From A Baseball Star to Chassid

Please support Hadar HaTorah. I am only one example of what they make possible: https://www.charidy.com/hadarhatorah

My name is Reuven Shmuel Mizrahi. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. When I was 11 my family left because things were falling apart there, and we moved to Florida. I grew up secular. I went to public school. I had friends. I fit in. At the same time, I felt like I was just going through the motions. I did not know much about Judaism and honestly, I was fine with that. All I cared about was baseball.

Baseball was my whole identity. I worked at it day and night. I made it to junior college and was ranked 17th in the country as a pitcher for Alfred State College. At that time, I thought that if I became a pro, I would finally be happy. I thought that would be the thing that filled the emptiness. I later realized I was mostly chasing the attention, not the sport.

Going to Israel changed something in me. I suddenly started asking myself real questions. I came home and quit baseball. That was scary. I went searching in every direction. I got into Eastern religion and spirituality. I meditated, fasted, did yoga, followed a guru. I thought I was getting close to truth but, in reality, I was floating with nothing to anchor me. It felt normal on the surface, but empty underneath.

When I came to Hadar Hatorah, everything shifted. I did not get a new identity. I got my identity back. I found Judaism in a way I never experienced growing up. I met people who were searching like me. I had teachers who cared about me. Rabbi Yaakov Goldberg, the rosh hayeshiva, guided me through things I could not have figured out alone. I learned Torah in a way that made sense. I started to feel grounded and alive.

Today I am a teacher at Yeshiva Darchei Menachem teaching limudei kodesh to sixth graders. I am married, with four children ka’h, living in Crown Heights. I still go to Hadar on Shabbos. I feel grateful every time I walk in because I know where I was heading before. I know what was missing.

Hadar Hatorah helped me rebuild my life from the inside out.

I am asking you to support them because there are more people like me not even knowing what they are missing. Yeshiva gave me something real to hold on to. I want others to have that too.

If you can, please donate:
https://www.charidy.com/hadarhatorah