At the Keynote Session of Agudath Israel of America's 85th
National Convention on motzei Shabbos parshas
Vayishlach, the words of two Gedolei Yisroel and
of Yerushalayim's mayor about the future of the Holy City
stood out.
The evening was dedicated to the topic "The Threat to Divide
Yerushalayim," and the thousands in attendance at the Westin
Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut, or participating through one
of the many satellite hookups or by telephone, were eager to
receive guidance from the "einei ho'eida."
Noting how the evening's topic "touches our very hearts" and
"requires great clarification," Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the
Novominsker Rebbe and Rosh Agudas Yisroel of America, stated
the facts of the times starkly: "There are forces at work in
Eretz Yisroel and among the nations . . . that want to
separate us from Yerushalayim . . . "
Short Trip, Stirring Words
Citing the longstanding policy of the American Moetzes
Gedolei HaTorah to defer in matters of Eretz Yisroel to the
Gedolim of the Holy Land, the Rebbe recounted how he
undertook a short trip to Israel two weeks earlier to consult
with Gedolei Eretz Yisroel. He met with HaRav Yosef Sholom
Eliashiv, shlita and HaRav Aron Leib Shteinman,
shlita. HaRav Eliashiv, Rabbi Perlow recounted,
opposes "in all strength" plans being discussed to relinquish
control of parts of Yerushalayim. He added that doing so will
do nothing to bolster security and could lead to "a Jew
needing a permit to visit the Kosel."
Rav Shteinman spoke similarly to the Rosh Agudas Yisroel of
America, saying that plans like those being floated in Israel
"will make things worse" from a security perspective. The
Rosh Hayeshiva also spoke of the importance of putting the
issue on the agenda of the Agudah convention, recounting the
Brisker Rov's statement some 70 years ago that, while a
kesher resho'im has no power, stances taken by
"ehrlicher Yidden have impact on Shomayim."
The Novominsker Rebbe noted that he had spoken by phone with
the Gerrer Rebbe as well (who was in America at the time of
the Novominsker Rebbe's trip to Eretz Yisroel) and that he
too had expressed similar sentiments. Rabbi Perlow pledged
that Agudath Israel of America "will find appropriate ways of
expressing" its opposition to "peace" plans that erode Jewish
control of Yerushalayim.
No One To Trust
The Rebbe also bemoaned the lack of trustworthy players
regarding the issue. "Whom shall we trust?" he asked, "The
kesher resho'im who brought a half-million [Russian]
non-Jews to Eretz Yisroel?"
He went on to detail how endangered Torah schools and
yeshivos are as a result of government policies in Israel.
"It is not for lack of money," he asserted. "They have money;
it is our growth that they cannot stomach."
Rabbi Perlow also spoke emotionally of the terrible plight of
those expelled a year-and-a-half ago from Gush Katif and
other parts of Gaza, how "their lives were broken," how they
were not adequately provided for afterward and how no
security in any event came of the withdrawal.
Facing Toward the Holy
And then the Rebbe spoke at length and in depth of the
spiritual essence of Yerushalayim, the combination of
yir'oh and sholom that defines the Holy City.
He talked movingly of Yerushalayim shel Ma'aloh, and
of how we may not create a "partition" between that ethereal
Yerushalayim and the earthly one to which it is wedded that
unifies Jews the world over as they daven facing
it.
He concluded his address with the tefilloh that
"Vesechezeno eineinu beshuvecho leTziyon berachamim . . .
"
A "Mayor" Einayim
Another highlight of the Motzei Shabbos session was an
address by the mayor of Yerushalayim, Uri Lupoliansky. The
Mayor spoke eloquently and forcefully about both the wonder
that is Yerushalayim and "the dark cloud on the horizon." And
the danger, he said, is not only from "the people Condoleeza
Rice and your State Department call our `peace-loving
cousins' . . . but from within our own ranks."
By that, he explained, he meant those who arrogate to
themselves the name "Zionist" while considering Jews who pray
three times daily that Hashem return His presence to
Yerushalayim to be "anti-Zionists."
