Our dirah in the heart of Geula wasn’t huge, but there was room for Josh. He was a nice guy, and we were happy that he made himself at home. But a few days in, after his jet lag wore off, he started to get restless. I didn’t want to see Josh lost to the Jewish People, so I racked my brain to come up with some way of keeping him from moving on.

Then I hit upon an idea. I learned at Ohr Somayach in the afternoons, so I was familiar with the legendary Rabbi Meir Schuster, who did incredible work with baalei teshuvah every day. He had placed innumerable young people in yeshivos and seminaries. Surely, he would know what to do with Josh….

On the spot, I ran out the dirah, down Rechov Ezra and onto Yechezkel all the way to Ohr Somayach (still in its old location at that time). I walked through the front door and immediately ran into Rabbi Schuster.

I immediately explained Josh’s situation. I didn’t want to lose a minute for fear he would leave, so I asked Rabbi Schuster if he would please wait there at the yeshivah while I ran back to get him. I wanted to hand Josh directly into Rabbi Schuster’s care.

“No problem,” Rabbi Schuster said. “I’ll be here.”

I ran right back up Yechezkel to my dirah, where I found Josh hanging around.

“Josh, we’re happy to have you stay with us,” I began. “But I’m sure you understand that at some point, you’ll have to chip in with paying the bills, like everyone else. But there’s a place that offers free room and board, and you won’t have to pay any bills.”

That got his attention.

“It’s called Ohr Somayach,” I continued, “about ten minutes from here.”

“I can stay for free? I guess I might as well go take a look.”

Since Josh was a backpacker, he was able to get his gear together in no time, and we made the ten-minute walk down Yechezkel to the yeshivah, where we found Rabbi Schuster waiting in the lobby as promised.

I introduced Josh to him and wished them both success, confident that I had left Josh in the best of hands.

Josh crossed my mind a few times over the next few years. In the meantime, I went on with my life: I returned to the States, finished college, and put in another stint in yeshivah until I got engaged to a girl whose parents were living in Bayit Vegan.

Since the wedding would be held in Yerushalayim, I sent an invitation to Ohr Somayach for Josh. I had no idea if he was still there — I hadn’t even seen him since bringing him to Rabbi Schuster that fateful day — but to my pleasant surprise, he arrived at the wedding in a hat and jacket, with his wife, who had spent a lot of time at my in-laws’ in Bayit Vegan! It was nice to see him, and I couldn’t get over the change from the young backpacker I had met outside Ben-Gurion Airport into the serious yungerman standing in front of me. It added a special measure of joy to our wedding.

MY wife and I returned to the States after we got married, but we harbored a dream of living in Eretz Yisrael. A few years later, a few kids in tow, we returned for good and settled in an apartment in Har Nof.

We had more children. Years turned to decades, and before we knew it, we were watching our grandchildren get married and having children of their own.

From time to time, I wondered what had become of Josh. Eventually, I found out.

When a cousin of mine made a bar mitzvah recently, he insisted on seating me at the head table with him. It gave me a beautiful vantage point on the simchah, and I helped greet every guest who came to wish the family mazel tov.

At one point, Rabbi Yehuda Samet, today the mashgiach at Ohr Somayach, came over to the head table. He had been a shoel u’meishiv when I had brought Josh there, and I knew this was my opportunity for an update.

“Josh!” Rabbi Samet smiled broadly at the mention of the name. “Of course I know Josh. In fact, I remember the day a Mir guy brought him to us.”

I raised my hand. “Mir guy,” I said.

Rabbi Samet was astounded to hear I had been the one who brought Josh to the yeshivah.

“Josh is a major talmid chacham today,” Rabbi Samet said. “He lives in Yerushalayim, he gives shiurim, he’s a real marbitz Torah.”

After our conversation ended, I couldn’t help but reflect about how sometimes, we’re afforded the chance to change another person’s whole trajectory for the better with just a little hishtadlus. All I had done was offer Josh a place to stay and then accompany him to Ohr Somayach.

Relatively insignificant actions on my part. But what if I had passed up that opportunity? It’s something to think about….

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1026)