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HaRav Aviezer Piltz Describes the Wealth of Sefiras HaOmer in the Pandemic
By C. Honig
Torah study is in full swing in Yeshivas Tushiya "in" Tifrach, that is, in the homes of the talmidim where three full daily sessions are kept, in accordance with the directives of Torah leadership. The shiurim and shmuessen are delivered by the Rosh Yeshiva and the ramim, with the participation of the students via phone hookup.
On Motzoei Shabbos Acharei Mos, the Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Aviezer Piltz, gave a rousing talk from his home which was heard by the hundreds of students, past and present, by phone as well. He clarified: "Just as the Mesillas Yeshorim described two kinds of material challenges, namely the challenge of poverty and the challenge wealth, side by side in parallel, so are there tests in spirituality, equally through spiritual poverty or spiritual wealth. Similarly, great is the trepidation from the situation of riches in the spiritual form where a person might grow lax in his avodah, believing that he has already reached a good plateau, while he has actually not even achieved half of what is expected of him."
He added, "I thought that this year we wouldn't be able to relate to the circumstances of spiritual wealth. Every year during the Sefira period we experience a special uplift in yeshivos. I thought that this year, the situation would be one of spiritual poverty, as if Hashem had expelled us from the yeshivos, without shiurim in their usual form or the cohesion of fellow students which sweeps them up to greatness.
"But these past two weeks have shown us that this is also a period of richness. Study partners maintain physical distance of two meters, or more if by phone, but in any case, they continue to study with the same energetic vigor. I also hear that there is intensive and pulsating study between cities. I believe that if we score the study of an average day as a `million,' now it touches the `billion.' This is the blessing that we merit the two proverbial `tables.' one of wealth which sprouted from the `table' of poverty. May Hashem send His salvation."
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