There are a lot of ways people can get inspired or inspire others. Regarding Torah learning, it usually involves seeing unusual dedication to the cause. Here is a story, firsthand, that just happened, that I think is more inspiring than many of the standard-fare stories of yeshiva guys learning through the night or early mornings or x hours per day...

Here goes.

background:
a bunch of guys work all day long, each in his own job, on his schedule. some longer hours, some shorter hours. Some work in more physical labor type jobs, some sit at a desk and do what they do. Every single day, with no breaks - no bein hazmanim at all, just about 365 days a year (or 354 on the Hebrew calendar), these guys get together to learn. They have finished Shas together, finished Shulchan Aruch together. Tremendous dedication over a long time, to learn at night, just for an hour to an hour and a half, after an exhausting day. day in, day out. no breaks. Literally. While all other shiurim take vacations, this shiur does not. While other rabbonim go away for x amount of time and put the shiur on hold, this shiur does not - if the maggid shiur has to go away, a substitute is found.

story:
the shiur is now undergoing some changes. Some major topics were just finished, and a new major project is going to be taken on by the shiur. To plan it properly, the maggid shiur decided to take some time off, just a couple of weeks. The shiur, for the first time in about 15 years, would go on a short vacation, in order to plan the next stage properly.

Before the vacation even began, these exhausted middle-aged men, who should have been excited to get a little time off, time that could be spent with family, going out at night with the wife, doing other things, checking out another shiur or a speaker on an interesting topic, or just resting, approached someone and said they would like him to fill in and give shiur, on whatever topic, during the break. They did not want the vacation. So, they got someone to agree to give  shiur, and these exhausted men who set a daily time to learn, are continuing their regular learning schedule instead of taking advantage of a small amount of justifiable time off.

I know all the relevant parties, and I attest to the veracity of this story.

That's a story that can inspire!.

Jonathan Rosenblum related a very nice story in a side-box to his article this past week in the Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew). The story happened, he said, in his own neighborhood (that would be Har Nof). I am just going to relate the story as he told it (from memory though).

Reuven was making a simcha, and hired a caterer for the affair named Shimon. Reuven ordered 300 portions of food for the affair. The day of the affair arrived, and Shimon sent his employee to the hall to begin setting up for the event and to heat up the food.

At some point, a girl came to the door and asked if there was any food to spare as her family had nothing to eat. They caterer packaged up 10 portions of food and gave the package to the girl to take home, to her family.

At the end of the affair, Reuven sat down with Shimon to review, and pay for, the catering. Shimon charged Reuven for only 290 portions. Reuven asked why, as he had ordered 300 portions. Shimon explained what had happened, that he had given 10 portions to a needy family who had nothing at home to eat.

Reuven argued that he wanted to pay for 300 as he had ordered the food and the mitzva of giving the food to the family should be his, as it was his food. Shimon argued that he had not yet given the food to Reuven, and it remained his food until he put the food on the tables at the event. Shimon therefore claimed that it was his own food he had given to the family and the mitzva of tezedaka was his, thus charging Reuven for only 290 portions.

After arguing about it for a bit and not coming to an agreement, they agreed to go to a local beis din to resolve the dispute.

The story ends there. Unfortunately Rosenblum did not continue and describe the resolution beis din arrived at. For the story, for the inspiration, a story of 2 people who fought over a mitzva, the resolution is not really important. I still would have liked to know how it was resolved.


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I was at an event last night in which Rabbi Paysach Krohn was the guest speaker. I have not heard Rabbi Krohn speak in many years, so his stories were new to me. He told a lot of great stories tonight.

"I've got a great story to tell you" is how he introduces every story, and every story is really great. He is a spectacular storyteller, and has even gotten funny over the years.

This guy (I don't remember the name) had a streak of 30 years that he did not miss a minyan. Wherever he was, he always made sure to find a minyan to daven with.

It happened that he found himself one night in Yerushalayim at a wedding, and after he left at 3 AM (I assume it was a relatives wedding for him to be there so late) he realized he had not davened maariv yet. Where is the only chance in Yerushalayim to get a minyan at 3 AM? Zichron Moshe. So he heads out to Zichron Moshe and finds 1 guy there.

