Yeshivas Ahavas Torah Campaign 2026 speech by Kesher Nafshi event by Harav Shlomo Usher Tauber

I'll share with you a story. Some of you may have heard it. I'm sorry if I repeat myself because I can't keep on making up new stories. But this is it's something very special for this place because a big part of it happened here. Actually, most of the story happened here in London. Just the story goes that I was here a few years ago and [clears throat] it was I don't know if you should say his name in in Stanford who asked me if I can come Friday night to Davin in a bismish with boys that struggle. I forgot the name of the medish. Okay. And he asked me if I I can speak to them between men and kabulas. He told me five minutes. If you go over five minutes, they'll carry you out. They'll just you'll be gone. You won't know where you are. You don't I'm telling you five minutes. Okay. I said fine. It's not easy. Believe me, it's not easy to say something in five minutes. But I figured this is Hashem once. I'll I'll try. So I came. I'm telling you it was no. They came in one after the other, all different shapes and sizes and looks. And they came in all smoking and drinking and this and all of a sudden all of a sudden one boy screamed and they all dropped their cigarettes and unbelievable and then they ded and and they were singing beautiful and then I had a chance to speak. So what are you going to say in five minutes? I'll tell you what I said in in 5 minutes, but I'm going to say it in 2 minutes. I told them that the dimna says that once a king wanted to build a castle. So very expensive stones, extremely expensive. So he brought the stones in from the other end of the world. Every stone costs a fortune. So he had the architect gave him an exact number how many bricks you need for the this castle. And this is exactly the amount of stones he brought in. They were so expensive. So they started building and they were putting one they were going up up and then there was one of the stones had a chip on it a little crack. So they didn't want to use it. But then they came to the final to the spits you know the pyramid that on that's on top of the castle. There was only one stone left to put on. So they had to take that stone that has the cracks and the the imperfections and that was put on the top. So the market says the stone that the builders I told these boys I don't know you you don't know me I'm just experiencing something I don't know what's happening in Shmayam but it's Friday night there are thousands and thousands of bricks stones coming up I don't know if our dvening here is not little pino I know we're not perfect, but Hashem knows what it means for you to do what you're just doing. Good job. We want more. We want more. There was a protest. You want more. I said, "You're going to be in trouble. We want more. Do I have a time limit?" "No, I can go on." Okay. I was hoping for that. So, I took off my stramo. I said, "Let's get to work. And I went on for a few more minutes. I didn't want to overdo it. And we finished davening. After dvening, a group of a few boys came over and there were like five or six of them and they said, "Do you mind talking to us? We have one." So we sat down. We spoke until around 2 2:30 in the morning. I missed my shabas. And but I don't regret that. It was my best sha seed in my life I think also for my diet was going into that but and I'll tell you one thing that I told them which which happened here after my father passed away he passed away so that a few weeks later I was here in London for for a week and I was ding one of the mush that I was given omit to daven and after one shakers aid comes comes over to me a blanch shel and an older person and he asked me are you by any chance a son of a dining I said yes so he's he became emotional he said can I talk to you for a minute come outside so I went outside and he started crying and I tell you I want to tell you something what happened to me with your father going back this is now almost 39 years ago but going back 32 years ago I was a A year after my I was 21 years old. I read I had a child. I'm going to use his words. I was a men. There was not a in the to that I didn't do. And it came to a point that I could not control myself. I couldn't. I was an addict. The worst of the worst. I couldn't. No one knew about this. I had one roof who I trusted and I told him my issues and he told me to go to speak to. I went to therapists. I went to babas. I tried everything. Nothing worked. And I cried every night. It's not fair what you're doing to me. I really don't want to be bad. Don't give me backum in the morning. It's not fair. I'm going to sin again. But Hashem did not listen to me. And this was going on for years. I was struggling. Then one Shabas afternoon after Shabas the roof comes. I went to say tells me for he's here for a family. Maybe you want to go over to speak to him. Maybe he can help you. So he said okay. And he found out where he was staying. our uncleik and he found him and he went over and he knocks on the door and he tells my father look my name is so and so he told him a story I did everything and then he said look I'm no longer a human being I'm I'm like I'm a dog I'm a cat I can't control myself so your father tells me look everybody tried everybody gave you instructions and it says it didn't work I don't know what I can tell you well I want to tell you one thing every country has an army right in the army that still exists today every army has many different divisions they have the the navies and the seals and this all different division they have cooks and cleaners and mechanics and all different divisions in the army every division has their own orchestra