The gift of speech is the crown of a person, a treasure Hashem bestowed to elevate us and help us connect with Him and the world around us. What happens when this gift is flawed, disfluent, and uncomfortable? Reb Yanky Kaufman stuttered heavily for twenty-six years. In this exclusive interview, he shares his miraculous story.

A Childhood Challenge

Yanky wandered up and down the aisles of the grocery store, intent on finding the sliced pickles on his mother’s shopping list. Although a worker stood nearby, Yanky walked past him, preferring a circuitous route to asking for help. “It’s easier said than done” rings true for non-stutterers. For stutterers, however, “It’s easier done than said.”

From his earliest memories, Reb Yanky Kaufman struggled with fluency. It was challenging to pick up the phone, introduce himself, and ask a question. The expressions on people’s faces when he communicated reinforced his realization that his speech was different. Speaking was taxing, and getting words out was a struggle. Naturally, he tried to switch what he wanted to say for easier words, but then he wound up saying things that didn’t express what he meant, causing him to hold back more. Why should he put himself in a difficult situation if it wasn’t necessary? Milestones and opportunities became obstacles, scenes of nightmares. His pshetel at his bar mitzvah became an expected disaster, and even getting a job at Camp Agudah didn’t come easily.

“I couldn’t be a junior counselor- how would I assert myself? Maintenance wasn’t an option because I wasn’t handy. Finally, I landed a job as a lifeguard, but I was only equipped to handle shallow-water situations. To augment that, I hauled the boats in and out at the lake. I was very strong, so that was a good job for me. But finding my niche took time and patience- it didn’t come easily or naturally.”

Stuttering is an unspoken-about challenge, but it deserves to be discussed. The ability to speak is one of the basics of humanity; without it, a person lacks one of those basics. Millions around the world stutter, and no one is exempt. They say money talks, but the wealthiest, most famous, intellectual, and accomplished people can stutter.

Speech therapists do not offer a solid solution for stuttering. In fact, part of the challenge is going from therapy to therapy without seeing results. A prime example: Reb Yanky sought professional help for fifteen years without success! Unfortunately, the current trend is that professionals accept stuttering. In fact, they are trying to take away the term “stuttering” and call it a different form of communication.

“It’s hard to find people who can give appropriate chizuk in this area because someone who has never experienced it cannot really understand. The challenge of stuttering is its chronic and pervasive nature. Thankfully, Hashem gave me many mentors who tried to support me. I was fortunate to live across the street from Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz, and with his gentle manner and keen perception, he was mechazeik me.”

Quite often, there is a dichotomy between what parents and children describe. Parents may say their child has a “slight stutter” that doesn’t really require therapy, while the child explains, “This is really important, and I need help.” Only the child knows how much he substitutes words to make it easier for him to articulate.

For three to four years, Reb Yanky’s parents took him to therapy at a local facility that accepted their insurance and had convenient hours and location. This continued without noticeable improvement.

“Let’s wait until you’re more ready, more aware,” his parents suggested.

After the debacle at his bar mitzvah, Yanky was determined to try again. He went to specialists and tried different therapies, some for six months and some for a year. To his frustration, nothing worked.

“Why didn’t it work?” Reb Yanky asks and proceeds to explain.

“Without exception, the methods the professionals use are unnatural, not clearly defined, and not effective enough. Therefore, even when people are very motivated, these methods don’t work.”

For example, clients are told to take a deep breath before they speak. How much of a deep breath? What are the parameters? Does that mean two times in one sentence or ten times in thirty seconds?

“It’s unnatural,” Reb Yanky deplores. “No one does that.”

Even a method as simple as “Speak slowly” is against the nature of a stutterer. He just wants to get the words out. And how slow is slow?

Usually, therapists say, “Okay, if this method doesn’t work, we’ll try another method.”

The stutterer keeps trying until he eventually gives up.

“That’s exactly what happened to me,” Reb Yanky says.

Except Reb Yanky never gave up hope. Throughout the years, he continued davening and asking Hashem to help him overcome his problem. And he believed that one day, it could happen.

After speaking to researchers in stuttering, Reb Yanky says there are no new methods in technique for fluency. They say they may discover something different about a stutterer’s genes or brain, and then find a medicine that can help. But they haven’t been able to put anything on the table as a solution.

“In fact,” he adds, “There’s not much hope that they’ll get there because they rally behind a belief system that says there’s no cure.”

Reb Yanky recently surveyed 67 licensed speech therapists to gauge their confidence after becoming licensed in helping stutterers gain fluency on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. There were no 5s. There were no 4s. Some replied 3, but most answered 2 or 1.

