Pinny Gniwisch was standing on the streetcorner, when an angry older man started walking towards him, yelling and cursing.

 

Pinny was only 17 years old at the time, and as a Jew, was training to become a Rabbi. A part of his training involved going out to share his faith on the street with complete strangers, which was an experience that changed his life.

 

On his first day of trying, he felt intimidated and didn’t have much success in talking to people. His mentor gave him an audio tape of Zig Zigler talking about selling door-to-door. That tape motivated him to keep trying.

 

The next day Pinny went out and started having some success which got him excited. The more people he talked to, the more excited he felt.

 

That’s when the angry old man walked up. He started yelling at him, yelling and cursing about Jews and religion.

 

Despite this man’s anger, Pinny was so excited about talking to people that he didn’t even retaliate—instead, he threw his arms in the air and shouted “I love you man!” and then immediately hugged him.

 

Suddenly, all of the man’s anger left, and he just melted into Pinny’s arms and began to cry.

 

He told Pinny that his parents were Jews who had been killed in the Holocaust, and he himself had been a prisoner for many years. In the process, he decided God didn’t exist and that religion was a bad thing.

 

Pinny’s act of selfless love towards him that day changed everything.

 

Pinny’s story teaches an important life principle: