Oded Mizrachi and the Stories That Awaken the Soul

A woman walks into a store to buy tzitzit (a fringed garment worn by Jewish men) as a good luck charm and meets her future husband on the spot. A man mocks the saying “Even if a sharp sword rests upon your neck, don’t give up hope” and soon finds himself in that exact situation. A 30-year-old yeshiva student who doesn’t even have a driver’s license ends up saving an entire bus of passengers. Two fathers meet, one the father of a Christian-raised woman and the other of a Jewish man and suddenly remember they were yeshiva students together before the Holocaust.

These are just a few of the 102 powerful true stories in Mizrachi’s new collection Seeing Eye, published by Rosh Yehudi. Many of the stories originally appeared weekly in the BeSheva newspaper and are now gathered into one book with additional new content.

Oded Mizrachi, 49, is married, a father of five, and a grandfather. He lives in Rehovot and is already a familiar name to readers who enjoy real-life stories that touch the heart. He’s written several books and is known for his warm, emotional style, especially among readers drawn to stories of faith and personal transformation. He also writes for the BeRosh Yehudi newsletter and the Breslev website, and from time to time edits Chassidic books.

Born in Petach Tikvah and raised in Eilat, Mizrachi is himself a ba’al teshuvah, someone who returned to Jewish observance. He studied physics in high school, served in the IDF’s Intelligence Corps, and later studied film and literature at Tel Aviv University. During those years, he became religious and joined the Breslov-affiliated yeshiva Lev Yehuda. In recent years, he has become a student of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a noted Chassidic scholar and Kabbalist.

“After I became religious, I didn’t write at all for ten years,” Mizrachi shares. “At some point, I decided to return to what I had always loved, literature and poetry, but this time in a different way. I published three books of poetry and then began writing stories that reflect the journey of returning to Judaism. Not just the beauty of it, but also the inner struggles and challenges people face.”

His well-known Returning Light series includes real and inspiring stories of people who chose the path of teshuvah (returning to a Torah life). The fourth volume is being released now, along with reprints of the previous ones. All will be available exclusively at Pinchas Reuven’s store in Bnei Brak.

“There are two levels to this kind of writing,” Mizrachi explains. “One is about how amazing and meaningful it is to come closer to Hashem, and how clear His guiding hand is. The second level is about the struggle that comes with it. Becoming religious doesn’t mean everything is suddenly easy. You have to face challenges, spiritual, emotional, and social. I try to write about this with care because it’s sensitive, but it’s important. Right now, I’m working on Reflections of Repentance 2, which won’t focus on people becoming religious, but on stories from within the world of teshuvah.”

How does he find all these stories?

“In the beginning, I found stories on shows from Radio 10 or Channel 7, where people shared personal experiences. Over time, the circle expanded, and people began reaching out to me directly. I even published my email in the book. Every story is 100% true, no embellishments.”

Is there a story in Seeing Eye that he especially connects to?

“I tend to love the lighter stories, but it’s hard to choose just one. The matchmaking stories are especially moving because you can see Hashem’s hand so clearly guiding each step. Every story I write, I live it. Otherwise, it doesn’t come out right. The more you identify with the people in the story, the more it touches the reader. I’ve also noticed that storytelling itself has a healing effect. If you look at the Hebrew word for stories, ‘sipurim’ it contains the letters for ‘yisurim’ (suffering). There’s no story without some struggle. The least interesting stories are the ones where everything is perfect from start to finish.”

Even if a story ends in death?

“Yes, even then. There still needs to be some ‘sweetening’ something deeper that brings comfort or meaning. Some stories in the book include tragedy, and while on the surface they’re hard to read, there’s often a deeper layer that reveals a hidden good.”

So how did Oded Mizrachi himself become religious?

“My story is in Returning Light 1. I was a university student studying film and literature at Tel Aviv University. Then one day, I met a Breslov friend who completely changed my life. He showed me that the Torah isn’t just a set of customs, it’s the truth. Especially when you begin to uncover the deeper, hidden levels, you realize it’s something entirely different. It wasn’t easy. I struggled with it, I questioned it all, I searched. I came to understand that no stream in Judaism offers the full picture alone. The ba’al teshuvah is loyal to the truth, not to any one group, which is why he keeps searching.”

“Today, I’m no longer in the stage of questioning whether Judaism is true, I know it is. But I see that many people still need these stories. They strengthen people. And if that’s what Hashem wants, then that’s what I’ll keep doing. Writing these stories is my mission without a doubt.”