The Power of TORAH vs. DOWN SYNDROME (Rav Haim Kachlon, David Raziel and his Tzadeket Mother)

0:28Today, I'm going to interview a smart student who completed 15 performances, a special person who helps and is loved by many. In fact, there's another story here. Why do I have to interview him? Raziel David was born with Down syndrome. Today, I'm going to meet Raziel David and his exceptional mother, Rina. They are truly rare people. Rina, can you tell me a little bit about Raziel in his childhood? Raziel, when he was little, was very sick. When he came into the world, he was very sick, and he was really ill. And by the grace of Hashem, he slowly started to change for the better.

1:46And I went with him, step by step. I took care of myself to listen to his prayers, to listen to his Torah. I took him to every place where there was a holy place. I didn't get bored, and I didn't forget anyone. I talked to him all day. Even when he was angry, I didn't talk back. All the time, all the time. What do you mean you don't hate and don't talk? At what age did he start talking? They don't talk fast. They don't talk until the age of 10. Until the age of 10? Raziel, at what age did you realize that something in you was different from what was around you? There were kids playing and all that, and you were a little behind. Right, I was a little behind. You understood that. It was hard for me. I was in a special school. I was in a special school. No, Moresh was in a special school. But still, there was a lot of fun, there was a lot of joy, and everything. He didn't take anything for granted. He would jump, he would play sports, he would do everything. Do you remember that time? Of course. In my younger days, I would practice sports, or running, or walking, or jumping. They would say things like that. The power of the Torah makes me feel good. Without the Torah, nothing is worth anything. When we learn the Torah, we understand.

3:04The power of the Torah makes me feel good. Without the Torah, nothing is worth anything. When we learn the Torah, we understand how much she has the ability to learn, and because of that, she has the strength to learn. Not for her beauty, just for learning. To go deeper and deeper, and to understand. Thank God, I have my Rebbe who lives. He teaches me, and through me is the right way. He gives me exactly what I'm learning, what I'm this and that. how much she has the ability to learn, and because of that, she has the strength to learn. Not for her beauty, just for learning. To go deeper and deeper, and to understand. And thank God, I have my Rebbe who lives. He teaches me, and through me, I follow the right path. He gives me exactly what I'm learning, what I'm doing, and what I'm becoming. You feel open. So it was a day, but when you were a child, were you still connected to the Torah? Was the special school Torah? Yes, there were prayers, there were... Yes, prayers, yes. And besides that, at home, it was always Torah. All the time, together, all the time. At what point did you realize, because look, I look at you, Down's Syndrome, I know a few people with Down's Syndrome, and they don't get close to a cognitive level and everything. When did you realize that he was on a different level?

4:17That is to say, he was much more secure. Yes. After we did the hard work, I would go once a week to Jerusalem to see a professor. I would give him all the papers and return them to him. I did a lot of work for him. That is to say, what did he do exactly? Because they don't walk well, they drop their feet, and they fall. He goes straight now; he doesn't fall. So I would, wherever there was something for his good, run. It doesn't matter where. I took him to a professor as well. He sat with him and did his exams. Thank God. We worked very hard with him, very hard. Anyone who has children like that needs to receive them like normal children. Not to show excessive mercy to them, not to treat them as if they are older than they are. And not to say that we are the ones who ask them to do what they want, but rather we encourage them toward fulfilling responsibilities. So you required from him to help in the house, to do everything, everything, to be normal, like a normal child. Everything the same, so that he would develop the love, the sincerity, the desire, yes? To grow up like a normal child. And when did you see that it started to bear fruit? That he really started to mature? It was after the age of 10. I didn't want to have a child who remained immature.

