Why I Chose Shabbat: One Rabbi’s Warm Welcome

It was a hot summer day when a few of us were sitting in the home of Rabbi Asher Freund, a beloved tzaddik (righteous person) known for his boundless love for every Jew. Suddenly, a woman walked in, dressed in a very immodest manner. “Who is Rabbi Asher?” she asked.

With his usual calm and warmth, he answered, “That’s me. How can I help you?”

She began to cry and said, “I just came from Russia. I’m completely alone here in Israel. I need to move furniture from my apartment in Beit Hakerem to another apartment on Ussishkin Street, but I have no money for movers. Someone told me Rabbi Asher helps everyone... so I came.”

Without hesitation, Rabbi Asher turned to us, his students and told a few of us to help her. We went with her in a minibus, careful to lower our eyes out of modesty. We picked up her furniture and brought it to her new place. On the way, she turned to me and said something I’ll never forget.

“I know what a rabbi is,” she said, “and I know I’m not dressed in a way that’s respectful. But I had no other clothing. And still, he didn’t shame me, didn’t scold me, just helped me. You should know I’ve never kept kosher, I mix meat and milk, I eat bread on Passover, and I don’t keep Shabbat. But from now on, I’m committing to change. I’ll wear modest clothes, eat kosher, and keep Shabbat.”

We were speechless. She continued, “Do you know why I’m changing? Just because of how that rabbi treated me.”

This story, told in the book “R’ Asher,” speaks volumes. Rabbi Asher Freund taught us the deepest truth: when we treat fellow Jews with unconditional love and kindness, we open their hearts to return to Hashem.

It wasn’t a speech. It wasn’t an argument. It was a gesture of care and respect that lit a spark within her soul.

As the Chazon Ish, one of the great sages of the last century, ruled: in our generation, the path to bringing Jews closer is only through love.

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot says it clearly: “Love your fellow creatures and bring them close to Torah.” That means that the way to reach people is not through pressure, but through heartfelt care, respect, and true ahavat Yisrael, love for every Jew.

Even when it’s hard to love someone because of their behavior or choices, the Torah teaches us to find the good in them. The great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said that someone who doesn’t see the good in the Jewish people will never enter the true service of Hashem. Strong words but true.

You can be a person who keeps Shabbat, prays at sunrise, learns Torah all day, even wears multiple pairs of tefillin but if you haven’t worked to love your fellow Jews, you’re missing the heart of it all.

That’s exactly why the yetzer hara—the inner voice that pulls us away from growth tries so hard to get us to judge others harshly, to push people away instead of drawing them close. Because he knows: once we open our hearts and love each other, we’ve stepped through the gate of truly serving Hashem.

May we all merit to see each other with kind eyes, speak with kind words, and grow in kindness, so that we bring others and ourselves closer to our Father in Heaven.