their own musical band that they play and once in a few years they do a competition where they'll get up on the stage and every division shows off their beautiful how they sing their whatever and they get a trophy. So once there was a competition going on and all the generals and the you know the prime minister of the country the president was sitting everyone was watching one after the other muridic then the last group the lowest soldiers the cleaners the janitors they're also part of the army they came on they're going to perform now and the curtain opens up and it's empty stage no one is there and the conductor stands there just one person with his stick and all of a sudden On the right side, the door opens and 20 dogs walk in and all take positions. And then on the left side, 20 cats come in. 20 dogs, 20 cats. And he goes like this. And all the dogs with their voices, every dog has a different voice. And every cat has a different meow. And they starting to sing the national anthem. The dogs and the cats were singing. And everybody went crazy. It can't be. This is magic. And they were looking. Yeah. The the dogs and the cats are singing the national anthem. The president was watching this. He said, "This can't be real." He ran off stage from his place and ran onto the stage between the cats and the dogs like touching. Is this real or am I seeing am I is this a daydream to sure that to make sure that it's real? And obviously they won. But but when it came to voting, everyone's looking for the president. Where is he? He needs to do the final vote. And then he's been the cats and the dogs. That's where he is enjoying it. My father told the senior man. You told me you feel like you're a cat. You're a dog. I can't argue with that. If this is how you feel, what I'm going to tell you if you feel that way, but I can tell you one thing. The next time you are in that dark place that you're in, when you feel the dog and the cat in you, take that moment, sing the national anthem, say while you feel so broken. Hashem is going to leave everything. He's going to listen to you. No one does that. This is a place of ye that you have with Hashem that no one else can have. You make use of the opportunity. Use it. And he told him this is the whole thing. We say we give a crown to Hashem. The all the give a crown to Hashem the really down. They also give a ker to Hashem. And where is Hashem go? The are looking for where is he? That this is where Hashem goes. There's no big enough to Hashem. When a child who is struggling in such a deep way and finds Hashem in that moment, a child who is so disconnected, a dog and a cat, he all of a sudden wants to put on film. All of a sudden wants m you all know these stories for out of the blue. That is they're finding Hashem in such a deep place that no makes no sense. And I was telling this to the boys. By the way, this thing this he that told me this story. He said then this was on Shabas afternoon when your father told me this matz shabas. I was back in that dark place. I couldn't hold it. Then all of a sudden like a flash I remembered what your father told me. I completely forgot about I was in such I was a dog and a cat again. And all of a sudden, Hashem helped me and I felt it. And I stood up and I screamed Israel. I don't know where he was, but definitely not in the medish. And he screamed Israel. And he says, "Everybody got frightened. What codes? What is he saying?" And I ran out and it was the last time I was there. That was it. It changed me. I found Hashem in a place that I've never felt before. so deep in a place of pain and I told this story Friday night to this and then we finished I went I left and I went to the vision I figured that I'll find over there I didn't have a seed so I went knows me and I told him that I got what I needed that's what I needed I had my shabas quiet and then I went back to my 11star hotel I'm sure you know about it. Today it's Park Avenue. I think used to be called Kadima. I call it 11 stars because that the only star if you look out of the window you see hopefully some stars in the message. But but any I got back to that place and I couldn't sleep. I tell you I was shaking to the core from these boys. I'm I just told you one little part what they told me. They see they're so pure and I couldn't sleep. So it was like 6:00 in the morning shams in the free. I was in the front lab. you ever knows the place. Drinking a coffee, sitting there and there's big glass doors to the street and all of a sudden I see someone sitting on the steps with his back to me. He was sitting with long hair and a couple. So I just the door is locked. So I went outside and to see who it is and I see this. It's one of the boys that I just met a few hours ago. I'm Swedish. And he was red ears. I'm sorry. red eyes and he sees me says wow I didn't expect you so early as I told him I'm going through what you're going through at the moment he came in and he told me after we finished I went with my friends we chilled I went he went but all of a sudden wherever we were I remembered what he told me that story and I did the same thing I said, I didn't scream like that person, but I said it. I took everything out of my pocket. I took everything out. I left it. I walked 45 minutes to come back. Here I am. I don't know what's going to be. He was crying and we drank coffee and went to shield. I'm still in touch with him. What a transformation. Sometimes to find ourselves so many times. Why is this relevant to us? So many times we as parents, we have to go with our children who are struggling to a place that is extremely painful, a place where we don't belong because this is the roots in Hashem. Now in order to save them,