I’ve had the honor of interviewing hundreds of people for this column. With every person I speak to, I hope there will be at least one lesson that readers can implement, and I often discover that myself during our conversation. When I first spoke to Moshe Shapoff, I was intrigued by his connection to the UAE (United Arab Emirates). I had seen many photos of Moshe with leading figures in Dubai and across the UAE. What was a chasidish-looking fellow doing there? And he seemed very well-respected there, as well.
Several people asked me to interview Moshe, and though we had connected around a year ago, we only spoke for this article last week.
I had no clue what Moshe did for a living, but I was curious. He currently runs H Capital Ventures with his partner, Efroyim Hecht, focusing on investment opportunities in the UAE and around the world. H Capital has offices in the UAE and other locations. He is a personal friend of some of the most influential people in the UAE and has been invited to their conferences and meetings dozens of times; in fact, the hosts foot the bill for his flights and accommodations.
Although his meetings in the UAE and the unique focus of his business are interesting and inspiring, the most surprising aspect of Moshe’s career is that it began only five years ago. Yes, he was nearly 50 years old when he began working. Until then he had been in kollel while doing some part-time fundraising.
This is the first in-depth interview Moshe has granted since he started focusing on the UAE. He’s a chasidish Yid in Dubai—and he’s officially Sir Moshe Shapoff, as he was knighted in Italy. What a story!
Enjoy!
—Nesanel
I was born in Brooklyn and was raised in Canarsie. Growing up, I was a close talmid of both Rabbi Zachariah Wallerstein and Rav Moshe Weinberger, and I’m still very close to Rav Weinberger after 45 years.
“I didn’t come from a chasidishe background; that happened later. My father worked as a handyman and a machinist; he was not in the business world. We grew up very simply. I have only one sister; she is Litvish.
“I was not entrepreneurial as a teenager. My nature is to gravitate toward people; I’ve always loved people. My mother, a”h, was like that, too. I was very involved with my friends, and I loved to learn, which I still do.
“After high school, I eventually ended up in Torah Ohr under Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zt”l, in Eretz Yisrael; I stayed there for 22 years. I was a bachur in the yeshivah for two years and then learned in the kollel for 20 years. I only started working when I was close to 50 years old.
“I became a Stoliner chasid a few years after I got married, and I’ve been a chasid for almost 30 years. When I was in Torah Ohr, I was a Litvish bachur, but because of Rav Moshe Weinberger, I was always connected to chasidus. After being a Bostoner chasid for a few years, I got to know the Amshinover Rebbe. He and Rav Moshe Wolfson, zt”l, were the main ones who suggested that I go to Stolin. I started going, and little by little, I became a Stoliner.
“I married my wife, who is from London, and we lived in Ukraine for one year. I ran a kiruv yeshivah there in a city called Korosten, not far from Kiev. I’m still a bit involved there. The Stoliner Rebbe suggested that I go there and run the yeshivah. Because I was in charge, I had to do a lot of the fundraising. It was hashgachah pratis, because it set me up to make many important connections. I started to fundraise a little bit in America. I didn’t reach out to people only because they were rich; I just like people. I got to meet many influential people over the years.
“Stolin started to use my fundraising capabilities as well because of my connections. I got to know people, and I learned how to deal with people and finances. I didn’t make a lot of money fundraising, though; it was just enough to get by.
“When I came back from Ukraine, I moved to Givat Zeev; the Stoliner Rebbe lives in the building next door. Everything I do today is with the advice of the Stoliner Rebbe. I am a mechutan of Rav Shmuel Dishon; my daughter is married to his grandson, Rav Tzvi Chaim Dishon, who is a chashuv talmid chacham. Baruch Hashem, I’m blessed to have other special mechutanim in Stolin as well.
“After learning for a while, I also did some fundraising on the side. A lot of the people who gave us money wanted me to go into business with them, but I wasn’t interested because I was focused on learning and didn’t know much about the business world.
“About five years ago, things became very difficult for us financially. I wasn’t making a lot of money, and we had ten kids to marry off.
“Around that time, a friend of mine named Terrel Ross, who used to be the president of Aish Kodesh, was running a fund that bought bankruptcy claims from companies. He asked me if I could make some introductions for him to help him with his fund. I entertained the idea of doing it because he’s a close friend of mine, extremely honest, and he ran a good business. I trusted him very much. I asked the Stoliner Rebbe, and he told me to do it.
“That was how I entered the workforce. It’s crazy, because my life has changed in tremendous ways since then. It’s unbelievable.
“This was the first time I was using my connections for something business related. I had developed them through raising money for Stolin and for the grandson of the Baba Sali, Rav Shlomo Bussu. He’s a tremendous tzaddik and is also very close to the Stoliner Rebbe. We met a long time ago and became close. I eventually advised him to go to America. I took him to Rav Moshe Weinberger first, and eventually to Los Angeles, Australia and Europe as well. I helped him as well as Stolin for a bit, but I took very little money for these things because I never wanted my parnasah to come from fundraising.
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