5:33Slowly, slowly, I went with him. After the age of 10, I started with him with the Torah, the prayers, and the blessings. And then, the moment he entered the Torah, the blessings, and the prayers, something changed. It's a good thing I knew. So what exactly changed? His appearance changed. His face, yes, it changed. His speech changed. I don't know if I'm speaking correctly. There were a lot of things, a lot of things. And she started to be more like an ordinary woman, talking, laughing, and all that. When I saw that, I pushed her even more, and even more, I gave her the Torah and the prayers. She was recording herself, Shir HaShirim, the general correction, and all that. Everything was fine. How did it feel to sit like this with your mother's recordings? With my mother's recordings, I'm connected to it. I love the prayers, I love everything — everything about her. She taught me to pray, and now I'm praying for her. I prayed for her. And not long ago, I had a bar mitzvah. I was praying for the mitzvot, so my parasha was in the kitchen.

6:53In the beginning, I knew how to read it by heart; I knew it by heart, and I read it in the Sefer Torah. I knew it well. There was no problem. V'etchanan el Adonai ba'eit hahi lemor: Adonai Elohim, Ata hatchilota l'harot et avdecha et godlecha v'et yadcha hachazakah asher mi Va'shamayim u'va'aretz asher ya'aseh k'ma'asecha u'ch'g'vurotecha. And the people will see how good it is that the Jordan is in this land, in Lebanon. Chazak u'Baruch. Chazak u'Baruch. Listen, he loves to express his feelings, he loves, he loves. Tell me, at the age of 13, did you become even more connected to the world of Torah and mitzvot? That's right. Only in the Torah and mitzvot that I love and connect with so much. Even a Torah book, even a new one, I connect and reconnect.

7:55Tell me, how much do you think that the Torah is what caused you to be so strict, so strict? Let me tell you something. The Torah is above all. When I teach the Torah, and I cry, it's joy. I'm happy. I cry, I change my voice, I move, I don't care who I am. Even if they slap me like that, I cry. I continue to cry, and the Torah is my joy. Why do you love the Torah so much? I love it. It's true, that's a very beautiful question. Because the Torah, we keep it inside our heads. If the Torah is so... Wisdom and strength, then you will sit as if you are learning, as if you are doing two things. You will do the joy, what is yes, what is no, what is from the wisdom, what is from the gifts, what is from the teachings. So, the Torah is above all. A Torah that is in the human life. That's why a person learns the Torah and understands it. You will have a joy of life, you know. Tell me, without the Torah, where do you think you would be? With the Torah, I can see things differently.

9:04Because I know how to learn, I'm happy. My Rabbi told me, "Baruch Hashem, I finished all of the Masechtot. Everything from him. He taught me, and I learn from him. He gives me an idea, if it's a kushiya, if it's this." In the harsh conditions, there is no recognition of the good. There will be recognition of the good. Your Rav will soon be here. Yes. Until then, I want to ask, a little after the Bar Mitzvah, your father passed away. Yes, that's right. That is, your first husband, Rina. How did you take it? When we were together, it hurt me. It's my father. It's my father. It's my father. It's the kapparah (atonement) of my parents. It's above and beyond me. Really? On top of that, I have. For a long time, I have. On Shabbat evening, when we go to eat, he sits and gives me his hands. He doesn't sit if I don't sit. He doesn't sit if I don't sit. He has kavod or something. Really, he has a good reason. He has a good reason. He has a good reason.

10:11I also understood that you took him to many tzaddikim, such as Rabbi David Abuchatzeira and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Since he was a child, in their merit, they have known him. The entire country, all the tzaddikim, all the rabbis know him. Everyone, everyone, everyone. You told me that Rabbi David even spoke about it. Yes, Rabbi David told me, why did you bring him the name Raziel? Because Raziel has laws; the name of Hashem at the end has specific halachot (laws), so add a name for him. I said, in honor of the tzaddik (righteous person), can you give me a name, add your name? He says, with great honor. So I called him David Raziel. And you still go to him, and he accepts you. I go to him all the time. He's your friend, yes. I even go to Rabbi David because of you. I don't come like that; I don't dress like that, with a bad suit. When he goes to Rabbi David, I say to him, "Now you sit here." He calls him Abba David, Father Raziel. "Sit here. Whoever comes in, you bless him, not me."

