilled into me. Uh, you talk about it when you interviewed yourself. Yeah, when I when I interviewed last time, I spoke about it. Uh I went to an excellent English department, Tartm. My father was my principal. Um I got a great education. I read a lot. I still read a lot and I still write a lot. So if you keep using your skill uh and reading other people's writings also, you know, don't don't just box yourself in because there's so much to learn from the way other people write. When I read other books, predominantly art school books and your book, other people's books, I focus not just on the content, but how they write. What could I what can I learn from the style, from the tone, from the creativity? Um, I learn all the time. So, that's one thing. Constantly constantly look at other people's talents and learn from them. Um, do you do you have like a set time each week that you write or whenever you're able to create a No, I think uh my my schedule is too busy for that. So, I'll write when I have the time to do so. It's usually at night, honestly. It's usually on a night very often on a weekend on a Friday a quiet shabas especially now the long arab of shabas m shabas I find that or a Sunday those are the times when I'm doing most of my writing um and and having the to write is very important because there always going to be excuses not to write as far as writing a book I think the key is for me again I can't speak for other writers is to write it peace meal You never sit down to write a book because it will never happen. Amazing. You sit down to write today's story, right? Or even half a story. Write it a bit at a time and eventually over time incrementally you're going to come up with a book. But if you sit down to write a book, it's not going to happen. Um I think it's amazing when you look at people like our friends Rabbi Spiro, Rabbi Seltzer, they're banking out books, multiple books a year. I was telling you before the interview, I'm convinced that they have Oompa Lumpas writing their books for them because it doesn't physically make any sense. They're incredible talents and each book seems to get better. So, I don't know how they do it. I've I've interviewed both of them. I've tried to get at it and what the secret is. I don't know what it is. But I want to tell you something else very interesting about writers and speakers. The last few years I've been to give the opening keynote at the annual Rubashkin Amunak Shabas which is a big to be able to speak to an audience about amuna which is a topic that's very close to my heart and so this year I get up to give the keynote and I'm actually nervous when I do so because it's a real audience. It's it's a crowd coming to a shabas and it's a charged atmosphere and here I am looking out at atosimashuim and I have to give something tangible to them you know so I get nervous like like everyone else but then I look to my right and I seem ty the well-known r and singer I look to my left and I see Benny Freriedman they joined us for chabas and before I started my dra I said you know something. I'm very envious of the singers of Rip Schlim and Benny. You know why? Because they could sing the same song that they sang last year and the year before. They could sing Tanya and Benny could sing yukv for a thousandth time and and so on and so forth. They could sing all the songs they sang and everyone will say what an amazing job they did. But a writer and a speaker can use a story, I don't know, twice maybe. I don't even know. I don't even know if you could use it more than once. If you speak to a big audience, I don't know if you could, you know, use your story, it goes viral. And what's even worse is we both have weekly stories in newspapers. So you you have to be so careful not to use those stories cuz some guy read it during that week or I heard it already. Oh, that's the story. And if your story goes viral, forget about it. I'll give you an example. One of the stories that I wrote in the Yat which really became a worldrenowned story was the story of my good friend Simman the photographer when he went to Kany everyone knows the story Kanye asked him after 25 years that story first appeared in food for thought in the yat now today it's a felt story it's a legendary story everyone knows the story about some I can't get up with a straight face and say that story that story is gone It was not long ago my brother called me and he told me he was listening to from and he told me by the way said over a story that you wrote in the now obviously what happened was I wrote the story and it went from one person to another and people feed stories so said it over did he say in your name he didn't say in your name no he didn't know where it came from someone to me it's the greatest honor in the world of course but I'm just bringing an example of how a speaker and a writer have to constantly come up with new material. And I'm not comparing myself to the Aan Freeds and the Morb Davids of the world, but Aan Freed could sing Tanya for the thousandth time. You know, Mor and David could sing just one chabas and everyone's just as excited. Such a good analogy. But, you know, I think about it all the time as as a speaker and a writer, you have to come up with new material and it's very very hard. So that's part of the challenge back to what you said before. If you're a singer and you're singing well of course every time that you sing it's a gift from Hashem but you could sing that Tanya a thousand times but to somehow come up with the right story right when you need it to write right when you need it is such the shaya and you kind of feel like Hashem is is holding your hand and you a day before you have that really important speech that you have to give or that really important deadline somebody stops you and says a story you read something somewhere and all this is it I got to do this 100% I'll tell you something fascinating just because we're smooing here. One of the things you shared with me was that when you interview somebody, you have to let them talk most of the interview. And I'm talking more than by this one just because they're such good. But I'm really fortunate that in my day job, I interact a lot with secular Jews. So I could say everyone's stories, including my own, none of them ever heard any of those stories. On one hand, on the other hand, it's a for everyone that put them out that they're getting piped out to a much larger audience or an audience that never would pick up an Arts Girl book. So that's true. We we don't know. We mamish don't know. That's true. We don't know. And we don't know just how much our stories mean to people. There's a Rebi. I don't want to say his name because I don't want to embarrass him. There's a Rebi, a MFA Rebi, and one a pretty well-known Yeshiva who reads everything that I write. And he's given me stories over the years. The man knows every story I ever wrote. Let's say I I've written a thousand stories. I'm telling you, he knows everyone. He knows them better than I do. I just met him a few weeks ago. I was uh I was uh away for a simka uh in the town where this yeshiva is located and he's telling me all the stories I've written. So it's really amazing to see the impact that you could have through books through a column sending out inspiration. You put it out there in the into the wide world and you never know who you're touching. You never know who you're inspiring. It's it's