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Tisha B'av Talkshow 2023- The Extra Mile
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
oh yeah
another tissue above
we see you again it's amazing every year
when we finish this show we think this
is the last one and the next one's going
to be with the backdrop of the base of
magnesh but we'll hear again
and like every tissue above tissue
begins with lots of Darkness
you sit on the floor we read aha we
remember all that we were into all that
we lost
and the way khazal builds this day for
us is that over time we start to get out
and we start to move on
says
the inner life force is being revealed
as the shell Falls away and the next
year is born
and the question as we go year to year
is what do we take away from a day like
and each year we try to find lessons
and
things that we can learn for us to
become better and bigger
if you look around at the Jewish people
year after year and you find that there
are people that carry the light
there's a lot of darkness in this world
and Tish above stands for the darkness
in this world and Tish above was the
source of it
but as you stand up and as we get to the
end of the day we have to remember that
there were lots of people that carry
hashem's light
to bring the Gula in their small little
way in small little pockets one day
we'll see it for everybody
and the question is how do they do it
our nation is built off the backs of the
few
that seem to always surpass the darkness
to always be building to always be
moving to always be in motion
and so the show that we have today for
you is a show about that concept
what does it take to be one of the few
that is bringing Gula that is bringing
the light that is overwhelming the
darkness
that stand and move and grow to allow
classical to move to the next place and
ultimately to the final place
and so we have an incredible show
under the concept
of these few Trailblazers these few
leaders and what does it take
what does it take for me and you to walk
away this Tesh above
and live a little bit closer to those
few
that have always been carrying us and
will be carrying us to the Future
check out this book that we have of
projects inspires incredible film this
year
honor of nothing greenblatt
that's the whole point not just
issue
we wanted the Makaya and he wanted to
teach Tower Olive face or Gomorrah it
didn't make a difference
it's all at 50 to come to
this and if you're sincere in what
you're doing
and this is the reason do not worry
about it don't care what this guy says
and what the other one says
okay we're gonna talk a little bit more
about not to group out over this this
show but before we continue let me
introduce the one and only my
indefatigable co-host the executive
director of project Inspire Jesse
Freeman's with us again
yes it is an honor to be with you and
thank you so much for another year talk
to me a little bit about
this film what it meant to you what
inspired you and and what this show what
we have in store for this show yeah you
know we're discussing you know today's
probably I would love to say it's good
to be back with you it is not
necessarily A patish above I'd rather be
sitting over sitting overlooking the
backdrop yeah the backdrop of the the
basement will get that who do we have to
talk to to get that slot yeah yeah I
know you know some people make sure we
get that we'll get that spot but we're
here discussing you know you the point
that you're making which is that there
are the few and the closer we get to
those two the closer we we come as a
nation yeah heading the direction that
we want to head in so this that was a
little bit the inspiration really to
this uh to this film which we entitled
the extra mile and the reason that is
because when when you study with not the
green blood that's hell he was a man who
you think like who really heard of him
and then when you start to do the
research out there like so many so many
people had a connection to another Green
Bay it was somebody who at 23 years old
so an added newspaper that they're
looking for a housing in Memphis went
out there now we're not talking about
somebody who you know was looking for
something to do this was a man who knew
color terracula he studied under
Malaysia he studied
time he you know he he was a Brisco
Thomas like his grandson you know but
and yet he saw a need he saw an ad and
the rest is really history yeah but it
really the film takes her of nothing as
a person not only is somebody who saw an
ad and went and did something great who
was never satisfied with what he was
doing who wanted to do more who knew he
could do more who demanded people he
knew to do more and you know Charlie I
don't know how many people there are
sitting around that you know can deliver
that message to us oh yeah you know on
an ongoing basis and so remember was
that inspiration of course rodova
greenblatta's son was very close to us
in Project Inspire and there's other
many things will be on with us later in
the show wasn't inspiration for that
show itself of course credit to robiakov
vinegar for uh you know for pushing Us
in that direction you know without
further Ado just to mention yeah we're
gonna go producing this show and being
behind the scenes as he as he is uh
every year but you know Charlie just the
I think the important part is that you
know people say to me like you know oh
my gosh every year more and more films
more and more Productions like you know
I don't even know what to watch anymore
and to be honest with you on my way in
for Muncie in order to stay up I I was
watching Torah any time
yeah it's good stuff right exactly I
don't know how my mother's gonna be
hearing that but or my wife but but but
there's so much out there but the truth
that matters from our standpoint from an
organizational standpoint from the
message that we put out there
is that we're looking to take a Christ
Our organization of North believed that
if you take a highest responsibility for
cloudy so that's how you're going to
come to love them right a parent as a
responsibility of a child you have that
responsibility you learn to love them
and you learn that you know the mile is
it and so this is a film about Christ
the film that filters down to the
individual watching it in terms of a
very personal message at the end
of Salman pointing that out as well and
and I I believe it delivered the message
above as well it definitely delivered it
we watched it and I was completely blown
away by it and what if you haven't
watched it yet go to projectinspire.org
projectspire.com and and download it
it's incredible and and what what
there's so many lessons that I took from
it
um the two of them that really stood out
for me was one this idea that taking a
cry is gives you the ability to do
things right responsibility leads to
Ability this idea that
here's an individual the 23 year old
ends up in Memphis Tennessee and just by
just taking a cries to build the school
and to be this to be the he just not
only Built the community but he was the
the rabbi of America yeah America of
small town America and and you would
think that you have to get trained by
that but really the training is taking a
rise right and the second thing that
really stood out for me that I thought
was so powerful in the film
was the humility
many times in life when we take a class
everyone will take a Christ to be the
CEO of an organization I'll tell Christ
for that but to like teach somebody
alephas or to help somebody out it's
beneath my dignity and here's a RAV who
was a complete guyan who knew everything
who they were saying on the film you
never asked them a question that he
wasn't willing to he wasn't able to have
he knew everything and then he spent two
years teaching aleph Bayes in Memphis
Tennessee right that's like not normal
and when you think these Concepts out it
sends the lesson that if if somebody if
me and you and that's what we're doing
the show this isn't about not to Green
but he's a lesson for us if me and you
are willing to take more responsibility
in the life that we already have in the
areas that probably we think is beneath
our dignity right the kid this the
neighbor whatever that's all beneath us
if someone hands us a title we'll do it
but the the areas that we can do but
that we don't don't do are the areas
that Hashem wants us to do and that's
where the broker comes in that's right
and again that that was what you know in
in making this film there was there was
obviously the sensitivities of family
making sure that you get the message
right but that was clear the family of
ramnatha and the people who were close
to him were banging us over the head
making sure that the message of not this
life was not a message of who of nothing
was but who he wanted all of us to be
and listeners to what we can do in order
to in order to you know bring these
things forward in our life you know
without just probably without without
further Ado I want to say a special
thank you to Mint media sure Mighty
Schindler and his team for putting
together such a beautiful film of course
the Danielle Haas uh in Israel who was
in traveling America you know to make
sure this all went down rodova greenba
told me a line he said for a million
dollars I couldn't get rid of my Lansky
behind the camera Danielle managed to
get him behind the camera amazing so we
had all these amazing Personalities in
there due to her hard work as well of
course the fellows are told anytime who
are partnering with us on this live
stream and who partner with everybody on
any stream anywhere because they're just
or anything no unbelievable unbelievable
and of course what we're going to be
doing is talking about leaders people
that took take Aquarius and so if you
have a story for us
um we'll try to do it on this show or on
future shows of somebody in your life or
someone that you know that was a leader
that took a cries and became somebody
and gave something uh email us at radio
project inspire.com we'd love to hear
the story we can get to it on the show
yeah or to share with us any comments on
the show maybe you have a story about
you know ravnato or anyone else who
joins the program throughout the evening
um you know before before kakash cake
and oranges
okay let's get to our first game yes so
we have we have with us today uh a
special guest actually waiting up in in
um vechamish in Israel I know what time
it is over there because uh that's my
land you know but uh yeah but it's it's
almost two o'clock in the morning we
have Donny fine with us nadani was born
in Brooklyn raised in Staten Island with
us made Alia in 2009 a regular guy and
this is what we're talking about like
the regular but irregular guys you know
who is like like any of us and he
started something in 2017 called Mitzvah
opportunity which started on a small
WhatsApp group and grew to hundreds of
people and multiple groups and dami on
these little WhatsApp groups we're going
to speak to them in a moment has raised
almost 5 million shekels on these by the
by WhatsApp groups for different you
know for different needs inherit Israel
against somebody Rick I know him a very
long time I grew up with him and here's
an individual who took an opportunity
um that was small if you will and made
it in Monumental so Donnie it's so great
to have you on
that's great to be honest thank you for
your thank you you guys are doing
amazing work as well is that a real
background
no well it was it's a real picture that
was picture yeah because if you're
faking the background I mean I like the
coastal one better we'll take the new
projects in room up HMS you know I could
switch that to that one easily right now
well Donnie thank you for being up talk
to us a little bit about this stuck uh
idea that you did give us a little bit
of that background
all right so I'll tell you where it
started it's not really it started 25
years ago but I'll uncle that far back
basically in 2017 I was riding a bus
back from Jerusalem I'm pretty sure I
was at the hotel and uh I happen to have
been on my uh on my phone and I was
checking uh social media Facebook and uh
some lady put on a local ramaph uh
WhatsApp group or Facebook group uh that
she's uh her and her family they don't
have money for food for Shoppers and I'm
not really sure what uh what struck me I
don't I don't recall exactly what went
through my mind at that moment but
basically I uh I I reached out to the
lady I said How could somebody not have
food for Shabbos I myself was going
through my own struggles at that time
and I'm like this this just doesn't make
sense somebody needs to help her I'm
gonna I'm gonna step in and I reached
out to her personally and I said if you
could just send me somebody that can
verify your situation I'll I could
probably help you out with some money
for for food for Shabbos and she sent me
somebody uh she's actually living in a
Muppets I'm just gimbal at the time
and uh verify the case very quickly I'm
pretty sure this was on a Thursday and
uh Arab Shabbos I was able to bring her
you know whatever it was a few hundred
shekels I collected from my friends and
that snowballed into something you know
on a weekly basis I was looking out for
more opportunities uh to to help out to
have local families there's a lot of
families that are struggling here on
Israel unfortunately so after a short
period of time again I wasn't really
like conscious of what was going on
because it was just uh it was just me
kind of playing around helping people
and uh I started a WhatsApp group called
Sudoku group with like five friends four
or five friends and every Arab Shabbos
that go around to their homes and
collect money and bring it to a family
and that snowballed into you know 5 10
15 friends before I know it had 50
people on a group and um you know been
doing this for a couple years and then
uh and then Corona started and I really
saw a really like a big pain point in
people people losing their jobs they
just they just there's just no work I'm
you know I myself was really was really
struggling
I looked up I'll put my wife at one
point I had 50 people in the group and I
said what if we had a hundred people on
the group what could we do my wife
looked at me she's like go for it so I I
made a LinkedIn post
um I'm pretty active on social media on
a regular basis made a like thin post
and before I knew it had 100 people and
I was scribbling scribbling numbers down
on a on a napkin on a piece of paper
um you know adding things up making sure
we reach the goals you know and we now
we're ready we're starting to raise
money for tell people with fill in and a
few other uh cases not just money for
food for Shabbos but that That's the
basis of it and that's really how the
how the group started have you ever when
you started this thing did you ever get
a sense of what where it would go
um or is it a I think this is sort of
the critical piece to this was it a this
is what's in front of me right now let
me see who I can help in front of me
so I honestly I honestly had no idea
um where it could go I I didn't I didn't
think that that far had now now
literally six years late only now I'm
starting to think what what can what can
we do how can we grow this
um I'm only first putting a website
together now
um I really didn't know what what was
going on and then just you know I've
