Rabbi Eli Riesel shares his inspiring journey from a real estate developer to a Torah scholar, and his experience facing a 300-year prison sentence for past business dealings.
Read the notes on this shiur: outline, sources, and more from Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz →
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The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.
Get out of the shower, getting dressed. He says, "You have a you have a call." I go. So I, "Hi." He's like, "Hi, my name is Benedict Cuni and I'm your attorney. You've just been indicted by the federal government. You've been charged with a crime." He's like, "The US Marshall might come looking for you." And it's 26 counts, 25 counts of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If they indict you and get you convicted on crimes like 30, 40, $50 million, you're looking at like probably 15 to 20 years each count. 12 years time 26 is 312 years. People just fold. And 26 is 312 years. People just fold. And even if you're willing to be the the macho man and say, "Yeah, I'm I'm not going to testify." My whole life changed. You know, in that instant, Rabbi Ellie Risal walked away from a highpowered real estate career to fully immerse in Torah and learning. And just as he found purpose and stability, he was hit with a federal indictment and the threat of 300 plus years in prison. He refused to flip, stayed true to his values, and faced it head on. No plea deals, no shortcuts. It's a wild story, but it will show you the power of learning Torah. What? How? You'll see.
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- 0:00Get out of the shower, getting dressed. He says, "You have a you have a call."…
- 6:10drove me. Um there was a point that I was ready to go on my own…
- 11:49including Friday night mabis Sunday, whatever the situation was. we would we would meet at his…
- 20:01what it's been a while since I heard like like a sheer like to that level…
- 25:43learn but I didn't you know I didn't know anything comes to my he came you…
- 31:23might come looking for you. I mean, there's a there's a warrant out for your arrest.…
- 36:59because of that. And um like I want to say like my whole life was crazy.…
- 42:35baby exists in the mother's arms. Like that's kind like I would say like that's kind…
- 49:46people in the crowd and like all rise and the judge walks in and like you…
- 55:22with your kids taking them to Shul to sit next to them to be at Friday…
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