The Professor's Awakening: A Journey to Faith and Understanding

The following story is taken from the book Ka'eel Ta'arog, told by a student of the esteemed Rabbi Aharon Yehudah Leib Shteinman.

"I am a religious scholar who teaches Torah to Jewish people who are not yet observant. Once, a Russian immigrant, a math professor, approached me wanting to join our Torah classes on two conditions: He had not yet had a bris milah, and he was married to a non-Jewish woman, asking that we not discuss these topics with him. 'If you accept these conditions,' the man said, 'I would be happy to join the class.'

The teacher consulted Rabbi Shteinman on what to do. The Rabbi's response was: 'Study the chapter of "Gold" from Bava Metzia with him, and do not discuss what he does not wish to.'

The professor was exceptionally talented and quickly grasped the material, allowing us to study together for several weeks.

One week, we reached the topic of "The Merchants of Lod," and as an introduction, I told him he would likely enjoy it due to his mathematical background. We began studying, but he could not grasp it. We reviewed it again and again, but he remained troubled by his inability to understand. After class, the professor went home, determined to study alone, yet the complexity eluded him.

In his frustration, he remembered that I had mentioned Yeshiva Hevron, where students study late into the night. He decided to visit the yeshiva, hoping someone there could help him.

The professor arrived at the yeshiva and requested assistance from a student. Despite the student's repeated explanations, the concept remained out of reach.

The next day, on Shabbat, the professor tried again to study, to no avail. He concluded that his 'un-circumcised state was blocking his understanding,' prompting him to decide to undergo a bris milah."

On Sunday, he contacted 'Brit Yitzhak,' an organization that facilitates adult circumcisions, and they arranged the procedure for him that day. He did not mention the bris to his teacher when he called to say he was unwell and couldn't attend class.

The following week, when they revisited the Merchants of Lod, the transformation was evident. "Incredibly, he now understood the topic perfectly, even raising questions and providing answers as if delivering a complete discourse," the teacher noted. "Surprised, I asked the professor about the change. He confessed, 'I felt it was the lack of circumcision that hindered me, so I underwent a bris milah. A week later, I felt a sense of holiness and decided to leave my non-Jewish wife. This is why I can now understand the subject.'

Watch the moving video:

Excited, the two traveled the next day to Rabbi Shteinman's home for the pre-dawn prayer service. Afterward, they came forward, and I mentioned to the Rabbi that this was the man I had spoken about two months ago, 'the uncircumcised one.'

Hearing this, Rabbi Shteinman smiled and said to the professor, 'You are already circumcised.' Overcome with emotion, the professor burst into tears and asked how the Rabbi knew. Rabbi Shteinman replied, 'It is not possible to understand the Merchants of Lod with an uncircumcised heart. If you grasped it, it must be that you are now circumcised.'