been doing this it started where I would
I would it got to a point where just
doing one or two raises a week one group
next thing I know
um Hillel fold did uh did a LinkedIn
post uh about it I think it was about a
year ago maybe a year and a half ago
where he um he really he interviewed me
we had breakfast together and when we
were leaving he goes so I go where are
you posting this he goes it's already up
on social media by the time I got home
from from breakfast 15 minute drive home
I had about uh I had the the groups were
exploding I had I took I basically took
a week off from work to organize it I
went from 100 150 to about 550 600
people literally overnight and uh we
started uh we it really started getting
serious that's when I was like you know
I need to get organized if you see next
to me I always have them at desk I have
three screens on my desk one of them is
basically devoted to the Mitzvah
opportunity it's a whole long
spreadsheet that I've been building for
years and years we recently aired to the
chat bot to the WhatsApp group to take a
little to alleviate all the work from me
and um it's just it's getting serious uh
it's getting serious now you know Danny
I'm listening I'm listening to say this
and I'm hearing like what sounds to be a
full-time job of I'm creating this and
I'm setting this up and I had a meeting
with this you also have a realty company
in Israel Elite Israel Realty you know
there are people who are who shy away
from these type of initiatives because
they feel like it'll take up all their
time they won't have time for work
family yet it seems like you're speaking
about your full-time job how do you
juggle how do you juggle all this so
I'll be honest with you
um it's it's not easy I I'm blessed
thank God Hashem I thank God every day
multiple times a day that I my I'm able
to make a pranasa my my parnassa
position is helping people helping Jews
come to Israel find homes in Israel and
then in Israel I can help people make
sure people have money for food for
utilities for medical anything
um in in Israel so I really feel blessed
and I find the time I'll be honest
um I'm not a Giver by Nature uh but I'm
very blessed and I've and I've learned
to become a giver through this through
this group and um and it's it's been
inspiring me every day but uh what I see
on a on a absolutely incredible level is
the more I work on the group and it
takes a tremendous amount of time on my
part every week it really does like a
full-time job the more I see success in
business yeah so yeah I agree with that
yeah I I I don't I don't know how to
explain it so they don't know you're
doing a great job taking care of
hashem's children that's exactly taking
care of me and we we thank you Donnie
for being here and you you've explained
it perfectly and we thank you for for
what you're doing and what and what you
stand for it's amazing yeah there are
people out there that are watching this
that want you know to either get in
touch with you or think of starting
something along this nature what's the
best way for them to um besides the
contact with us we can put them in touch
with you is there an email address or an
ad something or a DOT something that
they can reach you at
so number one you can always find me on
LinkedIn I'm pretty active on LinkedIn
or you can email Mitch
m-i-t-z-v-a-h-o-p-p gmail.com and uh and
I'll be able to uh to field call uh you
know if somebody wants to join the group
they can send me the contact information
I can always add them to the group
amazing thank you Donnie Donnie thank
you thank you for all the work that
you're doing thank you for inspiring us
over here and you can finally go to
sleep now I hope the orange juice and
The kagish Keg won't keep you up thank
you yeah
meaningful fast guys thanks everybody
and and I want to just sort of double
click on what he said for a second which
is
um
I love the fact that in many ways Donnie
is a regular guy and he's saying that
the work that I'm doing
um is only allowing me to
have more success right and that's a big
problem that people have is people think
that if I get involved in the community
if I get involved in helping people it's
going to pull away from my success
that's a lot of what the show stands for
is a highest leads to success if Christ
leads their ability and many times it's
the same way of thinking which is I have
a limited amounts of time and I have a
little amount of things that I got to do
and they're they're living in a very
physical way of seeing the world but
when you move into a world of Hashem you
do for hashem's children you do a little
bit more has some figures that way for
you to get as well yes he doesn't it's
really amazing and amazing that he would
stay up to share that with us yeah for
sure after a fast
okay so really and and what else do we
got going up in the line yeah there's
there's a tremendous lineup over here as
you see City next to us which will get
to momentarily is Greenblatt who was
both the push and inspiration behind to
film the extra mile about his father or
if not the Greenblatt will have with us
for much of your Leaf uh of course here
in in Flatbush
uh we have a special hamodya segment of
this we want to thank amodia for their
partnership in this show with a lot more
coming up with Robin's of Carmen as well
lots to go we're actually going to go on
for those that are watching no fear
we're going to be going until 8 45 or 8
44th we have time to get to my roof
right at eight four eight forty four so
uh I have no fear without further Ado
Charlie yeah so I think we have a clip
now we're going to start we'll start
with with first
um so thank you for joining us love to
be with you guys I love you both and
thank you for being on the show I gotta
tell you watching the show about your
father was it was a complete blow away I
I never fully understood
um a him personally but more importantly
the impact of what one person could have
on so many groups of people that are all
over this country
share this a little bit you know before
we delve into it I want to when when you
when you see us a film like that the
people across the film seem superhuman
they seem like they have been placed in
this world by God to do things that no
other human being can do
show us a little bit what it's like to
grow up in that house your dad as a son
um
from the other side of the screen
um
my father was a wonderful father but
um
we understood that
his life was the life of Torah and his
life was a commitment to the community
and he lived it you know
the way we influence our children is by
who we are and what we do and not by
what we tell them yeah
my father
very rarely gave Muslims him he didn't
even tell me details of halach I had to
watch him before I knew that he was
doing certain only as I got older and
learned how lost I did I start to see
that's what he's doing he didn't didn't
you know didn't push me to to do things
we grew by watching him and uh he took
humorous on himself arav has to
go out of his way to be Michael on the
tibur to help people when they have
issues to figure out how to make that
should should help them and not not to
make their life more painful than
necessary but with his own self he took
plumbers on himself I mean my father
built airavent around the country and he
would not use in there if he wouldn't
wear yamaka under his hat
people always asked why you know he's
coming over the head he's dominating
with a Hatton show because he didn't
have a yamaka because that would mean
using the Arab in it from you can
understand the Khmer because you have a
hat why do you need an ayalaka but that
was a homer that there is a sad to say
that you know we we have to treat our uh
our our you know how locally their
issues that he himself would not rely on
things even though he himself had did it
for the zebra he would never tell
anybody this not even me but um so his
life was one but we saw that so um that
has a tremendous impact we respected
what we we saw what was going on here
um and a person who was extended himself
for the seaport and was lived a life of
terrorist spiritual life my father
learned all day and all night he didn't
it never sat in a room where there was
bartola if there was bartola people were
just talking he would respectfully I
knew what he was doing I do he's
respectfully leaving but he wouldn't you
know hurt anybody but you know it was
you couldn't hear that you know you're
mentioning an angle that I think
wasn't really brought out you know
there's so much that I've seen in the
editing process and in the goings-on of
making this film that you know it's sort
of hard to but but whatever is touching
on a part of him taking on humor as well
understanding that there's something
because it's you know it's either I
actually have a clip I I wasn't planning
on showing this if we could pull up
there's a clip where someone relays a
conversation I don't even know if you
saw this clip but let's play this clip I
I think it's along the lines of what
you're what you're describing
it was a couple years after high school
and I came down with a friend from
Yeshiva on the yearly fundraising trip
to pick up the early checks and he looks
at my friend and he says to him I
recognize you what's your name and my
friend tells him his name he says I met
you last year right so he says yes
you're the boy who gave me a hard time
about Shavers right and my friend starts
turning colors and he's I said what's
going on so Roberta says one minute I
want to get something I want to show you
something so he leaves his study leaves
the room and my friend says to me he's
so embarrassed he says I don't believe
what happened I said what he says I met
him last year and we got in a
conversation that there was a tumult
going on in New York at that time
something about electric shavers there
was one brand of electric shavers that
some posts were saying it might be
problematic based on the the foil and
the shaver how they came together and he
mentioned the story of nothing was
absolutely adamant based on a
conversation he had with Moshe Feinstein
years earlier absolutely not a problem
there's no problem with that electric
shaver whatsoever it was adamant
wouldn't back down but he went to the
other room and he came back to the study
and he had a beautiful new Norelco with
him and he starts telling my friend he
says you know I gave a lot of thought to
that conversation I still think I'm
right but you were telling me that other
posts can weren't happy with that shaver
I needed a new shaver anyhow that's the
one that I had it was time for a new
shaver and I figured based on our
conversation let me get one that
everyone will agree with and he starts
taking our hands and rubbing them
because he had a very neat and trimmed
well-kept goatee but his cheeks were
perfectly clean shaving starts taking
our hands and rubbing them on his cheeks
saying feel how good that is I've never
had such a good shape in my life I'm so
happy we had this conversation a year
ago not only had he backed down he was
thanking him but I was laughing so hard
and years later after we moved here and
I saw how he was such a person who was
firm with his positions that that
conversation grew on me more I I think I
appreciated it a little bit more when I
realized that was a big step for him you
know two to have backed down into to
have made that stuff there
I'll tell you what I took from the story
and I want to get your opinion on it
what I took from the film you know after
we watched the film today you know uh we
each we all wanted to take something we
all said what did we take from it and I
took something from it and this is a
story that I think explains it was that
great people I find are
incredibly humble more than they should
be it almost feels inappropriately
humble for your father teach Isle of
base after spending night and day with
emotia it's insane it doesn't make any
sense someone and I don't think he ever
said like what are you doing I don't
think they ever come and say what am I
doing with my life when am I going to
make it one day when am I going to cheat
when he spent the time doing komish
Rashi with that person
I I and this is the same story
people that have achieved greatness and
I'm asking I'm not saying
seem to allow a lot of room for Hashem
because a lot less room for them let me
share something with you I've been
thinking about
all of us average people our me dose are
such that
Anova is
you know I really deserve a little
covered but I know I have to be another
good very good very good
um it's an it's in many other places
um
I know that I have to treat everyone
like my brother and my sister and I'm
gonna they are everybody's my brother my
sister but they're not really my brother
my sister but I'm gonna I have to treat
him that way that's my obligation is to
treat every Jew like they're they're my
brother my sister and this manifests
itself in in amen you know in in many
other examples of um but great people I
know there's another I know great people
they're not battling that way my father
his another was he would not know what
you're talking about he wouldn't know
why you needed a video here he would sit
here looking at you guys like why did
you waste all this time to do this and
you see he viewed other Jews as his
brother and his sister I think this is
an important point for us at project
inspire
we don't treat with a brother and a
sister is treated differently than
someone who's like a brother and like a
sister there's nothing we won't do for a
brother and sister
Mr is in trouble her brother's in
trouble
we have no hesitation whether it's
whatever the resource is whatever the
busha is but if you treat everyone like
a brother like a sister so then it goes
into well you know um uh why should I
move to I can move to this community why
would I move out of town just because
they're like a brother like a sister but
if it's your brother or your sister that
needs your help you will move out of
town and I think that the difference
between great people is that they think
differently than we do that that those
people were my father's brothers and
sister he wasn't they they were that so
therefore there's no question you lend
money to the Russian that wants to make
a bakery and there's no question you
take care because if that was your
sister or your brother that even if
they'd made a mistake and they'd done
something wrong on Shabbos they're still
your brother your sister right and that
but that's the point that's so awesome
and so many people have commented to me
about this is that it he he would not
budge you know the man said agreement
said not the fly flies he wouldn't budge
it was no there was no chance he was
gonna let something like that happen but
it didn't mean that he wasn't his
brother and his sister and then
you know as we're all you know we all
hesitate because it's like a brother
like a sister but if it was my brother
and it was my sister I would do what
wouldn't I do and what am I obligate it
to do you know avram ran for lowton and
waged War for for a nephew because
that's a relative not not a great
relative maybe whether he is not but
he's bloody he's a relative and I think
that that's what we have to work on I
think that was Nate my father's nature
was he was an honor because he didn't
know why anybody would be making a
tumult about what he's doing and he
