The Straight Shooter
Outspoken, idealistic, and grounded, Joel is no inspiration junkie. He’s not posing as a spiritual giant. He’s a businessman, a regular guy whose sincerity is unmistakable. In his world, real work happens quietly. He doesn’t confuse talk for transformation. For him, it’s truth over lies and integrity over deceit.
You may have been fortunate enough to meet Joel either in person or online. He’s the go-to guy if you’re attending a trade show. His company, Powwow Events, runs the show—literally. He and his team manage trade shows from start to finish, with all the logistics, strategy, and behind-the-scenes precision that look effortless but leave them deserving an extra-strong coffee and a long shluf. (After the event, of course.)
Joel’s an authentic presence in the business world and in his avodas Hashem, although it’s clear that he isn’t here to impress. But give him a few minutes, and you’ll hear one of the most thoughtful and refreshingly honest perspectives on what it means to live a Torah life in the real world.
Where It All Started
Joel grew up in a Chassidic community in Seagate, Brooklyn, and came across Rabbi Miller’s writings while learning in the Brooklyn branch of Yeshivas Mir. While there, he also discovered that Rabbi Miller’s shul was right across the street.
“When I bumped into him in the street, I would ask him a question about what I’d read in his books,” he remembers.
Those brief encounters made their mark. Rabbi Miller’s down-to-earth, candid style matched his own, and left a lasting impression.
When Rabbi Miller was niftar, Joel made sure to attend his levayah. How could he not?
When the weekly Toras Avigdor launched, Joel instantly became an avid consumer, relating to the no-nonsense, straight-shooting approach to Yiddishkeit.
Fighting FOMO with Emes
He laughs off being called a talmid, but Rabbi Miller’s lessons are clearly embedded deep in his soul. In his relentless pursuit of emes, his rooted objection to hype, and his decision to let Torah guide his daily life, Joel lives what he learns, without noise or shortcuts. For him, emes isn’t just a virtue, it’s a lifestyle.
In the world of trade shows, conferences, and big businesses, exaggeration is standard. “Ninety percent sold out!” scream the ads, playing on the public’s FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
But Joel’s not having any of it. “I instructed my team early on that we never say something untrue just because it’s advertising. It’s lying.”
Straight from Rabbi Miller’s playbook.
Incremental Change
“I work out because of Rabbi Miller.”
Bet you’ve never heard anyone say that before. But those are the exact words of Joel Wolh.
“An important technique to manage and improve your life is to take on incremental change. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d do certain things consistently, daily—that would have been mind-blowing to me.”
There’s no bragging in his tone, just matter-of-fact observation drawn from experience.
“Rav Avigdor always said to start with one line a day. I’ve applied that formula and I’ve seen some success in learning, as well as in many other areas, even exercise.
“If you’re working out for five minutes a day, eventually you’ll be able to do an hour a day, no question. If you want to work out every day for three hours from nothing, I’ll tell you you’re crazy! But if you start with five minutes a day, you can end up doing more and more and more.
“Just do it today. Start with a little bit, do a little bit more tomorrow. Everything in little steps.”
That quiet effort is exactly the kind Rabbi Miller encouraged us all to make. “It changes the way you think,” says Joel. That alone can change how you live.
The Greatest Lesson
His commitment to baby-step-by-baby-step growth is an expression of the greatest lesson he’s learned from Rabbi Miller—incremental change.
“You can’t just learn from someone who gets up every day for Vasikin. Normal people like to sleep, right? But someone who’s able to train himself, that for thirty years, he got up two minutes earlier every day until eventually, when he was sixty years old, he got up for Vasikin—that’s someone you can learn from. And that’s what you can accomplish by learning Toras Avigdor.”
He makes it clear he’s far from perfect and has a long way to go before he considers himself a talmid in any way, shape, or form.
“When people ask me if I’m a Rav Avigdor talmid, I say, ‘When I get up there, after 120, I’ll be lucky if he greets me with a nice big smack for daring to consider myself a talmid.’
“I currently learn two daf every single day, after starting Daf Yomi four years ago. I followed Rav Avigdor’s instructions by learning even two lines at a time, literally.”
He’s a man doing his daily workout of living with emes. The quiet kind of strength that would make Rabbi Miller proud. Even if he’s not a talmid.
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Wow! I never knew alot of things about my son Joel (or Moishee as we like to call him affectionately) I always knew that he likes to play a normal “just another guy”. This interview sure taught me alot.
Proud to be your father. Papa
I hope i get the same smack!
Rav Miller said something to this effect. The difference between a regular person and a Tzadik is his Frame of mind . In the street they act and look the same as regular people but in their mind is where you see the difference!
Keep up your great work