Tisha B'Av Movie (18+) From prince of the night club business to Orthodox Jew - Berel Solomon

[music] Ryan was an amazing, amazing little boy and we only wish he would have stayed that way, but things changed. I grew up in what they call a traditional Jewish background. What that means is that we go to synagogue two times a year and that's it. Good. So, where were we? >> I decided to keep a record of every single day. Today I'm just going to talk a little bit about what went on in the day, what's going through my mind, because I think that you're going to appreciate this in a few years. I don't know why, but I just have a feeling that you will. When I was growing up and I saw an Orthodox Jew walking on the street on Shabbat, I used to want to hit them with my car. My parents really they did the best job that they could do. They even sent us to Jewish school which they did not have themselves. We had Shabbat Friday night dinner every Friday night. But on the table for dinner was pork chops. [laughter] >> Thank you. McDonald's the best. >> Yo yo yo. We love lobster in this family. Okay. Cheers, guys. >> Oh, boy. Look at that lobster. >> I went to private Jewish schools my whole life. >> And you have to understand, they weren't religious schools. They were Jewish schools. They separated God from Judaism. [music] >> I never knew God. Imagine living a life without knowing him. How lost you would get. How far you could go. [music] How confused you could be. How could you blame me? Growing up, my father told me that I grew up such a nice boy. Always played nice. He never bothered anybody. But the problems all started when I got into high school. [music] Ryan had some negative influences when it came to his uh friends in high school. The principal of his school told me in the 40 years that the guy was an educator, he never had a more dysfunctional group of male students. There was a kid in our grade whose older brother was a major drug dealer and the brother figured that he was able to funnel drugs into our grade through his younger brother. So at the age of 13 years old, my friends and I were all strung out smoking weed day in and day out. We would start smoking once a month and it started into every two weeks [music] and then it started every week and then it started every day and then it became every hour of every day. And a lot of people think that weed is not a problem. Let me tell you something. At 13 years old, weed is a problem. Our eyes were red. Everybody knew what was going on. And nobody said a word. four, five, six years ago when he told me that you I was doing this and I was doing I I I I just it took me by surprise. I didn't believe it. >> I went to camp. I was hired as a counselor when I was 17 years old. >> One of my jobs was to do to interview the incoming junior counselors, the 17-year-olds. All of a sudden, it was Ryan's interview. It's now noon and he's still not there. 12:10, 12:15. I go, "Okay, I don't think this guy's coming." I call him up. He had totally forgotten about the interview, which I was obviously not impressed with. My schooling fell apart. My grades fell apart. My class fell apart. My relationships fell apart. And I was left picking up the pieces. How is a young person today supposed to grow up normal, healthy in a world where there's no creator, where everything is random? You know, so many people are hating right now on the Orthodox Jewish community. You can't tell me nothing because I've lived in a world without a community. >> But to be quite honest, um he was a good guy. He recognized that there was other kids in the program that weren't exactly like him. And instead of him being this macho guy who was like too cool for school for these kids, he actually brought a few of them under his wing and made them feel very welcome. And and that was something that really stood out for us. But one of the things that was a problem is that we had heard about his reputation coming into the summer that he was involved um you know with drugs and alcohol already. So, we're out for dinner, everybody. All the counselors of the camp, and I'm buying drinks for everybody. I'm buying pictures of beer for everybody. I was the man doing kindness. The only problem was I was 17 years old. And in Canada, the legal drinking age is 18. I was shy by a month. I stumble off the bus going back to camp and I see the camp director and the owner of the camper standing there with their arms crossed like this. And I knew already what was happening. They said, "Come here." They pulled me into their office and they shut the door. They said, "You're drunk." I said, "No, you're drunk." I was a little drunk. I'm not going to lie. Ryan clearly was intoxicated and we actually asked him if he had drank any alcohol that night which he denied. So the director of the camp looks at me and says, "Okay, Steve, I got to get this guy out of here. He cannot stay in camp tonight because I don't know what he's going to do in the state that he's in." >> They said, "You're going home." I was so upset. My parents, what are they going to