No KIRUV Work Goes To Waste

1:40And that's how they started. What are you doing? Oh, where are you from? Okay, why don't you come to Yeshiva? Come along with us. Okay, you want lunch? Okay, you want a place to stay? Yeah, okay. Six months later, he becomes a tzadik. And they do it. And Baruch Hashem, they do it successfully. Now, in their early days, they would have to go look for people. One day, one of the rabbis over there, who's not mentioned by name, they just give the initials Mem Samech, or Mem Shin. M-S. went down to the curtain and he saw a young guy. "What's your name? What's your name?" "Yeah." "Listen, what do you do?" "Well, I go to university, one of the top Ivy League schools in America. Smart kid. You want to come learn with us a little bit, see how good your brain is?" "Sure, why not?" Goes upstairs. Starts learning with them. Before you know it, six months later, he's still learning with them. Six months later, this rav is sitting with them every single day for six months. Six months of investment into a complete stranger, learning with them. The kid doesn't know anything from day one—nothing. After six months, he knows a few things. After six months, the kid says, "Okay, listen, Rabbi, I gotta go." "Where are you going?" "I gotta go back home in America."

3:02No, come on, you got to stay. No, no, no, listen, my parents are calling me. I got to go. You know, I got to go. Who are your parents? Six months you're learning, and you never asked him about his parents. Who cares about your parents? We're learning Torah right now. Oh, my parents, oh, my parents. Well, I find out he's a Christian. The kid's Christian. He's not a Jew. The Rabbi doesn't know what hole to dig himself into. He says, for six months I invested my life teaching a guy who doesn't have to learn Torah at all. Okay, teach him maybe to convert. If he wants to convert, he asks him, do you want to convert? He goes, no, Rabbi, I don't want to convert. It's too hard. I'm going to be a Noahide. Definitely abandon falsianity. I know for sure it's complete nonsense. I'll be a Noahide, but I can't convert. It's too much for me. What do I know? If I say this, then the rabbi says that, and the rabbi... I can never do it. I can never. But I'll be a Noahide. I can't force the guy to convert. But the rabbi says, how could it be? How could HaKadosh Baruch Hu do this to me? Like, what happened? For six months, I was waiting. Give me a Jew at least. Give me a Jew. I'll teach him. Even if he leaves, at least he would have learned Torah. He's obligated to learn Torah. The rabbi cried over this. He didn't know what happened. What did I do wrong? Maybe I made a sin. Maybe Hashem doesn't want my Torah. Maybe this, maybe that. He doesn't know what happened. But life goes on. Ten years later.

4:24Ten years later, one day, a young kid comes to the yeshiva. "Hello, yeah, I'm here and I want to learn Torah." "Oh yeah, you want to learn Torah? Who are you?" "I'm such and such." "Okay, sure, have a seat." An American kid, wants to learn. "Have a seat, start learning." Minutes later, a young man approached and greeted, "Hello, how are you?" Curious, he asked, "Do you guys learn Torah here?" The response was affirmative, and he inquired, "Can I learn too?" "Sure, where are you from?" was the welcoming reply. "America," he answered. "Okay, have a seat." A couple of days later, another group approached with a similar request. "Hello, yeah, we're here," they began. "Can we learn Torah with you?" The question came, "Who are you?" and they replied, "We're from the university such and such." This became a recurring theme for a couple of weeks, as new students kept arriving. At one point, after they have a whole group of American kids, the rabbi comes to them. He says, who are you? How do you know, how did you find out about this yeshiva? We don't advertise; we have no budget for advertising. We don't advertise. How did you even hear about us? Usually, we go and find kids in the court; we find them. How did you find us? Oh, that's easy. Rabbi, that's our professor. Who? Who's your professor? Oh, Professor such and such.

5:49you have his phone number? Yeah, call him. They call him, "Hi, Professor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you Jewish?" "No, no, I'm not Jewish." "So, can you do us a favor and explain to us why are all your kids..." My class in my yeshiva over here, because, oh, that's easy. I learned with the rabbi 10 years ago, and I realized that's where the emet is. Now, anytime I'm a professor at an Ivy League university, anytime I have a lot of students, anytime I see a Jewish kid who is smart, I tell him, "What are you doing in the school?" What are you doing here? This is a school for goyim. You have your truth. You have the highest level of chochmah, the highest level of wisdom inside your book. He goes, "Professor, you're an Ivy League professor. You're telling me there's something else somewhere else?" He goes, "Yes. Go over there today, to yeshiva. Not only are they going to teach you wisdom, but they'll teach you how to be a decent human being too." showing us that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will never, ever take your hard-earned work for the sake of kiruv and waste it. Sometimes it pays off 10 years later, sometimes it pays off 10 minutes later.

7:01But nonetheless, a piece. where you'll also have new features where you're able to use the app while using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the shiurim directly from the app. You'll be able to donate online and support our kehillah and the Torah work that we're doing. And the most exciting feature is that you'll be able to actually ask questions directly on the app and get answers from the rabbis directly from the app. This is something unprecedented, and Baruch Hashem, we will be able to offer it. Thank you again for all of your support. Check it out. Make sure you have the Kosher Torah that will re-energize your neshama each and every single day. Kol tuv u've'hatzlacha.