11:15Yes, Rabbi David, yes. I want to ask you for a blessing at the end. Rabbi Ovadia... Rabbi Ovadia said that when he was born, he was destined to die early. He had a very significant life. But when in Shamayim (heaven) they saw that he was going to have a family that would nurture him, guide him, and lead him on the righteous path, then they extended his life. Rabbi Ovadia told us, Rabbi David, I don't know anything. And what about Rabbi Ovadia? Also, who doesn't know Rabbi Ovadia? A tzaddik, a gadol hador. I love Rabbi Ovadia from the bottom of my heart. What do you remember the most from him, from all the times you were with him? A lot from his childhood, how he wrote a few sefarim. Reina, what do you remember from the visits to Rabbi Ovadia? He was young. He was 11 years old, and my husband first took him to the rabbi. When Rabbi Ovadia saw him, he got excited and began to sing. What was his name?

12:28and he started to sing, what was his name? more than 10 minutes until he arrived at his place, and he was dancing in front of them, and everyone heard the journalists and the photographers. He would sit with him, he would sit on the benches, and he would watch him for a long, long time. He received many blessings from all the tzaddikim, Baruch Hashem. He loves tzaddikim. He loves, he loves. Reina, why did you give yourself the strength all these years? In any case, it's not a simple struggle. Yes, I didn't bring children into the world. I didn't bring them. And so, I was dreaming. Before I brought Raziel, I had the same dream for three days. One woman came, brought me Raziel, and gave me his body, and I carried him. And the dream came back, and the dream came back, and the dream came back. Was it really Raziel's dream? Yes. And I was pushing him like this, but it was going back and forth. Suddenly, there was a friend of mine who took children to Umma. And she said, Lirin, wouldn't you like to raise a child? I said, yes, but not at an older age. If I want to raise a child, it's my way. She's a child, and I'll raise her my way.

13:52She said, "Okay, we forgot about that." One day, I found out that she was calling me. "Rina, there is a baby if you want, but he has a blood clot." I said, "Yes, he has a blood clot?" Well, I had to ask my father-in-law. We had a lot of dreams. And thanks to my brother's son, who has a blood clot. He has seven daughters and a son with a blood clot—my brother. Because of him, I was able to take him. Why exactly because of him? Because if I had taken him and he wasn't in the family, everyone would have been against me. They wouldn't have been against me. But thanks to him, they could not talk. Yes? So Baruch Hashem, everything from heaven. So we spoke with Rav Edrei. We told him, there is this and that, what are we going to do? He said, he thought, he said, all right, take him, at least save him, so he won't fall into any secular family, he will go to ruin or something. It doesn't matter. They took him. Well, what we said, we did. He went to see me. He was in a room in a masjid. There were children. They were homeless. On their faces, you could see it. Everyone showed it on their faces. Full of wounds. Full of injuries. On his head, it was obvious. It was a catastrophe. It's okay. I didn't think about all that. I said, the Rav said, I want to do a mitzvah. I didn’t have children of my own. Please. I'm still young. I have strength. I'll do a mitzvah. I went.

15:22And I saw him. Out of all these problems, we took him. We signed it. She told me, the social worker said, when he grows up, he might become worse. I said, God forbid. Leave it, it's okay. We took him and brought him home. Straight from there, we went to Meron. As soon as I brought him home, I took him to Meron. Straight to the Tzaddik. Straight to Meron. Right there, they did the Seudah, Rav Yitzhak did the Seudah. They did this, and I did everything for him. Right there. He was blessed by the Rabbis, he was blessed by the Tzaddik, and I brought him home. And since then, I received him. It was hard, I'm not saying it wasn't hard. It was very hard. It was hard, but I said, I'm going to the end; I won't go back. If I do something, it should be done properly. If not, I won't do it. And where did you get those emotions? I mean, weren't there any disappointments along the way? No, no, no. I always loved Him and took Him with me. And everywhere I went, I took Him, and I was passionate about it. Even, you know, sometimes I would laugh because of various things. It didn't bother me at all.

