The 25th Annual Agudah Yarchei Kallah in Yerushalayim was an extraordinary week of intense limud haTorah, high-level shiurim, and uplifting chizuk. This landmark event gathered dedicated participants from across the world, immersing them in limud haTorah at the highest level and connecting them with gedolei Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel.

The Yarchei Kallah opened on Sunday, February 16th, at the Ramada Hotel in Yerushalayim. The program began with a trip to Bnei Brak, where participants had the zechus to hear divrei chizuk from gedolei hador, including Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rashbi, who welcomed the group into his home, as well as Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch and Rav Dov Landau, roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Slabodka.

From the very first morning, the kol Torah filled the beis medrash, as participants engaged in spirited chavrusa learning on the sugya d'kallah, "Uman Shekilkel - General and Professional Malpractice and Related Issues."

HaRav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky opens his words with the following fact: "HaRav Shlomo Zalman Ulman z"l, Ra'aved of Modi'in Illit, once told the following insight to HaRav Shach regarding the halachic rule: 'Whoever reads the Megilloh lemafrei'a, retroactively, has not fulfilled his obligation.'

The standard meaning — which is the authoritative halachah — is that this means reading the Megilloh out of order. HaRav Ulman suggested another understanding: This refers to one who reads the Megilloh as if it were a historic record, as something that happened a long time ago and no longer has relevance. He has failed in his duty.

The reading of the Megilloh comes to reveal Hashem to us, to instill in our lives its vibrant message of better knowing Hashem and His Providence. HaRav Shach so appreciated this insight that he said to all those who came to him that day that he had heard an amazing thought from HaRav Ulman — and repeated it enthusiastically.

What, indeed, must we apply from the Megilloh to our present times?

The ousting of Ukrainian leader Vlodomir Zelensky from the White House has shaken up the whole world! It has no precedent in the modern world — at least not as remembered — where the leader of a country who comes on an official visit is shamefully expelled even before a meeting.

There is no doubt that the Ukrainian president made all the possible errors when he arrived at the White House without any prior preparation. He already knew in advance what Trump thought of him and should have realized that under no circumstances should he parry with him publicly in front of all the cameras. He simply played into the hands of the American president who apparently was waiting for Zelensky's first blunder so that he could shame him before the world.

Simultaneously, Trump made it clear to whoever in the world did not yet understand, that the White House was being occupied by a different kind of man, a unique type of no compare in the world — not a politician, not a diplomat — but, as the only way to describe him: a horse trader who came to do 'business.'

In Trump's world there is the division between good and bad — with regard to business deals.

What was new and unique about HaRav Yisroel Salanter's approach? Ethical works had been authored generations earlier. Men who had perfected themselves and feared Hashem existed in every era. What did R' Yisroel propound? Did he put more stress on mitzvos bein adam lechavero, or did he merely wish to place these mitzvos on an equal footing with mitzvos bein adam laMakom? What can we learn from his letters and from the stories of his conduct that abound?

Part 3

We wrote about the story of R' Yisroel invited to the Shabbos seuda of an affluent talmid. R' Yisroel agreed to come to the meal, on the condition that it be shortened by two hours. Having no choice, the talmid accepted this unusual condition. The offended talmid asked his rebbe what fault he had found with the way the meal was normally conducted. Instead of giving a direct answer, R' Yisroel asked him to call the cook, who was a widow.

The cook said: "May the rebbe be blessed. If only you ate here every Friday night! I am exhausted from all of the Shabbos preparations, and normally have to remain awake late into the night, until the Shabbos meal ends. Tonight, thanks to you, the meal is already over, and I can go rest."

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There is a second principle, which is manifest in the story about the Shabbos table. Here, the obligation was not only to consider the cook and her well-being. One also had to determine the order of priorities.