From Riches to Righteous

The story I’m about to share with you is an amazing true story about the great lengths Hashem goes to in order to bring us closer to Him. Years ago, my dear friend Sarah was a secular Israeli Jew. Although her upbringing didn’t consist of much Torah observance, she had a very strong Jewish identity and loved Israel. After her service in the army, she decided to travel to the exotic and very far country of Japan.

She loved being in Japan so much that she decided to stay indefinitely. As she needed money to support her whimsical decision, she found a job teaching English in an Ulpan-style setting to Japanese adults. How she actually learned Japanese is beyond me. Before classes began, the school hosted a party to allow everyone to meet each other, and also because apparently the Japanese love a good party.

She noticed a very handsome young man at the party, and as fate would have it, this man ended up being one of her students. During the classes, she would constantly refer to Israel. This man became intrigued about Israel and wanted to learn more. He asked her to tell him about Israel, and what life was like over there.

After the semester was over, she had to return to Israel because of her temporary visa. Life resumed normally, until one day when her Japanese student suddenly showed up at her door. “I want to become Jewish,” he told her. “What? Are you serious??” she asked, trying to recover after the double shock she had just received.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I read every book there was in Japan about Israel, and I found out so much about Judaism in the process. I have decided that this is the religion for me.” Amazingly, Sarah’s secular parents went out of their way to help him with his conversion. After one year, he converted via the Orthodox Rabbinate and became a righteous convert. Shortly after his conversion, Sarah married him. But, wait. The story gets better.

You see, this man, Avraham, came from a very wealthy family. His father is a huge developer in Japan, and Avraham himself used to be a top fashion model and famous singer. Every morning, over 30 hysterical girls would wait outside his front door so they could grab his sleeve as he left his house. He was the heir to his father’s multi-million dollar business.

As you can imagine, his parents were quite devastated when he decided to leave it all and become a Torah-observant Jew in Israel. However, his wife, Sarah, still loved Japan, so they decided they would move back after the wedding. They lived the good life in Japan, full of five-star vacations and exclusive parties with all of the riches one can imagine. Their crowd of friends was the elite of the elite, being driven around in their Bentleys by their private chauffeurs, and spending tens of thousands of dollars in shopping sprees without thinking twice. Life was sweet.

During this time, Sarah and Avraham gave birth to a little boy. You should also know that while Avraham was fully Torah-observant, Sarah was still resistant and took things more slowly. At that point, she decided that it was time to make her residency in Japan official. However, that meant giving up her Israeli citizenship, because the law in Japan states that a person cannot have dual citizenship. What was the big deal, anyhow? She loved living in Japan and saw no reason to return to Israel.

They made arrangements with the consulate and traveled to the beautiful city of Kobe. They decided to make a little vacation out of it, since Kobe was far from where they lived. So they stayed in a hotel near the consulate. That night, at around 1AM, Avraham suddenly woke up from a deep sleep. “Sarah,” he nudged her. “We forgot our marriage certificate. They won’t give you citizenship otherwise! We need to go back home right now to get it, so we’ll still make it on time to our appointment.” Groggy and completely out of it, she was too tired to argue with him, so they packed up their things and went back home.

Suddenly, at 5:46AM, a terrible earthquake hit Japan. It registered 6.9 on the Richter scale and absolutely devastated a huge amount of land. And where do you think the epicenter of the Great Hanshin Earthquake was? That’s right- in the city of Kobe! This was the worst earthquake in Japan in the entire 20th century after their big one in 1923; over 6,400 people died in the 1995 earthquake, and 4,600 were from the city of Kobe.

If that weren’t crazy enough, there was major damage in the city where Avraham and Sarah lived, too. Roads were pushed up and apart, and many homes were destroyed. When all of the neighbors asked each other what damage their homes suffered, Avraham said their home had absolutely zero damage. Not even a glass moved from its place on the shelf! Everyone was in shocked and asked how it could be. “Simple,” Avraham said. “We have mezuzas!”

Sarah was traumatized to the core. She couldn’t shake the wake-up call she had just received. It was as if Hashem were speaking directly with her, warning her not to permanently sever her ties to Israel. With that realization, she decided that there was a big message in what she had just experienced. She decided that she needed to make teshuva and return to Israel.

Two years and much growth later, Avraham and Sarah returned to Israel with their expanding family. Avraham decided to learn part time and found a job near their home. Sarah opened up her own beauty spa and her business is flourishing. They have six beautiful children who are all growing up in a loving Jewish home.

As she shared with me some pictures of her former life, she said she never would have believed that her life would turn out the way it did. “But in everything I do, I see the Divine Hand of Hashem, and I know He loves me and wants the best for me. And I also know with all of my heart that He’s speaking to each one of us and wants us all to grow closer to Him.”

Now that’s what I call a kiddush Hashem!