How to Master Mentoring: Reaching For The stars

This is podcast episode # 49 of The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday, and the 3rd episode in a mini-series about How to Master Mentoring, which focuses on “reaching for the stars!”

As with the two previous episodes in the How to Master Mentoring mini-series, this episode also starts a story of how a Rabbi mentored me and continues with some of the most unusual experiences I’ve had as a mentor. 

I hope you find the retelling of these mentoring experiences profound and inspiring. They also reveal great lessons on how to succeed in any business, including a side hustle.

However, these learning moments are not just about acquiring wealth but about understanding the more profound principles that guide success in every area of life.

I’m Rabbi Dave, and every week, we dive deeply into the challenges and triumphs of achieving success, both in traditional business and home business or side hustle.

Mentorship Mastery Story #5: My Rabbi – Reaching for the Stars

When I think about which mentor (other than my parents) had the single biggest influence on my career and my life, without a doubt, it was Rabbi Lowenbraun (and his wife Miriam, as they were a team). I first met Rabbi Lowenbaraun at the end of fifth grade, but I really didn’t start my strong relationship with him until the beginning of 10th grade.  I went to a community day school in Baltimore, Beth Tefilah, which was part of my family synagogue. They had a chapter in the youth group Junior NCSY (grades 5 to 8) and my entire class went to their Shabbatons (Sabbath Retreats).  When I and one of my lifelong friends, Eric Fier, left the school after 7th grade, we made a pact that once per year, we would keep our connection to Judaism by going to an NCSY Shabbaton as part of the Beth Tefilah chapter.

So, in 10th grade, when all my friends in public school took off for the Jewish holidays and went to the mall, I felt weird going to the synagogue.  I decided that either I was going to be totally religious or totally not, but in between, I felt hypocritical.  I decided to dive into Orthodox Judaism to learn the truth, experience it unwatered down, and decide if it was for me or not.  

I began spending every Sabbath by being at home with my family Friday evening and then walking three and a half miles Saturday morning to where the Orthodox Jewish community lived to experience what Orthodox Jewish families did on the Sabbath. Because of my connection to NCSY, I naturally asked to be set up with the families of their leadership, who at the time were the Tarrigans, the Pollaks, and, of course, the Lowenbrauns.  I loved every aspect of the learning and family life, made amazing friends with other Jewish teens like myself, and became a lifelong student of Rabbi Lowenbraun.

I joined the youth group regional board and, together with Eric and my brother Steven, started a Senior NCSY chapter (grades 9 to 12) at Beth Tefilah. Rabbi Lowenbraun taught me how to learn and, more importantly, share with others what I learned about Judaism.  I was the Vice President of Education, and as he did, I led by example by out-learning all the other teens, publishing words of the Torah (Bible) every week, and giving speeches about the Torah whenever possible.  I learned how to lead other teens and then how to lead other leaders, and by the time 12th grade began, I was regional President, wearing a Yarmulke (head covering) and tzitzit (fringes) in public school and spending a couple of hours every day as part of my schools work-study program studying in Ner Israel Rabbinical College (thank you Joey Pollak) and after that working for a few hours in the NCSY office.  My parents and Rabbi Lowenbraun formed a team to make sure my studies did not falter so I could go to whatever college I picked, and due to Rabbi Lowenbrauns influence, I chose Yeshivas (men’s Jewish rabbinical schools) that had college as well.

I worked alongside Rabbi Lowenbraun to expand the region to be the largest it had ever been, and because of how he mentored me and my friends by leading by example himself, most of my friends followed a similar path to mine together as a big Jewish family.

He modeled coolness by water skiing, arranging for NCSY to play basketball games against the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, breakdancing, and throwing out the first pitch at the Orioles stadium. He always made sure to bring in the biggest stars in Jewish music for us to enjoy and the top Jewish educators for us to learn from.

He always contacted the head of every school I attended and every company I worked for to make sure I was well taken care of and challenged to grow as much as possible.  He always made it very clear that if I was not treated well, they would answer to him!

When I made mistakes, he let me know clearly and strongly that I should do better, and when I had success, he was my biggest cheerleader.  He really believed I could accomplish anything, and because of that, I have always been reaching for the stars.

I’ve tried to emulate his success tactics throughout my career.  When he was alive, if we didn’t speak for an entire week, he’d let me have it, and now that he is watching from Heaven, I think about him almost every day.

6 Things I learned from Rabbi Lowenbraun:

1. Make a difference – reach for the stars
2. Your student’s parents are your partners in their success
3. Look for opportunities where others see challenges
4. Followup and never give up on your students and your dreams
5. Partner with your spouse for exponential success
6. Have unconditional gratitude to those who helped you and pay it forward

Mentorship Mastery Story #6: A Team Effort

Last time one of the people I talked about was Ira E.  He was part of a dream team of religious students that I once mentored on their college campus to run all sorts of events to reach out to their nonaffiliated Jewish peers.  We had many innovative and very successful projects to affect the Nobel Peace Prize, stop slavery in Southern Sudan, stop riots in Crown Heights, etc., and used those events as a way to connect over issues of mutual concern.  One of the friends of several student leaders was a religious Jewish girl who was dating a non-Jewish guy, Patrick L.  They had nothing against the guy as a wonderful human being, the son of the Irish Catholic Police Chief, and president of the college, but were very upset with her and afraid it would lead to intermarriage (we are small enough already and Jews marrying Jews is a very important principle in the Torah).  Everything we tried to convince her to break it off failed.  Finally, we were having the world famous Discovery Seminar on campus and we invited both of them, hoping this would inspire her.  She was totally unmoved,   Patrick on the other hand was fascinated.  I decided to try talking to Patrick. I explained how marriage is sacred in Judaism, that most marriages do much better when the couples share the same religious beliefs, and it would be much better if he married someone from his own religion. He said, but Rabbi, I love Jewish girls. My mom is a Jewish girl!  

He decided to dive into learning more about Judaism, then spent a year studying in a Yeshiva in Israel. Changed his name to Pinchas and went to Columbia Law School where he actually gave a class on Torah every morning after prayers!

The business lesson here is when you prospect for customers, don’t rule people out because you never know!

How to Master Mentoring Recap and Weekly Podcast Challenge

I hope you enjoyed the third episode in the miniseries “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday Shares Mentorship Mastery.” This week’s challenge is to think about lessons you’ve learned from your mentors and mentees and share with me your top ones through social media using our dedicated hashtag #richrabbichallenge, or email me — I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re looking for a mentor and are ready to take your personal growth seriously and see how it can transform your business, I’d love to help you on that journey. Send me an email to set up a free consultation. Let’s unlock your full potential together.

Thank you for tuning in to The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday. If you found value in today’s episode, subscribe so you do not miss out on future insights and strategies to help you thrive. Don’t forget to share this episode with a friend or colleague who could benefit from “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday Shares Mentorship Mastery.” Our next episode will be part four in the mini-series and episode #50 of The Rabbi Who Got Rich On Sunday.

Visit my website, https://therabbiwhogotrichonsunday.com, to access content-rich articles, including guidance and tips on living the dream life.

If you are listening to this podcast on any popular podcast platform, you can also access a link to that web page through the show notes.