U.S. Aguda Convention 2000: Reflections
by H. B.
When an almost last-minute opportunity to participate in this
year's Aguda convention arose, I was thrilled. After all, who
wouldn't be? The prospect of joining with literally thousands
of Torah Yidden for a holiday 'retreat', addressed by leading
roshei yeshivos and rabbonim of the Torah world, can be
nothing but thrilling. All the same, I was nagged by the fear
of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event, with its
multiple locations, diverse program, and dazzling array of
guests. Would I, as a first timer, be able to get something
from the convention -- or would it be merely a relaxing
vacation with Torah balebattim in an opulent setting?
My four days at the Garden State Exhibit and Convention Center
at Somerset, New Jersey, answered all my fears. True, the event
was vast and somewhat spread out, the large numbers making
necessary the use of three local hotels, with the program often
divided between the three. True, also, that the guest list read
like a glittering 'Who's Who' of American Torah Jewry, replete
with famous educators, professionals and askonim.
But it was anything but true that, at any time, I felt lost,
confused or uninspired. From the impeccable organization and
precise planning of Agudas Yisroel, to the riveting speeches of
our Torah giants, the Convention was all that it's made out to
be -- and more! Who could not be shaken by the imploring pleas
for integrity made by both HaRav Pam and the Novominsker Rebbe?
Who could not be moved by Rav Yaakov Horowitz's request for
more mentors to help rehabilitate our many disgruntled youth
through Project Y.E.S.? Whose heart could not be warmed by the
unmistakable Hashgocho protis that led Rav Yaakov Asher
Sinclair, once a successful entertainer, on the path from
Hollywood to the Holy Land?
With the title of this year's convention, `Making a Difference,
the role of Reb Yisroel in Klal Yisroel,' one came out
not only with the clear conviction that Reb Yisroel can
make a difference, but with the determination to act upon
it.
And then there was the achdus, the renowned
achdus I'd read about in so many previous convention
reports. If I'd been inclined to feel it was overrated, I was
wrong. Whether at davening at the Convention Center or
relaxing in the dining rooms, there was a palpable feeling of
warmth, holiness and, yes, achdus. Nearly five thousand
Torah Yidden -- some famous, many unknown. Some prominent and
successful, many unsung. But all of us bound by a shared
purpose -- the urge to come together for a few days to hear
what our Torah leaders have to say, and to bask a little in
their light. Mi ke'amcho Yisroel!
Mr. H.B. is a resident of Lakewood, New Jersey.
From Hollywood to the Holy Land
by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair, Senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach
(Yerushalayim), originally from Manchester
Five years ago I was in Lod Airport in Israel. When I showed
the Customs Officer my passport, she looked at me with
sympathy, as my name was listed as John Sinclair -- not a very
Jewish name -- and my picture showed a Hollywood star looking
very self-satisfied.
"What happened?" she asked, aghast.
'Pintele Yid".
How does a high-flying singer and actor from Hollywood turn up
as a frum Yid in the Holy Land?
It was a sense of feeling empty. I tried vacations, adventure,
but the emptiness remained. One day I was reading a book about
a baal teshuvah from prewar Europe who became totally
assimilated during the Holocaust and made his way to America
after the war. Many years later, he was in the Lower East Side
and he passed a shtiebel where they needed a tenth man.
Before he knew it he found himself inside and for the first
time in 23 years he heard Kaddish. He cried and
cried!
A few days later he bought a ticket to Eretz Yisroel, where he
met Rabbi Meir Shuster at the Kosel and accepted his
invitation for Shabbos. Together they made their way down the
streets of Yerushalayim, and he knew his life was forever
changed.
This story made an enormous impression on me, eventually
leading me to a Jewish book store where I bought a Mesilas
Yeshorim with an English translation. A short while later I
was in Copenhagen filming a movie, and I met another Jewish
fellow from my home town of Manchester. We decided to go to the
local shul that Shabbos morning -- and the gabbai gave me an
aliyah. That was the first aliyah I'd had since
my bar mitzvah 23 years earlier.
One thing led to another. A few days later I got a call from my
agent back in Hollywood who informed me that I had to go to New
York City for a theater performance. The studio apartment I
rented was only two blocks from the one Orthodox shul in
the area. I went that Shabbos and the rabbi convinced me to
come during the week as well. Until then I never even knew
there was such a thing as services on the weekdays. There were
many surprises awaiting me.
Not long after that I went to Baltimore, Maryland, where I came
across an old, rundown shul. I heard a conversation
between two elderly congregants that went something like
this:
"One day I want to go to Israel" said one.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked another.
