Larry

Larry Puller was the softest boy at John J. Picken Elementary School. He had always managed to avoid getting into fights.
 
As he stood at the plate, Larry Puller had two strikes against him. The pitcher stared him down and said: "Puller you punk. Get ready to swing at the air."  The third baseman Charlie Watson chimed in: "Yeah, Puller all you can hit is air – Strike out you dirty Jew, you!"
 
Something snapped in Larry. He threw the bat down and ran out onto the field. With strength he didn't know he had he threw Watson to the ground and pounded him into a bloody mess. Larry was out of control and couldn't stop. He would have seriously injured Watson if his friends hadn't pulled him off.
 
It was the first time in Larry's life that he had tasted the bitterness of senseless hatred. He had never even thought of himself as "Jewish." Judaism had nothing to do with him; yet something primal was  stirred in Larry Puller. He was given a loud wake-up call that day. His life had changed course, but he was unaware of how until he was much older.
 
Charlie Watson never forgot the humiliation of being beaten so soundly by Larry in front of his friends.  From that day on, he declared war against Larry. For the next 6 years, until Larry left for college, Charlie did everything he could to make Larry's life miserable. He spread lies about Larry and tried to get Larry's friends to turn against him. He cursed at him and mocked him publicly. He send out letters filled with lies about Larry to all their neighbors. Charlie Watson swore that he would do everything in his power to get revenge against Larry. He was committed to hurting Larry and other Jewish kids till his last breath. Larry felt overwhelmed. He had no idea of how to help himself.
 
Dr. and Mrs. Puller were hollow people who had no faith with which to guide their son. Dr. Puller was a professor of Philosophy at a local college, but neither he nor his wife had any knowledge about G-d with which to encourage Larry by showing him how he could turn his troubles around. As Larry's self-esteem spiraled down, his parents took him to one therapist after the next but no one could identify what was really bothering Larry or knew how to sooth his aching soul.
 
When Larry was a senior in college he was still hiding from himself. He was a painfully shy young man who was an underachiever in every area of his life. He was repulsed by Jewish women but didn't know why and therefore avoided dating them. Larry had still not learned anything from his years of suffering – but that was soon to change.
 
Larry's life started to make sense to him after he attended a lecture by Rabbi Lazer Brody at Brooklyn College. With the help of the lecture and the emuna books that he buried himself in afterwards, Larry began to feel the rudiments of self-confidence for the first time in his life. He told me that he understood that Charlie Watson was actually a great gift that G-d had sent him so that he could find out who he was and not waste his life hiding from himself. After his great grandfather came to him in a dream wearing tallis and tefillin, Larry said thathe owed it to G-d to visit Israel and spend some time studying Torah and emuna at Yeshiva Chut Shel Chesed.  After his college graduation, Larry came to Jerusalem to study. He is still here. His parents hardly recognize him but they are supporting him because they have never seen their son so happy.
 
Between semester's, at the yeshiva, Larry Puller flew home to visit with his family. Some of Larry's old friends called him. They wanted to get together. Larry agreed because he was eager to share what he was learning with them. He grabbed some English emuna CD's and headed out to the their "stomping ground." As he drove, Larry felt a sense of elation that only comes to people who live in alignment with Hashem – his heart overflowed with gratitude for the path he had been led to take.
 
Later that night, Larry heard the sad news about what happened to Charlie Watson.  Charlie had turned to the lure of hedonism to blot out the pain and emptiness of his life. Drugs, alcohol and illicit relationships with woman became the centerpieces of his "life." Charlie bought a speed boat and used to party out on the water.  When he was really high, Charlie craved to be center stage. One tragic day, Charlie climbed to the roof of the boat's little cabin and did a swan dive bottle in hand into the bay – that was the last time he was seen – Charlie Watson was chopped to pieces by the powerful propellers of his own outboard motor.
 
It was then that Larry Puller discovered the startling truth about his arch enemy, Charlie Watson. It seems that Watson was not his real name. His grandparents were Russian immigrants who fled to the U.S. from anti-Semitism. They had changed their names and cut off all ties to the past in the hope of  finding a better life. May Hashem have mercy on them all.
 
This is a true story. The names and personal details of those involved have been altered in order to protect their confidentiality.