Thousands were on hand to take part in the dedication of the
Shema Yisroel-Kaliv Center and the installation of three
sifrei Torah in remembrance of Holocaust martyrs and
sifrei Torah that were desecrated and burned. The
large ceremony was held on 27 Sivan in Yerushalayim to mark
60 years since the Admor of Kaliv was spared from the
Nazis.
Before the procession set out from Rechov Minchat Yitzchak
with the three sifrei Torah, HaRav Yitzchok
Zilberstein addressed the crowd, saying that with thousands
of men, women and children coming to celebrate the honor of
Torah, this lofty event was a victory over the evil designs
of the reshoim.
With three elaborate chupos and a live band, the
charged procession was led by thousands of little boys
carrying special flags and lit torches. When the sifrei
Torah reached the new building, the dedication ceremony
for the new beis medrash began.
The central address was delivered by the Admor of Kaliv, who
recounted how he was saved from the Warsaw Ghetto and
Auschwitz and spoke of the holy task incumbent on him to
increase kvod Shomayim and kovod haTorah in
memory of the kedoshim, for no Jew was saved just to
put them out of mind. The Admor recited Shehechiyonu
and then, together with the thousands of other participants,
accepted the yoke of Heaven by reciting Shema
Yisroel.
A young child from Yerushalayim, a member of the Girso
Deyankuso Kaliv youth organization, delivered a moving speech
as a remembrance of the one-and-a-half million yaldei
Yisroel who perished during the Holocaust, Hy"d.
The Admor then said Kaddish le'ilui nishmas
hakedoshim.
The old sifrei Torah came out to greet the three new
sifrei Torah according to the custom and then they
were brought into the beis medrash with song and dance
and mizmorim.
The participants at the event displayed obvious excitement
when HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir,
arrived to bless the Admor and wish him continued success in
the Torah and chessed institutions he has set up.
Afterwards the large seudas mitzvoh held near the new
building was attended by the Admor of Belz, roshei yeshivos,
rabbonim and maggidei shiur from Bar Bei Rav Dechad
Yomo, the one-day learning sessions sponsored by Kaliv.
