All credit goes to Rabbi Shraga Freedman and the Living Kiddush Hashem Foundation
The Awkwardness of Greetings February 20, 2025 In Aleinu Leshabeach , Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein relates that a baal teshuvah once admitted that his return to Torah and mitzvos was triggered by the simple pleasant behavior of a religious neighbor. He lived in an apartment building in Haifa that was occupied by an overwhelming majority of irreligious families; only one of his neighbors was religious. Yet that religious neighbor was always particular to greet the man warmly every time he encountered him in the stairwell. Eventually, the man realized that if his religious neighbor could constantly radiate such joy, it must mean that his life was filled with meaning and fulfillment. He resolved to explore that life for himself, and that is how he became a baal teshuvah . In Pirkei Avos (1:12) Hillel states, “Be among the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them close to Torah.” ...