We have been privileged to have the 'pillar of fire' advancing before the camp, i. e. HaRav Dov Lando, who is showing us, during these troubled times, the path we must follow and to what extent we must strengthen ourselves.

He urged us to fortify ourselves in our relations to one another, and also to be more vigilant about the laws of Shabbos which present many pitfalls even in transgressions mide'Orayaso. We must study the prevalent laws regularly, and consult Torah sages regarding their details so that many can benefit therefrom.

I would like to add to our dear brethren that it is undeniably clear that by strengthening ourselves in these laws of Shabbos and studying them in detail, we will bring salvation from all the troubles which surround us during this period.

As Chazal said in Maseches Shabbos (118b): Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in the name of Bar Kapora: Whoever partakes of three meals on Shabbos is spared from three types of suffering: the trials [preceding the coming] of Moshiach, the suffering of Gehennom and those of the war of Gog and Magog.

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Once again, the "enlightened" world stands against us, noting with nonchalance the antics of modern day pirates, allowing them to threaten the entire seascape.

It begins with ships advancing towards Israel, but that's not all. The Houthis from Yemen have settled close to international waterways, threatening to refuse passage to ships headed for Israel. Meanwhile, they have struck at other ships which have nothing to do with Israel. This doesn't interest anyone.

But if the destination is Israel, the modern world, educated and humane, sits up and takes note, allowing the Iranian comrades-in-arms to continue raising a ruckus, totally ignoring any international code, pretending that there is no power that can stop the armed gangs from controlling free passage in free waters.

Israel does not share a border with Yemen, this country being distanced by over two thousand kilometers. There is no suggestion of creating 'two countries for two nationalities'. The Houthis, like Hamas, Hizbullah and other worldwide terrorist organizations, are the long arm of the Ayatollah government in Iran.

This major series of articles about the heroic rosh yeshiva HaRav Moshe Schneider whose talmidim, both Ashkenaz and Sephardic, went on to great achievements, was first published in 1994.

Part I

If in heaven they have a special department for those courageous Torah disseminators who established yeshivos in spiritually empty vicinities against mighty odds, Rav Schneider will have an eminent place there.

And if there is a special department for the brave-souled who cried out, "Give me Yavne and her wise men!" at a time of bitter destruction — Rav Schneider will have a distinguished spot there.

And if there is a special department for those who revived Torah study at a time when it was almost lost and forgotten—Rav Schneider will be in the front row there too.

Rav Schneider was truly among the main disseminators of Torah in the last century. An unusual and dynamic individual who transplanted Torah and made it flourish in spiritual wastelands where no one believed it was possible, he did the painstaking groundwork that enabled the barren atmosphere in England and France to give way to the dozens of yeshivos, religious institutions and frum communities that are in existence today.

HaRav Schneider was a man whose entire focus was in the yeshivos which he established, and in his love for Torah, for which he lived. He was not well-known in the various cities where he resided, and, in keeping with his modest personality, his accomplishments for Torah were not fully appreciated in his lifetime. But the love for Torah and mussar which he instilled in his students produced mighty talmidim who changed the face of postwar European Jewry.

He erected his yeshivos in places that defied logic. When his yeshiva was forced to disband or close, he tirelessly set it up again somewhere else. His institutions seem a bit like a house of cards that collapses again and again, but his reservoirs of bitochon and mesiras nefesh stood him in good stead to mobilize his next initiative.

Growing Up In Lithuania

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