International Halacha Champion: A 26-Year-Old Baal Teshuva

One of the things that particularly encourages Nathaniel Shasha (26), the International Halacha Champion, is the message his win sends to baalei teshuva like him. "I received a lot of support and encouragement. It turns out it gave strength to baalei teshuva, who saw that achievements are possible even for baalei teshuva, and it also strengthened the Haredim from birth. Some yeshiva students told me, 'You gave us a life lesson. You showed us what can be achieved in just a few years.'"

 

 

Last week, Shasha won the International Halacha Quiz, held at the Ramada Hotel. Radio Kol B'Rama initiated the event, and Rabbi Ophir Malka led it on a halachic level. Initially, 6,200 scholars were tested, from which 25 participants were chosen and tested weekly within Avi Mimran's radio program, with two participants dropping out each week until four were left for the grand finale. As mentioned, the young baal teshuva took first place.

 

Shasha, who currently studies at Yeshivat "Or Hachaim" under Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, grew up in the Katamonim neighborhood in Jerusalem in a traditional home. He attended a secular high school, observed Shabbat, and wore tefillin ("Today I understand not always at the right time," he says with a smile), and following the death of a close person, he decided to return to religious observance. "I didn't know much about halachot," he says about the period before his personal transformation. "I returned to Judaism at 19 and a half. Before that, I studied electrical engineering. After the passing of a close individual, I began drawing closer already during the shiva. I decided that immediately after the shiva, I would go study in a kollel. I studied in a kollel in the evenings, and after a while, I reached Yeshivat Or Hachaim. People arrive there without knowledge, without anything, and advance very quickly. There are fighter pilots, lawyers, doctors - all arriving with zero knowledge in Judaism. The head of the Yeshiva has built a real empire there, raising exemplary scholars. We have many authors among us, and there's a strong emphasis on character traits."

 

"I don't seek this publicity. What matters to me is mainly highlighting the immense contribution of the head of the Yeshiva. This is a person who built 230 branches across the country to benefit the Jewish people. Not just to bring people back to Judaism, but to turn them into real scholars. It's all thanks to him. I hold nothing of myself, it's all thanks to him and the great rabbis there."

 

I told you, I don't take credit for anything. I'm also one of the smallest in the Yeshiva, not for modesty. Three of the finalists were students from the Yeshiva."During the various stages of the competition, did you believe you would make it to the end?

"Absolutely not. I saw the competitors who were heads of kollels, community leaders, and it even intimidated me being next to them. The beauty was the unity among everyone. Each one encouraged the other, everyone stayed in touch all the time. That was the greatest advantage, and it was even during the period of the Omer, when character traits hold special importance."

 

"I aim to become a dayan. It's work dealing with finances, many logical discussions, and I love that. The things are based on the heaviest Gemaras in the Talmud. Hopefully, I'll start studying it in the not-too-distant future."

 

Photo courtesy of "Kol B'Rama."