Rabbi Eliyahu Maksumov - Last Ticket Home

it is very uncommon to have world renown dynamic speakers such as rebellious Livadia to come down to schools I give over different his look words of inspiration although the schedule is unconventional he made it his business to fly into New York to deliver one message and one message only and that message is that our torah is divine and that there is nothing like it I'd like to share with you just a short story I'd like to share with you just a short story that I believe will bring the message straight home those once a fellow who used to make all types of business transactions and as much as you would be are carried away with his job he always made sure to invest enough time to his wife and to his kids and then there was just one phone call that a guy that he could not resist it was a business opportunity that took place on the other side of the globe and after much deliberation knowing that he would have to leave his family for a very long time he decided that he's going to leave his family for only a week and not more than that and so he packs his stuff he gets to the Train and he waves his hands goodbye as he enters enters this foreign country he starts making all types of business calls meeting with all types of industries coming down to all kinds of types of meetings and of course the Victor's in two weeks two weeks turn into a month and a month turns into a few months and before he knows it he ends up in this place for a whole year and he looks back and he remembers everything that he left behind he remembers his wife he remembers this kid he remembers holding onto her little hands and he says enough is enough and it has to return home and he starts running to the office and he says putting everything into the luggages and as he packs up and he's leaving the room and he's leaving his office all of a sudden he gets another phone call and it's another business opportunity and he says just one more and another week passes by another month and a whole year all over again and he says I have to break this vicious cycle I have to return to my family and he runs to the train station to book the next ticket and he buys himself the last available ticket because he was running late and as he's running towards that train he sees the train is moving and the momentum is going and he starts screaming stop the train stop the train because he knows that if he does not get on that train right now he will never get on that train and the conductor sticks his head out and he sees his poor fellow running and he says just drop the luggages give me your hand just drop the luggages and start tell your hand and I'll pull you in and as mad as is running as you can imagine he's looking at the conductor he's looking at the luggages he's looking at everything that he invested into and he makes the right decision he left all the of all the investments and he lets go of the packages that he gives over his hand to the conductor allowing him to pull him in and together they return home this is the story of every one of our lives we can't so carried away with all our outside influences and then we have the train station and the train station is right here in Beryl go look and the conductor is Rabbi Eliezer valya the conductor is mrs. Hollander the conductors have a Germaine arrived a fisherman and they're stretching out their hands to you and they're saying this let go and give us your hand and we will pull you in and together and I always say if we could maybe get ourselves in that train then maybe we could become the next conductor and we could pull others into that train and together we'll get through the deepest darkest tunnels and lights might bring us with the light of Torah and shining the way through making that one step at a time so our ultimate redemption where our true home where our true home awaits us the Potomac - and with that being said it is a great honor a real privilege and it's a hoot a merit to introduce to you rabbi elias of idea [Applause]