On Sunday 19 Adar, HaRav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman arrived
in France in order to strengthen the Torah institutions in
Paris and Aix-les-Bains, and especially to encourage families
to send their children to yeshiva ketanos. Though he
remained in France for just over a day, his visit had a great
impact.
HaRav Pinchas Weiss, who accompanied HaRav Shteinman on the
trip, said: "The purpose of this trip to France is to
encourage parents to send their sons to yeshivos
ketanos instead of to universities. As HaRav Shteinman
says: `Even if we save two souls, our efforts will have been
worthwhile.' "
Despite the massive teshuva trend in France and the
opening of yeshivos and botei medrash, even parents
who live chareidi lifestyles send their children to
universities instead of to yeshivos. In all France, there are
only approximately two hundred students in yeshivos
ketanos.
The flight from Eretz Yisroel left at 7 a.m. HaRav Shteinman
and the entourage davened vosikin at the airport. The
staff of the airport was very accomodating and the departure
took place in an atmosphere of kovod haTorah.
At the Orly airport, HaRav Shteinman was met by HaRav
Yitzchok Katz, the rosh yeshiva and head of the institutions
of Yad Mordechai, and by HaRav Yehuda Toledano, the head of
the Chazon Baruch yeshiva and institutions of Rancee.
As soon as HaRav Shteinman arrived at Pave Street where the
Yad Mordechai institutions are located, the students of the
cheder and mesivta of greeted him with flags.
The ramim and the mashgiach of the Nishmas
Yisroel yeshiva greeted him with sifrei Torah.
Hundreds of bnei yeshiva and avreichim filled
the yeshiva's chotzeir, in honor of the completion of
a sefer Torah by HaRav Shteinman. This sefer
Torah was then ushered into the Avi Ezri yeshiva
ketana, where the beis medrash was dedicated and mezuzas
were affixed.
*
One of the highlights of the visit was a very large
kenes on Sunday that included thousands of bnei
Torah, avreichim, yeshiva students and Torah Jews from
all over France who assembled at the Louvre Palace hall in
the heart of Paris in honor of the visit. The hall, which
holds more than 5000, was filled to capacity by Jews from
chareidi communities from Paris and its suburbs, as well as
from Marseilles and from all Europe. Delegations from the
yeshivos and chareidi communities of England and a delegation
from the Agudas Yisroel of Antwerp also participated in the
gathering, as did roshei yeshiva and community heads from
France and Europe.
"We have gathered here (in order to stress the importance of)
chinuch for Torah and yiras Shomayim, an issue
whose great importance we do not fathom," said HaRav
Shteinman, at his speech at the gathering.
In his speech, HaRav Shteinman said that the foundations of
chinuch for kedushah must be laid when one's
sons are still young, by sending them to yeshivos
ketanos.
HaRav Shteinman called to those parents to begin the
chinuch for Torah when their children are still young.
He said: "Everyone should make efforts to first instill his
children with Torah. A person cannot rely on first sending
his children to study matters that are not essential, and
then go to the study the ikkar. That isn't the
derech."
HaRav Yosef Efrati opened the stirring event by reading Maran
HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv's letter of blessing to the
gathering:
"To the honorable participants in the rally in Paris for the
strengthening of Torah and those who study it, a rally headed
by the rabbonim hageonim:
"Greetings of sholom to all.
"My illustrious friend, the gaon hagodol HaRav Aharon
Leib Shteinman has arrived in your city with mesiras
nefesh, in order to arouse parents about their sacred
obligation to educate their children to Torah and to enroll
them in "Ohalei Shem," the yeshivos
hakedoshos.
"I also join the osei mitzvah, and I call upon the
esteemed parents to be attentive to our plea, especially at
this time when darkness covers the earth, and to enlist their
children in the legion of the King, so that they shall
included among those who study in yeshivos kedoshos,
and who are equated to the members of the tribe of Levi, who
place the desires of this world behind, and desire only Torah
study.
