Video Installation screen 6: Haim Wolman

Text Panel

hello, I’m Haim Wolman, I’m married, father of nine, and I have several grandchildren, thank God.
I was raised in a family of education and charity, and so, my whole life, thank God, I’ve dedicated myself to education. I work with troubled teenagers, who can’t cope in regular educational institutions. The main thing I’m guided by is joy, so in recent years, from the Lithuanian movement I went over to the path of Baal Shem Tov, which is founded primarily on joy.
There’s a verse that reads:
“Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart.”
One of the sages says: Man will not be punished for something he did or didn’t do, but rather for not doing it with gladness. Another thing that guides me is “where he is”. When I work with troubled teens, I take the thing that the Lord said to Ishmael, when Ishmael was at death’s door and the Lord gave him water and revived him. Everyone was surprised, but the Lord said in the verse:
“where he is.”
Somehow, right in this moment, not thinking about the past or the future, that is how we care for him. And really, the sum of all teachings is:
“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”