Benny Gal’s Journey: From Searching to Discovering Hashem

“The charedi (ultra-Orthodox) public has a headline above their heads,” says Benny Gal. “That headline is: they are seekers of Hashem. That’s their greatest strength. And that’s something rare in this world. Because no matter how you look at it, you realize that this is the only thing in life that’s whole. When a coach starts working with someone, the first question is: what do you want? And these people want to be close to Hashem. That amazes and inspires me.”

If someone had told Benny Gal this would one day come from his own mouth, he would have burst out laughing. A former kibbutznik, born in Argentina and raised far from tradition, Benny once saw Judaism as outdated. But Hashem had other plans.

When did the first buds of your return to faith begin?

“Anyone who has ever seen a shattered glass knows what a fragment is. What defines me is this: Hashem gave me a gift. When I see a small fragment, I can see the whole behind it. Over the years, I sharpened that ability, and it helped me in everything I did.

There’s a saying: ‘to gather the pieces.’ That’s what I’ve done my entire life. It’s what archaeologists and researchers dream of, finding the whole in a fragment. I had fragments of truth in my hands, and I wanted to see the complete picture. And after years of searching, I found it in the Torah of Israel. In the God of Israel.”

Let’s go back to the beginning. Where does your story start?

“It starts in childhood. My parents divorced, my mother left, and my father took me and my little brother from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro wrapped in blankets in a taxi. From there we sailed to Israel. We were placed in Kibbutz Beit Oren, where I grew up. I saw good things there, partial truths and filled in the rest with my imagination. I was always looking for wholeness.

Even when you find something more whole, it doesn’t mean you want it. You can choose to stick with it or walk away. I left the kibbutz. I needed something more. I was restless, a redhead, full of energy, always kicking at the edges, searching for harmony.”

Did you feel like something was missing?

“All my life I felt like I was holding just one piece of a puzzle and desperately trying to find the others. It’s a constant search for harmony. You need deep inner confidence and powerful willpower to gather more and more pieces until you start to see the full picture. But once you reach that place, you realize it’s still not enough. So you keep searching.”

And when did that search finally bring you to Hashem?

“I kept moving from one thing to the next. I thought I found truth in the kibbutz life, brotherhood, shared work. Then I thought truth meant being rich. Or famous. But even through all my searching and suffering, I never thought the truth was in Judaism. If someone had told me that back then, I would have laughed.”

What did you think of Judaism during that time?

“To me, Judaism felt outdated. The old clothes, the ancient books, it all felt like something from exile that had already passed. What excited me was this new Israeli identity. A new Jew, full of energy. I didn’t see how that had any connection to Torah.

But when I finally discovered how alive and relevant Judaism truly is, it shook me. That was one of the most powerful moments in my life.”

What opened the door to your relationship with Hashem?

“My friends from Tel Aviv invited me to Jerusalem to shop in the Old City. They also wanted to visit Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook. We were completely secular. Today I realize it was our neshamot (souls) that were starting to cry out.

You have to understand this was 1973, after the Yom Kippur War. People were broken. There were no organizations for people returning to Judaism. No programs. No Rabbi Uri Zohar yet. Nothing.”

What happened during that meeting with Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook?

“As soon as he spoke, I was amazed. I listened for a few minutes and said, ‘Rabbi, you’re talking about our values, love of others, kindness, humility, sensitivity. Not yours.’

He laughed warmly. Today I can’t believe how little I knew. Back then I thought they’d stolen our values. That these things belonged to secular Zionist leaders like Katznelson and Tabenkin. I thought, ‘What do they have to do with Torah?’ But that encounter changed me.”

And then?

“That tiny spark led me to study cinema in Germany. But I quickly realized I wasn’t there to study film, I was there to discover something deeper.

Eventually I came to a hard truth: the highest form of art is a good deed. Not a film. A good deed. And that realization shattered me. I thought cinema was my whole world and suddenly the floor dropped out from under me.”

What did you do next?

“I was lost. I didn’t turn to Judaism. I was still too far. I went to study Christianity in a small Jewish-Christian village. I even explored Islam and Eastern religions. I looked everywhere except where the truth was.

Finally I came back to Israel. I had no money, no clothes, no plans. Just one small piece of a puzzle. But I knew I was ready to let go of the old and embrace something new even if I didn’t know what that was yet.”

What eventually led you to Religious Zionism and Jewish life?

“I slowly got involved with Gush Emunim, the movement building Jewish life in Judea and Samaria. I married the secretary of the movement, moved to Kiryat Arba, and helped build Hebron. Later, I returned to advertising but this time, I created an agency for the charedi public.

No one had done that before. Big companies like Tnuva didn’t even understand why religious Jews needed their own ads. But I saw the bigger picture. I used the same skill, taking a small piece and completing the whole. That’s what grew my agency. Hashem gave me that gift.”

And coaching, how did that come in?

“I studied coaching with Gal Ronen, one of the first coaches in Israel. I brought that into my agency. After thirty years in advertising, I realized even that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I believe coaching helps bring people closer to Hashem. And I always say: Hashem is the greatest coach of all.”

Did that lead you to write your new book, A Man Crossing Israel?

“Yes. I wrote it for my children and grandchildren. But after reading it, I realized it wasn’t just my story, it’s the story of every Jew searching for connection. People tell me it brings them closer to their Father in Heaven. That’s the highest compliment.

The book is a journey. It helps people connect the puzzle inside their soul. And in the deepest sense, all of life is a journey to Hashem.”