Ya'akov lived with his family in the Land of Goshen. He had nothing to do with the Egyptians. Yet he lived such an exemplary life, that, when he died, even all of the elders of the Land of Egypt attended his funeral.

I have often written that in today's "Generation of Teshuvah (Repentance)" it is easier than ever before to bring people back into the fold. Sometimes, all you have to do is act naturally, like the religious Jew that you are, and Hashem will do the rest. The following story, recorded in Borechi Nafshi by Rabbi Zilberstein, is an example.

A Torah scholar went to visit his sick relative in the hospital. Before he sat down next to his bed to recite Tehillim, he removed his jacket. This person followed the custom of wearing his big tallis katan on top of his shirt. Consequently, when he removed his jacket, everyone could see his large, woolen talis kattan with its long, thick tzitzis on each of its four corners.

Suddenly, a non-religious, 70 year old man approached him and began to cry. "You remind me of my father's home," he said. "He, too, wore a tallis katan such as yours."

The Torah scholar realized that now was a good time to talk to the old man about religion, so he engaged him in conversation. Before long, the man accepted upon himself to abide by the Torah, and he went home and influenced his two married sons and their families to become ba'alei teshuvah too.

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