For four decades, master mechanech Rabbi Shmuel Zalmen Kleinman has been reaching out to public school kids of all backgrounds and placing them in frum summer camps and yeshivos —and he’ll do whatever it takes to help them
On a Queens street, a middle-aged Jew with a flowing white beard, wise countenance, and chassidic garb that clearly announces “Williamsburg” stands chatting easily with two young Bukharian men. No one thinks the scene is odd though, because Rabbi Shmuel Zalmen Kleinman’s face is as well-known in these parts as it is on Lee Avenue, thanks to decades of dedication to drawing young Jews closer to their heritage.
The real surprise, though, comes at the end of the conversation with these former students of Midrash L’man Achai, the yeshivah high school he founded over two decades ago for teenage boys regardless of religious background or Jewish education level — the crown jewel of his wide-ranging kiruv activities.
“So how’s it going?” he asks. “What are you guys doing to put some Torah in your life?”
“Rabbi, I wish I could,” says one of them, “but with work and family I just have no time in my day for Torah study.” The second one nods in agreement.
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