He says to the guy "did you daven?" the guy says no. He then asks if he thinks they will be able to get a minyan.
"Get a minyan? They will start coming for shacharis vasikin in an hour or so!"

The guy says that in 30 years he has not missed a minyan and he does not want to break that streak. They brainstorm for a few minutes and he figured out a plan. He called a taxi company and asked them to send 8 taxis with only Jewish drivers.

Taxi company said they don't have 8 taxis at 3 AM. They agree to send 5, while he calls another company and orders 3 more taxis with Jewish drivers.

the taxis pull up and wonder what is going on that so many taxis are needed at 3 AM. He comes out to the taxis and tells them to start their meters, get out of the car and come help him make the minyan. he would pay them to stand there while he davens.

At the end of the minyan he goes to pay the drivers. The first driver he approached was religious. The driver refused to accept the money. The driver says I have davened my whole life but have never seen such dedication and kavana as I saw tonight in this minyan. I will not take money for it.

The next driver he approached was not religious. He asks how much the meter came to. The driver says he is not taking any money - he says he is not religious and has not even gone to shul in 7 years - not even on Yom Kippur! But you got me into a shul and I was impressed - I should be paying you!"
In the end all the drivers refused to take money for it, because his dedication to his mitzva impressed them so much.

The Internet provides tremendous opportunities for reaching out at levels never before possible. It also provides the ability to be unique and creative in all sorts of realms in life. When these two opportunities are combines and taken advantage of, the results can be amazing.

Alon Nir, a 25 year old guy working on a secondary degree in economics, was interested in behavioral economics, internet based entrepreneurship, and of course - making a change. One day Alon comes up with the idea of how he was going to make this change - he joins Twitter and offers a service - tweet your prayers to the Kotel, with his twitter name being @thekotel. This also led to Alon opening his own website, called Tweet Your Prayers.The truth is the service is not SO unique, as for years already you could have sent in various ways prayers to the Kotel - fax, chabad, thekotel website, etc. However, the medium and form used was unique, and the energy brought to the project was especially unique.

I have found Alon to be an intriguing person with an even more intriguing project. Over the time I have followed him and his project, Alon has been interviewed in news media around the world, his story has been carried all over the place, and he has touched thousands upon thousands of people, giving them the opportunity to have their prayers sent to the Kotel from wherever they are.

Among all the interviews I have read with Alon, the questions always seemed pretty similar, and I had questions I would have liked to have seen asked but they never were. I asked Alon if he would be open to an interview, and he happily obliged.

So here goes, the interview with Alon, a.k.a @TheKotel...


@TheKotel: Thank you for asking me questions I was not asked before! Had been interviewed dozens of times - and finally - new questions!

1. How much of your time does this project take up? Are you able to keep your regular job while doing the Kotel Project?

@TheKotel: It consumes a lot of my time, a great portion of it. I was not able to hold a steady job and do the Kotel in the same time. I decided to go with Tweet Your Prayers because I realized that I was fortunate enough to be given such an amazing opportunity, an opportunity to help many, touch lives, and make a change. Money has been tight, I'm still living with my parents and have to borrow money to make University payments. In October I had to forgo going to a conference in LA, in which I was asked to speak and present TYP, and there's another conference in NYC in April, and I hope to be able to make it there. If anyone out there can help in any way, help is direly needed and would be immensely appreciated.


2. Of all the possible altruistic projects a person can take up, how did you come to tweeting prayers rather than a soup kitchen or assisting the elderly, for example?

@TheKotel: That's a good question. I'm an internet savvy guy, and have been involved in different online activities for a good few years now. I guess it was just natural for me to give from myself through an internet based activity. It's not the first time I've done something like that - I used to have a website that encouraged people to live "greener" lives by suggesting small, hardly felt, changes in their lifestyles and presenting them with the monetary incentives to do so. By the way, I also volunteer, on occasion, at a dog shelter in Tel-Aviv.

3. In the video of your presentation, I noticed that you do not appear to be religious - I didn't see a kipa - though of course appearances can be deceiving. Are you religious? traditional?

@TheKotel: This service has nothing to do with what I believe in - it's all about what the users believe in.