"On the merit of educating your children to Torah, may you be
blessed from the Source of blessings, with beni, chayei
umezonei, [children] who study Torah. [May this blessing
materialize] out of nachas and peace of mind.
With the Torah's blessing,
Yosef Sholom Eliashiv
HaRav Efrati then added his own words of brochoh and
chizuk.
Afterwards, the brochos of HaRav Michel Yehuda
Lefkowitz and HaRav Nissim Karelitz were read. In these
brochos they also called upon France's Jews to send
their sons to yeshivos kedoshos.
Thousands of Jews listened attentively as HaRav Shteinman
said: "HaKodosh Boruch Hu gives one a son as a gift.
The father doesn't know this and thinks that he can do
whatever he pleases with this gift. HaKodosh Boruch Hu
took a soul from under the Kisei Hakovod and brought
it down to the world, so that it would serve Hashem in this
world and not return empty. If one only eats, drinks and
sleeps -- when he leaves this world what has he done? Did
HaKodosh Boruch Hu bring a soul from under the
Kisei Hakovod to this world so that if should eat and
sleep and work? HaKodosh Boruch Hu wants the
neshomoh to act in a way which will merit its bearer
to partake of the Source of Good. But one can achieve this
only by serving Him through Torah and mitzvos. Eating and
sleeping is not a tachlis."
HaRav Shteinman then discussed the dispute in the gemora
regarding who is greater, a tzaddik who hasn't
sinned or a baal teshuva who sinned and did
teshuva. He noted that the Rambam rules that a
baal teshuva is greater but this surely doesn't mean
that a person should educate his son to do aveiros and
then to do teshuva when he is older. Obviously, that
isn't shayach. First of all a Jew must do good. He
must study the ikkar, which is Torah and yiras
Shomayim. The father must instill his child with the
belief in the Ribono shel Olom, and teach him that the
ikkar in life is Torah and mitzvos. "The Baalei
Tosafos lived in France. The Meiri states that there were
thousands of talmidei chachomim in France's yeshivos.
However, these yeshivos were abolished a few hundred years
ago and no Jews remain of them. They vanished and assimilated
among the non- Jews. Klal Yisroel, no longer remained
(perhaps just a few). This occurred because there were no
yeshivos."
*
In the afternoon, a reception was held for HaRav Shteinman in
the synagogue of the Agudas Hakehillos Hachareidios. At that
reception, HaRav Shteinman was greeted by HaRav Mordechai
Rottenberg, the moro de'asra, as well as by HaRav
Moshe Mordechai Karp, the av beis din of the Agudas
Hakehillos, and by the president of the community, the
honorable, Reb Doniel Altman.
Mincha was held in the old and luxurious shul was
which filled to capacity. At the end of the davening,
HaRav Shteinman blessed the moro de'asra with
success.
On Monday morning, the police were forced to close the street
in front of the Nishmas Yisroel yeshiva to traffic.
Shacharis was held in a hall which was filled to
capacity. After shacharis, HaRav Shteinman blessed the
community and the institutions.
In his words of brochoh, he cited the gemora in
Taanis, which describes a parable of a hungry, tired
and thirsty desert traveler found a tree whose fruits were
sweet which had water flowing underneath it. He ate the
fruits of the tree, drank the its waters and sat in its
shade. When he was ready to leave, he asked: "How shall I
bless you. You are blessed with everything. May it be
Hashem's will that all of the plantings which stem from you
will be like you.
"It is possible to say the same here too. Boruch Hashem
this is a mokom Torah which is blessed. May it be
Hashem's will of may that this kehilla shall serve as
an example. May there bnei Torah who are yirei
Shomayim and who will be like you and even better."
Later that morning, HaRav Shteinman visited the Chazon Baruch
yeshiva and educational institutions in the city of Rancee, a
suburb of Paris.
Many yeshiva students were in the beis medrash of the
school during HaRav Shteinman's visit. They were led by the
rosh yeshiva and the head of the institutions, HaRav Yehuda
Toledano, son of HaRav Yaakov Toledano zt"l who
founded the school and a yeshiva ketana and
kollel in order to save North Africa's Jews from
assimilation. Today the complex is made up of a number of
modern buildings set among gardens in a quiet Jewish
neighborhood.