loved everybody because they were his
brother and his sister and I think it's
a it's a it's a subtle but a big major
distinction yeah I mean it's it's really
unbelievable again those who still did
not yet see it project inspired.com but
I wanna
segue to something else because
in some sense or another whether we like
it or not if a child takes after a
father you know we went back and forth
air of Tish above because you're
involved with specifically two
organizations dealing with divorced moms
as well as single moms as well as as
well as widows today as I'm sitting here
700 of them have used the code that we
set up to watch so they're obviously an
Engaged you know crowd with you these
are organizations that you're involved
with maybe not that many people know
that you're involved in it but tell tell
us how
the the going the extra mile for people
treating them brothers and sisters not
like brothers and Nazis has translated
to the work that you've been able to be
involved in
I'm not talking about anything because
my father wouldn't talk about it okay
but uh only uh no talk about him
but how it passed down when did you get
a sentence the lessons you learned that
drove you there listen as I said you
know we all have lessons from our
parents that there wasn't a course in it
it was just we watched we we watched
It's who they were my grandfather my
grandfather so my grandfather started
the first uh Day School in Newark New
Jersey and he had to take on the even
the the shoals because their income was
from tamatoa and Sunday school and they
were resistant to day schools I think
that day school may still be his Kushner
Academy today as an evolution of the
school my grandfather started but there
was great opposition uh life-threatening
opposition so that's what is and uh
um it's it's a combination of to me it's
like uh what are you gonna God's gonna
ask in 120 years what you did what you
did with the beautiful life that he gave
you and um I need to have a story that
you know it's not going to be what I can
fool him like everything else in life
I'm not going to give him uh
and you get involved for it so we all
have to ask that question to ourselves
and
um
I think that uh
it was inherent that like I said my
grandfather my father we all we were
taught my brothers my sisters that um
you have enough rice to to give to the
sieber to find the person that can
benefit we all have things we can do for
other people and teaching educating them
and teaching Tyron the project Inspire
mission is really what we can do what my
father wanted to do is to is to bring
Clara to these people to bring our
beautiful Yiddish kite to people and um
so as it was natural to him I don't if
these were natural things for me I
didn't really wake up one morning and
say you know let's go help the widows or
let's go help the divorce mothers or
let's go help families that are having
trouble this is uh whatever you should
be doing and I think it's it's a problem
in the rest of the world because it's a
spectator generation right okay and we
need to go in and create this if we're
doing it and we're doing here as we're
doing here right
just as we close out here but I you know
artificial intelligence has the ability
to bring you know people's you know
thinking you know add into the open if
your father was sitting at this table
right now after being embarrassed by the
film that was what would the message he
want he would want us to walk away from
here and to walk away from this tissue
above from a lesson from his life what
would he want us to walk away with
and um
we all have enough rice to extend
ourselves beyond our comfort zone
moving to Memphis Tennessee for a
bentayra that was born in Newark and sad
Byram Malaysia was not Memphis was not
his natural habitat the South the South
and the 50s and the 4950s was not even
friendly to tea and so we have to go
beyond our comfort zone and
um ask ourselves or do we
um have we really used the talents that
we have you have a Jewish Education you
know so much if you're sharing it with
other people are you you know are you if
you've if you've got resources are you
giving those resources
um both of you are beautifully using
your resources that God gave the gifts
that God gave both of you and I think we
all have that obligation and that's what
he
it was natural to him you know if you
came you said my daddy said where do you
live you say I don't know forsake the
lake we said why aren't you in
Birmingham you know what I mean uh one
guy one guy came in and he said and a
guest told me this story you came to my
house she said I asked people to tell me
you know stories that happened and one
guy said he went into not the Greenlight
Memphis and he said where you live and
the guy said I live up north he said why
don't you live in Birmingham and the guy
said to himself he right he wrote he
said I now know why he lives in this
quote unquote hole in the wall in
Memphis is because the guy said the next
day he went to Shoal and they didn't
have a valkyrie he says I'm about Curry
and I've been five years in my city they
never once asked me to Lane they didn't
need him and they needed him he said so
he said now I know what he was talking
about amazing okay I want to thank you I
know that this is sort of we we tried to
get into convention time didn't allow it
but Hashem It's A Beautiful film again
those who still didn't watch it
projectinspire.com I want to just close
this segment out with a with a part the
best part the best part maybe we're
we're done you mentioned your fathers
tell you
let's roll that clip
my father-in-law Larry Brown
grew up in a traditional home
he went to an afternoon School of talmat
Torah but was not an observant Jew at
that time did not keep Shabbos I was a
typical teenager
running around town with with my buddies
my father befriended him and uh my
father asked Larry why doesn't come to
the show on Shabbos my father-in-law
said Rabbi I have a paper route
he says and how much do you earn and
from your paper routes
four paper routes I earned a dollar
fifty every Saturday
he says what should be if I give you a
dollar fifty to come to synagogue on
shoppers he said
you're willing to give me a dollar fifty
to give up my paper route on shoppers
I'll come I'll come to Shabbos this
meant to my father-in-law that there's
something more valuable than
entrepreneurship there's something more
valuable than a paper route there's
something more valuable than money my
father did give up that paper route and
he did do some learning as a result of
it he set my father on a path to Yiddish
kite into this very day my father-in-law
lives and breathes rapnata with muscle
is the source of all the fears of all
the joy that he has in his spiritual
World they have generations of Benet
Torah of educators of Scholars of Tamir
khanim and children grandchildren
great-grandchildren
[Music]
so many things that we do that many
don't know about or many have
participated in and for a dollar fifty
or whatever it would be or for just
caring and being involved with these
neighbors and friends we can interest
them in our wonderful lives and you'd be
surprised what an impact you could make
one small deed can have major Ripple
effects and it can affect generations
and generations to come
but an incredible incredible lesson for
a dollar fifty which you can do and we
look at it now and we say that I would
take that deal in the end of the week
you know like oh my gosh but guess what
we are probably each of us have our own
version of that dollar 50 story in front
of us every moment like we've never said
earlier how many people can we help how
many people are right they're they're
right outside our grasp it's not even a
dollar fifty it's a phone call it's a
text
just now you look back at what one
person can do for a dollar fifty and you
I would take that deal but at the time
is where it happens seize the moment
seize the moment and we we wait for
these moments in which we're expecting
everything to line up and the music to
be right remember here's a young Rabbi
in Memphis
for a kid who would otherwise be doing a
paper route like who would have thought
that this this would turn out this way
totally except for Hashem and so just do
and all the neighbors to work out it was
just doing here our next guest is is an
example of that as well we have with us
uh or of moisha Bender who's the scan
rashishiva of
yeshivadarachaway who is a key leader in
every aspect of the education of 2600
tal medium in preschool through Carolina
while
before we get to the the the what took
you out of Far Rockaway tell us a little
bit about what it's like to have that
acharyas of Canada
it's a it's a really big archives
um but I have a wonderful father at the
top so it makes it easier if I ever make
mistakes you know I have them there and
it's a wonderful office I have a partial
appearance and I have a
I have people to look up to so and then
to and to work at the feet of some of
the of the biggest
it's a great experience even as a
working day to day you always have
people to look up to your left right and
and in case ever Rises equal I speak to
your value Brindley and I I speak to
martial or Hirsch so right there's
people who are when you have people to
rely on the lion it makes the life
easier for sure but still taken out of
Christ is tremendous and and now it's
the Horizon that school but being a
resident of the area in which that
school is found it it impacts the entire
community so it really changes the
entire area that it's in
what does your father do about yasum
doesn't like he can't pay tuitions the
family the mother I said the answer is
that to send whatever you can stand but
we don't charge any money for tuition so
we have it definitely has as he's saying
that Charlie's saying
certain things we do have a big impact
on other communities you know people
look up to you I mean they have they
have that you have that track record but
tell us I mean an opportunity came up
you sort of shift your focus into
Lakewood yeah tell us about that for
Rockaway we know you've got plenty on
your hands right now tell us about the
time in which you went and you saw
something taking place much further away
yeah it's about two years ago almost two
years ago it was August 20th it was
right before the school year and I was
sitting getting dried ready for the
Yeshiva as he said 2600 kids the launch
put making my 90 classes and every and
every teacher and every class should be
set and I heard there were 70 80 girls
in Lakewood didn't have a school high
school girls
and I heard about it but didn't really
you know and then it was Earth Shabbos
basically two days to Yeshiva it was uh
the school was starting Monday like and
my son-in-law called me up um
what are we doing about this
so I don't know what drove me I picked
up the phone I called to wonder if I was
kind of local Moishy trust and uh
and uh fill another fellow taxi Rosen
and I said I'm coming to make a school I
had no money I know nothing I didn't I
didn't make any sense and I met a friend
of mine on the shops along Goldberg who
lives in the five town I said alone
we're going to Lakewood tonight take it
to Finland and I'm not sure one will
come home in a week three days
and we just went
I went to Lakewood and the school was
born with my mom's 24 hours later
unbelievable and the momentum said we'll
help you a little bit funding for but
now we're heading to our third year oh
my gosh and it doesn't make it really
makes no sense that the school is like a
booming not a fault it's fifty thousand
it was fifth last year by my dinner got
a girl school and he said they're 50 000
kids at a place in each human system so
people think that
boys who don't have like they have
places there's not enough seats at the
table so like I needed someone maybe a
little crazy like a little more sugar to
come and say I'm ready to jump in you
know it's hard to have and like Hashem
and next year we'll have three classes
9th and 11th grade and the school's
functional doing amazing I have great
principles Mrs over Mrs Myers two
fantastic principals
you're fantastic staff a very happy
parent buddy Hashem the girls are doing
well and I do this when I go to Lakeland
there's a lot of times in Lakewood has
like 25 holes so whenever I go to
Lakewood I I try to make some visits you
know for fundraising or visit to speak
to some parents or girls I'm making I
come back two three in the morning and
also my wife puts up with it and uh
you saw this opportunity you jumped in
it technically though
you're in Boise right you jumped at it
which which tells me that this really
didn't necessarily have to do with your
experience that you have all year but
you saw an opportunity to jump into
something and you jumped into it which
technically could have been me anyone
else as well it could have been anybody
really
um I just I just imagined the reason why
I really went into it was I just
imagined if I have a daughter I have
daughters of high school it's Charlie
you know it has similar ages to me
imagine that Monday everyone gets into
uniform and goes to school and let's say
your daughter doesn't have a school it
just didn't didn't sit well with me I
said why should a girl not everything
else either she applied late or like to
the wrong school or whatever her reason
this reason that she didn't get to the
school I said you have to put yourself
in
into the shoes of these parents now and
I just did it I don't know take us to
that those 24 hours 24 hours was quite
um and I quickly formed the vad yeah
my father of course they all agreed
remember they said whatever it needs to
be done I mean
I call them myself today's
by the way then I said I announced all
the 50 girls whoever wants to come can
come down meeting open door we're not
we're not we're not husband a principal
came along and said to me maybe this
type of I said this is not the time
right now whoever's here right now let's
get them into school and we'll see going
forward how the schools take shape and I
came to meeting Monday night but
literally yeah building I didn't have a
building and I have really no bullying
and I said but we're gonna and people
said start after circus I said no when
I'm talking after circus after circus
means you're different we're starting
Tuesday morning Wednesday morning
Tuesday's orientation Wednesday like
everybody else the school's starting and
it was if you remember that terrible
rainstorm a number of people and if that
that storm uh whites from the revisement
there was Nifty on the Tappan Zee Bridge
it was pouring around I went to later
Monday and I went to like on Sunday
Monday night and I literally slept desks
from another school bonus I noticed I
want to thank him I slept 20 deaths
together Mr goldberger in the middle of
the night between one and four a.m a
teacher that would have broken elevator
put into a van and we we dry the desk
around 4am my 10 12 days ready for the
next morning and and to get that space
was another whole thing myself
at the event from another school then
the school didn't want to let
I said you're hurting this guy I told
him I would never bother you I'll be on
the side entrance of the building you're
never going to see me and he's the guy
said all right and Wednesday morning the
girls is ready marched into school as an
incredible story and a tremendous and
and it's it's a great feeling for aqua