Perhaps therapists need to find a solution rather than keep going down a path that doesn’t work. And stutterers need to know, “There is nothing wrong with you! This is what you can expect.” Most people who come to Reb Yanky for help have previously seen a therapist.

“Some therapists are turning to AI.” Reb Yanky shakes his head dismissively. “AI is not the answer. To succeed, you need good methods and a strong therapeutic model. AI uses the same methods that aren’t working. When it comes to speech, you need the techniques to be natural, not flashy marketing.”

The Turning Point

After fifteen years of unsuccessful therapy, how did Reb Yanky continue to hope that he would overcome his stutter?

“I knew that when I spoke in private, there was no stutter- even on my hardest words. And I didn’t always stutter when I was with people. So, I always davened.”

At twenty-six, Reb Yanky was happily married, learned in a kollel in Yerushalayim, and even gave a shiur in the Mir.

“Saying shiur was a challenge, but I did it anyway because I thought it was the right thing for me to do. I stuttered less when I learned, maybe because I was more confident in that area. But I still stuttered.”

One day, someone called him and posed the following question.

“Can you help a bochur who stutters?”

“Why are you calling me?” Reb Yanky wondered. “I can teach him how to stutter; I can’t teach him how not to stutter.”

“This bochur has tried many therapists in Israel, and he’s at a low point,” the caller replied. “Maybe you can give him some chizuk– just be his friend?”

“Okay,” Reb Yanky agreed. “I can be any Yid’s friend.”

They scheduled a meeting for the following day. That night, Reb Yanky realized he didn’t have much to tell this bochur. Turning to Hashem, he asked for help in giving over the right message. Then he began to jot down some ideas that came to mind, ideas he hoped had a chance of working. When they met the next day, Reb Yanky said, “I thought of an idea last night that may help the stuttering. Why don’t we experiment?”

After the meeting, Reb Yanky didn’t think much about what had happened but felt gratified that the bochur wanted to meet again on the following day. They met again, Reb Yanky offered more chizuk, and they practiced his ideas some more. After one more meeting, something shifted, and Reb Yanky felt a level of control over his speech that he had never felt in his life. It was a Thursday night that he would never forget. Turning to his wife, with whom he did not stutter, he said, “I know I’m not going to stutter anymore, not just based on how comfortable I feel with the person I’m speaking to.”

That Friday, while waiting in line to speak to his rebbi, Reb Yanky did something he had never done before. Turning to the person beside him, he said, “Shalom aleichem. What’s your name?” Every other time while waiting in line, he always buried his head in his Gemara and never initiated conversation. That was the beginning.

On Shabbos, the clincher came in a moment that could have become his most embarrassing. Reb Yanky and his friend went to a new shul, and the rov was in the middle of speaking. Suddenly, in the middle of his speech, the rov turned to Reb Yanky and gave him a warm, “Shalom Aleichem! What’s your name?”

Reb Yanky was stunned. Why was the rov interrupting his drosha to welcome him? Regardless, he knew he had to answer. He hesitated- his name was the hardest thing for him to say. He toyed with making up a name but quickly rejected the idea. And then, he asked himself: Why don’t you do what has worked for you the last few days? Miraculously, the words Yanky Kaufman emerged with 100 percent fluency. Reb Yanky felt like he had won a marathon.

But the rov wasn’t finished.

“Where are you from?” he continued.

“Sanhedria Murchevet.”

“No,” the rov persisted. “Where are you originally from?”

A herd of imaginary elephants stomped inside Reb Yanky. Monsey, New York had always been a challenge for him to say. But another miracle transpired, and the words came out without a stutter.

When Reb Yanky got home from shul, he was flying, his mind awhirl with ways that he could help fellow stutterers. After Shabbos, he began calling rabbonim and rabbeim from every neighborhood, asking if they knew people who stuttered. He was on a mission to see if he could help them, and he shared his method with the first 20 people who came to him pro bono with tremendous success.

After a few weeks of not stuttering and helping people, Reb Yanky approached Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz. His whole life had changed. He had discovered his wings but wasn’t sure how to use them.

“Rebbi, what is my life without stuttering?”

“Yanky,” Rav Berkowitz replied, “Your life is not over. Your life is about to begin. You can help other people who stutter.”

As if emerging from underwater, Reb Yanky took a deep breath and continued to build and branch out. In time, he helped five hundred people, marveling at the new direction his life had taken. Initially, he thought his system was an upgraded version of what was available until he realized that his understanding of stuttering surpassed that of professionals. Soon, he had a six-month waiting list and realized he needed to train therapists to work under his tutelage. Moving forward, Reb Yanky hand-selected quality therapists to work in his program.

