Editor's Note: Teshuvah is a theme often linked to Ki Sisa, the Torah portion in which the "stiff-necked" or unrepentant  Israelites build a Golden Calf.

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman, Congregation Kehillas Torah, San Diego

I was recently privileged to meet Rabbi Uri Zohar. Uri Zohar was the top television and movie entertainer in Israel – he was Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jim Carrey rolled into one. He was a completely secular Israeli with no connection to Torah whatsoever. Then in a remarkable turnaround he became completely Torah observant.

He visited San Diego to speak on behalf of P’eylim/Lev L’achim – an outstanding organization in Israel. Many Israelis showed up for his presentation. He spoke of the events that led to his becoming frum (religious). Here is his amazing story:

Even though Uri lived in Israel, he didn’t know any religious Jews, and certainly did not know any rabbis personally, but one day he and some friends happened to meet a Rabbi Silburman. During that fateful conversation Rabbi Silburman claimed that he could prove to them that the Torah is from G-d and that G-d exists. The Rabbi offered to present that proof, any time they wanted.

Uri did not believe this, but just for a laugh, decided to take the rabbi up on his offer. The group set a time and a date to meet at the rabbi’s house and hear him out. Uri was looking forward to the showdown and to explaining to the rabbi why he was wrong and his logic was flawed.

When the time came, Uri was surprised to see that he was the only one of the group who showed up to the meeting. He sat down with the rabbi and listened. He listened first with amusement, then interest, then awe. No matter how hard he tried to discredit the rabbi’s arguments, he could not. The evidence was too compelling. By the time the meeting was over Uri felt that his life had changed forever. Now the question was what to do about it.

Uri felt that he was in a bind. He now believed that Torah was Divine truth. But this implied to him that he had to change his entire lifestyle and he couldn’t do that. Or could he?

Fortunately at this point, a little common sense took over. With the help of the rabbi, he realized that he didn’t have to take an all or nothing at all approach. Uri understood that the way he was built, he could not handle taking something on and then not keeping up with it. That would make him feel like a failure and he would just give it all up. Therefore he decided to accept the ‘yoke of heaven’ one baby step at a time.

He decided that he would commit right then and there to something doable. He chose the mitzvah of lighting candles every Shabbos. He figured that was the easiest mitzvah, but even that was not as simple as it might seem. He would often be in the middle of some event such as the Cannes Film Festival. It was often a challenge finding a time and place to light the Shabbos candles. Nonetheless, he chose this mitzvah and he kept it faithfully without fail.

Once he felt comfortable and secure with the whole Kiddush commitment, he took on another mitzvah, and then another, and then another. All this was eye opening to Uri. He always thought of Torah as an old book of fairytales. He never realized how complex, involving and relevant it was. After time, he felt that he wanted to observe a completely Torah observant life. But there was one huge issue to be faced – his wife.

Uri realized that he couldn’t possibly live the full Torah lifestyle without the consent and involvement of his wife. All this time, Uri was making strides and strides, but his wife was completely out of the picture. Finally he laid it all on her at once. He told her that he would like her to keep a fully kosher observant home from top to bottom.

She reacted with anger and hurt. “You are always out working. You never spend time or do anything with me and the kids. Now you have just decided on your own that we are supposed to follow you obediently on your religious revelation.”

Needless to say, the conversation got confrontational and didn’t end very well. Her final answer was ‘No Way’. Uri didn’t know what to do.

Uri woke up in the middle of a sleepless night. His wife was not in bed. He walked through the house and found her sitting with a book on Jewish Law written by the famous Rabbi, The Rambam (Maimonides). He approached her and they looked at each other not saying a word.

Finally his wife said, “I’ll do it.”  And she did.

Uri asked her what she saw in The Rambam that convinced her. She answered, “I read through the book and I didn’t understand a word of it – but I saw that it was serious.”  The rest is history.

The enraptured listeners at the speech asked Rabbi Uri Zohar, what it was that the rabbi told him during that initial scheduled meeting? He then went on to explain the rabbi’s ironclad proof.   

This is what the rabbi said:

The Torah recounts (Leviticus 11: 1-8) the laws of kosher animals, detailing the fact that an animal must have split hooves and must also chew its cud, in order to be kosher. Horses, tigers, and bears do not have either of these attributes. Cows, sheep and goats have both attributes - split hooves and chew their cuds. 

In fact, all split hoofed animals chew their cuds, with the exception of the pig. The Torah points out that the pig is not kosher because “its hoof is split but it does not chew its cud.” (Lev. 11:7) 

The Talmud (Hulin 59a) explains that the Torah is telling us that the pig is the only exception to the rule – it is the only split hoofed animal which does not chew its cud. That’s why the Torah writes “its hoof is split but it does not chew its cud.” The Torah is declaring that it (the pig) is the only such animal. 

The Talmud even says that if you find a split hoofed animal but cannot verify whether it chews its cud, you can still be sure the animal is kosher as long as you recognize that it is not a swine. 

Uri was blown away by this. He had always thought that the Torah, which is also known as the Five Books of Moses, was written by Moshe (Moses) and not G-d. But how could Moshe have known that there were no other animals anywhere in the world that had split hooves and did not chew its cud. 

Moshe lived in the Middle East. How could he know that there were no such animals in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, or the Americas? And if Moshe were making the whole thing up, why would he dare risk his credibility by claiming something that could easily be disproved? 

Only G-d Himself, who created the world and everything in it could have the confidence to make that assertion. There have been thousands of new species of animals discovered throughout the world since the time of Moshe. Only the Creator Himself could have known that no other exception would ever be found. 

As Rabbi Zohar recounted for his audience, his return was premised upon a single point of intellectual integrity. “I somehow knew,” Rabbi Zohar said, “that if it can proved to me that there is a Creator, then it is incumbent upon me to accept that He had a plan for this world. That plan is the Torah, and I have been striving to absorb as much of it as I can ever since.” 


Dedicated in memory of Murray “Guf” Woolf by his daughter Barbara, grandson Michael, and great-grandson Guf.