From Secular Teen to Yeshiva Student: Arad Elbaz’s Inspiring Journey Back to Judaism

It all began about a decade ago, when Arad Elbaz was a 16-year-old teenager. He grew up in a traditional home that respected religious values, but privately he always viewed religious Jews as a kind of “unfortunate” group. He certainly never imagined that one day he would become one of them.

Yet already during high school, during an ordinary Bible class, a red flag went up — something felt “off.” “I didn’t expect the teacher to relate to Jewish history like a Haredi person would,” explains Elbaz, now 26 and a yeshiva student. “But it did feel strange that the stories of the Torah were treated as something that once happened but no longer had any connection to us.”

Most of the students, including him, found no interest in those classes. “It was just another class passing by, with no attempt to show how any of it mattered to my life.”

But this bothered him, because at home he had been raised to believe that there is a Creator, and that the Torah is not a collection of “fairy tales,” as his secular teacher implied, but a holy, divine gift given to the Jewish people as an expression of God’s love.

“My Father Supported My Spiritual Growth — But He Didn’t Want Me to Skip the Army”

Arad didn’t know what to do with this confusion until the day his twin brother, Ariel, decided to join a program that facilitated dialogue between secular and religious teens.

Ariel went into the first meeting convinced he already knew everything there was to know about Judaism — and that the religious teens had nothing new to teach him. But when he returned, the tune had changed completely.

Ariel came back full of excitement. He began searching for more Torah lectures and eventually discovered the teachings of Rabbi Zamir Cohen and the Hidabroot organization. “From there, the path to becoming more observant was very short,” says Arad — but he adds a caveat: “For me, the process took years.”

It began with Friday-night prayers at the synagogue and gradually grew into more commitments — a kippah, tefillin, Shabbat, and various mitzvot. “The first Torah lecture I agreed to hear was from Rabbi Zamir Cohen. I loved his gentle way of making Torah accessible to everyone. I immediately connected to his personality.”

After countless hours of listening to lectures, Arad decided he wanted to enroll in a yeshiva — but obstacles soon appeared.

“My father strongly supported my spiritual growth, but he didn’t want me to give up the army. He told me: ‘First enlist. Afterward you can do whatever you want.’ So that’s exactly what I did. Honoring my parents was no less important to me.”

“I Knew the Moment I Enlisted — I Would Fall Spiritually”

For Arad, this was no simple test. “I knew that the moment I joined the army, I would fall spiritually. No question about it.”

And that’s exactly what happened. But in His mercy, God prepared the remedy in advance: even on the remote base where he served, Arad met a religious soldier who strengthened him immensely.

“Despite the fall, because of him I was able to correct myself and grow stronger.”

Still, Arad knew better than to rely on himself. After being discharged, he immediately recalculated his path.

“I knew that if I didn’t enter yeshiva right away, I would slip backward — and that was the last thing I wanted. There are times when you can’t rely on yourself and say, ‘One day I’ll return to Torah.’ You have to strike while the iron is hot, before the evil inclination gets a second chance.”

He studied in several different kollelim until eventually joining a yeshiva in Jerusalem. To this day, he continues to listen to Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s teachings regularly on the Hidabroot website.

“The Fear of Change Is Normal"

What would he tell someone who feels torn — someone drawn to Torah but frightened of the leap?

“The fear of change is completely understandable. But the second you take even the smallest step toward Hashem, you receive Heavenly assistance that changes everything.”

“Yeshiva transformed me completely — in every measure, and for the better.”

He adds that before returning to Torah, he struggled with two major questions — one about Shabbat, and one about the Holocaust.

“As the grandson of a grandmother who lost everything in the Holocaust, I felt I needed real answers. I didn’t want to just follow the crowd. So I asked, researched, watched many of Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s videos — he explains the issues thoroughly, and in the end, everything settled in my heart.”

“There is an answer to everything. The real question is whether you are brave enough to discover it.”