What do we need the Internet for?

Thursday night, on my way to our evening collel in Ashdod, I am getting a phone call:

- Are you the Chief Rabbi of Georgia?

- Yes.

- My name is Yuri.  I live in Ashdod.  As I gather from the Toldos Yeshurun's Internet site you are heading an evening collel there.  Is that right?

- Yes.  You can come even today.

- Can I bring my wife with me?

- For the time being, better come alone.

He came.  Having stumbled upon Rav Yitzchak Zilber’s book a few months ago he felt an urge to find a Torah class.  Also, his brother is – to use Yuri’s own expression – “heavily religious.”  I asked him:

- What do you mean by “heavily”?

- Oy!  He is Orthodox.

Yuri began learning Gemara right away.  It is not easy, but there is nothing more interesting for a highly educated adult person than the intellectual “combats” of the Talmud.  Especially when going through them be-chavrusa – together – with a Russian-speaking avrech who is experienced in Torah learning and can explain everything in Russian.

Yuri, who has been married by civil marriage, is now asking us to set up a Chupah for him.  His wife is attending Torah classes for women.  We have already made a bris for him.  There are still Shabbos, Kashrus, and many other mitzvos for him to do, be-ezras Hashem.

P.S. After the bris, Yuri became Uri.  He sent his children to a religious kindergarten.  His Chupah is scheduled for September 22.

P.P.S. As it turned out later, Yuri was living at the same building with our collel’s coordinator, but they were not acquainted before.