Rav Dov Landau: “They Are Persecuting Us and Restricting Our Steps — But No One Will Ever Be Able to Sever Us From the Torah”

Rav Dov Landau, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka, delivered a forceful address Monday night to hundreds of bnei yeshiva, declaring that despite mounting pressure, arrests, and legislative efforts surrounding the draft law, the Torah world will remain unshaken and inseparable from Torah learning.

Speaking at Yeshiva Nesivos Aviezer, Rav Landau addressed the escalating controversy over the proposed conscription law and the status of yeshiva students, against the backdrop of recent detentions of Torah learners by the military police, political attacks, and growing difficulties in advancing legislation in the Knesset.

“We are engaged in the Torah of Hashem,” Rav Landau said. “We rejoice in it as on the day it was given. The Torah fills the entire being of one who learns it. It provides an exalted spiritual fulfillment, without pause and without interruption. Even in old age, it never departs from him. Bnei Torah are the loftiest people on earth. Beyond its inherent sanctity, the Torah refines a person’s character, instills proper middos, clear thinking, and builds a purified personality in a way that cannot be understood by those outside.”

Rav Landau spoke directly about the pressures facing the chareidi community. “They are persecuting us, restricting our steps, and placing before us all kinds of strange and difficult obstacles,” he said. “But we all know and believe: We will never abandon the Torah. The Torah is our spiritual acquisition, and no one in the world will ever be able to sever us from the holy Torah. Throughout all eras and in every place, the Torah has stood firm against raging winds and against countless harsh decrees.”

He emphasized that this endurance is rooted in Divine promise. “The Ribbono Shel Olam promised us that the Torah would never depart from our mouths or from the mouths of our descendants. And always, Hashem has safeguarded those who learn Torah, ensuring that the Torah is never torn away from them.”

Turning sharply critical of secular faith in state institutions, Rav Landau said that many Jews had been misled by false beliefs. “There were Jews who followed various ideological forms of foreign worship,” he said. “Many placed their faith in the institutions of the state, believing in false doctrines. Some thought that the judges of the courts were guided by truth, and believed fabricated stories about their integrity and reliability.”

“Now,” he continued, “even the last of those who believed in them have seen that there is nothing separating them from the greatest deceivers. Falsehood, jealousy, desire, and honor are their daily bread. Their mouths speak falsehood, and their right hands are hands of deceit.”

Rav Landau said that bnei Torah are not surprised by these developments. “It has always been this way,” he said. “All false beliefs and lies vanish like a dissipating cloud and like a fleeting dream. One thing, however, is incumbent upon us: to strengthen ourselves and to strengthen others. We will fortify the truth, and falsehood will fade and disappear.”

He concluded with a call for renewed dedication to Torah learning. “The Torah is truth. The judgments of Hashem are true, righteous altogether. He gave us a Torah of truth. Our task is to strengthen ourselves in the Torah of truth — in its study and in-depth analysis — as we received it from our rabbeim. We must cleave to the Torah of our teachers. ‘The lip of truth shall be established forever, and the mouth of falsehood will be silenced.’”

“Strengthen yourselves and we will be strengthened in Torah study,” Rav Landau said in closing. “This is our existence; this is our faith. ‘The king is not saved by a mighty army… a horse is a false hope for salvation.’ In Him our hearts rejoice, for in His holy Name we trust.”

{Matzav.com}