really really an amazing credit to to to Mishbahas Arts School for enabling us to do that. I can't thank them enough. And and what's really nice about this is that you know a lot of people we interview um are about sarim and obviously sarim impact a person in a way that story books don't. But the fact that they p publish a book and some guy in Australia buys your book, let's just say, and they read the 17th story because that's the page that it opened up to and they like the picture the picture in it and it's exactly the story they needed to hear in that moment. What is for Arts Scroll and what is for the people that write the books. Yeah, exactly. I I said that all the time and that's why I I like I said before why I look so fondly on my time at art school every day in this hey look good place of being able to inspire people whether people who are able to engage in limat so they're using the swarm of art school or inspirational books which are I think that our books anyone anyone's able to pick them up and and and you know really appreciate it um you know I'm Just thinking as we're talking about our we talk about our and I just said before that nothing's ours everything's I was reminded of a story in in the new book. Oh great because I was going to ask you the next question. Share with me an amazing story. I don't know if it's my favorite story but there's something about it that resonates with me. The the story goes that Mr. Gary Togo who's one of the prominent in Detroit. He's very close to many of the federation people and the philanthropists and ballet stucka in the city including those who are not from and the Philadelphia Rashiva was once visiting Detroit and so Mr. Togo invited a local philanthropist to join him for breakfast with Ripol. He told him I'm telling you this is one of the biggest rabbis in the world. You'll get to have breakfast with him in preparation for this breakfast. I think it was Gary who actually gave this man a copy of the art school biography about Ribbakov Kamanetski Ribmo's father and the man read up about Ribmo Ribbyakov and he's preparing and he has questions about Ribmo what he does and so on and so forth and they had breakfast and the day after the breakfast Mr. Togo calls up this fellow and he asks him how you know how the breakfast was. What did you think about it? What were your impressions? And the man says that he had such a profound experience. He said, "Now I see what a real leader of the Jewish people is because during our entire conversation, during our entire breakfast, the rabbi didn't use the word I even once." Wow. Atkanamisa. Now if you know Ripsh Kamitki, it's not surprising because besides for one of the greatest men, he's also the humblest person in our generation, you know. But after I heard the story and then I wrote it, I started paying attention to how often I use the word I. I. And I was supremely embarrassed. You know, we're talking about over here about what I do and what we do and our projects and our books and my books. We're so self-absorbed and the bunch made us that way. He made us that way because we have to fight it. We have to fight not to be so self- consumed. But here's a story that's so practical and so real about a real person. That's a moment of greatness. And that's a moment of greatness that we could all adapt our own lives. Stop being so selfabsorbed. And I'm talking to myself here. Stop being so self-consumed and start looking beyond ourselves. It's just a short story from the book that I think has a profound lesson. Gavaldic. Amazing. And I think about how many people are going to read that story and then start being more aware about how many how often they use I. You're starting a revolution. Okay. If that's what it is, you know, it's perfectly fine. Um, what's your what's your next project? Book number five. So, I am working on book number five, but it takes a long time to write. like I like like we were discussing I started collecting stories for another book. Um people don't get tired of stories and uh it's just a question of keeping it fresh fresh material fresh messages speaking to people in a language that they understand. It's a big to be able to use the medium of language in writing and verbally to inspire people. So yeah, I I I'm excited to be able to work on another book. I don't know when it will come out, but uh you know, I take it I take it a day. One book at a time. One book at a time. The material has to come in. And um and again, looking for those good stories. You know, I appreciate music very much. You speak to composers and to singers, they'll tell you that really good songs have a hook. Every song has a hook. a really good hook is could make a whole song. I think the same with stories. Some stories are nice. It's a nice plot, you know, it it works, but then there are some stories that have a hook to it either because of the originality of the plot or because of the people involved or whatever it is or somehow the message resonates uh uh very deeply. So, you know, we'll continue to look for those stories with good hooks and to continue to inspire people. That's Hashem. Amazing. As somebody who had the of reading a good chunk of your book as a preparation for this, I highly recommend that you buy this book. It's an easy read. Um, a friend of mine told me recently that he buys these type of books and every suda on Chabas they read one story. Wow. So Friday night they read one story and Shabas day they read one story and Shabash they read one story and he came after me and he says to me, "You're not allowed to make me cry on Chabas. You're not allowed to make me cry." That's so inspiring to to know that people are taking the book, not not the digital copy, they're taking the book, they're using it with their mishbaka and you should continue to come up with great material should give you those gifts. Amen. Amen. I appreciate what you said by the way about that because for people to take your book into their house and they make it part of their shabas table. I mean what greater compliment and blessing is there than someone taking that you put out there and passing it on to their children making a part of the of their house and then the book goes on the shelf you know when I go to people's houses and I see a book on the shelf that that I had something to do with is supremely humbling for sure and so I I appreciate that you that you said that because it's really true so Hashem should continue to shower you with inspiration for your column for your books one story at a time, one book at a time and continue uh inspiring story. Thank you. And if I may say, thank you for continuing the inside art school legacy as you have done. You've done an amazing job bar. It's able to continue. It's very important that the message of art school continue to get out there and you're enabling that by interviewing people getting that message out there. the the you know I remember Abdali should be gazant mentioned so many times during my years here that we're just getting started I think that's his uh that's his motto and there's a lot of truth to that in the sense that Tyra is endless the inspiration is endless will just keep feeding it and it's our job to be the conduit to bring it to the masses so continued uh in in all the wonderful work that you do. Thank you for your kind wishes and it's a very big and an honor to sit in this chair. Thanks. Thank you for having me. [Music]