“My parents gave us a home where Judaism, the Rebbe, and education weren’t just talked about—they were lived. Going to the Rebbe in New York was a priority. It wasn’t easy—packing all the kids into a van, driving twelve hours from Detroit—but because it mattered to them, we did it multiple times a year, every single year, even when we were little. Those trips had a tremendous impact on me.
One memory stands out, from when I was eight. I was at a crowded Farbrengen with a friend, and he said, ‘Come with me, my brother will take care of us, he has a spot up front.’ We came in, and my friend’s brother picked me up and threw me right over the Rebbe’s table. I landed on the other side. There was nowhere for me to go, and just then the Rebbe walked in, so I stayed there—right by the Rebbe’s feet. That was part of growing up as a kid from out of town, coming in to see the Rebbe.
You don’t always realize how deeply childhood shapes you. My mother was a teacher for forty years at a day school in Detroit. Every year she’d invite her class for a Shabbaton at our house—sleeping bags on the floor in the basement or the den. My sisters helped with the girls; my brothers and I would walk the boys to synagogue. The prayers were long, so we’d go outside and play ball. I didn’t think about it until years later, when it hit me: I’m doing so much of what I saw at home. My mother was teaching; I’m teaching. She was running Shabbatons; I’m running them. She opened her home to young people—and that’s exactly what I ended up doing.
I’m also a psychotherapist. Every rabbi is a kind of therapist in some way—the amount of cases I’ve dealt with over twenty-five years is astronomical. But during COVID I saw kids dealing with more problems than ever, and I felt that I needed more tools. So I said to myself – let me go back to school. It’s just another tool in the toolbox for helping the youth.
Outside of work, I love studying the Rebbe’s teachings, playing sports, skiing, and spending time with family. And in a way, that’s what I learned growing up: Yiddishkeit, family, learning, life—they’re not separate worlds. It’s all one lifestyle.”
-Rabbi Shmuli Nachlas, Thornhill, Ontario
Related Articles
Be the first to write a comment.