4. How often do you go to put the prayers in the wall? Does it get to be such a big project that it keeps you from your normal activities? or has this become your main activity?

@TheKotel: As mentioned, it takes a LOT of my time. Regarding your question, I think this post says it all: http://www.tweetyourprayers.info/2009/10/i-needed-a-bigger-box/

5. rubber bands - tape - what have you found to be the best way to keep them closed? How long does it take you - how many can you roll an hour?

@TheKotel: Regular adhesive or tape are my preferred solutions. Rubber bands are much more time consuming and quickly hurt your fingers. Incidentally, if anyone needs 2000 rubber bands - I have a few left over :) .

6. What about privacy.. you read em - right? Are there any issues of people asking you to keep certain things private? is there a promise of confidentiality? Are people concerned about you knowing their most private concerns?

@TheKotel: I take people's privacy and the sanctity of their prayers very seriously, and I don't read the prayers (mind you, some people prefer having their prayers out there for the world to see).

7. What is the most inspiring story you can think of, you can remember offhand, that you have experienced since you took on this project?

@TheKotel: There are so many, some of them I shared in the presentation I have (NOTE from RG: the video was embedded last week, and is embedded again at the end of the interview), and since then more amazing things happened. Feel free to mention any of the stories I spoke about in the "keep the faith" part of my presentation (especially the first two).

8. In what way has this Kotel project affected you the most on a personal level?

@TheKotel: It has completely changes my life and touched me deeply. I can express in words how grateful I am that all this happened. Whatever happens to me in life next, I will always know that when I was 25 I created something that touched literally thousands and thousands of people worldwide. I'm so happy for giving people hope, self-belief, confidence. I also know that one person can truly make a difference and that we should never think that our capabilities are limited. Look at me - with a 89 cents investment I created something that made worldwide news and gave thousands a service they will remember and cherish for a long time. I just hope I'll manage to keep going (as mentioned, money is tight) and spread my message to as many people as possible. I encourage all of the readers to watch the video of my presentation - and they'll know what message I'm talking about.

9. How do you find enough cracks in the wall in which to stuff all the thousands of notes?

@TheKotel: take a look at the photos - there's one big crack that can fit a whole lot of notes :)

Check Alon out on Twitter, at Tweet Your Prayers, watch his videos, peruse the many pictures of "The Kotel" activities on his website, donate to his project (via his website), and most of all, Alon's message is be inspired to make change in the best way you can. You can also contact Alon by email at tweetyourprayers@gmail.com

I have read articles by and about Alan Veingrad, but here is a video about him with an interview..



(HT: TS via VIN)

I fell a little behind in my reading this past week, so I just read this inspiring story in the Hebrew Mishpacha magazine of last weeks edition:

The story is about a secular man, who had become frum, but refused to wear a yarmulke.

This fellow became exposed to the work of the Lev L'Achim organization. An avreich knocked on his door and suggested they learn a bit of Torah together. At first he wanted to toss this avreich down the stairwell. But he agreed to the suggestion and experienced a shiur like he had never before experienced.

They continued learning together and over time he became closer to religion, taking upon himself more and more mitzvos; Shabbos, family purity, tefillin, etc. But through all this he refused to wear a kipa.

One of the Rabbonim of Lev L'Achim asked this fellow why he refused, despite his process of becoming frum, to wear a kipa.

His response was "The avreich learning with me is waiting for me to have done a complete teshuva, so that he can move on to his next "project" - to another Jew to suggest a shiur to. I do not want him to move on. I want him to continue learning with me. As long as I do not wear a kipa, as far as he is concerned I have not yet done teshuva, and he therefore continues learning with me.

I just received this story by email...

In a United States convention of neurologists from all over the world, one of the main topics was the phenomenon of people fainting upon getting up from bed.

One of the speakers was Professor Linda McMaron of Great Britain and she gave a lengthy speech regarding her study on this issue. She elaborated that after many years of study and investigation on this subject, she came to the conclusion that the fainting is caused by the sharp transfer between laying down and standing up. Professor McMaron said that it takes 12 second for the blood to flow from the feet to the brain. But when a person quickly stands up upon waking up, the blood gets 'thrown' to the brain too quickly and the result is fainting. She suggested that each person, even one that does not have a tendency to faint, upon waking up should sit on the bed, and count slowly till 12 to avoid dizziness, weakness, and/or fainting.

