Thousands of Bnei Brak residents participated in a
tefilloh rally on erev rosh chodesh Shevat in
the center of the city. At the rally, held at the request of
maranan verabonon, HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner
delivered stirring words of chizuk and
his'orerus.
HaRav Wosner spoke about the difficult period Klal
Yisroel is going through, noting, "The enemies
surrounding us seek to destroy us, and those who despise
Hashem lift up their heads." In the future, say Chazal, the
non-Jews will come to Jerusalem in order to observe
avodas Hashem, as it is written "amim har yikro'u
shom yizbechu zivchei tzedek." But due to our many sins,
Eretz Hakodesh is filled with millions of non-Jews
who have joined so many Jews who have forsaken Hashem.
Defiling Eretz Hakodesh, they have one aim: "Let us
wipe you out from the nations, and the name of Israel shall
no longer be recalled." That is why when there are enemies
from both within and without, we are obligated to strengthen
ourselves in Torah, primarily in the study of Torah
lishmo, as well as in halocho, prayer and
modesty, for these are the areas that the gemora says
need strengthening.
HaRav Wosner also referred to the most dangerous aspect of
our generation: the media, which threatens to inflict harm
on every Jewish home. The media spreads indecent language
and unfit thoughts referred to by Rabbi Eliezer in
Brochos when he says, "Keep your sons from
higoyon."
Every Jewish mother and father wants his sons to be
talmidei chachomim and yirei Shomayim. How is
it possible for children to grow up to Torah in a home which
has Internet or radio? How is it possible to raise bnei
Torah if we violate the verse, "do not let the destroyer
come into your homes to kill"? "What avail will be there be
to acquiring her if she is bad in the eyes of her master?"
Of what avail will be one's spiritual acquisitions if one's
home contains media that Hashem does not sanction? How can
we pursue contradictory tracks: raising children to Torah on
one had and contaminating the home with the media on the
other hand?" HaRav Wosner asked fervently.
At the end of his address, HaRav Wosner related to the need
to strengthen ourselves in tsnius in our of dress and
at our places of work. He also stressed the need to
strengthen prayer, which is "tefilloh le'oni ki
ya'atof," prayer with intent from the depths of our
hearts. He then brought the words of Rav Chaim Vital, who
said, "After the four exiles, the Jewish Nation will suffer
at the hands of the Ishmaelite nation, which is more wicked
than all the others," and who knows if he wasn't referring
to our current situation. Rav Chaim Vital closes:
"Hakodosh Boruch Hu promised that if one prays from
the depths of his heart, he will be saved: Hashem will
listen." If we pray a tefilloh le'oni ki ya'atof and
pour out our hearts to Hashem, we will be redeemed in the
merit of the Torah and tinokos shel beis rabbon, and
the verse, "Ki lo yitosh Hashem amo venachaloso lo
ya'azov" will be fulfilled through us, concluded HaRav
Wosner in his stirring speech.
HaRav Y. Koldetzky quoted HaRav Aharon Leib Steinman, HaRav
Nissim Karelitz, and HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, who all noted
that we must distance ourselves from contention. He said
that when Moshe Rabbenu said, "Ochein noda hadovor,"
he meant that the reason for the golus has become
known, and that reason is contention and baseless hatred,
for whoever speaks loshon hora evicts the
Shechina.
The Chofetz Chaim once asked: "If we were to make a
collection to build the Beis Hamikdosh, everyone would
contribute generously. Why not contribute to the building of
the Beis Hamikdosh by refraining from loshon hora,
baseless hatred and contention? Why not contribute by means
of yielding to one another, even at the cost of financial
loss? The sins of a person who is ma'avir al midosov
are forgiven. HaRav Koldetzky also cited the Chofetz Chaim
as saying that in the World to Come, each person will see
how much damage he caused in the world as a result of his
deeds. This, he said, is implied by the verse, "sof dovor
hakol nishmo," which means that in the end, all those
who were forgiving will see how much deliverance they have
brought to Klal Yisroel, while those who caused
dissension will see how much destruction they perpetrated:
destruction for which they will be punished.
HaRav Koldetzky spoke about the necessity for scrupulousness
in tsnius, especially with respect to dressing
according to halocho. He also decried the free
distribution of newspapers containing loshon hora and
rechilus.
He closed by stressing the obligation to pray from the
depths of our hearts. "Only prayer with intent will bring
about the full geulah. We must know that Klal
Yisroel is drowning in a sea of calamity: widows,
orphans, ill people cry out and plead for help. We can help
them and us by prayer which is "tefilloh le'oni ki
ya'atof" -- prayer from the depths of one's heart, of
which the verse says: "He did not scorn their prayers."