say? Another failure. Another mess. >> Ryan is not happy about being driven home to Montreal now. It's about 1:30 in the morning probably. So what does he do? He opens the door and starts dragging his foot on the road. The Israeli staff pulls Ryan in to the car and closes the door from the inside and the director had to power lock the door so he wouldn't do that again. But the interesting thing is by the time they started getting closer to Montreal, Ryan started to sober up. He looked at the director and said, "What advice can you give me to talk to my parents about what happened tonight?" I walk up the steps to my house full of shame. And I knock on my father's door. He opens up the door with a look on his face and it just said, "Not again. >> [screaming] >> He was always in some sort of trouble. He got thrown out of camp. He got thrown off the Israel trip. Even when he ran for student council, he ended up screwing that and ended up getting thrown out of that, too. And all this was probably caused by [music] just a negative attitude. >> So, I felt that Ryan was getting negatively influenced [music] by the kids in his grade. To be honest, that was the last I had [music] seen Ryan for at least 12 years after that. >> I came back to Montreal and it was over. It's a small community here. Everybody I knew turned their back on me. So, I figured while I'm the bad guy, let me be the baddest guy there is. So, I figured, let me become a drug dealer. Everybody was smoking weed. Let me supply it to them. I know somebody that I could get it from. So I started a little bit here, a little bit there, and I took and I would sell it to my friends. And it was fun in the beginning. And then it turned from grams into ounces. And then the ounces turned into quarter pounds. And then the quarter pounds turned into pounds. And then the pounds turned into kilos. And before I knew it, I was running a whole operation. people selling under me. >> I quoted him five grand. He didn't sound terribly shocked. >> I was starting to gain some respect back. The street was giving me the respect that I was looking for. There were all kinds of things that were going on. uh you know, damage to a car, getting into a fight, but there was always some kind of a story to go along with it. >> It wasn't a good thing. I wasn't really involved in terms of knowing exactly what was going on because he hit it very well, but I was starting to get concerned. One day, I get a call from my high school friend's brother He tells me, "I have a good deal for you. I have a batch of weed that got burnt." He says, "I could sell it to you for half the price if you come pick it up right now." What a deal. I hop into my car. I go grab it. And I walked outside quietly and I opened the trunk door of my car. And as I'm gently pushing the door closed, out of nowhere. [panting] They stole my keys. They stole the weed. They stole my car. Claire McCome Mster Alpha 109. >> I was saying to myself, just hang on. After they beat me within an inch of my life, I had to do something because I still owed the money for the drugs. The way that it works is you get it on consignment and then you have to go sell it and you bring the money back to whoever gave it to you. The problem was I didn't have it. But I saw a guy that was older than me. His name was Stephen. And Steven was in the nightclub business. Not only that, but he was the man. He had the girls. He had the money. He had the booze. He was the gatekeeper to the hottest clubs in the city. And I said to myself, "Whatever this guy knows, I have to know." So, my first crack at the nightclub business was me standing on the corner and I would hand out these cards. And every time somebody came into the nightclub holding one of my cards, the club would give me five bucks. I got bored of this very quickly. I picked up the phone. I said, "Stephen, I got to figure something else out. Please teach me what you know." He explained to me how to put together an event, how to market it, how to strike a deal with the nightclub owner. And within 3 weeks, I had set up my very first event and a nightclub downtown. >> Boom. A week later, I had my first party there. A week later, >> I remember when Ryan got into the nightclub business. I thought it was very cool. I didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, but I just thought that the whole thing was very cool. You know, walking around and everybody's patting them on their shoulders. It reminded me of when I was that age and you know the bartender was your buddy and the door man let you walk into the place and you were like a real big shot. So to me when I was watching that happening I thought it was a very very cool thing. And besides the fact he was making money at it that year when I graduated I had $50,000 of cash. I was a kid. I was in grade 11. I remember taking the chunk that I owed to the dealer and I met up with him and I said don't ever talk to me again. You [music] and I are through. There is no high like the feeling when you step into a nightclub and that base is hitting your body. I needed another gig. So, I started looking for nightclubs that I could call my own. My first big hit was a supper club in Montreal called Cafeteria. And the owner's name was Giovani. And I met Giovani on the first night that he bought that supper club from the previous owner. And him and I hit it off. >> Ryan was like a a little brother for me. So I tried to mentor him and I tried to guide him even though I mean we were working in craziness. >> I mean Ryan was young. I was around 30 36 or 35 or 36 years old and Ryan was barely legal. But I mean, the fire from this guy was incredible. We got each other. We understood each other. He was like my older brother. My first Saturday night that I went to go promote there, I had about three people that showed up, including myself. So, we were four people. I was devastated. [music] It was terrible. But the week after that, I remember I knew this Italian girl from college and I told her, "Why don't you come to the club? Why don't you come to cafeteria and when you come I'll give you a free bottle of champagne for your birthday between you and I. It wasn't champagne. It was like a $7 bottle of procco but it was champagne. So she comes she comes with 14 of her friends and wo these girls lit it on fire. Saturday night we had 28 people. The next week after that, we had 46 until it came to a point where there was 150 people inside the club and 150 people outside of the club. It was the hottest [music] place in town. We're on that terazz and we killed it. We showed the city that we could go anywhere that we want and [music] we can make it hot and we can make it work. >> A legend. I mean, this guy blew up my place overnight. I mean, a young teenager bringing in so many people. [music] I was like, "Wow, man. This loss is this guy. I mean, this is incredible. [music] >> What was your wish? My wish. [music] >> I don't know what my wish is right now. [music] >> I hope that I'm going to figure it out. What kind of 20-year-old kid says he doesn't know? I was so messed up with all these girls, with all these parties, with all these my heart was so broken. I was so empty. But on the outside, it looked like I had everything. And I interpreted this feeling of emptiness as I need a bigger club. I need a bigger place. I need a bigger party. So, I left cafeteria and started doing these mega events at these big nightclubs in Montreal. One of them was called Time Supper Club. >> [music] >> This is going to be one hell of a night. >> Okay. >> I was figuring out how could I fill this place [music] up and I got a great idea. I'm going to start bringing celebrities to the nightclubs and that's going to attract the people. >> I'm standing here with my main man DJ C DJ Shortcut. He ain't too short though. He ain't too short. He's pretty tall. So, I started bringing all these crazy celebrities. As long as you pay them, they'll show up. One of the biggest celebrities that I brought was a rapper by the name of Drake. Now, a lot of people watching this may not know who that is, but today he's the undisputed biggest rapper on planet Earth, Barn None. WE HAVE A VERY TALENTED, VERY SPECIAL. But you know what's going on tonight? Yeah. I came all the way from Toronto and I want to give a shout out to Ber Life Entertainment. >> The only problem was is that it was eating into the profits. Every time I had to hire a celebrity, I had to pay them. But I wanted to be the celebrity. I wanted to get paid. So I hired a camera crew to follow me and my company around everywhere we went. Every meeting with a celebrity, every night in the club, every time in a hotel, whatever we were doing, the camera crew was there. There's More Life TV coming at you live from lot 332 in Toronto. [music] And I was compiling this reality show. And all of a sudden, the whole city, the whole community forgave me for the bad guy that I used to be. They whitewashed over my past. Who cares if he was a bad kid? Now he's making us proud. Now he's putting us on the map. Our next guest, Ryan Solomon, had his own company at 20 and uh is starting in his own reality TV show, Nothing Less. How are you ready to tell me about your More to Life company? >> And I was working hard to compile all of this footage because reality shows at that time were very popular. You had Who Wants to be a Millionaire? You had Survivor, the Kardashians were very popular at that time and Facebook was just becoming a powerhouse. So now we had the channel to distribute the videos and for me it was good for my business. >> I can't go for y'all. You heard it first. She has new shirts. [music] >> I put together all the footage and I made a pilot episode. I organized a red carpet event for the premiere with paparazzi. My parents showed up. They were so proud. The entire city showed up to this event. It was supposed to be the crowning jewel. what I had worked this whole time for. The crescendo of everything that I was working for. I get up on stage. I address the crowd. NEW MONTREAL REALITY SHOW. MAKE SOME NOISE. And now, >> and as the video starts to play, I look at myself on the big screen