From the second Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz was diagnosed with ALS, he embraced the new mission Hashem gave him, certain that Hashem placed him on a unique platform to change the world around him.
“I use my difficulties as a platform to lift others up.” – Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz
This is just one of the most recent posts that have been put up on Rabbi Yitzi’s social media pages.
From the second Rabbi Yitzi was diagnosed, he embraced the new mission Hashem gave him. Hashem placed him on a unique platform to change the world around him.
Eight years later, we see the incredible impact Rabbi Yitzi is making. Hundreds of people have come to visit and receive inspiration, and thousands commit to doing more mitzvos during the yearly tefillin campaign. Using his Eye-Gaze machine, Rabbi Yitzi has typed hundreds of articles, letter by letter and sentence by sentence. These articles are full of Torah wisdom and life experiences as well as simple tips for living a better life.
Recently, a few friends of Rabbi Yitzi got together to expand Rabbi Yitzi’s platform. “Rabbi Yitzi has put in an incredible amount of time and effort into making his impact. The least we can do is show some gratitude and get his messages out even further. Our idea was to get Yitzi on social media. Once you’re on social media, the impact you can have grows exponentially, and almost effortlessly. You post a thought, this guy likes it, the next guy forwards it, and before you know it, you can have hundreds and thousands of people reading Yitzi’s material,” said Mendel Wenger, one of the organizers behind these new platforms.
After much planning, they brought the idea to Rabbi Yitzi. He is excited about the possibilities and is involved in many facets of this project. Rabbi Yitzi’s involvement is more than just giving his OK.
“For me, the coolest part is getting to work together with Yitzi. From the get-go, Yitzi has been involved in the decision-making. He chose the name Torah From My Eyes. He selects which article we should publish every week, and the meaningful one-liners based on the articles all get his approval before being published. We also get together every few weeks to discuss the growth and impact the platforms have been making,” Mendel said.
To date, Rabbi Yitzi’s latest wisdom is being sent out on both WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as a beta website that the team has made. On a weekly basis, they send out a marriage tip for men, an inspirational quote, a snippet from Rabbi Yitzi’s Dvar Torah and a beautiful PDF of the whole dvar torah ready for print. In addition, they send out pictures and updates of Rabbi Yitzi’s life.
Another aspect of joining social media was giving everyone the opportunity to give back.
“We all know what kind of powerful impact Rabbi Yitzi has been making, and will continue to make. To me, one of the biggest accomplishments of creating this social media platform is giving everyone the ability to show their gratitude to Yitzi. If someone connected with a marriage tip and his marriage was impacted as a result, he can reach out and say thank you. If a message from Yitzi’s weekly Dvar Torah became the talk of the Shabbos meal, he can drop a like on the Instagram page. One of the biggest motivations to keep creating is when you can see the impact you are having,” organizers said.
“We would like to thank some of the people and organizations who have helped us out thus far. The social media pages of JEM and Merkos 302 for their time and advice, the Shipping Center for helping cover the cost of distribution, Meaningful Minute, Torah Printouts, and The Crown Edition for promoting our page,” they said.
And of course, to the people making this happen behind the scenes. Moshe Aaron Geisinsky and Mendel Konikov for all the time and effort you’ve invested and Dina Hurwitz for helping out whenever necessary.
But the real message is that every one of us can help out by supporting Rabbi Yitzi in any way. By following or liking on social media, joining the Run4Yitzi campaign taking place March 6, donating money to the family fund or towards publishing his material, inspiring people to take hachlatos in his honor, or arranging a quick talk to tell him what he means to you.”
Click here to download this week’s dvar Torah.
Check out the website: https://TorahFromMyEyes.com/
To Follow Rabbi Yitzi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabbiyitzi/
To Receive Rabbi Yitzi’s Wisdom on WhatsApp: https://api.whatsapp.com/send/?phone=+19377704802&text=Please%20add%20me%20to%20the%20Whatsapp%20group
To Email us: [email protected]
To See All of Rabbi Yitzi’s content: http://yitzihurwitz.blogspot.com/
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