Two years have already gone by since the petiroh of
Rabbenu Hagodol, but many people clearly recall the
reverberating words of his will read aloud by HaRav Meir Tzvi
Bergman during the levaya. The will was a mussar
sefer in and of itself, articulating the great spirit
stirring within the "Minister of Torah" and the leader of our
generation as well as the love of Torah ablaze in his heart
and the yiras Elokim which encompassed his very being
at a level beyond our conception.
The closing phrase, heard by multitudes of Beis Yisroel
sobbing bitterly, was a testament to the tremendous love and
affection he felt toward his many talmidim:
"Haporesh mikem be'ahovoh . . . " ("Parting from you
with love . . . ").
In the main part of the will Rabbenu Hagodol asked his
talmidim to learn "even a single mishnah" for
his neshomoh, adding, "And if I am able to advocate
for you I will do so, bli neder."
Last year, on his first yahrtzeit, an important
project to immortalize Rabbenu Hagodol was begun. His
talmidim conceived of the idea and with the help of
generous donors who wanted a share in the merit a special
pocket chart was formulated, listing two mishnayos per
day for the elevation of Rabbenu Hagodol's pure soul.
The yearlong schedule is printed clearly in a special,
compact format intended to serve as a reminder of the daily
mishnah study. The chart also includes a column with
checkboxes to record progress.
Last year thousands of mishnayos were studied
according to the chart, leading toward the completion of an
entire seder on HaRav Shach's yahrtzeit. The
great zchus accrued through this endeavor is
immeasurable, for as gedolei Yisroel zt"l said,
learning mishnayos sends "merit packages" to the World
Above. On last week's yahrtzeit, Seder Zeroim was
completed and besiyata deShmaya Seder Moed will be
studied throughout 5764, culminated on the 16th of Cheshvan
5765.
Thousands of Jews--particularly bnei Torah who feel
gratitude toward the great genius Rabban Shel Kol Bnei
HaGoloh who bore the entire generation on his shoulders--
are now joining this mishnayos study schedule in
accordance with the impassioned request in Rabbenu Hagodol's
holy will. (To order the special pocket chart call 03-
6193014.)
