Many thousands from all the corners of Eretz Yisroel gathered to the numerous eulogy rallies in bereavement over the passing of the leader of all of Jewry, HaRav Shmaryahu Chaim Kanievsky zt"l, to weep over the tremendous loss of the Sar HaTorah veHayira, our master who was totally a vessel of study, who left us bereft of our master mentor and teacher, disseminator of Torah. And everywhere, our rabbonim, Torah leaders, arouse each community to follow in his ways, to emanate his supreme devotion to Torah study and attempt, somehow, to fill the huge void gaping before us with his loss.

The central hesped which took place this past Sunday in Yeshivas Ponevezh, was headed by the Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Gershon Edelstein, who bemoaned the loss and offered a vital message of strengthening.

Over twenty thousand seminary students attended the rally held in the Arena stadium in memory of HaRav Chaim Kanievsky with the end of the shiva mourning period. Words of poignant arousal and reinforcement were delivered to heighten love for Torah and yiras Shomayim from the mouths of prominent Torah leaders.

The cancerous growth developing within the Israeli Arab sector does not especially surprise the security system, and even if in the General Security Service they were not aware of the intent of our cousins from Um el Faham to make a pogrom on the streets of Hadera and Bnei Brak, it was no surprise to them. Same is to be said about the slaughter committed by a Bedouin resident of Hura on the streets of Beer Sheva, which did not make them fall off their seats.

The fanatic terrorist trend on the Arab street is nothing new, they say, but it only involves a small minority, while most Israeli Arabs are loyal, law abiding citizens. That's what we would like to believe, but this is not a marginal minority, not wild weeds but a large minority which lives and breathes terrorism.

Torah leaders and prominent poskim have recently issued a special letter in which they call upon the public to buy insurance policies for severe disability which will help many people who, like their predecessors, find themselves devastated by situations of accidents and the like, which causes them to forfeit their role as breadwinners and reducing them to helpless dependency.

Under the title of "A Public Appeal from Rabbonim and Poskim" they write:

Introduction: The Past As A Guide To The Present

Originally published early in 1995, this review of the early days of the Reform movement has not lost its interest or relevance.

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Part II

Dismissing A Nation's Dreams

In another of his accounts, Behr describes Tishah B'Av in the Dresden temple. The customs of this day have always served as a target for ridicule by heretical elements who mock the age-old Jewish desire to leave the exile and its attendant tribulations.

This then, was a different kind of Tishah B'Av. Those who arrived on the eve of the fast wanting to remove their shoes, were asked to kindly do so in the entrance corridor and to then put on some other suitable form of footwear. Bringing in low benches was forbidden and sitting on the floor was unthinkable. The day's ceremonies were carried out "in a restrained manner and without shrieking."