Transcript
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I was once working with a young man.
He came from a very hush of a family
there. Rabonim, his mother was sadis.
His brothers and his sisters fine fine
mention
and he ran into some spiritual dilemmas
in his postbased mid years probably
around this time we're talking about
20some years old. And he began having
doubts. He began having questions. He
began having uridas falling down.
And we were very close. And I tried my
best to hold him hold him tight. But it
was going down and down and down and
down until finally I'm not sure how much
he was keeping anymore of any mitzvah at
all.
One night he calls me late at night. He
says, "Rabbi, are you home?"
I said, "Yes." He said, "I'm going to
meet you in your driveway in about a
minute. I want to tell you something."
Okay? I go outside in the car. His car
pulls up into the driveway. He jumps out
of the car and he says, "I'm done."
I said, "What? You're done with dinner?
What? What are you done with?" "I'm
done. I'm done with this religion. I'm
done with Yiddish kite. I'm done with
mitzvah. I'm done with I'm done. I'm
wiping my hands clean of everything."
He said, "I packed up my car. I'm
driving up north right now. I'm going to
go to UCSB, the University of California
of Santa Barbara. I'm going to go join a
fraternity. I'm going to live like a
I want nothing to do with this
Jewish life anymore. I'm going to go and
live the life that I want to lead."
I looked at him. You being serious?
He said, "Yeah, I'm being serious.
Look." And I look in the backseat of his
car piled with belongings, suitcases and
clothing and shoes. You name it, it's
all there.
I realize that this moment this kid is
going to drive away
into the dark night and possibly never
come back again. I began diving in my
head. I said, "Please, Hashem, tell me
what to say to him."
I opened my mouth and I said, "You're
done with everything? Everything." He
says, "Now, no mitzvah, no mitzvah."
I said, "Listen,
you know, you're such a f person. You
grew up so f such a nice family. You
can't throw everything away, can you?"
No, I'm throwing everything away.
I said, "How about one mitzvah?
You think it's possible you could just
do one mitzvah even when you're in Santa
Barbara, even when you're in the
dormitories, even when you're in the
frat, can you just keep one mitzvah?
So he thinks for a few moments
and he says, "Okay, one mitzvah. I could
keep one mitzvah.
What should I keep, Rabbi?" I began ding
to Hashem. tell me the right mitzvah.
And I looked at him and I said, "How
about fill in? Put it on, take it off.
That's it. No shama. You don't have to
dive in. Nothing. Just put them on,
take them off every day. 30 seconds. How
long will it take? Can you do that
much?"
He says, "I could do that much. I even
happened to bring my fillin with me in
the car. I'll take them.
This is a Tuesday night. It's now about
11:30 midnight. He drives off and he's
heading off to Santa.
Please help this kid.
On Wednesday night, the next night
around 11 11:30 p.m., I get a phone
call.
Yes. Everything all right? Rabbi, are
you home? Yes. Okay. I'm going to meet
you in your driveway in a few minutes.
What's going on? You're in Santa
Barbara. I'll tell you everything.
I meet him in my driveway. The car comes
pulling up. He jumps out of the car and
he says, "I can't.
I couldn't do it." I said, "You couldn't
do what?" He says, "I went there. I
wanted to throw all my Yiddish kite
away. Everything about Judaism, I was
planning to." I get to the college
campus and there's that one mitzvah that
I have to do. put on my fillin in the
morning. So I'm standing there in the
dormatory and I begin wrapping my
and as I'm putting on I'm saying the I
say to myself, who am I kidding? I'm aid
I'm a son of the
loves me. I'm going to throw it all away
because I have some questions because
I'm going through a bad time in my life.
No.
And I'm coming home. And he said, I
packed up my stuff. I came back home
right away and postcript of this story
this goes back many many many years
he came all the way back became a kush
of a member of his community he's
married with beautiful children he's a
wonderful husband a wonderful father he
has a beautiful job that provides for
him he's an ascen in his community takes
care of people stuck
all because when a Jew remembers who
they are and they see the essence I'm
elim I'm a child of the Hashem did not
forget about me I'm not going to forget
about Hashem
it's only natural that a person wants to
come They
