In addition to providing services to the Jewish athletes in the Olympic Village, and helping in the bustling Chabad Houses and kosher restaurant, we make time to seek out every Jew, wherever they may be. The following is just one of the many moving stories which took place this summer.
We were walking through the Westin Hotel when we met a Dutchman named Daniel. He had studied hospitality in Austria and came to Beijing to pursue his dream of working in the hotel industry. When I mentioned that I was from South Africa, he excitedly told me that his father was South African and added that his mother was Jewish. We told him that he is a bona fide Jew. He told us that while he feels part of the Jewish race, he feels no connection to the Jewish religion.
We began speaking about various Jewish topics and found out that he had never had a Bar Mitzvah and certainly had not put on, or even heard of, Tefillin.
After a lengthy discussion about Tefillin, we asked if he might want to don Tefillin for the first time. He was hesitant at first but agreed.
After saying the Shema and a short prayer of his own, he was visibly moved and said that he felt an overwhelming sense of connection to something he didn't even know existed, a soothing comfort, and that he had begun to fill a void he could never place. For the first time in his life, he felt an element of spiritual fulfillment and a deep desire to explore his heritage.
There is no end to this story, only a beginning.
