Tens of thousands of yeshiva students and kollel avreichim flocked to fill the benches of batei midroshim, yeshivos and kollelim throughout the country, many thousands of which are joining their ranks for the first time. All of them will begin the new Elul zman of the Torah world after a bein hazmanim intercession which was, itself, filled with study as per the fervent call of our Torah leadership in view of the difficult situation in the country. The intercession was a carefully balanced period of recouping strength for the upcoming Elul of intensified toil.
HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman expressed his hope that "by resuming study in the holy yeshivos, the [Heavenly] compassion for Jewry will be increased." He added that "against those people who attempt to diminish Torah, each one must strategize how he can augment it all the more.
The Elul session was commenced in the yeshivos and kollelim through a mighty propulsion and aspiration to strengthen the voice of Yaakov in light of the persecution of the Torah world and the unending attempts to strike at the purity of its study by government bodies and other political figures and elements who begrudge it, with their only purpose being to decrease the swelling numbers of Torah scholars. Thus, despite the decree of army conscription suspended over yeshiva students, the Elul session began with a strengthening of Torah and its adherents in the preparation for the days of selichos and heavenly mercy and the Yomim Noraim just around the corner.
