About 60 years ago, an author named Bud Schulberg wrote a popular book about the extremes of free enterprise and competition, showing how ugly they can become, entitled What Makes Sammy Run? The book described a wheeler- dealer named Sammy Glick who clawed his way up to the top of the Hollywood heap. It was not pretty: ". . . in the midst of a war that was selfish, ruthless and cruel, Sammy was proving himself the fittest, the fiercest and the fastest." Sammy was ruthless and single-minded as he moved to the top, and he did not hesitate for a second to stab his friends in the back if it brought him closer to his goals.

The dedication of the new beis midrash was the crowning glory in the reestablishment and rehabilitation of the Chassidic court that was razed to its foundation during the Holocaust. Herewith a tour in the magnificent Belzer complex against the background of personal reminiscences over a period of fifty-six years dating back to the wondrous rescue miracle of the previous Admor of Belz zy'o, and the moving reception he was given upon his entry to Jerusalem:

In the first part of the discussion about success in Torah learning, R' Michel Yehuda discussed the life of learning Torah mitoch hadechak -- while living in a condition of material deprivation. He explained that in this state, it is as if one receives his wisdom directly from Hashem yisborach. He talked of the difficult material conditions that prevailed in yeshivos in the days when he was young in Europe, but how such things as having no food on Sundays had no effect on the level of Torah learning, and such conditions produced true greatness in Torah. Importantly, he suggested that today one can "simulate" that condition by attaching no value to material pleasures and setting Torah study as his main aim in life. He quoted the Chofetz Chaim as saying that the seforim he owned were acquired with money, that was time that is in turn life itself.