“כי מציון תצא תורה ודבר ה’ מירושלים” e-mitzion NEWS & VIEWS “Lechu Banim Shimu Li Yiraat The official newsletter of Midreshet HaRova Hashem Alamedchem” These were the words inscribed on Chanuka 5771 the entrance to Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, the most beautiful and substantial Yeshiva ever to be built on the grounds of Contents: Eastern Europe. The unique and unparalleled scholar, Rabbi Meir Shapira, founder of the Daf Yomi, almost News and Views literally built this Yeshiva with his own hands. Ironically, the first yeshiva in Europe to offer dormitories, cheder Dvar Torah ochel, special rooms of limmud, would not even last a decade before the Nazis marched in to Lublin, and Letters from Students began to murder Polish Jewry. Rabbi Meir himself was to be spared the Holocaust, dying as a young man Race for the Cure very suddenly in 1933. Had he lived and survived the Holocaust, who knows what he might have achieved. This ‘rising star’ of Am Yisrael, already recognized by the Chag HaSigd Gedolei Hador as being the leader for the future, was relentless in his work for Am Yisrael and Torat Yisrael. He Announcements preceeded Rabbi Lau in Pietrokow, became the Rav of Lublin, and was rumoured to be on his way to becoming Rabbi of Lodz when he passed away. He was a Talmid Chacham, but did not just sit with his books. Rabbi Meir almost single-handedly traveled the world to raise the money for his Torah Empire. It is said that on one occasion, whilst visiting the United States in an attempt to raise money, he ran out of funds, and in order to keep himself sustained he began to work locally as a chazan, so stubborn was he to fulfill his dream. His other most famous program of Daf Yomi, has enabled hundreds of thousands of Baalei Batim around the world to go through Shas, and has by definition united Am Yisrael in their study of Torat Yisrael - wherever one travels the Daf from that fundamental year in Israel, the more we have to will always be the same. stay in touch. However different life may appear four or And of all the verses in Tenach, Rabbi Meir Shapira had five years after Midrasha, the basics we worked towards at the words “Lechu Banim” inscribed at the entrance to Midrasha can help us meet the challenges of life even so his Yeshiva. But why? Perhaps it is how he aimed to many years later. I am still proud to say that to this day I measure the success of his institution. A yeshiva cannot draw from the lessons that Rav Amital instilled within me simply be valued in relation to the level of study therein. twenty-seven years ago. So with our Shabbaton in Stern It is far more important to see how the students leave - coming up, please make the effort to come together and “Lechu Banim”, and to teach the fear renew, to spend a weekend in the middle of Manhattan “in the Old City of Yerushalayim”. of God - “Yiraat Hashem”. Successful Successful students students cannot be defined by a Please contact Aviah Saltzman, moving messibat siyum, by siyumai cannot be defined by a [email protected] for more information or to register to attend. massechtot. Successful alumni are the moving messibat siyum, ones who take the yeshiva with them wherever they may go, the students by siyumai massechtot. If the first part of the verse inscribed who continually struggle with their Successful alumni are on the entrance to the Yeshiva in Lublin own self-definition and relationship relates to how we fair once we have left with the Almighty, not just in the the ones who take the yeshiva, the second part of the phrase Old City of Yerushalayim, but in the yeshiva with them relates to Yiraat Hashem. And here we universities of the world, be they in face the real challenge of our lives: What is Sydney, Jo’burg, Manchester or Boston. wherever they may Yiraat Hashem, and how can we teach it? We so often hear today that ‘so and so is As we travel the world recruiting for go, the students who a yirei shamayim’, yet I remain the skeptic. next year, we have the honor of meeting continually struggle with My Rebbe, Rabbi Isaac Bernstein of blessed up with our students wherever we go. their own self-definition memory, once commented to me that In mid-November, together with Rav “once there was one Gaon in Vilna, there Susman, I met up with many students and relationship with the was a Tzaddik called the Chafetz Chaim, of past. For me, these brief moments Almighty... but somehow today everyone is a Gaon, are so much more rewarding than a everyone is a Tzaddik!”. A person learns messibat siyum. To see our students when they are out of a little, does a few good deeds, and before you know it, the Rova, to see how they relentlessly try to bring the Rova they have reached the spiritual echelons of Rabbi Chaim into their lives in the Diaspora - that is surely the measure Ozer Grodzinski! The same goes for Yiraat Shamayim. To of success. Students often comment on how strange it is have the fear of Heaven, to my mind, implies a constant to see us in chutz la’aretz, but for me it is an inspiration. awareness of the Almighty, wherever we may be, and Unfortunately we don’t get to see everyone, but the emails whatever we may be doing. It is an incredible challenge, keep coming. My skype shiur at Stern is well attended and it always confronts me on my travels. considering that it takes place at 6 a.m. New York time. To be honest, living in Alon Shevut and working in the But I am writing also to those students who didn’t just Old City of Yerushalayim I feel safe and relatively protected leave last summer. I suppose it is natural for those that (though of course the challenges are everywhere, and attend a reunion to be the most recent alumni, but from complacency is one of the most dangerous of them), but my perspective, I want to see all of you. I don’t want our once I get that boarding pass, land in North America, and alumnus to ever get bored of a Midrasha reunion. On the wave goodbye to ELAL, traveling the four corners of this contrary - the older we get, the further away we become vast empire, the real yearly check-up begins. Hours of travel Two events are reported on in this issue, and they are and introspection remind me of how far there is to go before both very significant. When I was approached by two of I can even contemplate that incredible title of God-fearing. our students early on in the year regarding the march for So where do we start? The verse actually tells us: First “Breast Cancer”, I was extremely supportive, and amazed and foremost we must guard our tongue, we must teach at how the student body came together to support ourselves awareness of the Almighty through our actions the cause. We gave up an afternoon of classes but the and speech. Every time that we are about statement was so important. As we have to do something or say something, we Learning Torah should so often said, there cannot be ben adam must imagine that someone whom we leMakom if there is no ben adam lechaveiro. truly respect is standing right there, and have an impact on how There has to be an external expression of then once we do that, remind ourselves we behave; they cannot our learning, and to see the entire student that God actually is there. Once we body in specially made shirts marching in internalize this thought we realize that be two separate entities aid of this noble cause was heart-rending were we to be truly God-fearing then our to say the least. Kol Hakavod to Rachel lives would be very different than how they are now. Many and Caroline for all of their hard work in arranging our of us fear people, as Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai said - we part in the event. are careful and reserved with what we do and what we say in front of them. We have to at the least equate our fear of God to the fear that we have of people; after all God sees In honesty, when Yonah Fish and the madrichot initially all that we do, hears all that we say, and most importantly suggested an evening on Ethiopian Jewry I was unsure. As knows our thoughts and intentions. When we are alone, far you all know, I don’t relish the thought of canceling evening from the madding crowd, we have time to see who we are seder. But in retrospect they were right, and I was wrong. and where we are, and perhaps come to appreciate that we The whole evening was an eye opener for the students. It are never really on our own. brought to life the ingathering of exiles, and exposed the girls to real examples of messirut nefesh. What Ethiopian A Midrasha cannot just be about accumulating Jewry did to get to Israel is almost comparable to Am knowledge; if it is it is no different than a university. As Yisrael in the desert, and how they managed for hundreds well as teaching students about how to confront and of years as an isolated community to preserve minhag channel themselves into society whilst The true goals of any is really quite unbelievable.