At a dramatic emergency meeting held Monday evening at the home of Rav Dov Landau, rosh yeshiva of Slabodka, dozens of prominent roshei yeshiva convened to raise their voices against the ongoing legal and governmental pressure facing the Torah world in Eretz Yisroel.
The urgent meeting was opened with Tehillim by Rav Betzalel Pinchasi, rosh yeshiva of Birchas Ephraim.
In his opening remarks, Rav Eliezer Kahaneman, nosi of the Ponovezh Yeshiva, spoke about the financial straits in which yeshivos find themselves, and the essential role that the Keren Olam HaTorah has played in allowing Torah institutions to continue functioning this past year.
Representing roshei yeshiva across the country, Rav Daniel Wolfson of Nesivos HaChochmah called upon Rav Landau to once again turn to generous donors around the world to support Torah learning during this precarious time.
But it was Rav Landau himself who issued the strongest and most emotional call to action, declaring from the depths of his heart, “The judicial authorities are increasing their oppressive decrees and now threaten to draft our yeshiva bochurim. It will not happen! The government has yet to solve this issue, and our minds are fully occupied with this danger. We cannot stand idly by. All avenues are open to us when it comes to this matter — the heart and soul of our people.”
Rav Landau recalled how, just a year ago, in the wake of harsh judicial rulings that halted government funding for yeshivos and kollelim, Torah leaders traveled overseas to establish Keren Olam HaTorah. “Together with other gedolei Torah, we launched an emergency campaign,” he said, “and with tremendous siyata d’Shmaya, generous and righteous donors stepped forward, not only giving from their own resources, but also taking upon themselves the burden of fundraising vast sums.”
He emphasized that wherever they traveled, they witnessed extraordinary generosity from people moved by their deep love of Torah. “The kavod Shamayim was uplifted by the passionate ahavas haTorah and mutual responsibility of Yidden across the globe. The needed funds were raised and distributed fairly and honestly, and the halls of Torah continued to shine with increased vigor,” Rav Landau said.
Now, he explained, the time has come to act again. “I feel personally obligated to once again undertake this mission, despite the great difficulties involved. I ask you all to daven for me, that Hashem should grant me strength and healing, so I can travel once more to protect our yeshivos and kollelim, the crown jewel of creation. May Hashem help us, and may this evil decree be swiftly nullified.”
Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshiva of Slabodka, also addressed the gathering, noting that donors have already reached out to express their willingness to once again stand by Olam HaTorah. “It is their zechus to support Torah,” he remarked.
Rav Avraham Salim, a member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas, described the emotional response of Jewish communities around the world to the previous fundraising mission, which saw Rav Landau personally travel from community to community to secure support for Torah.
Closing remarks were delivered by Rav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chevron, who expressed awe at Rav Landau’s strength and leadership. “Despite his advanced age and having undergone surgery just days ago,” Rav Cohen said, “he stands and declares: We are flying abroad to stand with the Olam HaTorah.”
A message from the Vizhnitzer Rebbe was delivered to the assemblage by Rav Menachem Ernster, rosh yeshiva of Vizhnitz.
Also present at the gathering were other roshei yeshiva, including Rav Tzvi Drebkin, Rav Shraga Shteinman, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, and others, including Rav Moshe Chaim Dendrovitz on behalf of the Gerrer Rebbe and and Rav Yosef Moshe Dov Halberstam on behalf of the Sanzer Rebbe.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Of course it will not happen if we really care to stop it and not be more concerned about financial aid from the government which chareidim don’t receive.
Get judicial reform rolling and the draft threat will be stopped.
For very many years through the 1960’s and early 1970’s, the US military was engaged in a full scale fierce war in the south eastern Asian country of Vietnam. The general declared purpose and goal of the US fighting this war seemed to be an extremely noble one of stopping the spread of evil Communism. However, THE WAY that they were fighting the war was such that it would have been impossible to win.* Furthermore numerous actions — which included a lot of corruptions — were going on which indicated that the US’s intentions in the Vietnam situation were actually NOT noble.
So, when people throughout the country began hearing about and realizing these problems, they began to gravely question what our government was doing and became severely critical of what our government was doing, bluntly declaring that this was an unjust & immoral war. Vast masses of young men of the age requiring military service refused to enlist and did things — like destroying their draft cards and traveling to Canada — to evade the police coming after them for disobeying the law.
What was certainly the most well known and reported in the media, throughout the county’s major cities, very vast masses of people made very massive demonstrations protesting the whole war and specifically protesting the huge corporations who were raking in huge $$$$$$$$$ in manufacturing (and selling to the government) the numerous weapons used for fighting the war. Chief among them was the DOW Chemical Company, Yimach Shemo V’Zichro, which was one of the main producers of a horrific chemical weapon known as “Agent Orange.”**
The demonstrations were equally protesting the (then) President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson — commonly referred to by his initials “LBJ” — who had been one of the key spearheads of the war. The protestors thus carried huge signs with large printed words and emphatically shouted sharp declarations and insults like: “PEACE NOW!!” “NOT DOW!!” and “H——– NO!!” “WE WON’T GO!!” and “HEY!!” “HEY!!” “L!!” “B!!” “J!!” “HOW MANY BOYS DID YOU KILL TODAY!!”