HaRav Shteinman spoke about the importance of chareidi
chinuch in the chareidi communities in France. He also
called to the children in the chadorim and to the
yeshiva students in France to reveal the Torah's worth by
immersing themselves in Torah study. "You the children are
being educated in Torah and don't realize the value of your
own deeds. If you knew how one can grow from Torah study, you
would immerse yourselves totally in Torah study. If you do
that, you will grow and fulfill the wishes of the HaKodosh
Boruch Hu."
HaRav Shteinman also told the students: "Even great people do
not always properly evaluate the importance of their deeds or
to the extent of the influence of their words and activities,
as was the case with Reuven and Boaz. Had Reuven known that
his deeds would be described in the Torah, he would have
borne Yosef on his shoulders to his father, and Boaz would
have given Ruth fattened geese to eat."
MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz then described how HaRav Yaakov
Toledano, who was a student of Maran HaRav Elozor Menachem
Man Shach zt"l and the scion of an illustrious
rabbinical dynasty from Morocco, decided to return to France
to save North African Jewry after seeing its destruction in
Eretz Yisroel. "Then, forty-five years ago," related Rabbi
Ravitz, "HaRav Toledano felt that it was still possible to
save Moroccan Jews living in France. In Eretz Yisroel there
was nothing to be done. Jews planned in advance to discard
their Jewish identity. HaRav Shteinman's remarks that
children will study Torah in France al taharas
hakodesh and that a child in France can become like one
of the baalei Hatosafos may seem perplexing. His
words, though, constitute an appeal and a call to every
parent and child to aim for the worthy goal of achieving
Torah and yiras Shomayim."
HaRav Yehuda Toledano thanked HaRav Shteinman for his visit
and said that the yeshiva had recently moved from the old
building dedicated by his father to its new building. "We
didn't know who would dedicate it. But Hashem sent us the
great gaon HaRav Shteinman to inject neshomoh and
ruach into the new building, so that Torah, studied in
kedusha and taharoh will emerge from it."
After this visit, HaRav Shteinman returned to Paris for a
reception in the chareidi school headed by HaRav Mordechai
Rottenberg, whose father HaRav Chaim Yaakov Rottenberg
established the chareidi community in Paris, including the
kashrus system and the Yad Mordechai yeshiva, from
scratch.
The school is located in an old building. Children of all
ages greeted HaRav Shteinman with song, along with their
teachers and the community's av beis din HaRav Moshe
Karp of Kiryat Sefer, and the kehilla's president, Reb
Doniel Altman.
At this event HaRav Shteinman said that one studies properly,
with yiras Shomayim and ahavas Torah during his
childhood, he will receive the strength to continue along
derech Hashem and his soul will not be tainted by sin.
"You have the opportunity to instill these children with
yiras Shomayim and Torah, and that is the ultimate and
only purpose."
HaRav Mordechai Rottenberg then said: "On Monday before an
audience of thousands HaRav Shteinman explained what is the
ikkar and what is tofel. We are very happy to
have merited to host him in the Cheder Hachareidi."
The group then left for the train ride to Aix-les-Bains. On
Monday night, a large throng headed by rabbonim and by rosh
yeshiva HaRav Yitzchok Weil greeted HaRav Shteinman Aix-les-
Bains. Thousands came from surrounding communities such as
Lyons, Geneva, Grennoble, despite the distance.
The community in Aix-les-Bains was established after the war
around the first yeshiva in France known as Yeshivas Chachmei
Tsorfas. For many years it was headed by HaRav Chaim Chaiken,
zt"l, a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim. For a long
time it was the only yeshiva in France, and children from all
over North Africa and France went there to study.
After a visit to Strasbourg on Tuesday, where a gathering was
also scheduled, HaRav Shteinman was to return to Eretz
Yisroel.
