Stories from Uri Masala lessons:
From a child who disliked mitzvot, he’s now very attached: at first he would come to classes for the atmosphere of the lessons with friends (food, happy company) and did not like to hear Torah lessons, and what was special about him that would not bother but did not connect. At one of the lessons I told that some people do not connect to the Spiritualism that are on them that interfere with them to absorb the sanctity of the Torah and the mitzvot and prolong things about… And after class is over, we have a “question corner” that anyone can ask what they want. And here Moshe asks, the rabbi hears that you have spoken about me and really I do not connect to anything sacred, etc. And tells me that barely keeping a Sabbath he can and he’s constantly fighting with his parents over it. Then I told him that it is not only him that he feels that way, a lot of people feel that way and the problem is that there are a lot of barriers because there are dirt on their souls and it is impossible to paste the special light of the Torah (just like scotch-tape on dirt on a wall).
And I told him that he must read Rabbi Yaakov Adas’s book “Chapters of Thought” that deals with this question, and how to bring the person to relish mitzvot and Torah study.
And here comes the guy with the enthusiasm of a mitzvah, that he received enthusiasm and joy from the book, and asked me to order him this book. And today our Moshe is increasingly connecting with the commandments for torah study.
- Respecting parents even when they don’t deserve it: Abraham Israel, a wonderful guy with a love for giving ,helps everyone, and his difficulty is with his own dad. His dad, coming home from work, wont lift a finger. and all the chores fall on his mother. He feels very sorry for his mother that she does everything alone, and he asks me, what should I respect my father after all, he does nothing at home?! And I’m actually in his place helping my mom with whatever she needs! And I said to him: And despite all the pain and it is not easy what you are going through, it is imperative that we respect the parents no matter what way they brought us into the world and must respect and even though it seems the opposite of reason , the Torah educates us even in situations like this to work on ourselves and respect them. Honoring your father and your mother is one of the most difficult commandments. And I have no doubt that you will observe this commandment. Your father will change for the better and he will return to assist in what is necessary. And so Moshe tells us that he does not say a word of respite his father and helps his mother despite the difficulty, and sees it as a lot of blessing in his life.
- Torah that leads to purity: In the Weeks of Shemot till Mispotim, we undertook a cellphone filtering operation , which is a struggle of every adolescent to abstain from indulging in negative programs.
After helping some guys participate in this operation, and getting cellphone filters on them, one of the students wrote a moving thank you letter, and I write word for word his special letter: “Dear Uri. I wanted not to just say thank you. It’s about praising you. I’ve been very helpful in dealing with keeping my sight and thoughts positively clean. For several years now, I’ve had my ups and downs; this time thanks to your help, I’ll keep the “ups” may the Creator repay you 1,000 times over!” So much for his special words.
- 5 minutes of Hilchoot Lashon Hara: some students (about 10) were given to study in the Sefer Chafetz Chaim, which is known plague everyone .
- A group of 8 boys undertook to say Asher Yatzar with more intention, in regards to a speedy recovery of a friends brother who is seriously ill
Stories from Uri Masala lessons:
- A thanksgiving party for The Creator for a last test: 17-year-old Jacob, who, out of a period of driving lessons that failed several times, was greatly strengthened in the belief that precisely out of the difficulty he saw the hand of the Hashem, and after failing several times and he pouring a lot of money on it, about a month ago a test went through, and he describes that he felt the Yad Hashem that he had to have a thanksgiving party to thank the Creator for his Chesed.
- Davening with Minyan: We talked about the importance of Davening with Minyan and towards the Chofesh Hagadol, the two months vacation a guy took on a spiritual challenge to come to shul at least Monday and Thursday that there is a Kriat Torah , and he meets the challenge.
- Add Sabbath trimmings at the Sabbath table: Shimon lives in a traditional family and does not sing Sabbath chanting at the Shabbat table, and he tells one of the lessons how you can keep Shabbat without singing songs and getting excited at the Shabbat table!!!
