Rabbi Moshe Yosef Engel, shliach 54 yrs, Long Beach, CA - Shlichus early years - RC Dalfin #4

so we're here with Rabbi M Angel interviewing him it's the fourth part of an interview angle been a for the re in Long Beach California for 54 years and now we'll talk about when you married and I don't know if you were in k for a year and then you went and tell us about that early years of your that's that's fine it sees you I got married lived in Crown Heist for a year you were KY yeah and then I had a few offers for which you remember where I remember three of them someone just asked me this yesterday okay one was Montreal Montreal for who for b battle okay one was in Detroit okay one was in Long Beach California okay you wrote the all the and I saw asking the for and I'll I'll do thees under Circle remember long and and who asked you was marari or runin don't remember I mean they were both my bosses in one sense and your job description was educational director no no my job description was be a teacher teacher of the Hebrew Academy yeah the school before had 14 kids that was the first year and now there was going to have 32 kids when was the first year 69 and you came in 70 right so that's the second year of the school schol school right and the first year it was in The JCC they ran to the room second year when I came we had just got our building you mean the West Minister the the the long yeah was involved in that exactly I'm not sure that he buy the building I do remember for his son's Baris he mod building that I Dre remember and I came out to be a teacher but in my mind I came out to be a yeah so I was very into the part and into the teaching part that's the truth and what what grade did you have first grade first grade Wow first grade for to 40 years 40 years you took first grade said that there was some years I taught first and second and some years I taught just first and the other half a day was assistant in for few years years but I started doing projects on my own like for example I started a a Class A learning class I called it the Layman asks this went on for 20 25 years once every two weeks at somebody's house I would come the first years there was just a just questions and answers but after a little while I saw it was always this new people came to ask the same questions so I made a topic I made a whatever the topic was I publicized the topic and uh so it wasn't just for parents of the school right but it was basically par that's who we publicized it to so right that's when I got a little bit involved in M because at the end of one first year second I don't remember right I decid it's time to attack to build a Mah no no attack to teach oh oh oh oh to teach women about mikf to teach couples couples my the classes were couples right problem was that all the people were about in their 40s and I was yeah good and I I uh that was you know every time we gave a class you prepared 15 minutes 20 minutes an hour this was the class that I prepared the most in my life I gave two lectures and I think I prepared 27 hours and what what how did iare I got every book there was available on which in those days was almost nothing right example h of roses was so I read the book any thing that I felt that I could get across and Del be I underlined and if I felt that I could say it but they you know right they wouldn't take take to it well so from those two lectures later from this two lectures one couple came over to me at the end and they said want to hear more about it so I met with them told more about it they didn't try did you already have a mix for in Long Beach at the time no so they said they try and I said what from you he said that we try everything I understand and this sounded like it sounded like fun something to explore to explore exactly I told lady when she went in told her after how experience yeah how was the experience RAB was horrible made up with them no matter what s you're keeping it for 6 months that's what she says it was horrible I said was horrible she say is your husband allow to drive she never free at night she never never what freeway at night freely freeway oh the the highway right at night so she wanted her husband to drive her no so she assumed her husband cannot drive her she drove and she s her all the way right she scared then when she went into Mi we didn't tell herot to tell her that lady from Nick only speaks sish and she only spoke Engish and she's trying we I think we must have forgot to tell her to make was trying to tell her it it was a mess so I said to look you promise 6 months 6 months in me we go over the details yes your husband could drive don't forget that was a 30 m Drive was with LA so yes and yes here's a brother yes here's a time she came out the second time and I met her again a while later she says mebi this is the secret Jewish Mar so I said to her we've got to make a group that publicizes this so we made a group she and I it was called the Jewish Family Jewish ni Jewish Family Institute something like that and she and I started getting lectures for this she was really really into it she became a laer no okay this she sent me once right she use some I don't even keep does doesn't make sense I mean but I kind of same same kind of so so from that time on you you you were involved with yeah all all your all the 50 most of the years I was involved I was a teacher I was I know that I know that you said as you know the other sleep start so I started first i d was I gave this class the Layman ask right many many years at the end of it actually wasn't at the end of it I think was at the end of the first year I you into the M how long that last for several years no just to too late oh oh so it's not that you kept this organization this work of this little organization she and I set up yes we kept it going probably 6 months to a year we brought in speakers from I remember we brought in one lady somebody told us to call her and she she got oh and I right I she she was said by