Shalom Arush
Shalom Arush () is an Israeli Breslov rabbi and founder of the Chut Shel Chessed Institutions. He spreads the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov among Sephardic and Ashkenazic baalei teshuva, as well as many non-Jews, around the world through his books and speaking appearances. Arush is a prominent defender of convicted rapist and fraudster Eliezer Berland. Early life. Arush was one of nine children born to his parents in the town of Beni Mellal, Morocco. He learned in the local Jewish Alliance school and studied Hebrew in the evenings. His eldest brother married and immigrated to Israel  before the rest of the family; Arush, his parents, and other siblings immigrated to Israel when he was 13. The family settled in Petah Tikva, where his parents enrolled Arush in a state-religious school; he later attended a secular high school. In 1970 he joined the Israel Defense Forces as an airborne combat medic, taking part in many missions, including missions during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. During that time, five of his closest friends were killed in a helicopter crash while carrying out an army mission. This event was one of the catalysts for his personal teshuva . Following his army service, Arush studied economics and accounting at Tel Aviv University. Introduction to Breslov. Arush's quest for spirituality led him to Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who introduced him to Breslov practices such as "hitbodedut" and hosted him for Shabbat meals. Together with Berland, Arush learned with such Breslov giants as Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender and Rabbi Shmuel Shapira. Arush next enrolled at Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim as he took on more mitzvah observance. Eventually he cut his long hair and became a practicing Torah Jew. He was introduced to his wife, Miriam, on a shidduch, and the newlyweds moved  to Moshav Chazon Yechezkel. Later he moved to Bnei Brak to join Berland's new yeshiva there, and when the yeshiva moved to Jerusalem, he and his family followed. Upon the directive of Berland, in 1985 Arush opened his own yeshiva with 15 students; a year later, he had 80 students and moved into his present quarters in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem. Chut Shel Chessed Institutions. The Chut Shel Chessed Institutions includes a yeshiva, a kolel for married men, a boarding school for teenage boys, and a Talmud Torah for younger boys. The organization specializes in nurturing youth at  risk, and its alumni have gone on to become noted writers, actors, and musicians. Among Arush's celebrity students is Shuli Rand, star of the film "Ushpizin". In 1998 Arush opened a branch of Chut Shel Chesed in Ashdod, Israel, and appointed his student Rabbi Lazer Brody, another combat soldier-turned-baal teshuva, to head the rabbinic ordination program. In 2006 this branch merged with the Jerusalem yeshiva and Brody became the mashpia (spiritual guide) for Arush's students and the translator of Arush's books into English. Works. Arush has authored many works which have been translated from Hebrew  into English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Portuguese, and Yiddish. Brody claims that combined, they have sold more than a million copies.