HaRav Segal with HaRav Dovid Cohen at the Tevunos gathering
The Mashgiach spoke at a special gathering at the Lederman shul in Bnei Brak to give guidance for our time.
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Klall Yisroel finds itself in a difficult situation, verily we are faced with [enemies] 'Standing over us to destroy us.' We have no one upon whom to rely except for our Father in Heaven.
The Klausenberger Rebbe rhetorically asked an elder Zionist leader, "On what do you rely? Can't you see that even here, in Eretz Yisroel, we are like in a ghetto. We are surrounded by millions of Arabs on all sides who need do no more than come and lie on top of us! It is an open miracle that we are still alive. They can easily overcome us — even without a single shot fired. As for me, I am a believer. I know that Hashem is All-Mighty and that He watches over us. For verily, 'The Guardian of Yisroel does not sleep nor slumber.' But in what do you trust?'"
That man heard his words and began weeping.
Chazal say (Vayikra Rabba 23:9): "Wherever you find licentiousness, chaos comes to the world and kills off both the good and the bad." Is this not chaos having come to the world?
Klall Yisroel is in a state of total helplessness, pikuach neffesh. And what is the deciding factor? The leaders of the people, the Torah scholars upon whom the world exists.
Where does the yetzer hora strike first? At the supporters of Torah — the women in whose merit Torah is able to flourish in these times. Since they originally extinguished the light of the world, they must now ignite that light once again.
And because we need to have Hashem walking in our midst, and enjoy that conduct of Hashem whereby He does not slumber or sleep, it is obvious that we must strengthen ourselves in matters which promote Heavenly protection: through Torah study, sanctity that no indecent sight be seen amongst us, and fortification in emunah.
We must simultaneously increase good relations between our fellow men through mutual love and respect. It is imperative that we increase these matters because we are in a desperate situation and must have Hashem in our midst. Through this we hope to merit that He will have mercy upon His people.
We must also know that if our people are faced with trouble, it comes to arouse us to pray for the Ultimate Geula of Klal Yisrael. As the Yaavetz wrote in his siddur (Inyonei Tisha B'Av), "If we do not mourn properly over Yerushalayim, it seems to me so very obvious and clear, that this is the immediate reason behind all the terrible destructions which defy the imagination and which befall us in our exiles, wherever they be."
May Hashem enable us to fortify those areas which need strengthening and give us all supreme protection while blessing us that 'the Guardian of Israel not sleep nor slumber.' May we verily experience the Ultimate Geula and the coming of Moshiach, speedily and in our days, Amen.
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The Mashgiach's words at a gathering organized by Tevunos penetrated hearts when he spoke about our conflicts in these times.
We find ourselves in a time of war, frightened, all the more so when we hear what is going on in the north. We might be afraid, because Hashem is confronting us with a 'king as dangerous as Homon' so that we be terrified and repent. On the other hand, we have our faith.
Actually, we need not be frightened once we bolster our emunah. We must acknowledge that ultimately, everything depends on our trust and on our good deeds, on how much we intensify our Torah study, our bitachon and our yiras Hashem, our prayers, our sanctity and all such things.
All these should lead to strength, but not to fear. Indeed, the first and primary thing is to strengthen our emuna. Our prayer should be different, exalted and coming from the heart, the mind, and not only as lip service. Not to be afraid - to do, to strengthen ourselves and our families through emunah, but not to fear!
Addressing a question of whether one should learn mussar with great enthusiasm as recommended by HaRav Yisroel Salanter he offered:
The Yetzer and his minions use all the resources including those of feeling and emotion to try to take man away from the path of Torah and yirah.
The only way to counter him is to use his own resources against him, including the emotions. One must speak directly to the heart of man. Emunah can decline slowly and it may be hard to detect the decline.
We must strengthen ourselves in this every day! Seize mussar, do not let go! Hold on to it for it is your life! (The Mashgiach raised his voice.)
