“The impression you make might impact not just the person in front of you, but all of his or her future generations”

Living Higher

Last week, an Olami France group consisting of some 50 students spent an uplifting week in New York, visiting various communities and listening to inspiring addresses. But the most energizing experience wasn’t a riveting lecture, a packed beis medrash, or a bustling Erev Shabbos supermarket. In fact, the man who managed to touch the deepest part of their souls wasn’t even aware of the impact he was making.

Amrom Linder is a bus driver, working for the Monsey Trails bus company. He has no professional training in kiruv, but his sheer sincerity and heart brimming with warmth drew the students toward him and all he represents with a magnetic pull. One stunning expression of his ahavas Yisrael came on Erev Shabbos. The group was scheduled to stay in the Five Towns for Shabbos, and they assumed that Amrom would need to drop them off early enough so he could return to Monsey. But the driver surprised them.

“I don’t want to rush you,” he said, “I’ll make arrangements to stay in the Five Towns for Shabbos as well.” Amrom stayed at a friend in Woodmere, a half-hour walk from where the group was spending Shabbos, but that didn’t stop him from showing up for the Friday night oneg — replete in his shtreimel and beketshe.

One day, Amrom told them about the Monsey-Manhattan route he drove. He described how there were daily Shacharis minyanim on the bus, complete with a mechitzah and a sefer Torah. The group was enthralled by his description, and on Thursday morning, they asked Amrom to set up a mechitzah. And then the group of students davened Shacharis and listened to Krias HaTorah, while riding the bus.

For Audelia Haehnel, the director of operations for Olami France, the inspiration contained a straightforward takeaway message:

“All of us can be Amrom,” she says, “regardless of what your job is, regardless of how you dress or how different you are from the people around you. It doesn’t matter if you are working in a religious or non-religious environment. Everyone can have an impact and be inspiring! Just trust in yourself and be yourself. Everyone is special and has something to give to his fellow Jew.

“And who knows? The impression you make might impact not just the person in front of you, but all of his or her future generations.”

Overheard

“Someone once said to me when I moved here, ‘Josh, there are going to be two woods in New Jersey known for Torah learning: Lakewood and Englewood.’ ”

— Mr. Josh Goldberg

Mr. Goldberg spoke at a community siyum on Bava Kamma held in Englewood, New Jersey, hosted by All Daf, the OU’s popular learning app. The recent explosion in limud haTorah — and specifically of limud daf yomi — has led to siyum celebrations in communities across the world, including the leafy Bergen County enclave.

Honoring a Legacy

Yeshiva Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin’s annual dinner is a celebration of the legendary Torah institution and an inspiring display of kavod haTorah — a virtue for which the yeshivah itself is held in high regard. This year’s dinner was the first for which its venerated rosh yeshivah, Rav Aharon Schechter ztz”l, was no longer present, and his legacy was the focus of the evening.

The dinner itself was a gala affair, with stunning props and mesmerizing audio-visual displays set up throughout the Bell Works hall. At one point, a recording of the rosh yeshivah Rav Aharon speaking was played — and for those few moments, the lights dimmed, and the murmur in the audience dipped to a ghostly silence. Nothing could be seen or heard, save for the Rosh Yeshivah’s voice exhorting his talmidim to live lives with more kedushah, more meaning.

The contrasting atmosphere between the duration of the dinner and the complete darkness and seriousness that enveloped the hall when the Rosh Yeshivah himself “spoke” was a testament to the awesome kavod haTorah that the Rosh Yeshivah’s bereaved talmidim now carry forward.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1002)