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YNA Newsletter Parshat Korach

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YNA Newsletter Parshat Korach Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Parshat Korach 1 of 10 In This Issue Korach (Chukat in Israel) July 8, 2016 THE CHAVRUTA OF ELIE WIESEL...by journalist Sivan Rahav Flying Rabbis! YNA Rabbis in America Kollel Dvar Torah by Rav Dedications Rachamim Chouri HaRav Nebenzahl on the Parsha The learning on 2 Tamuz was dedicated to the memory of -Korach Arnold Rennert - Aharon ben Yonah Menachem z"l, brother The Story Of The Jewish People of our benefactor Mr. Ira Rennert. by Rav Shai Gerson - Sefer Shoftim Tehillim List Visitors - Life Events Links Visitors yna.edu Ben Yehoshua (5772-73) YNA Kollel.com Rami Strosberg (5759-60) and family Ask Rav Nebenzahl Daniel Gutmann (5775) Josh Kurzer (5772-73) Suggestion Box Alumni Update Form Mazal Tov Contact Us Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh would like to wish a mazal tov to: RavBeinishGinsburg.com Rav Yoel (Staff) and Ruth Yehoshua on the birth of a SephardiParty.com grandson. Dan Bamshad (5773) on his marriage to Orli Kohanbash. ShabbosYeshiva .com Jonathan Odinsky (5771-72) on his marriage to Becky Shachter. BJ (5766-67) and Kelly Frenkel on the birth of a baby boy. Reb Zev's Adam (5766-67) and Shira Kirshner on the birth of a Parsha Riddle baby boy. Daniel (5764-65) and Hani Lowenstein on the birth of a baby boy. Who am I? Yossi (5767-69) and Shuli Tsadok on the birth of a baby girl, Ariella Nava. The Angel of Death gave my secret to Moshe; Ori Schwartz (5774, 5775-Madrich) on his marriage to He told it to Aharon, Ayelet Grajower. who halted the Negef ~~~ Last week's answer: 1 of 12 became 2, Send Us Your Announcements (Shevet Yosef split into two Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Parshat Korach 2 of 10 Please, if you have any smachot or chas v'shalom, less happy occasions, let our office know so we can keep everybody Shvatim) updated. 1 of which I'm sent from; (Yehoshua from Shevet Ephraim) Plus 10 against 10, (Moshe added a Yud to his name FYI to give him strength agaist the ten Meraglim)) for there is another one. The 6th Annual Asher Strobel Memorial 3 on 3 Basketball (Calev) Tournament and 1st Annual Asher Strobel Memorial 5K Run Contact Reb Zev will take place on Sunday, July 31st. Click here for more information. Asher z"l learned in Yeshiva in 2008-2009. Join Our List In memory of Elie Wiesel THE CHAVRUTA OF ELIE WIESEL by journalist Sivan Rahav Meir This morning, President Obama described Elie Wiesel as "the conscience of the world", President Clinton described him as a "memorial". I had never met Elie Wiesel, I only managed to see him once from a distance. That one time was at the Kotel Hamaaravi on the festival of Shavuot where he was praying alongside Harav Aharon Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh. I was actually quite surprised. I imagined him at a cocktail party along with members of the high society, speaking before the United Nations, or at some other high-class event. I certainly did not imagine him wearing a tallit and bent over in prayer with tens of thousands of fellow Jews. This morning I called Harav Bina and was surprised to learn of an unknown chapter in the life of this Holocaust survivor. Harav Bina informed me that this renowned author, Nobel Prize winner, who had just died: "for eighteen consecutive years, Elie Wiesel used to come to my house on the night of Shavuot. Ira Rennert, a New York businessman, had introduced us and the three of us would meet annually and spend the entire night of Shavuot, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, learning Torah. Elie knew very well how to learn - he knew how to ask and how to answer. I viewed him as a wonderful teacher and we would spend half of the night arguing and discussing. Whenever he would have any criticism of particular individuals or groups of people I would say to him: "Why are you focusing on Jews, let us focus on Judaism." Our custom was to study "Minchat Chinuch" which focuses on a deep and broad analysis of the six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth. Each year we would delve into a few mitzvoth, I believe we covered between thirty and forty out of the 613 mitzvoth. Two years ago, Elie fell ill, but he refused to say no. At the festive Yom Tov meal, in his usual manner, he sang Hassidic songs, the tunes of Vizhnitz, which he remembered from his father's home. Due to his ill health, that year we