“The impression you make might impact not just the person in front of you, but all of his or her future generations”
Last week, an Olami France group consisting of some 50 students spent an uplifting week in New York, visiting various communities and listening to inspiring addresses. But the most energizing experience wasn’t a riveting lecture, a packed beis medrash, or a bustling Erev Shabbos supermarket. In fact, the man who managed to touch the deepest part of their souls wasn’t even aware of the impact he was making.
Amrom Linder is a bus driver, working for the Monsey Trails bus company. He has no professional training in kiruv, but his sheer sincerity and heart brimming with warmth drew the students toward him and all he represents with a magnetic pull. One stunning expression of his ahavas Yisrael came on Erev Shabbos. The group was scheduled to stay in the Five Towns for Shabbos, and they assumed that Amrom would need to drop them off early enough so he could return to Monsey. But the driver surprised them.
“I don’t want to rush you,” he said, “I’ll make arrangements to stay in the Five Towns for Shabbos as well.” Amrom stayed at a friend in Woodmere, a half-hour walk from where the group was spending Shabbos, but that didn’t stop him from showing up for the Friday night oneg — replete in his shtreimel and beketshe.
One day, Amrom told them about the Monsey-Manhattan route he drove. He described how there were daily Shacharis minyanim on the bus, complete with a mechitzah and a sefer Torah. The group was enthralled by his description, and on Thursday morning, they asked Amrom to set up a mechitzah. And then the group of students davened Shacharis and listened to Krias HaTorah, while riding the bus.
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