all of them I was oh yeah so one lady got out remember her name now but she was I was referred to two womena right so they came say I love tennis I play tennis I have tennis medals all over my w i she go yeah then she says and I used the it blew everyone away blew them away now tell me a few other things I remember I was once with our Yeshiva in the mid 80s early ' 80s 82 so 8182 in your community for shabat so I remember a few things one thing I remember that each year Thea and Yesa you brought a group of people I remember that I don't know if I brought I don't you brought but you I came yeah I also remember that right right I also remember that you I think had a DA very early in the morning so it's interesting that was for a little while we started learning daff I think it were and it was very early because cuz you have to 6:30 it was like 5:30 I know I know I know but but you you were teaching it right no no oh no you weren't teaching oh uhhuh um tell me about the the way you see see the development of the kabad community long which from the beginning when you were there later how it's today could you say something about that sure at the beginning we were a uh a unique creation we were invited to our invited ourselves we asked him to invite us to an evening with at Temple so and so and each time we did that one more person joined us right that's when they stopped that's when they stopped inviting us but that that was very successful we had those kind of readings and then the different things I'll give you an example so we wanted to send this was we wanted to send sh so nice at that time we had 32 kids and was probably 20 I'm not sure I I was one of the busers drove once iove anyway so the go was that as I dropped off each kid I gave him this big package put on the table if parents the next day we got calls and calls and call why were you sending us baskets we're not poor they didn't even have had no understanding what what firm's about right right sending gifts but sending food gifts food gifts right so they thought were like maybe they need in by a year or two later there probably hundreds of C sent all over everybody sing was was sending to different people and so it became a big thing sh all from that you talking about the development of the kabad community in Long Beach that's what I was asking you about okay and how you see you know this stage cuz I know went through stages at least that's the way me as an outsider observe it someone who studies but um it seems to me there was there were changes from the way it was in the beginning way it was inning was a small place even when I came when we had 32 kids and next year when we had 84 no you're talking about the school I'm talking about the anash community the kabat community and the Bali cha I want I really want to talk about that answer is we started having classes one very successful class was held in dowy I think it was in Dr DA's house but I'm not I'm not sure and Dr da oh there was a cuz that was very popular in the 70s exactly and two of the people of theover with d and his wife and love his wife and they became sh shabas became the whole works right and then we had different kind of class I did all kinds of classes like I said the the lame ass and so so it was your because there was rabari at that time there already probably was Rabbi schust when when it was but when you when you're you're the one that was resp no who was this responsible adult education was no an official but I took on you took a lot of that right right okay and and that was the classes that I gave and that was this this was Thursday night every two weeks one week it was me and one week it was I think was because I think this was before she okay and from that these people became F right okay but you made a lot there were many I remember in 1981 or 82 there was a a whole Community about so you you you could we say that it was really with all honesty it was your you made those B no honesty it was all together it was all together yeah we all whatever projects we made here's an example okay the the the one The JCC had every year uh an Israeli day or Israeli whatever I set up I set up at this actually was the first year I was there first or second year was kanah no no I'm about two things kanah we were school was puty out a FL so I set upil I remember this guy walked by ask would you like to put on phone I said why not I said I'll still be here if you want you come back he comes back a while later he says why do you want me to put on the phone what you can't I so dad started a whole conversation and then he said to me why did I never learn this I went to Hebrew school and you know whatever he went to so I said I said know but if you get me people together I'll give I'll give a class and we'll start with this that's when the Layman asks started this man unfortunately passed away a few years later a young a young man he was a pharmacist but because of that it started a whole thing that I was going every I mean there were times when three times a week I was out uhhuh okay so tell me how that but but I wasn't the only one Robi was learning with people how did this how did it develop the community continue how did were there more black you know coats and hats no no we didn't push for black coats and hats we pushed for people to be from yeah and then at a certain point people from other communities started moving in a little bit and that's when theun you became flag right right so how how did that have an impact on the your work sounds like you and your fellow weren't really interested in that but it happened no no no no I gave the wrong no we we were supported and we were but that's not what we were aiming for in other words people moved in from a form community our work was mainly dealing with fry people the whole school was I think at that point after three or four years I was there I think once I took a poll or something from the whole school there were 5% that were Aro mhm one second please