Smooth Speech Solution

Currently, Reb Yanky’s Smooth Speech Solution program has thirteen branches and is the largest stuttering program in the world. For the first time, it offers a method with ingredients for success, empowering people to take control of their speech through an effective, natural combination of speech and behavioral therapy. Another important aspect of the program is not just teaching skills, but customizing them to clients’ social scene and unique challenges, with an awareness of their capabilities. After they learn to integrate the skill, clients are matched with program graduates for maintenance. The graduates are men and women from all walks of life. They may be maggidei shiur, therapists, or lawyers hailing from Litvish, Chassidish, and Sefardi backgrounds. This is a wonderful perk of the program, as clients feel most comfortable speaking with graduates who have achieved success.

The more people Reb Yanky helped, the more people contacted him, even from outside the country. By the time he helped 750 people, a wealthy man in London contacted him, hoping to bring him in to help his son. Reb Yanky explained that he was busy in America but would fly to London to work with a group. Determined to help his son, this man contacted prestigious therapy organizations to put together a group. Reb Yanky recently returned from his fifth trip to London, and his sixth trip to Eretz Yisroel is approaching.

“I don’t necessarily like to travel,” Reb Yanky explains, “but I do it to help people who stutter. When I meet someone from across the world, I often think that although we never met, you were on my mind- because I used to daven for fellow stutterers as well as myself. When a new client comes to my office, especially from across the world, I think “al hana’ar hazeh– al hamegamgem hazeh hispallalti.”

After helping over a thousand people, one mother requested a session for her son during bein hazemanim, one of Reb Yanky’s busiest times. Although his time was at a premium, it was impossible for Reb Yanky to resist a Yiddishe Mama’s pleas. He agreed to see her son with one stipulation.

“People who follow what I say consistently and accurately do amazing work. So, you must give me your word that your son will follow the program consistently and accurately.”

With her agreement procured, Reb Yanky trusted that her son would make quick progress, but he didn’t realize how quickly it would happen. He squeezed a few sessions into one and called the mother to pick up her son. She said she needed another 45 minutes before she could come, so Reb Yanky continued working with him. At that point, Reb Yanky called the mother back and said that in another 45 minutes, her son would master the skill. The mother happily agreed to give them additional time.

During the session, Reb Yanky tried an exercise and asked this boy to call his father. He always stuttered when conversing with his father. When the boy called, his father was shocked by his fluency.

“What’s going on?” he wondered. “This isn’t supposed to happen so fast!”

After that client, Reb Yanky didn’t tell his next one that he had come up with a faster method in case it didn’t work for him. Amazingly, that person achieved success in an hour and a half!

The program kept evolving, becoming faster and more efficient. When Reb Yanky saw how quickly it could be mastered, he began the overriding skills can be learned in one session. Step two is a follow-up session with Reb Yanky, followed by three months of maintenance with a coach.

At this point, when it became apparent that people could be helped so quickly in an unparalleled way, Reb Yanky felt Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz’s words come to life. The words echoed in his mind, resounding in his heart.

“Yanky,” his rebbi said, “Your life is not over. Your life is about to begin. You can help other people who stutter.”

It was a dream come true, and Reb Yanky soldiered on. He conducted a detailed survey with the most compelling questions to show real success in a therapy program. The results showed that over 98% were on track after one session! Outside professionals documented and reviewed these surveys. Within a short time after that, Reb Yanky was offered a teaching position at a graduate school for communication disorders. The ripples continue to spread.

Smooth Speech Solution, Reb Yanky’s main organization, offers more than skill-building; an extracurricular skills group is also included. In this group, a platform helps people who stutter conquer their “Nevers.” What are nevers? They are the declarations of many stutterers who said: “I’ll never speak again in public. I’ll never get an aliyah. I’ll never introduce myself to people in public.” These clients are joined by a small group of people who stuttered and now have newfound skills that let them do tasks they once said they would never do. By participating in this group, stutterers gain skills and fluency and learn to make their speech work. Reb Yanky recently facilitated his 92nd group and was overjoyed to see how many times this system has worked for people and changed their lives.

“This is not a business,” Reb Yanky concludes. “It’s my mission. My tefillos for myself and others have made me a conduit to help people. Throughout my years of struggle, I never gave up and never stopped believing that Hashem could affect a yeshuah. Every Yom Kippur, I would daven for a new gezeirah. On Purim, I asked for v’nahafoch hu. And on Chanukah, the time of nissim, I felt renewed hope. All those tefillos added up and culminated in something that I never would have dreamt possible.”

Speech is the crown of humanity, a gift of self-expression that helps us define our essence. Tapping into his passion and creativity, Reb Yanky is working to restore that gift to so many who are shackled within walls of pain and insecurity-one medaber at a time.