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