Hundreds of yungeleit filled the main Beis Medrash of
Yeshivas Hanegev in Netivot last Monday night to hear a joint
address by Maran HaRav Aharon Leib Steinman and the
Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow. The two gedolim
undertook the long journey to this remote town in the south
of Eretz Yisroel as part of P'eylim / Lev L'Achim's
nationwide effort to recruit additional participants for its
kiruv program.
The purpose of the rally was to bolster the ranks of the
1,500 individuals who are currently participating in Lev
L'Achim "Door-to-Door" Program. Yungeleit dedicate one
evening per week to visit nonobservant Israelis who have
expressed an interest in finding out more about religion.
Demand for outreach workers has increased exponentially in
recent months as a result of last summer's school enrollment
drive, when Lev L'Achim enrolled 6,500 nonobservant children
in the religious school system. The Nesivos Moshe Development
Fund for Torah Chinuch in Israel played an important role in
this endeavor by providing seed money for the establishment
of five new schools and several kindergartens.
As the campaign's planners had expected, the newly enrolled
children's exposure to Torah values sparked a sudden interest
in religion among their parents and family members. Lev
L'Achim's offices and Torah centers throughout the country
are now inundated with requests from such parents for more
information about Yiddishkeit. Rav Steinman and the
Novominsker Rebbe came to Netivot to urge the city's
yungeleit to participate in Lev L'Achim's effort to spread
the light of Torah among the people who so desperately seek
it.
The Novominsker Rebbe's address was historic in that it was
the first time a central leader of North America's Torah
community personally addressed an assembly of Israeli
yungeleit and urged them to undertake a more active role in
kiruv work in Eretz Yisroel. His physical presence at the
rally itself conveyed a powerful nonverbal message to the
audience -- namely, that the spiritual future of the Jewish
People in Eretz Yisroel is an issue that concerns all Torah-
observant Jews, regardless of where they may live. Many of
the yungeleit who attended the rally later commented that
they were deeply moved by the realization that the Torah
community of Eretz Yisroel is not alone in its battle.
The first speaker was the venerable rosh yeshiva of
Yeshivas Hanegev, Rav Yissochor Meir. He began by recalling
the hardships that he and his associates experienced in the
early years of the Yeshiva, when the south of Eretz Yisroel
was a desert in both the physical and spiritual sense. Today,
they are finally seeing the fruit of their labor. The desert
is beginning to bloom -- entire communities of newly
observant individuals are sprouting up amid the wasteland,
and striking roots.
This demonstrates, Rav Meir explained, that a person can
never foresee the effect of his efforts. Man's obligation is
to strive to spread knowledge of Hashem through every means
at his disposal; Hashem will do the rest. Therefore each and
every one of us has an obligation to join Lev L'Achim and
reach out to our brothers. Rav Meir concluded by calling on
the Torah community of Netivot to respond enthusiastically to
the call of the gedolim to participate in Lev
L'Achim's kiruv activities.
Rav Steinman spoke next. He explained that even though the
spiritual stature of our generation is much lower than that
of previous generations, the opportunities that we have are
much greater than ever before. In the past only tzadikim
had the means to fulfill the mitzvah of mezakeh
horabim (promoting Torah-observance among the populace at
large), whereas today every single yungerman has the
ability to fulfill this mitzvah. Rav Steinman cited the Tanna
D'Bei Eliyahu which says that the Torah scholars of each
generation have a personal responsibility to teach the laws
of the Torah to the populace, and that if they should fail to
live up to this obligation, they will be held accountable.
Rav Steinman recalled that prior to the Yom Kippur War it was
next to impossible to even discuss the subject of religion
with nonobservant Israelis. This prompted many members of the
religious community to exempt themselves completely from the
obligation to do kiruv work. Today, however, things
have changed, and this line of reasoning is no longer valid.
Now the people of Israel are thirsting for knowledge -- they
are clamoring for it. Therefore no one has justification to
exempt himself from the obligation to bring his fellow Jews
closer to the Ribono Shel Olom. Every one of us must
do his share, and just as the responsibility is great, so too
is the reward.
The Novominsker Rebbe began by apologizing ahead of time for
his limited command of the language, but then he went on to
speak in flawless and deeply expressive Hebrew that
penetrated the hearts and minds of the people in
attendance.
"It is a great zechus," he said, "to speak before this
esteemed audience concerning such an important issue as the
kiruv work being carried out by Lev L'Achim. Thousands
of families have come back to Hashem as a result of Rav
Steinman's guidance and Lev L'Achim's relentless efforts.
Today we have an opportunity to bring about a complete
turnaround in Israeli society. That is why the gedolim
are calling out to the Torah community to join Lev L'
Achim and take advantage of this historic chance."
The Novominsker explained that on a deeper level, the mitzvah
of returning a lost object alludes to the mitzvah of
kiruv. The souls of Jews who have gone astray are
Hashem's lost objects, and we -- members of the Torah
community -- have the ability to find them and to return them
to their Rightful Owner. Lev L'Achim has proven that it can
be done, the Novominsker stressed, and thus everyone must
take part.
On the day before the rally the Novominsker Rebbe visited a
new Torah school in the city of Tzoran, which was established
with the assistance of the Nesivos Moshe fund. The Tzoran
school is one of 51 new Torah institutions that were
established as a result of Lev L'Achim's summer enrollment
campaign. The school was recently vandalized by anti-
religious residents, who have been harassing pupils and
parents ever since the school's opening on 1 September 1998.
The Novominsker Rebbe was met by: Rabbis Tzvi Boymel and
Mordechai Lev, two senior officials of the Nesivos Moshe
fund; Rabbi Avraham Sa'ada, Lev L'Achim's regional activist,
who enrolled the children and spearheaded the establishment
of the school; and the principal of the besieged school.
The Novominsker Rebbe spoke with teachers, students and
parents and encouraged them to remain strong in the face of
opposition.
Rabbi Tuvia Levinstein, Lev L'Achim's southern regional
supervisor, reports that 60 additional yungeleit have joined
the "Door-to-Door" Program in the wake of the Monday night
rally. These new recruits will now undergo intensive training
and will be given their first assignment sometime next
week.
The Novominsker shares much of the credit.