"Till its too late!" replied the first.
It set me thinking. What was I waiting for? So I packed up and
went to Ohr Somayach and I've been there ever since!
"Bederech she'odom rotze leilech, molichin oso."
Excerpts from Remarks of Eddie Betesh, Convention Chairman
It was three months before the end of the school year and I was
in the principal's office again -- for misbehavior. My mother
was summoned to the school to be told that I was going to be
expelled.
Now this was only three months before graduation and my mother
was quite desperate. For three hours she begged and cajoled,
the principal to allow me to finish -- to no avail. As we left,
the principal said to my mother with a sneer: "That Eddie of
yours will never amount to anything!"
And for the next 10 years, true to the principal's words, I
didn't. All too soon I was out of school, out of work, and
hanging out with bad friends. I fell far from the childhood
standards I was raised with.
One day I had to return to my old neighborhood and as I was
walking down Kings Highway in Brooklyn, I encountered my
family's rabbi. He greeted me warmly. That was just the
beginning. He kindly opened his home and heart and slowly
brought me back to Yiddishkeit.
Boruch Hashem my former principal turned out to be a
novi sheker and today I am able to help some of our
youth who are similar straits. Our yeshivas and schools are the
heart of Klal Yisroel. If our heart is healthy -- our
nation will be healthy!
Today Eddie Betesh is a leading askan and benefactor
of Torah causes.
The Success Story of Dallas, Texas
The National Convention discussed the topic, "The role of Reb
Yisroel in Klal Yisroel." The spiritual revolution which has
taken place in Dallas, Texas as a result of the establishment
of a kollel there was cited as an example of a few
individuals, "one Reb Yid," affecting the whole surrounding
community.
The story started when several graduates of Ner Yisroel
Yeshiva, Baltimore decided to found a kollel in this
distant, spiritual desert, hoping to affect the surrounding
Jewish population in the same way that Baltimore Jewry had been
affected by Ner Yisroel. A young talmid chochom, Rav
Yerachmiel Dov Fried, was chosen for the mission. He is known
for the important books he has put out, especially Yom Tov
Sheni Behalocho. When he was offered the position, he asked
his rov, HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l, for advice,
and was told, "In practice, not everybody is suited for such a
job, but whoever is suited, is obliged to undertake it."
He opened the kollel with another three
avreichim. Within just a few years of their arrival,
there was a noticeable change in the city. Dozens of families
started becoming religious. The number of shomrei
Shabbos in the town doubled and more. The newly observant
opened their own shul, appointing one of the
avreichim rov of the community. Another avreich
serves as rov of the Vaad Hayeshivos, and the third one as the
leader of the outreach activities. The baal teshuvah
shul has an active daf yomi shiur, as well as other
regular shiurim given by the avreichim and
chavrusas on a daily basis. The kollel maintains
regular contact with more than a thousand members of the
community, all of whom have started an observant lifestyle or
are somewhere on the way.
It should be pointed out that the kollel is unique in
that all its activities do not come at the expense of the
kollel's curriculum. There are two complete sedorim,
chaburos and a seder mussar: a kollel for all
intents and purposes, whose main aim is the clarification of
sugyos haShas. It is in this kollel that Rav
Fried is editing the third edition of his book on the laws of
ribbis. The well-known more horo'oh, HaRav Hillel
Davis has tested some of the kollel yungerman and
granted them semichah. The outreach activities only take
place in between sedorim and at night.
A member of the community received the avodas hakodesh
award given out every year at the Convention. This man was
married to a non-Jew until he drew closer to Judaism through
the influence of the local kollel. He underwent a
process of introspection, and today he is a full-fledged
chareidi Jew, running a kosher catering business.
A few months ago he was one of the organizers of a chizuk
Shabbos which took place in Dallas at the initiative of
Agudas Yisroel in America. The participants were honored by the
presence of HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky. In his sholosh
seudos speech at the Convention, Rav Fried related how, a
day before, he had travelled to Monsey to participate at the
bris of a son of a former kollel student. Amongst
the guests there were two former members of the Dallas
community who had been married to non-Jews and had now set up
families al taharas hakodesh. No one could tell their
background, since they looked like bnei Torah from
birth. Their faces shone with happiness and purity as they
talked about their children who had begun studying in
chadorim in Flatbush and Monsey.
The story of the Dallas kollel has become a symbol and
serves as a prototype for other kollelim with the same
aims. It shows how a kollel can have a major impact on
the whole environment without compromising on its main
goals.