managed to learn for "only an hour and a half" and he went back to sleep. Before daybreak we customarily went down to the Kotel for Shacharit of Yom Tov and Elie always asked if he could read the haftarah. I don't think people realize what a proud Jew he was, how dignified and gentle and sensitive he was, how important Israel was to him and how much he contribute in his own quiet way, in ways we are unable to yet relate." Harav Bina concluded our conversation: "he had many questions of faith, difficult questions. I felt that it was specifically next to the Kotel, in Yerushalayim the eternal capital of Israel, that memories and visions of Auschwitz kept coming back to haunt him. However, it was important for him to continue the chain - that Judaism should not be uprooted and should not come to an end. I would say to him: "Elie, R' Elie, if we would understand exactly what G-d wants then we are either fools or we are G-d Himself." Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Parshat Korach 3 of 10 *Harav Bina asked us to add the following: "I would like to begin by asking why was Elie Wiesel not buried among the leaders of the nation in Har Herzl? There is no doubt in my mind that although he did not serve in any official capacity, nevertheless he would wake up every morning and ask himself: "what can I do for the people of Israel, what can I do for the Jewish nation?" There are many of his acts which were well-known but many he hid from others and are not known and will never be known. He was an advocate for the Jewish people, speaking to Prime Ministers and Presidents and many others who could be of assistance. He felt that Hashem miraculously gave him life after the Holocaust for a reason, he had a mission to fulfill and therefore did not live for himself. I remember in the 60s and 70s there were newspapers who claimed that he was not religious, he was not a proud Jew but was just using the Holocaust as a business. These are total lies - he lived for others but did not live for what others would say about him. What I saw in this man whom I have had the privilege of knowing for the past 18 years was a believing Jew, a religious Jew, but with very difficult questions. The Ponovizher Rav once witnessed two Jews arguing on Simchas Torah and began to even curse and speak words of heresy. The Rav went over to one of them - you were in the Holocaust, you can get upset and have all the claims in the world against Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and to the other one he said - you were not in the Holocaust so be quiet because the ways of Hashem are hidden from us. You had to be there to witness his love of Torah - the reverence and closeness he felt for his Rabbanim, whether Rav Shoshany of France or Rav Shaul Lieberman who although he was the head of the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary was a truly Orthodox Jew. The respect and esteem he had for them is immeasurable, no less than a man for his wife. He had a close relationship with Rav Menashe Hakatan in Boro Park. In private conversations I had with him, you could see that he was very hurt at the accusation that he used the Holocaust to make money. He would never say a bad word about anyone. He showed me so many things, things which he did not want publicized, proving that the accusations against him were all lies. He had a tremendous love of Torah, he knew how to uncover the depth of Rashi in a manner as Rav Soloveichik used to say that Rashi was the great Rebbi of all of us. He knew how to argue but also knew how to listen. He would speak to Ira regarding what he can do for the Jewish people. It was frightening (in a positive sense) to see how wonderful he was at relating and teaching, he was not an actor but a true teacher. He would give a semester class in Boston University before 700 students, many non-Jewish, on Jewish topics. The class was mesmerized and although we are taught that there is wisdom among the other nations he showed the many non-Jews and unaffiliated Jews just how much wisdom is to be found in Hashem's Torah. Watching him as chazaan near the Kodesh Hakodoshim when he had yahrzeit, to watch him lead Birkat Hamazon and the fervor with which he sang Shabbos and Yom Tov songs - "haRachaman hu yanchilen yom shekulo Shabbos umenucha" on Shabbos, and "haRachaman hu yakim lanu es sukas David hanofeles" on Sukkos. When I would go to see Rebbi David Abuchatzeira along with him and Ira you could just see how he totally negated himself.
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