and there's a school running it's great
I'm I'm gonna ask you a question that
many people either they asked you
or they meant to ask you which is why
you
why you
why Me Maybe not because anything I do
because I trust maybe my name just I'm a
son of someone my father was
my grandparents and you you felt that
you had you had a certain trust that
that that that we have a little bit
we bring some comfort level maybe you
know again it's again like it's very
easy to fool people yeah
um but uh but I'll tell you what I I
think that as you see the impact
you understand what means to something
and when you're willing to put yourself
out listen you could say
I do run in school for 2600 kids I don't
need to be slapping a desk at 4am you
could have said that you could have said
listen I could at the end of the day I
do have what to do during the day I'm
not gonna hit 120 I'll be like what do
you do all day you just you know you
took care of kids
I think and what we're learning from
this whole film that we're learning more
and more what we want it we want to
drive home to here is that when
individuals put themselves in
circumstances that are
almost impossible naturally but they do
it selflessly for Hashem
Hashem could take care of a lot of
things he knows how to as the laboratory
says make above nature work within
nature too
yeah there's no questions
I've seen usually after this it really
makes no sense it really makes no sense
and I think I think that you know for it
tremendously yeah I think and as we're
watching this and hearing this it really
gives of course the message of like if
you want to do something this is your
you know ability brings response not
ability responsibility brings the police
responsibility leads to Ability that you
take responsibility for something only
then does the able to give you the
Seattle you have to first work in the
darkness right you didn't sit back from
Morocco and make a couple of calls and
and then you show up so everybody I love
that bring it to Philly yeah he's in
parochi and things are just running like
I'm sure you know all the issues that
have come up with in a girl school you
take your take as well I wanna I wanna
shift that Focus first of all thank you
very much for coming down I know in the
fast it's not easy but I appreciate the
message you bring and the uh you know
the Legacy has has continued you know
you mentioned that you mentioned in
passing yourself that you know the the
that trust yet but you stood up and you
did it and there are girls that are in
school and continuously in school
because you you made that push and
that's really you know John I want to
shift here for a second because we got a
story it's an exclusive story but you
know with uh Reserve wolves and everyone
knew him as the philanthropist and
person who you know supported so much of
of Torah and of kirov but you know as a
boy he tells a story it's a story about
you know it was it was before the the
war of independence and male stopped the
postal to stop delivering mail to Israel
now you know just as a background
there's before facts before email you
couldn't make phone calls I couldn't
send an email right
you can't get Communication in there
until he's 19 years old right let's have
a little bit of a sneak peek as to what
he was able to pull off
during the war of independence there was
an embargo
embargo there was no way for the family
to send letters back and forth so he had
the clever idea he went to the president
of KLM airlines
and he spoke to him and so he arranged
it that the mail from America to
Palestine would go through KLM Dutch
Airlines
and he was just a teenager at that time
it's amazing what a young kid can do
when you set your mind to it the head of
the
political Department of the Jewish
agency called up this 19 year old
stinker
to thank me for what I would like
I considered it to be much more Memphis
in this drink
this is exactly what we're talking about
is that Wolfson comes in he comes into
this country he doesn't have all the
resources that he has in his life he's
19 years old and he sees a massive
crisis who in the world would think and
even now maybe you think because of the
internet but who would think they can
shift the way mail gets into Israel at
19. right and it's now you later you see
what Wolf's what what Zev did and now
what his son Aaron is doing and what the
Wolfson family stands for and all the
all the the kirov and the and you ask
yourself like well well it's because
they no no it's because somebody took a
highest when they didn't have it and
it's funny because in his own words
would say this is one of the most
momentous occasions of his life that was
a man who had a lot of momentous
occasion in her life yeah between that
life as a as a you know little boy as a
young boy which I today we're talking a
lot about
um not uh going the extra mile or David
you know put it so nicely which is
treating brothers and sisters not like
brothers and sisters but really as
brothers and sisters we're joined Now by
a remote
here in Brooklyn and a dear friend now
your project inspired but if ourselves
personally and uh ramelief knows a thing
or two about uh the jewelry in America
the town yeah out of town jewelry in
America and the what comes along as well
as being able to be Marvel it's terrible
you know far beyond the little city of
uh Minneapolis Minnesota is that correct
it's correct I'm turning the tables I'm
getting to view you
why are we doing this on Tish above I
mean
wonderful person of nata
the people have asked me what connection
is that a tissue of and I'll tell you
the answer
it's all about obviously strong Tish
above is about Sinners
baseless senseless hatred
and this project Inspire and not does
that sound again of nuts that was all
about being selfless and caring about
other people
and showing that obviously throw in
demonstrative way as you just said I've
been to sleep to starting a school out
of nowhere and throwing himself into The
Fray he's very modest but he's
all individuals his his grandmother was
my mother's my excuse me my wife's my
Rapids teacher in seminary and she told
him valuable lessons she taught them
that when you
dive when you get dressed
put on your makeup
beautiful there's no models coat there's
no
Come See Come casual casual attire the
most important meeting of the day
you know Charlie I'm a successful
businessman and you have much to do with
people throughout the World Imagine you
had a billion dollar deal you're going
to be dressed to the nines that's how
she that was his grandmother instructing
the girls and to this day my kids know
that when you're dumb and you're
dominating because you're put together
so and there's a lot to do with tissue
above it has everything to do with
tissue box and I finished my interview
like show us a little bit what's what's
so what I love hearing you speak and I
love that you have such an interesting
rabbinic forget the regular backwards
even the rabbinic background where you
are here and where you were in
Minneapolis share this with you cat a
little bit about that perspective of
um from a rub's perspective we learned
about ravnata we saw RAV in in in
Memphis and there's something that we
don't fully appreciate we don't see the
color behind challenges and again I'm
not saying Minneapolis is in Memphis and
I'm not in any way making them all the
same but from your perspective as a
murder asra
um in in a non-incredibly saturated
Jewish Community share this a little bit
about that experience and the
opportunities that are there first of
all my background everybody says how was
it growing up in Minneapolis I don't
know I was born in my mind at his house
I came back to Flatbush and the way I
ended up in Minneapolis was total
practice very good friend of mine who I
used to think was my friend reviako
fightman so zangazon was off the
position there and I was a rebbe in the
sift in Cleveland 11th grade my wife ran
a nursery school 60 kids I was also an
intern brother for sure
making money I was happy I was defeating
and they started badgering maybe moved
they were there for 19 years people will
ask the difference between Minneapolis
and Flatbush and the answer is there's
no difference Jews are Jews and
terrorist Terror
and challenges and sort of challenges
and service but the beauty of
Minneapolis
and why I would hope you know I have a
good friend of mine with simple Scala we
all know he's an incredible person we
learned High Life
many years ago he told me recently he
says he travels all over the country
and they can't find rabam for day
schools and they can't find
people are in a
mode
like the fire in the belly of going out
and chewing off and doing something that
learning is doing everything there's
nothing more than that when we got the
cuddle to come to Minneapolis convinced
his young Goliath four of them had
bought houses in Lakewood if you know
the history in Lakewood Beverly
available show me you you buy a house in
Lakewood you're there and with Ellie
pushed them out the door the godler
rebellious Faye loved Minneapolis he
loved us and he simply pushed them out
the door and every one of them is
incredible
is now the principal of the largest
patriarchov in the world 2 500 girls of
the shack of a Barber Park High School
green book on top of my job as a Rob
everyone has wonderful positions but
they have the excitement they're going
to accomplish just by learning says the
consummate has compared to a large case
surrounded by smaller cases and it's the
Overflow that fills and that's exactly
what happens with the coil with an
out-of-town community
and the people I guess in one word of
action they want to grow yeah I used to
play the ffbs against the
ffcs FFC is from from choice ffb is from
from birth I tell the ffbs look how the
Ali chuba Daven they took that and to
the others I'd say look how grounded
they are than it busted by every wind
so it's very exciting and I think it was
the best place to grow my children
amazing you know I I'm gonna steal a
line from my my good friend Charlie
arari here who says that for us growing
up in New York we only know where the
other states and countries are because
elao has that yeah
but but it's hard it's hard as a as a
sometimes as a is it been terrible or a
regular from family growing up in a
regular large city with Torah to relate
to not only the needs but the but the
the the the the Brotherhood and
Sisterhood of Jews in other cities in
other countries
have being a rub out of town and seeing
the people that we don't even know where
they live unless we have the allow map
you know how do we connect to people
that we're not connected to in Memphis
or or value to where people that that
are not from around us how do we
internalize that in the sense of that's
my brother that's my sister I have
enough rice when I became the Rover
Minneapolis
and even though his Arabian Mississippi
I'd still learn second Stadium the
cuddling tells
Shapiro
and younger man if the younger man came
in oh my she took your Mazel Tov you
move into Milwaukee you're moving to
Memphis they couldn't get the name right
to them anything past the Hudson is like
so when torment sorrow would have their
abundant meetings many years ago and a
Shyla was posed of what they would say
this is for New York
anything past the Hudson was Honolulu so
the truth of the matter is if you grow
up in New York anything past that in
Honolulu but I had a Segway in Cleveland
where I was in the yes
so we really had taste that out of town
it's just very exciting people are
looking to grow now I will tell you I
had a Shiloh
my daughter languages
my daughter
had been in the
Banner Day School of America the Hebrew
Academy of Cleveland now she came to the
Torah Academy
it wasn't at the level of the Hebrew
Academy
so I asked
was the nephew of the Nish very close to
my father knows that sound he was a guy
another
I talked to my issue my my daughter is
really not where she was a year ago
you know what he told me looked to me in
the eyes he had beautiful eyes and he
said
that I'll talk to them
your daughter will become a London a
year later
and I can't think of a better Community
to raise
families in Minneapolis
and the people as you say very embracing
I was connected to the Federation there
I had to do with many many different
groups of people and you just yourself
you don't have to sell Yiddish it's real
I mean Charlie knows it is you know this
that people just want to hear the Ms and
I do think that it was a bit of an era
of
people being more altruistic you know
people are passionate when you're
passionate about Yiddish guys and
passionate about growth and passionate
about accomplishing you're able to
accomplish people say how did you build
Minneapolis I said I got out of God's
way I didn't do anything I consulted
with the godliness
decisions that were being made
and so when you follow that's Terror
it's relatively easy to make the right
move I know that yes you'll tell me on
the time but I wanna I wanna double
click on something
um
this idea of it almost feels like a
generation or two ago people are on a
mission
it almost feels like there was an ERA
where kaiso was being built and Hashem
had these
these Navy Seals if you will if I can
use that example even like and he put
them places and they had they were
bigger than and they you know nothing
you're so many others
are we at a place now where things are
just too are we we feel like we're
saturated
and and and the need isn't there and if
the answer to that is yes how what can
we do what can we say how so that this
next this current and Next Generation
people that have so much
it
feel that passion well it's an excellent
question I want to be very careful and
concise
the greatest achievement is learning
Terror adira Terra Lakewood mere tells
panovic Bill sama nothing greater than
that that's the really the gold the gold
is not as much type and as much Terror
as possible so that is success
I think
that c program jump started a lot of
these communities he took bakra out of
the mainstream yeshivas and you stuck
them in the Boondocks and they became
Rebellion at the age of 20 or 19 or 17
became mentors to adults worship them
who simply couldn't believe they had
this much knowledge and they turned
these yeshivas around and they turned
the cities around so I think every one
of our boys younger light the Menachem
Frank he was a member of seed in
Savannah Georgia and as the rad band is
now very close friends of us Freddie and
Esther she's the principal of the day
school she had for many many years
a letter and she sent the letter to up
shmuel kameninski and rip shmuel had it
in his wallet for maybe two decades of
what Menachem Frank and the seed program
did for Savannah Georgia you know just
like you Charlie there were many
successful businessmen but when you
bite
into something
you tasted and it's exciting
keep on going if there was a way that we
could somehow
generate there are many many seed
programs Thomas jump started this but
somehow rub it wolves and it was so big
sent into all of this stuff the mini
cuddles of the column somehow exposed
them to out of town have them live
different levels in the summer it's not
just the touring camps in Montana that
stop by and make a Minion for some place
in Boulder Colorado I'm talking about
just giving them four weeks they do with
the girls now many of the girls are
interested in moving out of town not
just the traveling camps but tormosaurus
worked the seed program with girls and
they come to cities and they take over
the summer programs and they have a Yen
for out of town I want to I want to
focus it just as a closing remark you've
been quoted before saying everyone is a
critic but few people step up to be the
director something like that something
like that I think basically what I said
was everybody
that it was a Critic everyone it's easy
to criticize it's easy to be a Critic
it's very hard to make a movie it's very
hard to be a director that's a better
quote I like that much better oh yeah
your world is a much better call
tomorrow than that oh but it's much
easier to make a move I like that much
difficult to make a movie everybody can
criticize you just when I was a kid I
can't say the name anymore the nyt and
you'd see the Critics on the plays and
on the exhibitions yeah everybody's so
easy to criticize do something with
yourself no I know this you you direct
movies for a living but I think his I
think the message is so the message is
so powerful meaning sometimes we sit at
the sidelines and we will comment on
this community or that this or this
guy's going out to there or is it 100
right or is it excellent you know go try
it and people still have this fire
they're still getting in the light and
they're still moving on his Rebellion we
needed to be a lot more and I think
families now are much more comfortable I
remember one of the families that moved
to many
the the lady the the rabbits and the the
cover wives mother didn't talk to me for
six months it's like I took a kid away
from her now she's very happy that she
moved to Minneapolis but at the time
it's hard you move but today it's so
easy everybody wants miles on Delta
everybody wants status what does it want
to be the plan to believe and the mail
it keeps on happening I apologize I
gotta give a
thank you so much for being here or
thank you so much for being here I note
uh Stitch Above it's not easy in the
program
okay especially if we have to kill the
Sinister yeah
amazing okay we're gonna go to a uh
short video a short song yeah yeah who's
this
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oh
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I'll see you therefore
we are talking
because
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thank you foreign
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foreign
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today
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oh yeah yeah
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I am
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here I am
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foreign
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established through the day to remember
and to discuss the Holocaust project
witness on the leadership of Mrs Ruth
luchtenstein produced this moving
Incredible video they've gotten great
feedback and the impact is really it's
really been
it's really been tremendous but really
what gets me with this video to be
honest is having Holocaust surviving
grandparents every year Tish above feels
like it's one further from the Holocaust
there was a time in which my
grandparents and the Holocaust and Tish
above were all in front of me and over
time we are losing these incredible
people to see a bunch of teenagers
um you feel vinegar I saw in there and I
think Josephus
um just to see these these teenagers
being part of the system so we thank Mrs
looking for all that she does project
witness and for making sure that we
never forget
um the horrors of the Shoah and all the
tremendous Heroes that we have from
there
um and and Mr wilston's part of this
whole show at this point right of course
was on
um in uh and capacity of project witness
last last year she was on our show and
uh of course Mr Stephenson is the editor
of hamody and ham has been our partner
this year for this segment that's
specifically coming up
um and Hamilton is well known for of
course for all the trailblade
trailblazing Publications and really all
the material that they put out and you
know focusing on important uh historic
pieces such as the Holocaust such as so
much
um about Yiddish over all over but
specifically here tonight we have a
writer with us for hamadia where
he covers breaking news to the newspaper
and hamadia.com but also as we got to
know him a little bit really uncovers so
much of our Rich Jewish Heritage that
are sort of floating around out there in
different cities and it's really you
know been able to uncover so many of
these Amazing Stories so Robert Carmen
thank you very much for joining us here
it's my honor okay so I want to jump
right in I know that you're you're you
know you've been publishing many many
stories and we're going to discuss some
of them shortly but tell us a little bit
about what it is you do when it when it
comes to uncovering these Amazing
Stories and bringing it out to the from
Islam through the hamadi and other
Publications well the first thing is see
after the shmias sometimes
a thought just pops into my head or I
bump into somebody who says uh tells me
something and that gets its Peaks my
interest
and once I'm interested the next is the
investigation and the research because
the more you look into a story The more
you find out you find out that the
parents the children the friends and it
it expands as you
as you speak to people and as you start
researching it and you it just
it inspires you because you realize
there's so much to this story and I just
want to bring it to the public so that
they should get the same pleasure that I
had from right what do you find is a
theme in stories you know I'm sure
there's many but give us one where
you know I'm sure at this point as you
start to unravel stories you start to
sense that's going in a direction and
you start to say hey that seems someone
similar to some other story what are
some of the themes that you see in some
of the stories that you pick up
well a lot of them
there's one theme is you never know you
never know what's going on
um I have I have one column which is
quilt surprise Beginnings where I tell
the story of a famous person's life and
I don't tell you who he is till the end
and I end off you never know
but so that that's one of the themes
that I have the other theme they have is
that there's a lot of interesting people
out there and there's a lot of uh a lot
of things we don't know and if you reach
out you'll find you'll find the things
that will enrich your life too yeah
amazing what are some of the I mean as
you know I hate to sort of compare
because every every situation but I know
that from a video we just you know
created a video of the life of not the
Greenback but you see so much you know
footage and you get so many stories and
you get so many ideas but yet you sort
of have to put your mindset in the
reader in your case right and and what
what what do you how do you start to
decipher stories and material to say wow
this is so cool this guy is amazing I
love meeting him but like you know for
the reader you know they have to hear
something else they have to be able to
pick up something else like how do you
divide that so one of the editors in
hamadiya told me you have to have live
voices you have to have a voice someone
telling the story so even if I'm uh I
was uh doing an article about Yeshiva
Rabbi mcclurga which began in 1903 I
believe
um
and it it sort of morphed into Yeshiva
sunset in the early 50s
so how am I going to find somebody that
can tell me what it was like to be in
the Yeshiva right and one of my
colleagues said
um I
you know I think I remember hearing that
uh Marvin high was uh in that yeshiv I
remember reading an article right and I
got his phone number and I called and
called amazing I want to get back to the
representative story because I know
there's a specific article but I want to
turn your attention if you can do a year
ago you you put out a you put out a
piece called shoe straps to filling
straps right we put out a year ago it
was about the Chester family tell us a
little about what went on behind the
scenes towards you know getting to the
bottom of that story I actually grew up
with the Chesters uh they're my best
friends
um the three boys one was my classmate
one was my favorite for many years and
the third one was in between it's also a
good friend a good friend of my brothers
I spent shavasam there years ago almost
I don't know for every Shabbos but I was
there very very often and
um it was you if you met them you would
think oh this is a family that yeah the
grandparents came from Europe after the
war and they um you know they
transplanted their Europe Foundation
but Mr Chester used to start off when he
spoke by uh he used to say my family
came to America after the war the Civil
War
I think they came in 1869
and
um and they are a beautiful
you know Splendid mishbach that
and the reason so I want to find out
what's the reason and recently when uh
Mr pace of Chester when he died
and I was talking to the Jessa boys my
friends especially it's V and he started
telling me stories of his father and
light bulb went over my head that's why
they're such a special now I just want
to rewind it for a second because we
were talking about akufa in America you
know that you know this after the Civil
War right and through the 90s where it
was not easy to be a Shema Chavez it was
not easy it was almost people around
he's almost unheard of this story that
you were writing represented an era of
what it was like which gave more meaning
to that story it really took mysterious
Snapfish and I'm talking about literally
putting your life on the line to keep
Shabbos people there was no welfare in
those days there was no no snap there
was nothing no government help and if
you did not pay the rent that month the
landlord put you out on the street
and if you didn't have money you starved
so for somebody to say I'm Gonna Keep
Shabbos and if it means I'm going to get
fired or I'm going to have to scrape by
by being a peddler
that's what they did and tell us in a
few cents is what what Mrs Chester did
at that kufa that well it was Mrs
Chesser yeah her name was uh all right
uh it was a great grandma
but so this the first story started off
with
um uh the great great grandmother
when her husband said I can't make it
anymore I I'm gonna have to work on
Shabbos
so she said actually the the husband had
taken a job I had opened uh some sort of
free fruit store or something like that
so that he could keep Shabbos but he
wasn't making it and he said I'm gonna
have to open on Shabbos so she said how
much are you short can you afford the
food he said yes but rent is six dollars
a month
oh today we spend six dollars like
nothing but that six dollars a month
and I can't afford the rent she said
I'll take I'll take responsibility for
six dollars so he could keep Shabbos
and what she actually did was very
Innovative she made shoelaces
and she sold them at one penny profit
which meant she had to sell 600 pairs of
shoelaces a month
to cover the rent and that meant
knocking on doors and going you know
peddling them in the streets and finding
people people buy shoelaces but 600
shoelaces a month and she did that and
that kept them wow amazing no and and
the continuation of that story is we
have with us here um a great great well
there's another story where her
son-in-law was a peddler also to keep
Shabbos he used to leave Mata Shabbos to
on the train to Albany and pedal day the
whole weekend come back for Shabbos to
the family and but his Shabbos was a
joyous Shabbos because despite the toil
that they had during the week but he had
Shabbos wow we we have uh we have uh the
continuation of that story sitting next
to us as well here today are made of
sweet Chester uh who's a magnitude in uh
Yeshua base
Karen Mayer and safer near shmuel and
Rabbi Chester we just heard the the half
of the story that you know had a lot to
bring the mysterious nevish that allowed
you you know to continue the path that
they created what do you share this
story and what do you get from this
story of mysterious Savage that it took
to to continue this Legacy and this
Messiah
well
uh
for my mother's side my mother came from
Russia Yeshiva good Island now we're
very proud of that and that was part of
what drovement common saw in my house as
a child but we're equally as proud of
the Chester side of the family because
that mysterious nephesh
is something that can be described
and I even sort of saw it in my father's
he would walk through a wall Through
Fire to be makayama Mitzvah to do what
he has to do and this is something
that's in the blood this is something
that we have a tremendous mysterious in
that fish
um and it's something we always talk
about I talk to the tell me them all the
time
um people David once told my father he
said there are people nowadays they
don't understand what it means
mysterious message
says they think it means like you walk
into a pizza shop and you say um no
vegetable slices no no do you have your
son is it I'm sorry no This was oh yeah
can the day you went out everyone was at
the ocean okay I'm sorry and he'll walk
across the street to get his yoshan
pizza so this but this was like real
mysterious and when Robbie Carmen called
me and I was thinking like okay let me
think about this I'm not sure what this
has to do with Toshiba I call them back
two minutes later and I said
guess when my great-grandmother's yard
site is my great-grandmother Miriam
titov whose husband was The Peddler
whose mother was the one who sold the
shoelaces so he says when Chavez I said
no Tish above wow and so I guess it's
been a shamayim that I should be here
saying her story on Tish above
um yes so
um every year when it comes to
sudamafsecus and I sit down on the floor
so
and I start singing that and I think of
my great grandma and I think about the
time right before my bar mitzvah I went
to visit
with my father and she's laying there in
bed and uh she says she just doesn't
have a will to live anymore she was like
88 years old which was considered very
old back then and she said
um to my father says
but it's going to be me it's used by
Mitzvah soon you don't understand the
simple so he says well when's her when's
his bar mitzvah
Thomas this okay I'll wait
and she was lifted two weeks later and
she said go go to the drawer over there
you'll find some few dollars there in
the drawer take that and buy him a
thriller I wanna have a Helicon wow so
as as running out the door
talk to us a little bit about this
concept about mysterious Snapfish I
wanna I wanna delve a little bit with
you about Jews that are pushed to the
brim and then they dig deep and then
they they're they they're never the same
and
your family
how when somebody was willing to go that
far from Hashem like you said literally
life and death literally you don't have
enough food we can't even imagine if
someone doesn't have food they're gonna
starve forget that
when someone goes that far for the Irish
stuff it's not just that Hashem finds
them the money
they they it's almost I feel like as if
they they embroiden and they
they changed their the husks of
themselves and their family
how does that happen how did how does
