Why Lee The Flea ?

"All a child needs is one adult who believes in them." (Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach)

I’m often asked why the children’s book Josh the Flea is so important to me.

Let me share a very personal story with you that will explain it in just a few sentences... I hope you’ll understand!

After recovering from a terminal illness, I decided to leave something behind for my children and for other children, something that would make them and their parents believe they can achieve their dreams! Dreams are meant to come true 😊

I chose to leave this as a story! And since my daughter was 7 and my son was 3 at the time, a children’s story was the perfect fit :)

Josh the Flea in the story is actually me!

And the trampoline represents Sami and other good people who were there along the way!

Now, the story behind the story is...

When I was in high school, I was constantly being expelled from school. It was a process that built up over many years... I became a worse student every day, and the less people believed in me, the “worse” I became as a student.

The vice-principal couldn’t stand me—honestly, I didn’t like him either—and he kept throwing me out of school. Even my siblings joked that my mom visited the school more than I did!

After I started in a computer science program with 15 units of study and made their lives miserable due to attention issues they didn’t know how to handle, one day they officially informed me that at the end of 10th grade, because I was so disruptive, I wouldn’t be continuing in the school. After an incident that I won’t get into here, I transferred to a vocational school, and I really hit rock bottom, educationally speaking.

A few years later, I met the person who changed my life...

One day, I went to a private high school with the intention of completing my diploma. I planned to register for 3 units of math. At the time, there was a school principal named Sami, an IDF veteran.

While I was talking to the secretary, Sami walked in and asked both of us, “What subjects are you signing up for?” I told him, “3 units of math,” and then came the most important sentence, the one that changed my belief in myself...

Rabbi Carlebach once said, “All a child needs is one adult who believes in them,” and Sami was the first one who believed in me!

Sami is actually the trampoline (the ant) in the story.

He looked at me and said, “Lior, I have a feeling you should be in the 5-unit math class. Unfortunately, you can’t take 3 units here! You can go elsewhere, but if you study here, it’s only for 5 units :)”

From a place where I had never received any encouragement academically, suddenly, there was a person telling me I was capable. That was the key to the change... just one person who believes in you!!

I studied hard, and by the end of my high school years, I scored almost 100 in the 5-unit math exam. Later, I finished my master’s degree in one of the toughest fields at the university...!

Today, I understand that much of this success was thanks to Sami, the school principal!

Look at the power that words and the people around us have to change our lives...

The role of this book, for you as parents and for your children, is exactly what Sami was for me.

You can download the book and materials for free here:

LINK

(If you really want to purchase the book, visit amazon)

With great love,

Lior