supposed to be my time. And I remember at that moment. I crashed. [music] >> Every day I wake up and I'm like burnt out. Like I just sometimes just feel like shutting off my phone and just like literally moving away to Mexico. I remember that at the launch of his reality show, nobody could find him. He was there and and then he disappeared. Nobody knew where he went. I went through a rough patch there for uh for a month, 2 [music] months maybe. I was like hold hanging on by a string, by a string, by a thread. It was not a good time. I would just want to go to sleep. I didn't want to see anyone. I felt ashamed. I left [music] the launch of my show because I was so ashamed at who I was. I remember I went to a restaurant with my family a couple [music] days after the launch of my reality show and I was so embarrassed. I felt like when I walked in the door, people were expecting dollar bills to be raining from the [music] ceiling and music to be blasting. I said to [music] myself, I have to figure out a different way to live because this is not what I want. I have no idea what triggered my son to [music] start looking for a different way to live. It was a very big surprise to me. And in my mind, Judaism was completely false because at that time nobody that I knew in my life kept kosher, put on fill in or kept shabas. So I began to search for truth. >> If anybody knows Ryan, he does everything all the way or no way. I went to go visit a mosque and when I woke up in the morning before I went, it felt as if somebody took a nail and they hid it into the center of my forehead. Happens to be the place where you pray in the mosque. You put your head down on the ground, but it also happens to be the place where you put on your fillin. And I remember going to the mosque and making all kinds of new friends. And I went to interfaith chapels, whatever I could find. I was looking. I was looking for truth. And where I was holding at that time, all of those things had a little glimmer of truth. My mother came into my room one day and she was complaining to me that there was books everywhere. There was books up to the ceiling. You could not move in my room. I was chomping knowledge. I remember when my wife she found a Quran in his room and she found uh some books like from a Jim and Tammy Fay Baker kind of evangelistic religious experience and I started getting more into these other religions. I started really getting into Buddhism in a really serious way. At one point I stopped talking. I was meditating 6 hours a day. One day I came into my mother's room and told her that I would like to go to a Buddhist ash. [music] >> I thought to myself, okay, like this might not be a good plan. >> And she said to me words that changed the course of my life forever. [music] >> I said, let's do this. Why don't you go, you know, to see Rabbi Moses and hear what he has to say? >> [music] >> She said, "Before you go to the Buddhist ashram, go [music] to synagogue." Today, she says, "I would have been better in the Buddhist ashram, but [music] that's a different story for a different documentary." >> I think this was the the turning point of Ryan's [music] life. >> So, that Shabbat, I remember I dressed up in my nicest suit and I started walking to synagogue [music] and I remember on the way something was different. The colors were brighter. The birds were chirping. As I showed up to the synagogue, I opened up the door and I walk in and I remember hearing this beautiful music. [singing] >> The kazin who was leading the congregation in prayer was singing so beautifully. When he turned around, there was happiness pouring [singing] out of his face. >> You know, people in the world, they say that they're happy. They're just enjoying themselves. True happiness from the soul, I had never seen before. And I remember I said to myself at that moment, whatever this guy knows, I have to know. And I had a conversation with him and we hit it off and he invited me next Shabbat and I went and I started going almost every day and I would learn Torah [music] with him. >> What do I want to be the best for the rest of my life? I want to do what my rabbi does. >> He was a breast lever. It's a sect of Judaism. Their is to go and talk to God with your own words. One day he says to me, >> you come with me. [music] And then we [singing] wait [music] right in the forest. [singing] And in the forest, I told him what to [singing and music] do. What to do? Look up to the sky. [screaming] >> [singing] >> Look between the trees and [music] just talk [singing] to him because the king is in the field. [singing] Talk to him without books. Barl, you don't need the books now. You don't need the the Hebrew, the English, the French. You don't need anything. You need your to spill your soul, your heart to him. Talk to him. Ask all the questions. Scream at him, ask him, demand from him, tear from him whatever you want. Go for him. Solomon, >> I thought the guy was completely mental. I was born into darkness and I lived in darkness. And this guy is telling me to go to the forest to speak to God. So I gone into the car. I drove to the forest and for the first time in my life, I opened my heart and I opened my lips to Hashem. I cannot transmit it to you, but I'm going to do my best. It was like speaking to somebody who already knew everything about me. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> A rabbi named Ronnie Fine would always invite me to [music] his lunch, his kdish in his synagogue and I would go and I loved it. I [music] would encourage him to come by to be involved to engage in Torah mitzvah. [music] I recall very clearly sitting at our shabas table the humility the desire to soak it all in. One day he invited me to go visit [music] the resting place, the Oel of the Labavature Revi. And I went with him and I remember sitting down and writing a letter and pouring out my heart to one of the leaders of the generation. And as I walked into the place where he was buried, I remember feeling a light like I never experienced before. I was still working in nightclubs at this point, but I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to make a real change, a lasting change. I remember speaking to my boss one day, Giovani, the owner of cafeteria, the nightclub that I was working at at the time, and I asked him if I could wear my keepa to the nightclub. I I'll never forget telling Ryan, I said, "Ryan, man, you're a Jew. I'm a Catholic Christian. Bro, if you don't believe, how the hell am I supposed to believe in God's given faith that we've been taught all our lives?" You wear your little hat, he told me. So, I started wearing my Keepa to the nightclub and I remember it just wasn't I wasn't into it anymore. A few days later, Giovani picks up the phone and he calls me says, "Barl, >> I know you don't have the the drive anymore. There's something that's driving you in a different direction. >> When I lost my job at cafeteria, I could have reacted two ways. I could have gotten into despair and gotten into depression and yelled at my friend who took over my job or yelled at the owner. But instead of that, I looked up at this guy. I said, "Thank you. I don't know why. I don't know what you have planned for me, but Baro Hashem, thank you so much for making me lose my job at that bar." I hung up the phone. I whipped around my car like in a high-speed chase, and I drove straight to my father's office. I said, "Dad, I am ready to work. The nightlife business is no longer for me. It's not congruent with my lifestyle and I'm ready to come and build your business. I sat down at that desk and I pounded and I built one of the most successful parts of his business till this date. Today's Torah from the office will be focused on partnership. Now what I mean by that is every single >> even though things were going great [music] and I was so successful working with my father, I still had this thirst inside of me that I could not quench and I decided that I wanted to go to yeshiva. >> We had no idea what yeshiva was. We thought it was a brainwashing operation. I remember I was fighting with my family at this point [music] >> and we were looking for cult busters to literally help us figure out what was going on inside Ryan's head. There was a tension. I don't blame them. They were scared. They didn't know what it was all about. They didn't know where it was leading to. You're making money. You're successful. And then you say, "I want to go sit in Jerusalem and learn Torah for a year." After a lot of convincing, my parents finally gave me their blessing to go. [music] As human beings, we're constantly in uh in the mode of creation. We constantly want we constantly want to get to the next level. We constantly want to strive to grow. >> I made a promise to myself that I want to do a video of every day that I'm here. Lay to from the holy city of Shalam. >> Shalom. I'm right now in the holy city of Isa. >> Just riding a donkey in the middle >> of the Israeli desert. Happiness. [music] Happiness is the most important thing on the face of the earth. There's nothing more important than happiness. I went from the worst student in my school to one of [music] the best students in the entire yeshiva. I took advantage of every single second. I ate lunch in the z. That's the room where you learn Torah. I would not leave. You wanted to find Barl Solomon. You knew where he was. I packed 10 years of learning into one year of Yeshiva. At the end of the year when I was done, I remember being on the plane going back to Montreal and I was so embarrassed about my beard. I had left clean shaven and here I was coming back with a beard. I had a big meeting planned for a week after I got back. And I remember there was big discussion in the office [music] amongst some of the executives. Should we send him or not? He now looks visibly Jewish. Maybe he'll offend the prospective client. Maybe we shouldn't send him. I said to everybody in the room, I'm going and there's nothing you [music] could do about it. I went to New Mexico to meet this prospective client and the person who I was having the meeting with invites the CEO to come join us. He reached across the table to shake my hand. He says, "Hi, I'm [music] Mike Weinstein." At the end of the meeting, I remember being alone in the room with Mike and I asked him if he ever put on tillin before. He had no idea what I was talking about, but he was open for a new experience. So, I wrapped up tillin with him and I said, [music] "Mazotov, you just had your bar mitzvah." We ended up signing a contract right then and there for the largest deal in my father's company history. And I came back home triumphant because I went as a Jew and I came back as a Jew. >> Proud. Things were going great. There was only one problem at that time. I was probably 23, 24 years old. I was so lonely. Saturday nights I was used to going out and here I was alone. virtually no friends, almost no community, and I was sad. And it was time for me to start looking for my wife. And I was going to date the Jewish way. You have to understand, I had already been divorced 20 times. If you're in a relationship with somebody, just because you don't have a piece of paper doesn't mean you're not married to them. Your heart and your mind [music] is married to that person. And every time you break up, you get divorced. >> How many hearts did you break? I know one heart you broke. >> Apparently, she can't get over you. >> So, I made a profile with a picture and I wrote all the things that I was looking for and I sent it to matchmakers and I started getting profiles back where there was [music] a picture and the girl had written what she was looking for in a husband, what type of life she was looking for. I started to go on dates with these [music] girls and the dating process was so beautiful. And by the time I had been on a date with one of these girls, she saw my profile, she saw my picture, she knew what I was about and she liked me, at least on paper. And if it didn't work out during the date, I would tell the matchmaker I'm not interested and the girl would be [music] gently let down. And if the girl was not interested in me, the matchmaker would call me and I would be gently let down. After a whole bunch of these dates, I started to get discouraged. I felt like there might not be anybody for me cuz I felt like I had seen every girl that there was on planet Earth to date at the time. And I remember feeling maybe I wasn't meant to get married. One day, I'm sitting in my parents' basement and I hear my phone buzz and I run over to go pick it up to see if there was a new profile there. And I open my email and I start reading. The profile looks great. And as I scrolled down, I saw the picture. And I remember I said out loud to myself. I think I just saw my wife. We got a profile from this guy from Canada and I looked at it. And I read it and I saw Burl's picture and I thought to myself, I think that we just found husband. [music] All right, let's roll. I never in my life imagined that I would even date somebody from Latin America, let alone get married to them. When her profile came through, everything looked good. I went to go tell my mother that, "Hey, I think I found my wife." And my mom said to me, "Great. Where is she from?" I said, "She's from Panama." And my parents looked at each other like, "Here we go again." I told the matchmaker that I was interested. Elelliana was interested in me. I said, "I was ready for it." I booked my flight and I was off to Panama. [music] When I landed, I'll never forget this for as long as I live. I had never been to Latin America. It was so foreign to me. There was people running across the highway. There was chickens in the streets. And my GPS was yelling at me in Spanish. Again, I started thinking to [music] myself, "What am I doing here? I'm in a strange country, so far away from home. Everybody told me that I was crazy to be here." Then something happened. I grabbed a hold of myself. I said, "You know what? God put me here for a reason. He's not wasting my time. If I'm here, there's [music] a purpose. I drove over to Elelliana's apartment. I called her on the phone. We spoke for the first time and I said, "Hi." [music] Hey. >> Hi. When [music] I saw him for the first time, I really said, "Wow." So basically on a shak date [music] there's no touch, there's no physical contact. It's just talking to each other and seeing if we could have a relationship for the future. [music] We just clicked. I didn't have to try. Like it just like the the language didn't matter anymore. >> We waited a day after that first date and then we planned another date and then we had a third amazing date. After [music] like the fourth date, when I saw him and when we got into the car, I told him, "I missed you." [music] >> Hearing those words again melt me the same way that it melted me in Panama. I was ready right then and there to get married. >> It was time for Barl to go back to Montreal. >> I would call you and text you all the time to see if you still liked me. >> I came in the summer. I didn't come in the winter. >> And it looked really nice. >> I did it on purpose like that. >> Elelliana Raala, I'm so excited to marry you. I love you with all my heart. here at Sedakeis. I'm the luckiest man in the world today and I'm going to give you a good life and I can't wait [music] to be married with you and be one with you and uh we're going to make a nice life together. I love you so much. I'll see you soon. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Make sure [music] [music] It wasn't long after we got married that we had our first son, Minahim. And [music] he brought so much joy in our lives. >> And then Shaina came along, [music] first girl. And >> then Kim came. I feel that he's in he's he's totally in the right place and I'm thrilled with his lifestyle and it couldn't [music] have ended up better than it ended up. He married a beautiful wife. [music] They're compatible with each other. He has three beautiful children, a fourth child on the way. [music] It's it's enlightening to me how he ended up >> and also there a couple focused [music] on bringing people back to their roots, back to Judaism. >> So, a major part of [music] our marriage is all about reaching out to young people and helping bring them closer to Judaism. >> This is what we love. We love having people over and we love helping others. Barl and Alana became true [music] partners to me and my wife's work that we do with the teens >> and the loavereb was [music] very big into this. How could I make the world a better place through acts of goodness [music] and kindness. So, one of the things that I have the very big privilege of doing is I get to go to my old high school every single day. And I get to run a minion, a prayer group with some of the best kids in the world. [music] I get to talk to them. I get to hang out with them. I listen to their problems. I give them guidance where I can. And I act as the person that I wish that I had when I was growing up. I'm sure his past has helped to get in touch with these kids, high [music] school kids that are probably going through hard times. One of my staff mentions, if I am putting film today, if I'm connected to God today, you should know that it's because of Barl Solomon. [music] After working in my family business for almost a decade, I felt that it was finally time for me to go out on my own. >> I told him that it's time for him to start something new. I knew that we would suffer in the beginning cuz always starting a new business there is consequences. >> When you have a blessing from your wife and she knows she was going to struggle and she was okay with that, that's what gave me [music] the strength. So, I went out there and I started this video production company that went further than I ever thought possible. Thank God. [music] And that led into so many other things. It's what led me to open up my executive coaching business. I gained like this talent to help coach these people to help them really take their businesses to the next level. But it all started with that confidence that you gave me to go and start my own business. And that's the power of having a good woman behind you. One of the things that people [music] would tell me in the beginning when I was becoming religious is that because I have a keepa [music] and a beard and seat seat that I'm going to limit the business opportunities that would be available to me. Even though most of my clients are actually not Jewish, one of the reasons [music] why they want to work with my firm is because they see the Jewish people in a beautiful light that we have a certain type of wisdom. So my Judaism never took away from me [music] financially. it only gave to me in every single aspect of my life. >> He is a person that is a giver and he's using his talents [music] in a way that he's feeling very accomplished and he's helping people. >> And here we are tonight, ladies and gentlemen, at the world's largest LinkedIn meetup ever in history. Big round of applause. [cheering] If I could leave you guys with one message, it would be this. It says that Abraham Au, Abraham, his mission was not just to call out to God, but it was [music] to cause others to call out to God as well. I've been on both sides. [music] I've experienced both worlds. And because of that, I have a unique vantage point and I know both sides of the fence. And if I had one wish and one dream would be for every Jewish person in the world to understand the beautiful heritage, the beautiful gift that [music] we've been given. And to all the non-Jewish people out there, they also have a very special gift called the seven Noahide laws, which teaches [music] how to be a good person, how to live in the way of God, and how to do the right thing. >> When you become a Balthoua, you kind of leave your past and you become almost like a different person. [music] I remember when he was dabbing, when he was praying, he would just cry in the middle and he would remember things in the past and he would be so [music] grateful how he would tell me, "Hashem saved me." >> My son's life today [music] is the life that I had dreamed for him to have when he was a kid and for all my kids. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. nail is scroll. >> [crying] >> Breaking rules with no one knowing. [singing] No signs of slowing. [music] Hurricanes of bursting emotion. Nightclub promotion. Drinking the potion [music and singing] down. His soul inside is craving. Sick and tired of misbehaving. [music and singing] Cuz this lonely heart is crying for me. It's racked with anxiety. [music] Pray tell me why am I living? Something is missing. >> Is anybody listening? >> If I didn't have the religious community, I don't think I would be here today. I think I would just fall, be somewhere else, be a different complete different person. One of the hardest moments of my life. I was just asking God, why me? Why should I go through this? You really have to go through darkness to see light. And now I see more light than darkness. When I was like in college, I was very much influenced by that. Like, okay, you can keep Shabbat, but then like Saturday night, like you're going clubbing with everyone. And then I remember I went on Birthright. [music] I came back from Birthright and saw the value of Judaism when I saw how many Jewish people didn't have the opportunity to even learn about Judaism in their lifetime to have a connection with with God. And for me that really touched me. >> Barl says do one thing at a time, you know, take take it easy. Start by going to Minion every day, putting on filing at school. Then once you're comfortable and you enjoy it and if it's something that you want to do, then do it at home. It's the best part of my day cuz I I no one is bothering me and I do it in private. I don't feel the need to, you know, tell anyone, hey, I'm I'm I'm putting on my film now. It's something that you do for yourself. >> I didn't know that you did that every day. >> Weren't you religious already? You knew there was a God. And I said, yes, I knew there was a God, but now I live with God. And that's the entire core of Orthodox Judaism. It's your values. It's being good to the world. It's doing [music] good for the world. >> About 3 years ago, my family was struck with a horrible tragedy. I had a lot of people rally around me, including my brother Barl and his family, and they would make sure that we would light Shabbat candles every Friday night. And it really gave me a sense of peace and comfort. And I decided that I would continue um to light those candles for as long as ever with my children and keep that tradition going because that's where I found my comfort and soloulless. As you grow up, you learn to understand that the world ain't pretty. And God really provides you with a sense of guidance and meaning. Me personally, I'm not religious. I'm not orthodox. But most people don't understand what religion, especially Judaism, has to offer, and they knock it down all the time. If you were to give it a shot, you'd learn to realize that it's it's really a beautiful thing. Wake up. [music] Time to put the past behind. Now I'm living. All is forgiven. My [music] future is waiting. The whole world is singing. A lost boy was blessed and kissed by a [music] sh [singing] [singing] [music] >> [music] >> Ooh. [music] Israel, the kingdom is [music] waiting. You're never too old. [singing] You're part of the greatest story [music] ever told. Your life is worth living. Your journey is beginning. The Torah [music] and mitzvah are a gift you've been given. No matter where you've been or what you've [singing] done, Hashem loves you like a lonely son. So stand up tall, proud, [music] and tell the world what you came from. So stand up, talk, cry, and [music] tell the world what you can't. [singing] [music] Now I'm living. All is forgiven. My future is waiting. The whole world is singing. A lost boy [music] was blessed and kissed by a shame. >> [singing] >> Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed [music] the film. You, as the viewer sitting at home, are probably asking yourself, "How do I get involved?" [music] And the answer is easy. I'm going to give you three mitzvah that are probably lying around your house right now that you could do that'll strengthen your connection to your Judaism. And here it goes. Mitzvah number one to fill in. Every Jewish man has a mitzvah to put to fill in on his arm and on his head every single day. It's an incredible mitzvah that attaches you [music] to the creator above. And you cannot imagine all the blessings that these things will bring you in your life. >> Number two, Shabas candles. It's a mitzvah for every Jewish girl to light Shabas candles every [music] Friday before sundown. And mitzvah number three, my personal [music] favorite, sedaka. Can't imagine how many blessings [music] come from giving charity. Try to give every single day. One coin in your little seducka box will change your life. And if you're already observant, then reach [music] out to another Jew that was not privileged to have the same education as you. Teach them Torah. [music] Teach them about mitzvah. Teach them about the beauty of Shabas. Let's bring all of our brothers and sisters home where they belong. And [music] let's bring Msiah now.