your how is your family different
because you have this Sora
someone who is so willing through my
synapse foreign
I think it's in the blood it's in the
genes I think we all have it 200. and
you know
it says in the mission of the fromsara
Agra you have to know that when you are
moisteneration you dig deep Hashem is
going to reward you
and he's going to reward you with
rewards that are eternity
and that's an oil but also on this world
because look at my my great grandmother
what she has to show for herself so many
cloth I mean she's she's uh says that
the ancestors come down by every two
weeks she's putting her address shopping
Hashem and so on and she had some
relatives her her brother said to her
like you know when he was old what did I
do when why did I throw away my Shabbos
look at your family look at my family
and look what you have to show for
yourself so definitely I think that's a
clown that you see that when someone
really goes the extra mile and so on so
then it the payers and Peter payers are
forever and I'm internal personally and
everyone in my family
originally grateful that great
grandmother if not for her mysterious
nephish so we would we you know I
wouldn't have I wouldn't know what it
means nobody really learns I mean but I
learned with common by approval fine we
were absolutely I would have missed that
on that gun either yeah that's
interesting what's interesting is that I
think that many times we assume that the
results that Hashem will or won't give
us
is based on the timeline that we have in
our head
and I think when you look back at
stories stories of not to with the
dollar fifty and the stories of we're
just
all the people that have been moisture
in Africa call Israel
Hashem has a timeline
and they don't see it right away like
could she have possibly seen the nachos
that she's getting today when she did it
five years later Ten Years Later
and I think what happens to us is that
we don't fully appreciate that the
kurdishbraham's timeline is different
than ours but when you do something for
Hashem
he's good for it like you can Bank on
the average there like he'll he'll
deliver it may not be when you're ready
for it but if you just give him a little
bit like you'll make back the investment
and then
because I'll say the letters are next to
each other
so something that's not true truthful is
like narrow focused but olive is the
first light of the olive base mem is the
middle stuff is the final letter when
you do something with truth then it will
stand the test of time beautiful it's
the greatest I think there's another
little thing that we can add that his
great-grandfather Mayes feet Tito when
he came home from Shabbat Sam Albany
they would sing a special song
and that's really that's really the
point over here he he kept Shabbos and
killed his remaining to have such a
beautiful family what was it what was
the significance of that niggan that in
the family it was something that the uh
I think when my father sank it he sang
it with such enthusiasm with such
passion and you know
he was thinking about his ancestors
growing up in America that yes Michelle
was killing he said it with such feeling
that you know only someone that had
mysteriousness for Shabbos could
understand that this is really amazing
yeah amazing but Jess I want to thank
you for joining us here joining us yeah
and thank you I know but I think the
people that are watching this it's part
of this message also Charlie which is
you know anyone would take the dollar
fifty deal now yeah but it's then when
the opportunity came up and he's saying
it's like at what level of a serious
damage is you know they don't have the
usherency across the street people made
sacrifices that only much later are
really you know coming to fruition but
it's take the deal when you when you
have the deal so you know when you have
that ability to so I want to thank you
for for joining and sharing this year
thank you for having us and uh it should
be as close my great grandmother
essentially her name is
I want to continue with you because I
know that you know in in you touched on
the story of representative in
but tell us you know there was a story
that you came across that it is really
appropriate for today's message that
we're speaking about tell us a little
bit about that story
well as I was doing I told you I do
research and uh one of the things you do
is you Google and I was Googling yes
a small story came up from the New York
Times in 1930 saying that the Yeshiva
Islamic is going to close down
I didn't know about this but listen
another 20 years afterwards why was it
closing down even when it closed down it
was just because it didn't really close
the galiciana Jews had moved out of the
Lower East Side and Hungarian Jews moved
in so it's sort of shifted to be a
different type of Yeshua but it existed
another 20 years
what happened what happened with the
closing down do the financial
intrigued me but I didn't find the
answer
once we published the artist I left it
out of this is how long ago three three
years ago three years ago I left it out
of the article because I didn't have an
answer
well a couple of weeks later now a week
later we get an uh letter to the editor
where
um Mr liaison Cohen writes that his
great-grandfather
great great grandfather had seen an
article
um in the newspaper that is good was
going to close down in 1930 1930.
and he showed up in the Yeshiva office
he was a fish fish sailor he was a fish
Peddler and he showed up in his you know
work clothes and I guess it smelled like
fish and he walked into the office and
said how much money does Yeshiva need to
cover their shortfall so that we can it
may continue
they said two thousand dollars in those
days two thousand dollars was a year's
salary or two year salary
and he says okay I'll see you tomorrow
and they left they couldn't believe it
you know this uh fish Peddler
the next day he showed up in big day
Shoppers and his shop is clothing
and he put down two thousand dollars
probably his life savings wow he put
down the money and says the Shiva
remains open oh my gosh the reason the
reason was because he he had come from
the city abroad where shly mcclurger was
there of and his mother had been sick
and the Islamic clothing and he wanted
these Shiva that carried his name to
continue
this was a this is the leather that we
got a couple of years later I was on the
on the way on the way home from Israel
we're waiting on the line in the airport
and I get into a conversation with the
person standing behind me what's your
name well how's it going up you know and
Carmen nice to meet you one second you
wrote the story of Matthew and I wrote
the letter and we met in person well
look at that so we have we have uh
Elizabeth with us here uh here in the
show thank you very much for the other
join us so you see this article on Modia
that someone pointed out to you you came
across it I can only imagine that shot
this afternoon it must have ruined your
nap when you were so excited to see this
story but tell us about what uh the
story you read and your and your letter
back okay so I I read it myself on
Chavez I read Indian every week and I
read that story and my father Oliver
Shalom used to tell stories at every
Cinema about the family's history that
was one of the things he did they make a
difference what Simcoe was he wanted
people to hear the stories so that the
younger people and the friends of these
people would all get inspiration from
The Acts of the predecessors and so
therefore he always told one of the
stories was about the altazedi who I'm
named after and so was always struck a
chord with me and like Rabbi Carmen said
he saw it in the Jewish paper by Carmen
showed it to me in the times and it was
a big ishiva I was shocked because it
had 600 boys at the time who weren't
really paying tuition it was practically
almost everybody was free and he didn't
have any children that went to Charlotte
mcclurger he only had one daughter he
was born in the 1840s in glitziana and
he came here in the 1880s and he only
had one daughter and she was already
married and had children and he used to
teach the children to the girls he used
to teach them the alafes how they dive
in he did everything and he was active
initial but and he worked as a pet lover
the fish and when he read this he ran
right over he stopped everything and he
was on Hester Street he ran to Houston
Street and they were laughing at him and
he came the next day dressed in his big
day Shabbos like Baba lives today to do
a Mitzvah he dressed in his big day
Shabbos I have a picture if you want to
see a picture of him in this big day
Shabbos he was unbelievable this is him
at his 50th wedding anniversary wow
great great grandmother and he was worse
and that was and that was it really just
hold this up for the uh
sorry
this is uh this is the pic there's the
picture that the uh so this is Elias of
Sussman your great great grandfather
Alias assessment this is he was the one
who gave the money to keep on to keep
open uh
Yeshiva unbelievable story so talk to us
a little bit about the impact it had on
your family and and and how first of all
just let's just pause for a second we we
run through these stories sometimes
quicker than we should
this was he he was was he a rich man or
this was a mat this was a massive amount
of money for him too it was a massive
amount of money he wasn't a rich man but
he was okay but nothing you know so he
did something that was Monumental that
would shift the course
financially negatively for his life he
made a major Financial move in taking
the money that he probably saved up for
him and his wife and his kids and handed
it to the Yeshiva yes he didn't have a
boy in Yeshiva this is not right of the
year you know and he didn't he didn't
get out at the dinner like you know I'm
saying there were no dinners then it was
a this is what claudiusville needs I
have the ability to help and so I'm
going to do something that's beyond what
is normal and and here it is take it and
go like I'm not gonna get he's
unexpected no and Robert Carmen has to
be intrigued by the fact that there's a
New York Times article in 1930 that
yeshiva's closing but yet it didn't so
something must have happened and this
all comes you know back around so I sent
him the letter right away and told him
this is why it stayed open and it stayed
open for 20 years as a Yeshiva and the
Amber and Rabbi Carmen wrote about
unbelievable people that learned in the
Yeshiva and big dilemma people of great
influence on the Jewish world and then
it merged with Hassan sofa and this
Yeshiva still is in existence today and
as I think we have to add one thing you
ended off the letter tell us how you
ended off your letter about your
children so my children thank God I have
children who are all ceremy Terror
Misfits they're all observant and my my
son I have a son who's a good friend of
Charlie's who has tamiden many many
students he's an unbelievable influenced
in the world my other son has an
unbelievable influence in the Jewish
world and we all try my great my great
grandmother took over people to save
them from Kinders what kind of transport
and my grandmother only looked for her
said and they would run around my
grandmother and her sisters and that was
what they did was trusted was imbued
within the family where do you think he
got this strength from where did he get
the strength to do something like this
to to make a move like this he was very
dedicated to his shoe my mother told me
that you know she didn't know him really
that well because she died shortly after
she was born but the stories he was
always revered in the family and and the
stories about him and he was very very
dedicated to Sean in fact his children
built the iron CODIS by hand in the
Young Israel of Williamsburg many many
many many years ago and today the shore
still exists but it's a black
congregation in Williamsburg and our own
kotish with all their names is handmade
of what is in that chore the power of an
individual it's unbelievable and I can
attest that you see again you see again
what the mysteriousness does the
dividends I can attest to to to his
children like you know his son is is a
massive massive rebby with hundreds of
people that are that are inspired by him
every day and um and you see what one
person can do and how Hashem can pay
back over over generation and I I see it
all the time
do living to do something and you're
inspired to do something I had a
situation once was asking for money and
I decided because I was so inspired to
give him the money even though I didn't
think I had the money in the account and
I got my statement the exact amount of
money that I gave him was credited into
my account from some other place that I
never expected it from and you see one
right after the other in and out
it still works amazing but I also think
that people should take the idea that my
father had of telling over stories and
transmitting them that's very very
important to teach the youngin
generation
similar was the head of quality frozen
foods and a well-known Austin in um
Borough Park in Brooklyn over the years
when my daughter got engaged to his
oldest grandson and
they we made the
the simplest of my father told the story
I heard him go over to me said I am
going to adopt that at all my family's
interests and when he was Nifty or just
during covid I want you to know that
every single child grandchild spoke
about the stories he told it had an
impact and I think that's something that
we could also learn from that's amazing
thank you thank you so much Elizabeth
for joining us and for carrying on the
name of your great great grandfather and
of course the story there's so much of
the story that I think there were Carmen
wouldn't have even known about this had
you not picked up which makes the story
even more amazing and the the we always
appreciate letters to the end yes
good stuff
there are viewers that might have a
story you know that would like to reach
out to you how how is the best to reach
you this is by email B Carmen hamadi.com
phone call okay can you tell us quickly
I know that you have another story about
the basico of East New York and a few in
the two minutes we have left of the
second if you can uh this is a story I
wanted to write for many many years I I
have a column called inkwell's
chalkboards and slide rules which is
about old schools and I wanted to write
it but I couldn't find the information I
was working on a completely different
article about the Spiegel family I
called rabbits and Khan who's the
principal of a shackle for the sorry the
husband of Aaron Khan the Rover
in Flatbush and I asked Rebecca her
grandfather and in the middle of the
story she says well you know that the
Romanus Mandel's mother started a school
in Brownsville in the 1930s the first
base Act of type school in America and
my grandfather helped uh you know push
and my my mother was from the first
students and she told me that her mother
was in the nursing home and her mama had
come to visit a relative and I was
visiting my mother and my mother told
the story of how the school started to
romance Mandel and he had not known
about it and that school existed for
many years in Brownsville and eventually
it we found out it morphed into base
yakova Brownsville which was run by Maya
Levy and today's special Jeremiah is a
