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4 Elul, 5781 - August 12, 2021 | Mordecai Plaut, director | Bereishis- 5781 Published Weekly
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Improving Access to the Mearas Hamachpela

In accordance to the decision of Defense Minister Benny Ganz, work has begun this week to finally provide better access to the Mearas Hamachpela after years of postponement. The work is being undertaken by the Security Ministry's Department of Engineering and Construction. It is under the supervision of the Staff Officer of the Civilian Department of Archaeology. It is expected to take half a year, until Pesach.

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HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein: The Advice for Yom Hadin - Smile!

"Allow me to tell a story which I remember from my youth in Yerushalayim," HaRav Yitzchok began.

I used to daven in the minyan of the Gaon of Teplik on Succos. He entered the shul of the first day of Succos bearing only three of the Four Species: lulav, hadassim and arovos. He was lacking an esrog. Inscrutable.

Those close to him had seen him examining many esrogim until he finally selected a perfect one, paying a huge sum for it. At this time, there were very few esrogim to be had in Yerushalayim. So where was the Rav's esrog this morning?

Before Hallel, he approached one of the mispallelim who possessed an esrog and asked if he could grant him his esrog for a gift — until he was ready to return it (as halachically required). When the esrog duly changed hands, the Gaon recited the blessing joyfully and then returned it its owner.

He, himself, refused to say what had happened to the esrog he had purchased. But the elders of Yerushalayim were determined to find out for themselves. They went to his home and learned from the rebbetzin what had occurred.

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President Herzog Visits the Rabbonim of Bnei Brak

Within the context of President Yitzchak Herzog's visit to Bnei Brak upon the invitation of Mayor Avrohom Rubinstein to launch the present school year, he also paid his respects to our gedolei Yisroel in their homes, accompanied by the mayor and also by MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni.

Welcoming his guest into his home, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky blessed him with success in all of his righteous deeds, while also conferring a general blessing of refua sheleima for all the Corona victims and protection to those who should not be infected, while offering an overall blessing for a kesiva vachasima tovah for the upcoming year.

 

 

 

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From Our Archives


A Voice Cries Out: Elul!

Reminiscences from R' Moshe Eliezer Schwartzbord

Memories from the Yomim Noraim period in Yeshivas Beis Yosef, in the year 5695. Descriptions and experiences from the bustling `spiritual fair' that took place each year in Beis Yosef in Poland and Lithuania in the months of Elul and Tishrei

Dewdrops of Elul. We were rusticating from the boredom of routine. The past year had been dry, uneventful, and we seemed to be steeped in a torpor, a deep slumber, when the chimes of the upcoming year began pealing. Dewdrops of mercy descended from Heaven and covered the parched earth which had forsaken us. "A downpour of water from thickly clouded skies." Clouds of purity and sanctity spread across the blue heavens above us and the sound of the shofar could be heard throughout the land.

*

We converge here every Elul, every year. You with your large shofar in hand, pleading, threatening, wailing. And upon your back, a ladder firmly planted upon the ground, its head reaching the Heaven.

You lower the ladder into the pit and stretch out a long, long arm, as if you seek to draw us up from the pit and save us from the abyss, from the waters of the dunghill.

*

The morning of the first of Elul. With the pristine sounding of the shofar, rain began trickling down our faces. The showers of Elul revived our souls.


Kelm -- The Silent Furnace

by Tzvi Munk

Part II: After the Alter

The first part of this too-short introduction to Kelm discussed the Alter of Kelm, his biography, his influence and his conduct. This part follows the history of Kelm after his passing.

The material is based on Beis Kelm, the recently- published sixth volume in a series devoted to the spiritual heritage and the towering personalities of Kelm mussar. The series, which is published by Machon Sifsei Chachomim. The new volume illuminates the lives of the great men who led the Talmud Torah for the eighty years of its existence, first in Grobin and later in Kelm.

His Son and Spiritual Heir

While the Alter's passing unquestionably marked the end of an era, the wellsprings of Kelm remained just as prolific. Reb Simcha Zissel left a son and two daughters. The son, Rav Nochum Ze'ev Ziv zt'l, had received his education from his father. As a youngster, he learned both in Kelm and Grobin. He also spent some time in Aishishok, the town of perushim near Vilna. For a time after his marriage he lived in Sydnik and then he moved to Koenigsburg, where he was of great assistance to people who arrived in the city in seeking cures for their health problems.

Reb Nochum Ze'ev corresponded with his father throughout his life. The imprint of his father's education and of his Kelm training were recognizable in everything he did. Whoever came into contact with him and witnessed his calm and tranquility, his meticulous behavior and his orderliness, saw in him a classic product of Kelm. In 5670 (1910), some twelve years after his father's petiroh, Reb Nochum Ze'ev returned to Kelm to assist his brother-in-law, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Broide zt'l, in running the yeshiva. Reb Tzvi Hirsch passed away only three years later and all the responsibility for the upkeep of the Talmud Torah came to rest upon the shoulders of Reb Nochum Ze'ev, who faithfully replicated every nuance of his father's approach.




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