Rabbi Yosef Grunfeld dispels fear — of beards of religious fanatics of commitment to a Torah way of life. For the past 30 years, the director of Seed in the UK has been charming and disarming audiences without compromising on his own principles.
“I know what you’re all scared of” he says and pauses for effect. He grips his beard and gives it a melodramatic tug. “It’s this isn’t it? This is what you’re all scared of!” He stops and waits. Ripples of self-conscious laughter bubble around the hall.
“Well let me tell you something. Beards are nothing to be scared of at all. We’re humans we rabbis and I promise you we don’t bite.”
He’s done it. He’s grabbed the elephant in the room by the scruff of its neck hauled it aloft and shaken it until its tusks rattle — and now his audience is climbing into his hand.
Reminded of the incident as he shares his experiences as national director of Project Seed in the UK he laughs. “You break down barriers with warmth and humor” he says. “I’ve watched people coming to seminars and when they see our faces for the first time they’re absolutely petrified. And I’ve overheard people saying they want to go straight home. But because they’ve traveled so far they decide to stay — and see. By Friday night — our seminars start on Friday afternoon — they’re much calmer. They see that we’re normal and the barriers have been broken just by the singing the dancing the friendliness the warmth. A woman got up at one seminar and said ‘I never knew that rabbis were normal people.’ ”
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