grandchild of that original School
amazing well these are these are the
stories I want to thank you thank you as
well this is
because this was just shed so much light
not only of the of the Messiah and the
Mysterious neighbors but I think our
messages you saw people that got up and
did and the dividends paid itself out so
much later we've all taken that deal but
they actually did it I want to thank you
for joining us just along you know to
get to the next segment we had the the
real uh amazing honor of interviewing a
boy at the project inspired oh yeah this
year who came up with an idea before we
get to that clip I want to just sort of
stop for a second and just digest for a
second with you about just how much we
are learning about individuals that are
going through what would be the crisis
of their life
at a certain generation it was keeping
Shabbos or not having food today people
have different stuff going on in their
lives it's gonna look different it's a
different packaging but it's the same
concept
and just how much
what we're seeing here I want people
that are listening to sort of digest
this which is
when you're going through a crisis of
faith in which you you put Hashem at the
front end of your work
and you take a stand for Hashem that may
not be popular I am sure it was not
popular
to
especially in the family that we said
earlier to
schlepto Albany and come back keep
Shabbos to take the money and give it to
the Yeshiva to sell shoelaces to move to
Memphis to move to many these are all
stories that we're putting together of
individuals who at the time did
something that was unpopular to the to
the people around them but right for
Hashem
and now we get the benefit of seeing the
impact like everyone's like wow had I
bought a building in 1942 now I'd be
okay right but at the time when no one
had any money in the buildings in
Manhattan were going down the door like
but once you get one cycle investment
cycle and you see that when you buy
buildings and growing communities
they'll usually appreciate
the next level of investors say I got to
buy the building
and I think what I'm taking from here
and I hope if you're home right now and
you're almost at the place where you're
looking at that clock we're almost at
the the goal line so we have a few
minutes left before the bagel changes
the way we see the world
is that
when you are going through something
where you put Hashem in front of you and
it's not popular or not easy and you
choose Hashem
and you choose Yiddish kite
what I'm learning here what I hope
you're taking is
hashem's good for it like you could Bank
on the Ramona's home and he'll pay you
in ways you can't believe you mysterious
you never lose
maybe for the next 10 minutes you'll
lose maybe for the next year you'll lose
but look at the Sierra look at the
profits and the dividends that we are
seeing today and so when we go through
our version of it
we got to take that lesson from them
amazing and we're seeing this like you
know non-step that is the message we had
the an amazing interview with a boy yeah
everyone here might remember it was a
great famous turbo that's video of the
boy who had a deal with this teacher
that if he got 100 on this test the
teacher would put on fillings that's
great and and the story you know it went
around like wildfire we had the ability
to sit and talk a little bit let's see
let's take a look
I appreciate you coming out tonight to
be with her I I want to ask you a
question I think I don't think I think
my race of hands you know 80 percent of
the room had seen that video everyone
what I want to know from you is
what impact did that have on you
watching his words his response what
impact did that have on you
so
One One impact that I had on me is that
I realized that you could just be a
young boy you don't have to be a big
hero professional you don't have to be
experienced you could just be a simple
young boy or simple person to be able to
make about chuva another thing I
realized was is that you have to keep on
trying I went over to Mr Burger in the
beginning of the year and he just
brushed me off
told me stop trying to waste class time
just
he just kept on pushing it off until
finally after I kept on trying and
persisting he finally agreed
that's great
did you ever think that when you had him
put on to film that at the end of it he
would feel that you you he did you did
him the favor
yes sure you know it
that's what it's all about determination
and knowing that what you have is
greater than anything in the world
did you know a kid named Akiba outshall
do you know him
no
okay well check out this video I'll show
you a little bit about who Akiva outral
is
[Music]
is a boy who saw what you did
and he was inspired by you so what he
did was he went to his teacher
and he got his teacher to put on his
villain
I think he got a 45 on the test though
yeah the whole deal has changed now you
get 80s to put on philantharvidas
apparently
how does that feel that you did
something and now Not only was there the
impact on the recipient but Collinsville
is saying hey wait a second how come he
gets to do this stuff and it's inspired
to go and now there's probably a million
teachers in Brooklyn putting on film
right now that's for sure the waiters
are all putting on filling after they
found out about this but how does that
feel
so what really I got inspired by is that
my neighbor came over to me and he told
me that his teacher is not from and they
tried convincing him throughout the year
and they got him to put on fill in once
yeah I think that we see Mitzvah
Guerrero Mitzvah meaning you started
with something in today's day and age if
everybody here saw the film so did they
so did students who have this idea and
amits Hashem not only will people you
know teachers I think that you know come
they're going to come to school to teach
in termidas I think what's feeling
already on you know so they don't have
to go through this whole process
intervidas if you're in the secular
department Forget About You got to put
on film that's the rule right it's a
better hope than having someone get 100
on the test that's for sure you know but
really yeah I
am honored to have you with us here
today because I think that the message
that you just spoke about and what you
did is something that radiates in this
room through the entire Shabbos everyone
here and I think that the rest of the
world has a tremendous amount to learn
from you so thank you keep it up
and now okay and this is I guess the
same thing we're seeing again and again
but
you know when you see it in a a young
boy you know when you when you see the
stories of people that lived in the
1800s in the 1900s in there living with
the world of mysterious nafish it's one
thing when you see a young boy in 2024
who's in a classroom in Brooklyn saying
hey I have to fill in here's a Jew it's
not going to get comfortable but I want
to put on fill in
and that one boy calls another boy
another boy another boy another boy it's
an amazing thing
your one decision to stand for Hashem
take a highest is not only impacting the
person that you're helping or the mitzer
that you're doing
it's impacting everyone around you
speaking about impacting I have with me
um a good friend of me personally of the
show of this organization or ryoni
zakotinski's with us I should be here
Charlie he is the director of Brook of
project inspires at Brooklyn branch and
somebody who spends his life
inspiring teaching educating other
people Rabbi it is such an honor to have
you on the show great to see you Charlie
and uh it's a pleasure to be here
um okay say it's another year but
hopefully we're moving forward and we're
getting closer to the mashiach getting
closer to Gula absolutely and uh who do
you have with you you have a guess that
you can I have a special guest with me
I'd like to introduce him I will tell
you a little bit about Brooklyn project
Inspire that is so many stories so many
stories of people that have been
inspired have grown have taken
responsibility have taken leadership
roles have changed their lives changed
their family lives and one of those
individuals my very dear friends and I
call him I did nepesh my partner my
partner helps me so much olexievsky and
Oleg is an individual who never ever
says no and anytime I I say to him
listen oh look we have to have a program
we're bringing out the guys how can we
do it Etc he steps up to the plate and
he's just remarkable and I'd like to
introduce Alexis oh like welcome to the
show thank you very much it's a huge
pleasure I'm a big fan get to see you
speak very often and uh you know to be
this in person this is something very
special to me thank you you know we're
discussing here um Oleg unioni and uh
you know the project inspire you know
just some of the audience is you know
tuning in for the first time we have a
lot of new uh you know new traffic here
in in general what does it mean to be
the director of project inspired
Brooklyn right projects by Brooklyn you
know it is a hub of from jewelry we know
that but but yet you uncovered something
else so let me just uh speak for a
moment there's obviously a hub like you
said of religion Orthodox from people
who live where they're in Borough Park
Flatbush Midwood Mill Basin they live in
Marine Park however
if you scratch the surface a little bit
there are so many
non-affiliated Jews living in our area
and predominantly living in the areas of
let's say Brighton Beach Sheepshead Bay
Manhattan Beach Flatbush Marine Park
Mill Basin Etc that they and I want to
say there they could be Israeli they
could be American and there is a large
large segment of you know Jews who came
originally from the Soviet Union and
their parents brought them here and what
we're really what we're really battling
is and I'm being very public about it
and open about is that there's a
percentage of them that have chosen to
send their children you have children
chosen to send the children to Yeshiva
Etc however and given the Jewish
Education but there's a large segment of
these individuals who've decided no I
want my kid to have a public school
education a private school education and
the question is what's going to happen
to that next generation and that's what
we're dealing with that's what Oleg and
I deal with on a constant basis and
that's a project inspiring it's funny is
what what it's almost the same story
from last generation it's the same story
in every generation right right
individuals it's the same cycle of what
took place in Memphis when from not to
Greenville opened up his day school like
it's every generation you've got the
story of do you give your kids the
education to allow them to continue on
you know yeah oh like I mean tell us
your your involvement your story is sort
of like you know where where you got
involved in furthering your connection
to Yiddish kite and more importantly
spreading that to people that you meet
um so my background is I came to to the
country in 96 and then I went to a
school called Sinai Academy
uh well I came in H2 I came went to
school called sign Academy and you know
it gives you that initial sort of you
know startup knowledge that you need to
progress then I went on to college and I
became investment banker then for the
next you know 15 years of my life I
basically spent it in the office day in
day out you know never leaving
uh one of the things that I sort of
picked up on the way is as my wife and I
were becoming more and more religious
and we're spending a lot more time in
the community
we were sort of secluded by who we are
right it's it's very interesting that
you know once you become religious and
you you have slightly different of a
descent versus anybody else in your show
you feel like you're completely
different poll work and um
when I was introduced to project inspire
all of a sudden I saw something else
something completely different right
where not only is it all welcoming all
very friendly and everything is done to
incorporate everybody in
and one of the most beautiful things is
that not does it only work for the
people who are already religious but
also works even better for the people
who have
no religion in their lives at all right
so majority of the people who are we
connected who we deal with who we
constantly try to have Outreach with is
you know their professionals they're
very comfortable with their lives but
they're okay living the way they are
they are missing one big thing they're
missing God in their lives and a lot of
them try to have it but they have it on
their own level but what project Inspire
does is it shows them the way
to connect to Garden at the same time
feel totally okay with it not feel like
somebody's pushing it over you not
somebody's hammering on your head but
they making this completely available
and in the friendliest way possible you
know you know like as he's saying it you
know I'm thinking especially you know
from the only standpoint is that you
know how much has to do with the fact
that it's coming from an angle of
peer-to-peer a friend to friend as
opposed to you know I gotta listen to
this Rabbi now where I have to listen to
this you know trained person who has his
speech to give me how much is due to
that interaction I think it's 100 right
because you speak to anybody who ever
went on the trip Whoever has been
associated with project Inspire and you
asked him about the only and they talk
about hearing like a best friend right
usually you never refer to whatever as
your best friend at least you know in my
background and most people who come from
a less of a connection you know they're
not they're not referring to the rabbi
is the guy who bores me on Yom Kippur
yeah and the guy who runs out you and
I'm not doing it not your best friend
exactly but in here like you you would
be it would be having drinks for the
friend and then all of a sudden oh you
know I need to call you on it why I I
need to come back to him on something
talk about a little bit about taking
responsibility to encourage other Jews
to get involved
um absolutely so
the way I got involved with project
Inspire I went on an Israeli trip and
you know this this is something that is
you know changes your mind changes you
you changes everything on it but there's
one thing that when you leave this trip
they ask you what what do you want to
take with yourself
and when you only asked me that question
I I said that you know what
I was very lucky to see this but how
many more people who are not so lucky to
be exposed to this so let me try to sort
of bring other people on board and to
have them to have that type of exposure
so it started with you know basically
trying to speak to your friends friends
that you know like you know
acquaintances or whatever else ask them
you know what are you doing in two
months from now
right and you try to bring them on on a
trip and then before that you say hey
how about this you know what Friday
night just come over just few drinks you
don't have to do anything I it doesn't
matter to me how you get to my house
just get to my house and then whatever
we'll figure out afterwards and slowly
but surely it starts evolving and
evolving and evolving and then once you
get them on the trip all of a sudden
they bring their own friends and before
they bring their own friends they start
asking a question you know I see you put
