Due to the situation of Ukrainian Jews, the Knesset group that was formed to fortify Diaspora Jewry, headed by Rabbi Yitzchok Pindrus and MK Michal Shir, convened for emergency counsel. The meeting was also attended by government ministers, top officials of the Foreign Ministry, representatives of international Jewish organizations, Ukrainian rabbonim and community heads, representatives of emergency organizations and members of airline companies.

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HaRav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, rosh yeshivas Ateres Yisroel and member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah recently returned to Israel after an extensive tour of America whose purpose was just to give chizuk to American Jewry. He spoke to tens of thousands who came out to hear his words.

One of the main visits of the tour was Lakewood, New Jersey, home of the Beis Medrash Govoha and many thousands of bnei Torah and other Jews who live there.

In a rare excursion, despite the fact that he hardly stepped out of his house since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, HaRav Yeruchom Olshin, member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood, went to visit HaRav Ezrachi. During the visit, an amazing story was retold by HaRav Mordechai Ezrachi. Per request of Yated Ne'eman, the Rosh Yeshiva agreed to repeat it. These are the reported words of HaRav Ezrachi:

The Right won in elections, time after time. It controlled the government and had a majority in the Knesset, but it never grasped the art of ruling and control.

It began in the days of Menachem Begin, the man with the Jabotinsky aura who believed he lived in a democracy. Even after he rose to power, he allowed the Left to continue to rule the courts, the media and government offices. In the Leftist camp of those times, it was expected that Begin, the sworn Rightist nationalist, would rule over those power points and it would have been taken in stride, after dozens of years of despotic Leftist rule in those areas.

The High Court was yet before Aharon Barak, and it would probably not have intervened if Begin had instated some order in the Leftist camp in general. But Begin was a democrat, heart and soul, and refused to touch these national symbolic areas, even if it would eventually be his nemesis.

The Life and Life's Work of HaRav Shimon Schwab

Editorial note: The article was written and published in 1995/5755 in the months following the petiroh of HaRav Shimon Schwab zt"l. This year on Purim Katan will be the 27th yahrtzeit.

In the first four parts, we read about Rav Schwab's family and early education in Germany, as well as the eastern European yeshivos: Telshe and Mir. The third part told of his experiences as a young rav in Ichenhausen in the early years of Hitler, ym'sh. This week's installment tells of his first job in the U.S.A. in Baltimore, Maryland and his affiliation with the American Agudas Yisroel.

Part VI

Rav Schwab's meticulous nature could be discerned at times. When traveling he would always take along a compass. While it is true that if one doesn't know which direction is mizrach, then bedi'eved one can simply direct his thoughts to the Beis Hamikdash, nonetheless, Rav Schwab wasn't one to let himself enter into a bedi'eved situation.