"Yerushalayim," Mr. Lupoliansky continued, "is the city that
unites Jews. But what do we hear now? Government ministers
are speaking openly about slicing up Yerushalayim like a
salami and serving slices to the Palestinians."
"And this," he asked incredulously, "will bring us peace?
The Mayor then recounted what happened "when we gave away
Gaza," pointing out how the result has been "innocent men,
women and children liv[ing] in terror, waiting day and night
for the siren that will give them fifteen seconds —
fifteen seconds! — to run to shelter."
"Is that," he asked, "what we want for Yerushalayim?"
The Yerushalayim mayor stressed that "I do not speak in my
own name. I speak in the name of the Gedolei Yisroel, the
Ziknei Hador. I bring you their message that we
chareidi Yidden must speak out as strongly as we can against
this chillul hakodesh."
Mayor Lupoliansky then called on his listeners — "You
have enormous influence and you must use it" — to do
all they can to make clear their opposition to the pipe dream
that relinquishing parts of Yerushalayim will bring greater
peace to Eretz Yisroel, or the world. Mr. Lupoliansky then
quoted the Targum on the posuk (Yeshayohu 62)
"For the sake of Tzion, I will not be still," which describes
Hashem's declaration as, "Until I bring the ge'ula to
Tzion, the entire world will not be still." We must, he
exhorted the crowd, be mispallel that, in the zchus
of our protecting Yerushalayim, "Hashem Yisborach
will bring us the Ge'ulah Shleima, bimeheira
beyomeinu."
We Belong to Yerushalayim
At the end of the evening's program, the gathering was
addressed by Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, the Lakewood Mashgiach.
Focusing on the posuk in Yirmiyohu (2:2) in
which the Novi is exhorted to, "call out to the ears of
Yerushalayim" Hashem's assurance that "I have remembered for
you the chesed of your youth . . . [how] you followed
me in the desert, a land unsown," the Mashgiach explained
that the earthly Yerushalayim is where, as it states in
Tehillim (122:3), the shevotim were unified,
where they gathered "lehodos lesheim Hashem," to
praise the name of Hashem. And Yerushalayim shel
Ma'aloh, he explained, citing a statement of Rav Chaim
Volozhin, is the "mokom hiscalelus neshomos kol Beis
Yisroel" — the place where the souls of all of Klal
Yisroel are joined together. The zchus of Klal Yisroel
in the midbar in overcoming its desire after receiving
the Torah to return to the beautiful land of Mitzrayim, where
they could have established "a Yiddishe medina," the
Mashgiach said, lay in their appreciation of the prospect of
entering Eretz Yisroel and building a Bais Hamikdosh
in Yerushalayim. That, he explained, was the "chesed
of your youth" that was to be called out to "the ears of
Yerushalayim."
Rabbi Salomon went on to declare that "we are not gathered
together to raise the slogan that Yerushalayim belongs to us,
but we must all accept a new slogan, that we belong to
Yerushalayim." We do not adequately feel the pain we must at
the state of Yerushalayim today, he continued. "We hang
photographs of the Kosel and the centerpiece of the pictures,
the dome of a mosque, doesn't hurt us!" Perhaps, said the
Mashgiach, by the current political developments, Hashem
wants to awaken in us a feeling of just what Yerushalayim is,
why we are strangers in its streets.
Rabbi Salomon concluded by stressing the pertinence of the
convention theme, "American Jewry at Cliff's Edge: Our Role
in Bringing Jews Back to Torah," which he said is really
about areivus, the interrelatedness of all Jews, that
which allows us to daven for the growth of another Jew
— although the other may not even be davening
for himself. The Mashgiach explained in the name of the
Chazon Ish that, although improvement requires the exercising
of free will, the free choice of the one doing the
davening can be the zchus that will help
another. How? Because the davener and the one he
davens for are part of one neshamah. "We can do
the best kiruv," he said, "by caring, by davening
that others do teshuva — even by davening
for resho'im."
