Part II
The following is a translation of an article that appeared
in the Hebrew edition of Yated Ne'eman on erev
Yom Kippur last year. The ninth full month since the passing
of Maran HaRav Shach was last week.
The first part framed the general framework for
discussion, pointing out the seriousness of bitul
Torah and that HaRav Shach zt"l felt that
bochurim should be involved in kiruv only under
very limited and controlled circumstances. It also quoted
HaRav Eliashiv saying that for an avreich to be
involved, a situation should satisfy four points: (1) It
should be a complete, limited Torah activity; (2) It should
not disturb the regular sedorim; (3) It should not
take up the person's thinking outside of the time spent in
the activity itself; (4) There should not be even the
slightest possibility that the person will be dragged into
other activities.
Anyone dealing in this field has to know that even a limited
and strictly supervised activity such as learning with a
secular chavrusa is not suitable for all
avreichim, because there are some avreichim who
note that even after a slight interruption in their studies
they come back feeling somewhat weakened in their
ruchniyus, and that they are not the same person they
were the day before. Clearly such avreichim are
forbidden to participate in these activities, and this whole
matter has to be directed and supervised by great talmidei
chachomim, and every individual has to engage in some
introspection and consult with others.
The truth is that we have to fight with all our might to
protect our yeshivas. I have heard that the following
rabbonim, each one in his respective location, protested
against the danger of taking avreichim away from their
studies for other ongoing activities: Rav Aharon Kotler
zt"l, Rav Kahaneman zt"l and the
mashgiach Rav Y. Levenstein zt"l. The Kehillos
Yaakov also made his opinion explicitly clear.
One of the mashgichim told me that my grandfather,
speaking about bochurim who were weak in their
tefilloh and sedorim, said that one weak
bochur makes ten others become weak, ten become a
hundred, a hundred become a thousand, and so on, and the
responsibility for all this lies with the first bochur,
Rachmono litzlan. My grandfather would often say, "Any
country where Torah study and yeshivas became diminished,
eventually had no observant Jews at all."
We must praise all the organizations, led by Lev
L'Achim, who are active in taking lost souls out of their
spiritual imprisonment and granting them eternal life, all in
accordance with the derech haTorah as outlined by my
grandfather. Lev L'Achim and other similar
organizations consult with the gedolim and all their
actions are in accordance with daas Torah. That is the
only way one can hope for siyata deShmaya.
As far as I know, everything I have stated is also the
opinion of HaRav Eliashiv shlita, and we must obey his
rulings.
The opinion of the gedolim is that not everybody
should leave his learning for spiritual rescue work, and that
roshei kollelim should ensure that avreichim
who are totally immersed in their learning should continue to
dedicate themselves to Torah with all their energy. If they
see that a certain avreich would be negatively
affected by going out to these activities, he must be
prevented from doing so. If someone will not be negatively
affected, he is permitted to go out if the above conditions
are fulfilled.
Avreichim who are looking for mitzvos and good deeds,
and who engage in activities for the benefit of the public,
should dedicate themselves to saving lost souls from
destruction. "Whoever saves one Jewish life, it is as if he
has saved a whole world," and this applies all the more so to
ruchniyus. It must be a precondition that these
activities do not result in a decline in the level of an
avreich's studies. Every person must analyze his own
character to see whether he has the strength to influence
others without becoming affected by them.
Already about eight years ago HaRav Eliashiv wrote and signed
a letter, to which my grandfather also added his signature,
stating that although every Jew is responsible for another
Jew and we had a duty to save tinokos shenishbu, it is
essential that everything be coordinated with roshei
kollelim. As we have said, every avreich has to be
supervised to see what he does all day, whether he is totally
immersed in Torah and what his spiritual level is, in order
to determine whether he is a suitable candidate for outreach
work. We see from that letter how afraid they were of
bitul Torah and that even those avreichim who
deal in kiruv rechokim should return immediately to
their studies.
I have to stress that all the above only applies to
avreichim and not to bochurim, who are
forbidden to leave the yeshiva without a supervised
framework, as we said above. This matter is very severe and
cannot be stressed enough.
May Hashem help that the Shechinoh should rest on our
handiwork, that we should see the fruit of our labor with our
children, that we may save lost souls, that the botei
medrash should remain full and that the Torah fortresses
should not be breached and the light of our religion
extinguished chas vesholom.
Let us always remember and internalize the immense effects of
a mortal being whose heart and mind is immersed in Torah,
studying it day and night, constructing veritable heavens.