16:30They would talk to me. What is this? Here is Hashem. You talk to Him, and He would take you everywhere, everywhere, and you would go. Yes? Even if it was winter or summer, I didn't care. It's great that you hear this; I see that you are so... Yes, I... Be with your mother. I believe in my mother, who did everything, all year, and I am excited, and I thank Hashem. I think your Rav is alive. He's waiting outside. Let's call him.

17:33Raziel talks a lot about the Rav. Let's hear what the Rav says about Raziel. We are learning the voice of the Rav of the neighborhood. And Raziel came to us. He came to us. And he approached me, became friends with me. We got to know each other. We looked at each other's faces. We got to know each other. We treated him like one of the talmidim (students). And thank G-d, I see results that are incomprehensible. Really, truly. Every time I act anew. He told you about 15 masks. Yes, every time he says to me, I finished a masechta, I finished a masechta. What do we have? They bring there, they bring a kibud, they put on a masechta, they put on a masechta for everyone. These are things that you can't understand. More than that, let's say. Raziel has a sense of humility. For example, we have about 20-30 talmidim (disciples); he knows all of their names, whereas I do not. Every time someone comes, even out of a small group of 5 people, he knows their name personally.

18:38He said that it was a mistake. You think that's a good eye, right? Yes, exactly. What, do you see a new prospect? I immediately reached out to him. What did he choose? What is he talking about? I'm his friend. He already knows his name. So I understood that you were also after him about the... Yes, about everything. What does it say exactly? If it's a lack of coffee, if it's a lack of sleep, I'm... For example, if an Arab wants black coffee, I will make it for him. I will make it for him with emotion, with love. It's all for the Torah. I told him the other day that I will tell his mother that I can, because I asked for this egg, and I will also give it to my mother. I said to him, "Mom, I don't know how to agree with you, but you tell her that you are already old, that you will let her do it, that you will do kibbud for her." I would like to say that his abilities and the self-development that he does can really bring a lot of benefits. A few years ago, the social worker contacted me, and she was considering putting him in a special children's group. If you take him out of the classroom, you just take him out. It's not appropriate. The possibility of putting them in the classroom is the opposite. Children of this kind, once you put them in a regular classroom, you can reduce stigma. Once you put them in their classroom, you can just take them out. It's up to the student. For us, it's all about his development. Once he's in our classroom, you treat him with the respect and support he needs, fostering his growth and learning.

19:49If you take him out of the classroom, you just take him out. It's not appropriate. The possibility of putting him in the classroom is the opposite. Children of this kind, once you put them in a regular classroom, you can help them integrate. Once you put them in their classroom, you can't just take them out; it's not beneficial. It's up to the student. For us, it's all about his development. Once he's in our classroom, you treat him with the utmost care and respect, like family. Yes, he comes to sit with us. On the contrary, if, for example, he doesn't receive dapim (pages), he is hurt. What? I don't get it. What is this? Yes? He takes the first stanzas. Yes, you need this. If they are from the Mefarshim, then you see here a bunch of books, he already took them from the Mefarshim. He participates in the lessons. Really? He participates, yes, he comes, he comes. Every time he comes to me, he tells me new things about the weekly parashah. He says, I learned from this. Sometimes we learn from some halakha, and it opens up a new chapter. We learn from the Shulchan Aruch. He says, here, the Rav says this and that. He really finds himself in this issue of the Yeshiva.

20:57Most of us are really rude to them. He is part of the face of the yeshiva, just like that. The day I was there, I was feeling his shortcomings. There was a time when he was here. They ask me where Raziel is. He is part of the character of the yeshiva. So if at the yeshiva, or even at home, they would demand from you, they would say, "Okay, fine, let's ask him. To demand from us a little bit, because he's not that capable," do you think it would hurt, or is it actually promoting you, that they demand from you what everyone else is doing? I take the truth; they demand from me, but I do it out of love. It's not like one of my soldiers or something is following me. No, I do this with joy. with joy, with a good heart, doing everything they tell me to do, even at home. If she tells me what to do, I do it. In my own life, wherever I go to study, they tell me, "Raziel, we're short of cups, we're short of this, we're short of sugar, we're short of milk, we're short of this." So I do it. What's your daily routine? You wake up in the morning, what do you do? First of all, I'm at home.