Stories from Moshav Tirosh
} A 16-year-old boy named Matan Gabay hired himself as a waiter. One day he called me to ask me, “Is he allowed to work there because the events are of mixed gender, and he remembered that we talked in class about the severity of mixed events, and I said, “Think someone’s coming and telling you that there’s radioactive radiation that could be very harmful to you, would you go to an event?” And he said, “No, but I told him, and if it’s your livelihood. Wouldn’t you find some kind of trick or idea? And he said to me, “Under no circumstances would I have risked it, I said to him, “The same thing is a mixed event, it’s a disaster! And dangerous to all the spiritual advances you’ve made can go down the drain, this is your trial… And the boy walked away and got rid of that job.
2}After a period of time Matan Gabay asked me that he had been invited to his cousin’s birthday {needless to say, it was a mixed event for boys and girls.} and Matan asked: that going to the event he understands that it is forbidden, but the common practice is that all the participants give the birthday boy money to cover the expenses of the event , is he allowed to give a feeling to the cousin that he wants to join the party and give him the money and finally will not come under some excuse, or is it forbidden for him to fool him, because it’s lying.
I said to him, “Best to tell him the truth, that due to your religious commitment you’ve stopped going to events like this, but you’re going to give him a separate birthday gift after the event. I know it’s difficult for you { because of shame and so on} but make sure that at the very least you give the gift after a while so that he doesn’t accuse you for cheating him. After a few days he called me and told me that he had chosen to tell his cousin the truth that he had committed to Halacha and that surprisingly his cousin understood him and even encouraged him in his pursuit.
3} In the days of the counting of Omer, the whole group strengthened in Tirosh not to get a haircut and shave in the days of Omer [ I personally received a picture } In the meantime, we talked about the prohibition of not leaving Peyot-a round-headed haircut(called a tupenny all-off in the UK) . After L.G. B’Omer they came back with a round-headed haircut, I came to the lesson and told them: “The Yetzer Hara fooled on them! And let them keep not getting a haircut in L.G. Omer which is a Derabbanan, whereas the round-headed haircut is forbidden Min Hatorah!, This made a very big impression, and three of the classmates took it on themselves not to get a haircut like this anymore! Aviv Gabay, Matan Gabay, Jonathan Gabay. And I’m sure there will be many more
4} In one of the lessons we talked about “stealing”, at the end of the lesson one of the students approached me and tells me that two or three years ago he was playing with friends and he mistakenly smashed a car window. The owner was one of the traditional people in the moshav, and he didn’t ask him for forgiveness and didn’t pay him for the damage, because he was afraid of him, I suggested that he find out that person’s phone number, and that I would talk to him, after a few days he gives me the number. And I called him and told him the story, and that the student regrets and is willing to pay for it. He answer me “if you promise that he really regrets, I will forgive him too. Thanks to the lesson, he was saved from the prohibition of stealing, and of being in his bad books.
Aderet Stories – I usually call up to the students personally before class to remined them. This time I told myself maybe I will settle for the message they received on WhatsApp. I came to class and saw that Elantan Dadon, one of the regular participants, was not present, I called him and he said that he was at work in Beit Shemesh and forgot that there was a lesson, and 10 minutes later he shows up in class and tells his boss that there is an emergency and he must leave work now.
Amram Medina regularly participates in classes. Started a new job. And he said to me, “I can’t come to classes anymore, I talked to him about the importance of the lesson and begged for his constant. He said to me, “What I’m going to do is not up to me, I’ve got a boss, I told him, try to explain to your boss that the hour of class gives you power for the whole week, and today I was sure you were breaking up with him, but in class he showed up in a special taxi, he says he didn’t have money for a cab, so the boss gave him.
5} Amram had previously had weaknesses in keeping Shabbat. Slowly but surely he grew stronger and today he keeps Shabbat LeMehadrin. Amram wanted to visit a friend who doesn’t keep shabbat I explained to him: that it is not worthwhile because he can ruin you spiritually, Maybe instead invite the friend Shabbat to your house and then A. You will get him to keep Shabbat, B. Show him how beautiful and good it is to keep Shabbat, C. Will not lower you spiritually, and Baruch Hashem it was so
. 6 At the beginning of the last round of the terrorist war engagement, I canceled my class at The Moshav Shelter, and then I got calls from the parents and the students, why was the class canceled? This is the first time that a lesson was canceled and I explained to them “They needed me at home and asked me to complete your class the next day. And obviously the next day we did a lesson