* The way they fought the war it could not be won. My father, Alav HaShalom, was initially a big hawk for the war, as, understandably, he absolutely did not want to see Communist armies march on the whole world. Many times he exclaimed: “If they would have fought World War II the way they are fighting this war, (today) we’d be living under Hitler!!”
An example of this unwinnable way: A US army group is instructed to go take a Communist held village, so they go and take the village in a severely fierce fight in which TWELVE US SOLDIERS ARE KILLED. Then though, they are ordered to WITHDRAW from the village. (Explanations for such a bizarre order are: “This is a ‘modern war,’ a ‘war on the move,’ in which ‘holding ground’ is not important” and “for the peace negotiations, we must show we are being ‘nice,'”) So the army withdraws, and, of course, the Communists move back in. Later though, the group is told: “Now, we need to ‘put pressure’ on the Communists, so, AGAIN, go take the village!!”
** Agent Orange was the name used to refer to a chemical compound comprised of two severely strong herbicide poisons; it was given this nickname because it had an uchy brownish orange color and a sickening stench. OVER TWENTY MILLION GALLONS of it was heavily sprayed on vast areas of southern Vietnam and nearby Loas and Cambodia. This excessive herbicide application had two purposes: 1.) To make the trees loose their leaves turning them into denuded wooden sticks. With the hitherto lush forest foliage completely gone and the thick jungle fully exposed, Communist soldiers would have no place to hide themselves & their movements. 2.) To poison and destroy farmlands & their crops so that Communist soldiers would have no source of food. However, this deliberate food destruction often harmed local (non-Communist) peasants (who saw their land & crops ruined) much more than it harmed Communist soldiers, who, when seeing crops near them ruined, merely went and stole food from non-affected areas.
The frightening long lasting harm these horrific poisons did to people is way beyond all comprehension. Scores upon scores upon scores of US soldiers who handled this orange agent are, to this day, many decades later, crippled & suffering from severe forms of C——— A cab driver I used when I was in Denver told me how he had to be rushed into emergency surgery to remove THREE HUGE MALIGNANT TUMORS. But, like countless thousands of his veteran comrades, he received ZERO compensation from our US Government.
Likewise in the Vietnam area, MANY, MANY MILLIONS of NON-Communist civilians who had this “orange” exposure are, to this day, many decades later, severely crippled & suffering from C——– and other diseases, and many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are still being born with horrific deformities.
Obviously, the situation then of Vietnam and people’s refusal then to join the US Military, was glaringly totally different from the situation now in Eretz Yisroel and Chareidim people’s refusal now to join Israel’s military. First, of course, is the huge difference of time of many, many decades. Then, is the huge difference of location, many thousands of miles apart in completely different regions of the world. Then is the huge difference of completely different peoples and completely different conflicts and completely different problems and the reasons why US men then thought joining the US military was immoral are completely different reasons why Chareidim men & their Rabbinim now think joining the Israel military is immoral.
However, the key similarity that we today must realize is that the US men then, did not think that everything that their government and its military did was automatically “good.” Instead, they gravely questioned it and realized that it was very much NOT good and adamantly refused to join it.
So we today too must take this same type of inspiration from them. We must similarly realize that everything that the Israel Government and its military does is NOT automatically “good”; instead, we must gravely question it and realize that it is very much NOT good and adamantly refuse to join it. And just like they shouted: “H——- NO!!” “WE WON’T GO!!” (which made it glaringly clear that threats of the police would not make them do what the government wanted) we too must shout:
“(Gehenom) NO!!” “WE WON’T GO!!” and make it glaringly clear that threats of the police will not make us either do what the government wants.
B’Ezras Hashem, there is also a striking lesson we must learn from the Agent Orange aspect of the Vietnam episode. The cab driver in Denver I mentioned was the one who told me that the orangey colored substance had a sickening stench. So, obviously, the guys who handled it certainly did not like it. And the civilian peasants, who did not directly handle it but did see it — and probably also smelled it — (when it was being sprayed in nearby fields & forests) most probably also did not like it. However, as much as they did not like it and were probably also very repulsed by it, they still were not aware of and had no way then of knowing the exceedingly horrific harm that its exposure was going to eventually cause to happen to them. We can well assume that if they would have then known of the excessively extreme harm that it was going to cause, they then would certainly have tried to avoid it much, much, much more than they had done.
I was very greatly heartened at the many very wonderful comments at earlier Matzav articles on this subject that beautifully pointed out the numerous terrible things of the severely wicked atheistic moral perversion filled Zionist ideology & way of life that is fed & shown to soldiers in the Zionist’s IDF. These terrible actions & ideas & ideologies most certainly ARE terrible mental & emotional & spiritual poisons, that are just as bad as agent orange and any physical poison, and probably MUCH WORSE than agent orange and any physical poison. So exposures to them can cause only extremely grave harm, both extremely grave spiritual harm and most probably also extremely grave PHYSICAL harm, to eventually occur. So we must keenly realize & heed the wise warnings and advice that our Gedolay Torah are currently telling us that the Zionist’s IDF is a terrible place that we must most absolutely keep away from.