Decisions are made in accordance with his word, and the whole
world was worthy of being created in his merit, he has
acquired the sanctity of the kodesh hakodoshim and
Hashem is his inheritance.
More Divrei Torah from HaRav Shach zt"l
My grandfather brought me up like a father. Once, in my
youth, I was walking with him, when he suddenly stopped and
uttered a frightening sigh. He said excitedly, "Oy, Oy, how
much archaeologists and antiquarians pay for some objects a
few centuries old, even if they are damaged. And we have the
Torah, the desire of the upper and lower worlds. It is
ancient, having been given to us more than three thousand
years ago, and yet it lies in a corner unwanted, with no one
to run after it, to lift it and hug it. Even the Philistines
were in awe of the Oron Ho'Elokim when it came to
their field, saying `Woe, who will save us from it?' The
heart of this people is fat and their ears heavy. All their
acts are done without any attention. They do not pay
attention to anything except for, `Let us eat and drink for
tomorrow we shall die,' Rachmono litzlan."
On another occasion we were walking together and he was
talking about how any observer with a modicum of intelligence
cannot fail to be amazed by the eternity of the Jewish nation
and its Torah and its existence in the Diaspora for two
thousand years, how a small, persecuted nation has managed to
ride all the violent waves of blood and fire, which did not
manage to dent its spirit. On the contrary, many nations,
which ruled the world, have disappeared completely overnight.
This can only be because Hashem has watched over His nation
day and night. HaRav Yaakov Emden already commented that the
miracle of the continuous existence of the Jewish nation is
greater than all other miracles that have ever happened,
including that of krias Yam Suf, which frightened all
the world's inhabitants at the time (see Zevochim
116a).
The eternity of the Jewish nation is dependent on the Torah.
When we do not assimilate amongst the nations, but dwell
alone, the sefer Torah serves to separate us from the
nations, and the Jewish nation cleaves to it. But
unfortunately, since the nation abandoned the Torah and
assimilated amongst the nations, saying we are all one
people, we desecrated everything Divine, and within a short
period of time the eternity of the Jewish nation may be
destroyed chas vesholom due to assimilation among the
nations.
The eternity of the Jewish nation is not dependent on the
results of any war, but only on the strength of its spirit,
as Zecharia said, " `Not by might, nor by power, but by My
spirit,' says Hashem." The Torah and the mitzvos protect us
and on them does the continued existence of Judaism depend,
not on our capturing Eretz Yisroel and settling it.
Following the destruction of the communities and Torah
centers during the accursed Holocaust, the irreligious
secular kibbutzim tried to force people into abandoning their
religion. Our response [was] is to build another yeshiva for
every kibbutz.
He added that he had been of the opinion for a long time that
it was a good thing that Hashem had made our Arab neighbors
fight us, since this diminished assimilation. Were it not for
this situation, there would chas vesholom be a lot of
mixing: students from Bar Ilan would go on exchange programs
to Amman and so on.
HaRav Shach On Mussar
By way of introduction, I shall cite what I heard many times
from my grandfather that when Rabbi Akiva said, "Ve'ohavto
lerei'acho komocho is a great principle of the Torah," it
does not mean that we should relate to the mitzvos bein
odom lechavero in the Torah as good manners. The whole
Torah is only bein odom laMokom. When we offend
another person, we must appease him -- but this means that we
have to appease the Torah. There are some acts which may
appear to us to be absolute cruelty, but which are in reality
acts of kindness according to the Torah. That is what Rabbi
Akiva meant by a `great principle.
My grandfather related that when Rav Yisroel Salanter
zt"l read the mishna in Mikvo'os (7:6)
which states that if two people go into a mikveh
consisting of exactly forty seoh one after the other,
the first one is tohor and the second tomei,
because the shiur of the mikva has become
diminished because of the first one's teviloh, he
burst out crying and said, "How is it possible to be first
and tohor and then the second one cannot become
tohor because of him?"
What shall we say who came after those who were on a higher
level than angels, which is why they were granted the Torah
and its assets to perfection. If we consider their pure ways,
we shall quickly return to our holy source, and become as
straight as Hashem made us.
My grandfather would often cite the sons of the Keren Oroh
who write that he would also display his good heart when
making rulings. If a poor man came to him to ask a question
in issur veheter and he realized that the food on
which the poor man was dependant was forbidden, he would
immediately open his larder, take everything out and give it
to the man, telling him that according to the laws of our
holy Torah the food was forbidden and that he should take his
food instead. My grandfather added, "Where today do we see
such rabbonim and poskim who feel the pain of their
fellow Jew to such an extent?"
