Tens of thousands of bnei hayeshivos returned to their beloved botei medrash on Rosh Chodesh Elul to begin the countdown to the Yomim Noraim. This year the bein hazmanim break was clouded by the threats to the chareidi community from the sitting Israeli government, and many heeded the call of the gedolim to increase their learning during the break.
As the beginning of Elul zman approached, HaRav Shteinman said, "The increased learning in the holy yeshivos brings increased mercy to Israel." He also added, "Against those who try to minimize Torah, everyone should try to increase Torah as much as he can."
The Ponovezher Rov zt"l said that the opening of the learning sessions in the halls of the yeshivas is a time of Rotzon along the lines of what the Zohar Hakodosh says with regard to the special petition made in the paragraph beginning Berich Shemeih at the time of opening the Aron Hakodesh and taking out the sifrei Torah in the botei knesses. Opening the halls of the yeshivas to learn in them parallels opening the Aron Hakodesh to read the Torah.
Now that Elul has started, all of the yeshivas are in session, including yeshiva gedolim and yeshiva ketanos, as well as all the chadorim and all the kollelim. In other words, males of all ages are back at their learning. The chareidi educational system in Israel is driven by Elul timing and not by the secular calendar.
