From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedanten. This is my unsung hero,

stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

My story is about a group of unsung heroes.

He just pulled up a chair and we talked, I'd say for about 90 minutes.

I don't know if she really understands or appreciates the full impact that she's had in my life and still continues to have

Today's episode comes from Shalom Auslander

Shalom grew up in a strict Orthodox Jewish family. He was taught to obey all the rules of Jewish

written law. If you fail to do so, you'd be punished in the afterlife.

You just didn't mess around.

You didn't break the law.

It was like growing up in a town run by Tony Soprano.

You did not break the rules that Tony said because maybe he'll be okay with it, but more than likely you're going to get some broken legs

That was God for me and I had a grandmother, my mother's mother,

and I remember that we used to go to her house

and as soon as I got there, she would give me chichlets, which were these little square

gums that came in like a little yellow rectangular box.

And she would give me them and a ball to go play with. I was like seven or so, really young.

And I remember one time we were there that she gave me them and my mother happened to be in the kitchen at the time and she saw what she was giving me and she

got angry and she's like mom what are you doing you can't you can't give him those they're not

kosher eating non-kosher is a big deal in the world that I come from.

That's not a small thing. But the thing that I remember most was the next time we went back because my mother was in the

living room or something and my grandmother was there and she looked at me and she put her finger over her lips and like sort of motioned me into her bedroom which was right off the kitchen and she pulls out a box of chichlets and she pours a couple in my hand and says, shh, don't tell anybody.

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