He didn't know another Jew in town

Over the past few weeks, we welcomed two yeshiva students to South Dakota. They spent time visiting communities across the state and led Shabbat services in Sioux Falls. Like the words of the prophet describing G-d saying, "I will gather you by the hand," the yeshiva students drove over six hours just to meet one Jew, and went from home to home, meeting people where they were, engaging them in Jewish discussion, Torah study, tefillin, and mezuzah.
During their travels, Levi and Leibel had many great experiences and gained a deeper appreciation for Jewish life in rural communities. But the most meaningful moment happened one evening as they were walking down the street in Sioux Falls. All of a sudden, a man ran out of a spa and came up to them. He introduced himself as Shir and was in disbelief. He was shocked to see Jews.
With a mixture of excitement and amazement, he told the yeshiva students that he had moved from Israel to Sioux Falls several months earlier. He was not particularly religious, so when he moved to town he didn't feel the need to reach out or get involved with the local Jewish community. He told them he didn't even know there were Jews in town. It never crossed his mind to look. But he said he had recently been feeling lonely and out of place, though he couldn't really figure out why.
Then, as he was standing in the spa, he saw them through the window, dressed in their Jewish clothing, wearing kippot and tzitzit. He couldn't believe his eyes, so he rushed out to say hello.
After engaging in a lengthy conversion, the two yeshiva students invited him to Chabad for Shabbat services that week. Shir told Levi and Leibel that it would be his first Shabbat service in many years, and his first kiddush and hamotzi since coming to South Dakota. But he felt he wanted to do it.
Following the services, amid the joy of the kiddush and the embrace of the community, Shir asked if he could share a few words. He spoke about how he had never felt as at home as he did now. In Sioux Falls, of all places, he had decided that he wanted to become more involved in Yiddishkeit and reconnect with his faith and traditions.
This week we read the second haftarah of consolation. It begins with the prophet Isaiah describing how the Jewish people say, "The L-rd has forsaken me, and the L-rd has forgotten me," to which G-d replies that He will never forget us: "Can a woman forget her baby, or disown the child of her womb? Though she might forget, I never could forget you."
This fellow may have temporarily forgotten his people, but his people did not forget him. And no matter what, G-d will certainly not forget any of us. As the verse describes G-d saying, “I never could forget you,” and, “It will be on that day that you shall be gathered one by one, O children of Israel.”