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This Google Custom Search looks only in this website. A Shavuos Message from HaRav Meir Bergman shlita
In a rousing talk preceding Shavuos, HaRav Meir Bergman, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rashbi in Bnei Brak and son-in-law of Maran HaRav Shach zt"l, dwelled on the worth of those who toil in Torah and are the target of forces who seek to shame them with vile, acerbic words and enact harsh edicts to curb them financially and diminish Torah.
"We find ourselves on the eve of Mattan Torah. My late father-in-law, HaRav Shach, and HaRav Isser Zalman Meltzer, repeatedly dwelled upon this matter which is based on the teaching of the Sheloh, that Shavuos is a judgment day for being lax in Torah study in the past, and a projection on how much he can expect to acquire Torah knowledge henceforth. Consequently, we must arouse and reinforce ourselves in awareness of the power that lies in Torah study and of those who pursue it diligently. The street, and what it symbolizes, does not comprehend such concepts. Only bnei Torah who toil in Torah year-round can absorb this.
In Munich Germany on Monday this week, there convened the 32nd conference of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER). The theme of the conference was "Rabbinic leadership in Emergencies — to serve in a time of sword and plague."
Some 350 of the rabbinic leadership of Europe, including rabbonim, dayanim, roshei yeshiva and other leaders from 47 different countries came to Munich to participate. The guests of honor were HaRav Osher Weiss, head of the Darkei Horo'oh institutions in Eretz Yisroel and also HaRav Moshe Mordechai Farbstein, rosh yeshiva of Chevron Yeshiva in Jerusalem and the Beis Medrash leRabbonim in Berlin.
They sighed in relief in the government. The worrisome and threatening event passed without alarming repercussions. "The March of Flags" from the Damascus Gate and through the Old City unto the Kosel, ended peacefully, aside from antagonizing shouts from a handful of hooligans from both sides.
The security apparatus was in high gear. Iron Dome batteries were situated in various spots across the country to forfend trouble. Air force planes hovered above the Gaza Strip to serve as warning, and thousands of police guarded the events in Jerusalem, but at the end of the day, there was nothing to report.
This was evident from the early Hamas announcements that nothing took place. Hamas declared that if the demonstrators would storm into El Aksa, the Moslems would retaliate. But even they themselves realized that these were empty threats because the march never goes near the mosque. In all of the dozens of years, this march invariably ended at the foot of the Kosel. Notwithstanding, the security system took no chances, and justifiably so, being prepared for the worst. In end, boruch Hashem, it ended peacefully.
A Shmuess Delivered By HaRav Shlomo Brevda on Chol Hamoed Pesach 5753 At Beis Haknesses "Tiferes Shlomo", Har-Nof, Yerushalayim. We first published it the same year. HaRav Brevda zt"l reviewed it before publication.
Part III
The first two parts discussed tefillah and how it requires having the attitude of a poor person, and the essential requirement of anava in order to be able to daven properly.
So, Rabbenu Yonah has made it hard for us to get to tefillah. The Rambam, also quoting chazal, like Rabbenu Yonah, has made it hard for us to get to Toras emes. Again the key is anava. Once more I have the feeling that the tsibur is shaken and dispirited. Let us therefore see how the Torah hakedoshah can help us out.
The Torah hakedoshah has given us various mitzvos to fulfill on leil haseder. On the one hand we set out on the table any gold or silver vessels that are in the house as a sign of cherus. We also have to eat leaning, in the manner of bnei chorin. The Ba'al habayis shouldn't pour for himself. He is a ben chorin, an oshir, so others pour for him. We drink a lot of wine because, says the Rambam, this is the custom of wealthy, free men. So there we sit, in wealth and well-being.
On the other hand, there is the matzo, the lechem oni, over which we are "onim devorim harbei." We speak of many things.
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Fruit
Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
From Immigrant to Immigrant in Three Generations: An Impression of the South African Jewish Community Today
by Gita Gordon
As we flew over the plains of central Africa my mind was on the immigrants who had come to the Southern tip of Africa more than a century ago. Yated Ne'eman ran a serial I had written about three such young people, and later this had been published as a book entitled South African Journeys. This had resulted in a request for a talk on my trip to SA, and I was wondering what to say.
We had been flying all night and now the sun rose over a stretch of land and the unique blend of muted colors of Africa rose below me, blues and browns and soft dark green. A dry riverbed cut across the landscape. No sign of human habitation could be seen for mile after mile.
The stunning grandeur hit me and then the thought of people like my grandfather and my great-grandparents who had hurriedly left all that was known to them, small intimate villages filled with Jews, in eastern Europe (especially Lithuania), and come to this alien lonely environment. They had carved a good life for us and themselves in this place. Now their grandchildren had left and those who had once been immigrants remained alone, just as their parents had remained, waiting for letters and talking of strange foreign places.
Bloemfontein
Our first stop was to be Bloemfontein, the judicial capital of the country. I had grown up there in a vibrant community of 450 Jewish families. In 1965, a new shul opened for the High Holy Days with seating for 1,200 and chairs had to be brought in to accommodate the overflow.
The Yeshiva -- Its Form And Methods
By HaRav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, Rosh Yeshivas Be'er Yaakov (zt"l)
Part II
Hakodosh Boruch Hu established two yeshivos for Yisroel so that they should be studying [Torah] day and night. Klal Yisroel's yeshivos are the chariot upon which Hashem's Presence rests and through them it comes to rest upon the entire nation. Torah has been studied in the world since the day it was created, without interruption. Yaakov Ovinu sent Yehuda ahead to Mitzrayim to establish a yeshiva, because it was essential for him and his family.
As Long As Life Lasts
This then, is the defining form that a yeshiva must have. This was what Yaakov Ovinu's yeshiva looked like. Living implies being occupied with Torah continuously, without any interruption.
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