At the end of a impressive event held this Monday night (15
Tammuz), the worldwide Chosson Halocho and his deputies, as
well as the Chosson Hatefutzos and his deputies, were
crowned. They were tested on hilchos tefilla uveis
knesses, in an examination conducted by the Cultural Fund
of Degel Yerushalayim. The event was held in Yad Eliyahu
auditorium in Tel Aviv, and was attended by maranan
verabonon, the gedolei haTorah vehaChassidus.
Refoel Pashdenovack a student of the Lev Simcha Talmud Torah
of Ashdod, was chosen of worldwide Chosson Halocho. His
deputies are Yisroel Meir Katzenelenbogen of the Knesses
Yehuda Talmud Torah of Sanhedria Murchevet in Jerusalem, and
Yaakov Yisroel Nussbuam of the Karlin-Stolin Talmud Torah in
Bnei Brak.
Chosson Hatefutzos is Shmuel Binyomin Dorfman of Monsey. His
deputies are Yehonasan Cohen of Hungary, David Douek of
Mexico and Moshe Yitzchok Englander of Belgium.
The mammoth event in honor of hilchos tefilla uveis
knesses was attended by 10,000 youngsters from all over
Israel who had completed the early stages of the worldwide
exam. The dais was graced by gedolei haTorah
vehaChassidus, roshei yeshiva, rabbonim, municipal
rabbis, dayanim, the directors of educational
institutions and communal leaders.
At another side of the stage, the 29 students who had reached
the decisive level in the worldwide examination sat side by
side. The public test lasted for a number of hours, as each
of the contestants accumulated the points which would
determine his status in the contest.
HaRav Chaim Brim, the rosh yeshiva of Mishkan Yosef,
led the recitation of a chapter in Tehillim, and HaRav
David Batzri recited the Kabolas Ol Malchus
Shomayim.
Inspiring speeches on the importance of studying hilchos
tefilla uveis knesses were delivered by HaRav Moshe
Shmuel Shapira, the rosh yeshiva of Beer Yaakov, and
HaRav Shmuel Auerbach, the rosh yeshiva of Maalos
HaTorah. Additional stirring speeches were delivered by the
Admor of Boston, the Admor of Sanz and Rabbi Menachem Porush,
the president and founder of Degel Yerushalayim.
And then the most exciting stage of the evening began: the
public test. The moderator, Rabbi Elimelech Tirnauer,
presented the questions and the youngsters answered them
fluently and articulately. At this point, each of the
contestants received 10 points which were added to the points
they had received during earlier stages of the tests. Seated
beside the judges who determined the results of the tests of
each participant was a team of translators who facilitated
the work of the contestants and the examiners.
The chairman of the Hanholo Ruchanis of Degel Yerushalayim,
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Porush, read the letters of blessing from
maranan verabonon, the pillar of halachic authority,
Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, as well as those of HaRav
Aharon Leib Steinman, HaRav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and
others.