on Film on the trip
how do I go about getting one okay we
will help you get one great how do I go
about praying because they have never
been exposed to prayer right what you
know how do you say smart like what are
the blessings and these questions
constantly keep on coming up and some of
the funny stories that we had was during
covert time where one of our guys who
went with us on the trip he ended up
getting it filled right afterwards uh
well not right afterwards like few
months later and there was covered time
and you're not allowed to go from one
house to another and so he calls me up
he's like how do I put on a feeling I'm
like okay let's get this one going and
then on the zoom as um you know I'm
trying to tell him okay this is how you
wrap it and he keeps on putting his hand
against the camera and like I can't see
it you know move back okay stop right
there this is perfect okay good now on
your head and fine and then you see him
a year after everything sort of you know
came down and he comes over to you and
you understand he's putting on the
talent and you're like well this is
slightly over he's like this is what you
told me to do I'm like okay let me just
correct it in person the camera was uh
yeah
you know but yeah you only if I if I
could just inject it for you know old
lady is describing not only you as a
person who you know is knowledgeable has
years and years of experience in this
but it's also become best friends with
this community in Brooklyn what does it
mean to you to have someone like Oleg
who comes back from a trip and says to
himself
you know I'm gonna answer the call I'm
gonna answer the call because you only
can't do this himself I have to get
involved I have to be a leader I have to
be his partner and again and get you
know so many more people involved oh I'm
blessed with the tap Partners like this
I mean I just want to say there's not
enough if if every person would take a
Christ responsibility like olexievsky
and the many other guys who have stepped
up to the plate and they become the
leaders that's the biggest blessing the
biggest Knockouts that I could have and
the organization could have because
that's the the message of the
organization that they to build a team
to build a a a a a a a group of
responsible we all could give up you
know an olive Teach an olive you know
bathe teacher bass and I speak to
everybody out there who's listening to
the show you have an Accra is a
responsibility you've been giving Hashem
is going to mon you at the end of your
life and saying you knew this guy he's
living next door your cousin your
relative your co-worker what did you do
to bring him closer you have to be a
leader and step up to the plate then
thank you
really is really done oh like do you try
to reach out to people that they should
become the leaders as well and pass on
the message that you received well
absolutely I mean I think the only
statement of you know you know an Isle
of teaching Olive
it's it's something very special to me
because I see it with my own eyes where
the guys who you literally Teach an
olive all of a sudden you see them
sitting somewhere else and they teaching
that out to somebody else so that you
know one thing is saying it and second
thing is seeing it when you want is and
this is remarkable right
um we were at an event you know just
want to close up here but
we had an event the other night you know
but Ralph herskis has it he said
something which I thought was so he said
you know I've been I I do a lot with
students and I and I watch growth and I
watch students you know take this on
take that on but to watch married men
who are professionals whose kids are now
going to Yeshiva and and whose families
are now taking issues it's really well
and a lot of those dude you only the
credit your credit but also there's so
many from people in Brooklyn who have
stepped up and said I want to join where
you're whenever you're doing Yoni I want
to do it twice you know and and
therefore the therefore the old legs of
the world able to step up and you know
that that versus really you know
turned into such something so special
right thank you you know amazing
um Charlie I I think this is you know a
little bit in line with what we're
discussing because you know
only describes answering the call of the
only after a trip to Israel we won't get
the opportunity to answer calls the
question is you know what do we you know
and do we take the deal when the deal
comes you know I know for sure that's
exactly right when we're seeing the same
theme play out in each of these
interviews
um the the opportunity in order for us
to see what's in front of us
and take what's in front of us to use it
to the best way for Hashem and then not
to worry about what's going to happen
next and how it works out and you're
seeing it here learn a little bit teach
whoever you can teach take it to the
next level Etc and I think that's
something that's amazing our our final
guest is a incredible story as well his
name is from Friedman he's influenced
Solomon and he also he authored this
book called living kirish Hashem a guy
to Mitzvah and mission of kirish Hashem
that was published by art school masora
and the Hebrew safer
which is a comprehensive work on the
hashkafas of kirish Hashem all right
Friedman has made spreading kids Hashem
awareness his life goal and he's often
he's authored a bi-weekly column
for several years and developed an
extensive living kirish Hashem
curriculum
this is an incredible guest
um and uh I think he's on Zoom right
let's let's bring in every Freeman yeah
Freeman are you with us
yes it's supposed to be here thank you
and you're you're currently in
currently in Baltimore Baltimore I heard
of it is that near London on the LL map
it's South it's South it's in between
New York and Florida that's right that's
all yeah it's close to Florida how are
you Robbie Friedman thank you thank you
for joining us wow thank you Rabbi tell
us about how you get started with this
give us the the the quick version of how
you ended up where you are with kidish
Hashem well it started 25 years ago
really in Lakewood BMG
and it started from a series of
schmoozin that revmont Cecil Salomon
gave and he said it was really one piece
but he gave a series on it which really
it blew my mind I went to the mainstream
yeshivas and somehow
I missed this he said over that says
the main purpose by Akash baraku gave us
all of tiramisus
that's the tacos of everything and
really it blew my mind somehow I missed
I know mitzvah
but to understand as the purpose of all
Mitzvahs all mistress teller are tools
in being a college student she might
somehow I missed it and that's where it
really where it started
amazing and and what had what have you
seen since then how when you're teaching
this curriculum to other people
what is the impact that because it's
incredible just to hear it
what is the impact that you are watching
it have on what we'd call regular people
so I I studied it for for a number of
years because it just was my
mind-boggling the whole concept and then
I was a revenue Shiva in Denver for 13
years
and I taught her to the bathroom
and I saw the the bahram how it it made
a paradigm shift it was it was it was
life-changing they there's a certain
Shameless a certain connection between
between
that came about that Sam
then we need to take it outside of Seoul
outside the base magic wherever we go
it's it's relevant it's relevant in the
business world it's relevant when we're
shopping when we're driving the way we
dress The Way We Walk the way we talk
every interaction and I saw this this
sense of responsibility
and the sense of mission of purpose in
in every every poker every every simple
Jew
that they that their leaders were Allah
and that impact was was remarkable and
and I started hearing it from others who
learned through the marmakaimus went
through the sources and really had this
little
mindset shift
that it's about people that's what we're
all doing right yeah you know Robbie
Friedman we're we're listening to this I
know I know I know and saw the book
um but as an organization
you're stepping up to do something you
know that's big and it's going to
hopefully have you know widespread
messaging and people are going to get
involved you know did you ever think to
yourself or you know like many you know
who we've interviewed today like you
know can I really do this should I
really do this you know what gives me
the the confidence to stand up and say
I'm gonna do this because I'm gonna pass
this message along and I'm Gonna Change
Claudius throw through it
um I I didn't I didn't feel like I had
it in me to to be a leader to to to
start our organization I tried to pass
it on to a bunch of different
organizations over the years everyone's
being a kind of changed mine in
different ways but to create this
mission statement for Claudia Israel
who could do this let's get it out there
then then I went to kedolam maybe maybe
maybe bigger people will take you know
talented more talented people more
charismatic people will take it and run
with it and and everyone was helpful
everyone was very very helpful but
people told me straga you're gonna have
to you're gonna have to just if you have
the passion you got to do it you just
gotta do it and I saw that there was
there was such a need because you know I
saw it for myself that it changed my
life
and I saw that that there are many that
that are not seeing the bigger picture
they're not seeing the goal where where
are we all headed and we're sometimes
getting lost in that Forest right
amongst the trees
and so that's what really motivated me
and then I saw the the impact of it that
when this
is really ingrained
how simple people and with doing Simple
Things
changed the people around them changed
the communities around them I'll tell
you one one example
in utrement Montreal
who was very concerned about the the
conflict in the neighborhood between the
growing Jewish community and the and the
non-jews and he was very concerned about
it and he was reading ankitis Hashem he
was learning the topic and it made a
tremendous difference for him and he
realized that he could do simple things
he could start communicating with his
neighbors just he would put out of
Flyers to his neighbors letting them
know that what what's going on on the
streets the bonfire what's happening
when is it going to start when it's
going to when it's going to end what are
the festivities about
and and the response that he got was
remarkable since the neighbors were
still taken by it these are there's our
first time hearing and our first time
feeling respected
and hearing about your culture
and and they actually the the non-jews
started their own blog
to help this is
and create a mutual respect and just
just communicating about what's
happening on sukkas what's Happening
Pisa what's all the Huts about it
doesn't look so nice for the community
the zoning and the passing and so on and
so forth and the simple
good-hearted yid I made a tremendous
impact on this growing explosive Jewish
community and it's and every single
person could do that in their backyard
it's very very so simple amazing amazing
and I'm seeing here living condition
hashem.org I'm encouraging all of
everyone who whether you heard about
this before did not hear about before
join the living Kingdom shashem
organization slash movement get involved
living Killers hashem.org Freeman thank
you so much and both of them I don't
know if you're up to uh you know
Congress cake and orange juice yet but
thank you very much for joining us on
this Tish above them for being an
inspiration I got to give you new stuff
carbs man thanks too much thank you very
much for the opportunity sure thank you
Rabbi and continue being a kidish Hashem
to all of us and we should be social to
learn from what you're doing
this is it I mean another Tish above
hopefully this will be the last
um and tell me just a second of of what
you took from this whole show you know I
I think that that uh what I took most
from the show was really way in the
beginning of this it feels like five
hours ago oh and on one hand it also
feels like 20 minutes ago you know he
said that from the standpoint of not the
film which if you've seen it you know
the extra mile the projectinspire.com
it was he differentiated between
treating somebody you know like a
brother and a sister and as a brother
and a sister I'm like when it comes to
like a brother and sister there's been
involved and I think that ultimately
what drives people to make a difference
not only in their their own connection
to other Jews but in their obviously
through overall there has to be you know
that's something we have to work on
making them we're going from like a
brother to as a brother and a sister
um and as a child and someone you have
responsibility for and I think that's
what this really this really showed in
that people stepping up doing things not
knowing how they were going to do it or
how it was going to happen and reaping
the fruits after it all I totally agree
and thank you for an incredible show and
I guess just to wrap up I mean at first
I want to thank everybody Sampson
um an individual who exemplifies this
whole so much of project Inspire is from
the vision of this individual and Robert
Rabbi has always been
um leading this and and someone who we
can look to as an example of someone who
thinks step people like brothers and not
not just like a brother
um I guess I want to end with this the
following thought if I can
um you know there's a great series
and I'll read it in Hebrew and I'll
translate it when this will end
this whole show had one theme to it and
I hope that throughout the whole show
that theme was clear which is the theme
of acharyas you can't until you do if
you feel like you can't you could be
right because the way Hashem works it is
you don't ask if I can or I can you ask
if I should and if you do then you get
the strength you didn't have earlier
if not since fee says the following I'll
read it in Hebrew and I'll translate
when this I'll end
it permeates the innerness of the man
and the woman
every part of your being
every part of who me and you are is a
Christ
you can't step up and sell shoelaces
until you need to sell shoelaces you
can't find in your heart to build
schools until you have to so you have to
give the money till you move to Memphis
all the stores we're talking about are
regular people that were put in great
scenarios and the scenarios made them
great
Ness if you take a Christ on you become
a higher person
royalty Jewish royalty is not measured
by status or wealth or popularity
choose royalty is measured by acharyas
the princes and the princesses of our
people get on the floor with Claudia
Israel teach
help give
they're presented with challenges and
they look at that challenge and say if
Hashem brought me to it Hashem will
bring me through it
and if me and you this year can take on
five percent more cries in our lives for
the Jewish people can you imagine what
are people going to look like
maybe just maybe
this Tish above by becoming people that
carry vashem's light
by taking a Christ or bringing more
light into the world
we can do our part to dispel the
darkness
so that next to shabbat we can be doing
this show but the backdrop of the base
of English may be built in our days