Her speech was rewarded with loud applause and enthusiastic feedbacks.

Another Professor, a Jewish religious man, asked permission to speak.

He said: "By us, the Jews, there is an old tradition, thousands of years old, to say a prayer of thanks to the Creator of the World for meriting us to wake up healthy and whole. The prayer is said immediately upon waking up, while one is still on the bed and sitting down. There are 12 words in this prayer and if one regulates himself to say it slowly with concentration, it takes exactly 12 seconds to says it... 12 words in 12 seconds.

He said the prayer slowly in Hebrew:
Mode Ani Lefanecha Melech Chai VeKayam, Shehechezarta Bi Nishmati Bechemla Raba Emunatecha
"I thank Thee, O living and eternal King, because Thou hast graciously restored my soul to me; great is Thy faithfulness."

The auditorium burst into a standing applause that roared throughout the auditorium. This time, it was for the Creator of the World.

Today is Har Habayit day.

Actually Sunday (7 Adar) was "officially" Har Habayit day for the Bet Shemesh group. Unfortunately, a few of us could not go up on Sunday, so we split the group this month. A few guys went on Sunday and a few went today.

Today there were four of us scheduled to go. One guy cancelled at the last minute, due to a scheduling conflict, so then we were three. We went to Har Habayit, I drove. When the time came, the police gave us the instructions (no prayer, etc,) and let us up.

It was very quiet. The head of the police unit that gaurds Temple Mount escorted us today (there is always a police escort for the Jewish groups that go up). This policeman is a very nice guy and knows us already because we are regulars. He told us they have more or less gotten the situation under control and it has really quieted down, though, he said, they had some really rough days recently because of the excavations. Basically, Har Habayit was practically empty. The weather was chilly with overcast skies and a slight drizzle that was starting and stopping all morning. This type of weather usually keeps people inside, so it is not surprising that it was quiet.

It was a bit surprising that no other Jewish groups were there. I had assumed we would meet up with whatever group was scheduled for today. Either today's group was planning on going later, or maybe nobody else could make it.

Anyway, the three of us enter Har Habayit. Because the guy who was going to lead us had cancelled, I decided to say a few words. All three of us had been there before, many times, so we did not need a tour. Usually, the person leading the group will try to say some words about the time period and the relevance to the mikdash. So, being that I volunteered to speak, I told over a bit of the relevance of Purim to the mikdash with the history (as much of it as I could remember) of the time period.

The events of Purim transpired near the end of the 70 years of Galus Bavel and that is what I spoke about. A few minutes into the walk, one of the guys had to back out. He had not brought any non-leather shoes, assuming the weather would be decent. With the chill in the air and the wet stone floor, the ground was like ice on his now wet socked feet. He felt like he was going to lose a few toes, so he gave up. Then we were two.

After speaking for a few more minutes, we continued in silence. Sometimes the speaker leading us is so brilliant and interesting that it is difficult to daven (silently) because I am trying to listen to the interesting "shiur" being given. Since I was neither interesting nor brilliant, we basically had time and the ability to each concentrate on the things we wanted to daven for. There was a benefit to the group being small, it turns out.

We walked around. As we passed the makom hamizbeah - the spot where the mizbeah was located (not next to us, but at the point where it was visible along our path), the second guy shared with me how whenever he passes this spot he tries to imagine the smell of the korbanot being sacrificed. Shortly after that we did smell the odor of roasting meat wafting through the air. It was not because of our imagination, but was coming from the one of the nearby entrances to the Arab shuk.

We finished our walk and went down leaving through the old city. We passed more of the excavations. I took a couple of photos of the "controversial" excavations and will later post a few if any came out decent.

When learning the mesechet of Pesachim recently, it seemed to me that the way they ate the korbanot was very similar to a very common Middle-Eastern food called Shwarma. There is the cut up meat inside a laffa bread (Iraqi bread) with some spices and salads. For lunch today, in honor of Har Habayit, I decided to go get a shwarma. I must say, it was one of my more interesting excuses for eating a shwarma!