"We have come together here," the Mashgiach declared, "to
change — and to change Klal Yisroel."
In The Merit of Shmittah . . .
At the opening of the Motzei Shabbos session, Mr. Shalom
Shoshana, a Shmitta-observing farmer from Naot Makir, south
of the Dead Sea — where, he said, through Hashem's
miracle, "salty water yields sweet fruit" — spoke of
the privilege he feels to till the soil of the Holy Land.
He related how, when he first decided to observe Shmittah
kehilchosoh, he received guidance from Moshav
Kommemiyus. He spoke, too, of the ongoing support and aid
granted him and other Shmitta-observant farmers by Keren
Hashevi'is. Movingly, Mr. Shoshana described the challenges
inherent in his work and in shemiras Shmittah. In the
name of himself and his fellow Shmittah-observant farmers, he
warmly thanked all who have supported, and continue to
support, Keren Hashevi'is. "All of us together," he said,
"are fulfilling the mitzvah." The conclusion of his short but
heartfelt message was immediately followed by a long, loud
standing ovation.
Making Differences
Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, executive vice president of Agudath
Israel, also offered remarks to the gathering, beginning with
words of tribute to the memory of Rabbi Yehuda Meir
Abramowitz, a former member of the Knesset who served for
nearly 30 years as co-chairman of the Agudath Israel World
Organization.
Then Rabbi Bloom, carrying the convention theme, "American
Jewry at Cliff's Edge: Our Role in Bringing Jews Back to
Torah" — which had been explored at Thursday night's
plenary session — into Motzei Shabbos, turned his
attention to how individuals can make real differences in
Jewish life and the Jewish future. He cited by name several
dedicated members of the community who chose to do seemingly
simple things — undertaking a Partners In Torah
telephone chavrusa with someone not yet observant,
opening a family's Shabbos table to Jews who have not
experienced a true Shabbos, establishing a kiruv
project, a summer camp or a youth group — and
thereby truly "made a difference." Kiruv "professionals," he
asserted, "are not enough." We need, he said, "an army of
people" to reach our fellow Jews. Toward that end, Rabbi
Bloom announced the formation of an executive committee
charged with creating a plan to harness the good will and
energy of tens of thousands of observant Jews to more
effectively reach out to the large number of American Jews
currently estranged from Torah.
A special presentation of a beautiful framed klaf
containing a stirring tribute and brochoh was made
to Mr. Elly Kleiman, who, along with his eishes chayil,
have undertaken to underwrite the Daf Yomi Commission in
honor of their parents and in memory of those in their
families who died al kiddush Hashem during Churban
Europe. Mr. Kleinman spoke about Rav Meir Shapiro's vision of
unifying Klal Yisroel through Torah, and of his personal joy
at having merited to be part of furthering that goal.
The chairman of the Board of Agudath Israel, Rabbi Gedaliah
Weinberger, extended greetings to the crowd, engagingly
showing how so many Jews are, whether they realize it or not,
beneficiaries of the work of Agudath Israel. Conjuring a
hypothetical child, Rabbi Weinberger took the audience
through a chronology of his life (from even before his
birth!) to his sunset years, demonstrating how frequently and
meaningfully the accomplishments and ongoing efforts of
Agudath Israel help Jews at every stage of their lives.
Two ziknei ho'eida who overcame great obstacles to
attend the session were acknowledged by the crowd with great
enthusiasm: the Bostoner Rebbe, shlita, and Agudath
Israel executive director, Rabbi Boruch B. Borchardt,
shlita. Their presence at the convention added a
special element to the gathering.
Agudath Israel vice president for finance and administration
Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin expressed the organization's gratitude
to a number of individuals who have come forward to provide
generous support for the writing of a sefer Torah in memory
of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, zt"l, a project that had been
announced — and the Torah's writing begun — at
the Thursday night session.
The chairman of the Motzei Shabbos session was Mr. Jacob
(Yati) Weinreb.
