“I wish I would have had such a kinnus when I was a bachur transitioning from yeshiva ketana to yeshiva gedolah,” Rabbi Avigdor Bernstein, one of the senior members of Hanhalas Dirshu, said wistfully.
Rabbi Bernstein was referring to the unique event in Eretz Yisrael, the Dirshu Seder Hachana event, where thousands of bachurim graduating yeshiva ketana (equivalent graduating twelfth grade in America) and going on to yeshiva gedolah (beis medrash) come together at the very end of their last zeman in yeshiva ketana to hear words of guidance from the Gedolei Hador, Mashgichim on how to properly prepare for the transition.
Dirshu has been providing the bachurim of Eretz Yisrael with this unique event for approximately a decade, but this year’s event, to be held on Wednesday, 28 Tammuz, will be even more special.
First and foremost, the senior Gadol Hador, HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponovezh Yeshiva, will personally come to address the bachurim. This is one of the very rare times since Covid 19, that Rav Gershon will participate in such a major event.
This year, senior Roshei Yeshiva will be attending, including HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka; and HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron.
Another exciting development at this year’s event, held at the Heichalei Malchus Halls in Bnei Brak, will be the video addresses given by senior American Roshei Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Kamenetzky, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Philadelphia, and HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Mesivta of Lakewood. Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, Nasi of Dirshu is also slated to address the event.
Why, at the behest of Rav Gershon Edelstein, is this year’s program even more special with the participation of so many Gedolim? Perhaps it is because Klal Yisrael is truly at a crossroads. The younger generation, our precious bachurim, are facing unprecedented nisyonos. This gathering, where senior Roshei Yeshiva will address the bachurim promises to be a truly unique event.
In the past, this event was addressed by such luminaries as HaGaon HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, zt”l, HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt”l and, ybl”ch, HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, and HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen.
By: Chaim Gold