22:09I do prayers, Mussar, prayers, and so on. After the time passes, I go to davening. After that, I go to davening. Sometimes I get up late or in the morning. I want to tell you something, David. Sometimes I don't get up in the morning. I get up late. But when there are prayers and so on, I have to get up in the morning. If it's in the morning, I have to get up in the morning. I don't know what happened all of a sudden. And here, he tells me to get up, to get up, to get up, to pray. And in the Koren itself, what do you actually learn? What do you like to learn the most? What do I like to learn the most? Gemara. Gemara, you study Bavli. You study Bavli. What other masechtot did you finish, for example? For example, Berachot, Kiddushin, Arayot, Arayot, and also Beitzah. And I still haven't finished. I finished the Be'itzah, but I didn't finish it. I said to myself, okay, I don't want to finish it. Only my Rav can finish it, the Be'itzah, and he will finish it. And I only have three years left to finish it. What else do you learn outside of Gemara? Halachot. Halachot of the Rav, the Rav of Shalom, Rav Ovadia.

23:37Even the Shulchan Aruch, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, all the mefarshim, the Rashba, the Rambam – everything that you need. I want to do it in a way, from the beginning to the end, to continue to study in order. Rabbi, what is the learning method? Does it completely integrate with all the... We are a group, and we are doing lessons in the context of the kollel. And then there are a lot of questions to ask each other. It's like an ordinary person from the shuk. They ask him, and he wants to know what to do with each other. He says, "Ask him." And that's what promoted him. That's what this relationship, that you are like him, is not different. That's what promoted him. Yes? As long as they behaved naturally and accepted him as a normal person, that will promote him. Not to blame them, let's say so. Everyone decided to use their ability. There are people who are strong in some areas, strengthen them, and get them.

24:47If you accept them in a normal way, you will get rid of them. If you love them, or if you think they are poor, you will get rid of them. If you want to see true joy, you have to see Rebbe Erzien at weddings. He really, really, during the wedding ceremony, he won't sit. He will stand. He won't touch his face. He won't stop recording. He won't answer questions. And all the excuses. And a recording that I don't know. He knows all the prayers, all the steps, all that. He knows all the rikudim, and the Torah, and this and that. When we study the Torah, he really, really loves the Torah. He loves the Torah, he loves the Talmidei Chachamim. He is a very, very well-known Talmid Chacham. Yes, my family, yes, a lot of it. So what kind of woman are you looking for? I have a wife like my mother.

26:11Well, I think it's rare to find something like this on such a high level. Yes, I know. A woman who will confess to Hashem that it's a blessing from Shamayim, I think it's a good thing, because Hazael is a person who loves to give. Yes? Hazael loves to give from his neshama, and he really wants to help. So ask someone who will confess to Hashem that they want to come to Eretz Yisrael together. You know what? I... We really want to help, and now there's an email below. Anyone who wants to get to know you is invited to send us an email with their details, and we will forward it to you. No problem. So maybe it will come out of the program, beyond the great and enormous sacrifices that you make, beyond this encouragement. We really hope that you will build a home and that the wealth will be here in the home. and a generation to come with the help of Hashem. Rabbi, is there something to conclude? I am very happy and blessed by this initiative. I know that you are very grateful to Rav Zalman Leib, not only for the many memories.

27:17You always come to see the successful people and to grab coupons. Here, I saw the star of this TV show or the actor of this play. And here, thank God, you go to people who, at least, think a little on this side. No, much more important than that. Oh, nice. You really see that what you're doing is for the sake of heaven. It's very strong. I ask you in the name of God that you really want to help, that you find a solution in the name of Raziel. The help of God. Raziel David, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you too. Thank you very much. It's important to recognize the value in these actions, and to focus on contributing positively. No, much more important than that. Oh, nice. You really see that what you're doing is for the sake of Heaven. It's very strong. I ask you in the name of God that you truly want to help, that you find a solution b'shem (in the name of) Raziel. With the help of God. Raziel David, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you too. Thank you very much.