NEWS
Five Sifrei Torah Destroyed In Horrifying Arson Attack In Bnei Brak
By A. Cohen

Shock and horror gripped Jews everywhere, particularly the residents of Bnei Brak's Ramat Aharon neighborhood, at the deliberate torching of the Oron Hakodesh in the local Central Zeirei Agudas Yisroel beis haknesses. The fire consumed the five sifrei Torah that were in the oron hakodesh, reducing them to ashes, R'l. Worshipers arriving early Friday morning for shacharis were greeted by the shocking sight of the remains of the oron hakodesh and seforim.

At close to one a.m. on Thursday night the last person who had been learning in the beis hamedrash left, putting out all the lights in the building. At around three a.m., a local resident arriving to immerse in the mikveh that adjoins the beis haknesses, noticed flames bursting from the oron hakodesh in the main shul and he rushed to alert the fire service. Three fire fighting units arrived immediately, together with police and medical personnel.

After the blaze had been extinguished, investigators discovered that doors of the oron hakodesh and also the lectern had been doused with an inflammable fluid, which caused the fire's rapid spread and its gutting of the oron hakodesh and its precious contents. This, and the graffiti with which the walls of the beis hamedrash had been defaced, ruled out the initial theory that the fire had started as the result of an electrical fault. It was clearly the deliberate work of a person or persons who had no qualms over destroying our people's most sacred and most venerated possessions.

The gabboim and a large crowd of congregants arrived at the same time as the firefighters. They stood and wept at the terrible sight of the charred oron hakodesh. The rov of the neighborhood, HaRav Nissim Karelitz arrived shortly thereafter and was astounded by what he saw. People found it hard to grasp that any Jew could have perpetrated an act the likes of which have not been seen since the catastrophe that befell European Jewry over sixty years ago.

Congregants pointed out that the Rov's seat had been moved away from its usual place before the fire was started, isolating the oron hakodesh and the lectern. As the hours passed, thousands more made their way to the shul to see the horrifying sight.

Volunteers who perform the internment of genizah, old and worn holy writings, arrived to sort through the remains of the seforim and to prepare them for their burial inside special earthenware jars. The painstaking work of collecting all the fragments took hours.

On HaRav Karelitz's instructions, they prepared the remains of the oron hakodesh, of the sifrei Torah and of the siddurim and Chumoshim that were kept in the oron's lower section, separately from one another.

Tens of thousands gathered later that morning by the beis haknesses and outside it, to participate in the levayoh for the sifrei Torah. Sorrow, anxiety, shock and pain showed in their expressions. Many were weeping while they waited.

Led by HaRav Reuven Shapiro, the crowd said several chapters of Tehillim together, opposite the tallis- covered remains of the sifrei Torah that had been placed in front of the beis haknesses. Sobs and wails rent the air.

Following the moving addresses (see separate boxes), an announcement was made at the request of the rabbonim, that an eighteen (chai) shekel pidyon payment be made on behalf of every man and boy over the age of thirteen and every woman and girl over the age of twelve. This money is to be used for writing new sifrei Torah to replace those that were burned.

Following the recitation of a heart-rending Kaddish Derabbonon by Rabbi Shimon Galai, the procession, led by the rabbonim, set out on a two-hour journey through the main thoroughfares of Bnei Brak to the cemetery of the Supporters of Ponevezh Yeshiva. Shops along the way were closed as the proprietors joined the marchers.

The earthenware jars were buried in the section for Roshei Yeshiva of Ponevezh, in a grave that had been specially prepared, between the graves of the Ponevezher Rov zt'l and HaRav Shmuel Rozovsky zt'l, with HaRav Nissim Karelitz yblctv'a, presiding personally over the jars' internment.

Hesped of HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner HaRav Shmuel Wosner, rov of Zichron Meir, was the first to speak. We have gathered because of the dreadful occasion of the Torah's having been burned, when the five books of the Torah were set afire in one of the sanctuaries in our holy city. Chazal's teaching is well known: whoever sees a sefer Torah being burned must tear his garment twice, once for the parchment and once for the letters. The Shulchan Oruch says that seeing a sefer Torah being burned in one's dream justifies fasting, even on Shabbos. Chazal compare the departure of a person's soul from his body and the spectator's duty to rent his garment, to the burning of a sefer Torah. The lament, "Ask, burned in fire, as to the welfare of your mourners," was composed by Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg over the burning of the Torah. Not only must we mourn the actual burning of the Torah but also the causes that led to its being done deliberately. Were we able to ask the sefer Torah, "Why were you burned?" it would tell us that the reason why five seforim were burned is because all five chumoshim have been transgressed. Chumash Bereishis contains the mitzva of miloh - - they want to annul the tradition of fulfilling this mitzva. As for sefer Shemos, they want to uproot the [Torah's] judgments -- "These are the judgments that you shall set before them." In sefer Vayikra they are uprooting the parsha that commands us, "You shall be holy" -- "Do not do any of the practices of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt." And in sefer Bamidbor it says, "And may He give you peace" -- [yet] how much groundless hatred is there among us? We must arouse ourselves to repentance in the face of this dreadful calamity. Chazal tell us that forgetfulness came to the world as a result of the Torah's being burned. Torah's power is lessened as a result. This terrible calamity has not happened for nothing. May Hakodosh Boruch Hu have mercy on Klal Yisroel, on the inhabitants of the city and on the local residents. May He pardon us and cleanse us, that we may merit seeing Torah's honor and the arrival of Moshiach tzidkeinu.

Hesped of HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz In his address, HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, rosh yeshiva of Ponevezh Yeshiva Ketanoh, compared the burning of Torah to the smashing of the luchos: Chazal say that when a person writes a sefer Torah, it is as though he received it at Sinai. The occasion is like the giving of the Torah, when every person said, "We will do it and hearken to it." Writing a sefer Torah is similar to this. The Ramban writes that the inner dimension of the Mishkon was the presence of the Shechinoh, as it was at Sinai. After the destruction of the [botei] mikdosh, all that remained [akin to that level] were the holy yeshivos and Torah sanctuaries. The holiness of a beis hamedrash exceeds that of a beis haknesses, because Torah is learned there. The burning of five sifrei Torah is thus more serious to us than the Moshe Rabbenu's smashing of the luchos, which was an act that earned Hashem's approval as being for the general benefit. What desecration of Heaven's Name has this burning of the Torah brought about! Who is capable of having done such a thing? Only wicked criminals, who have been influenced by the secular educational system and by the unbridled incitement [against religion which] they intend to uproot entirely. We, however, know that nothing will help them! Klal Yisroel will remain for eternity, in the merit of the holy Torah and the Torah sanctuaries! We must learn to strengthen our faith. The fact that such a calamity has taken place is a call from the Creator yisborach. Everything that happens in the world is from Hakodosh Boruch Hu. This is the first of the thirteen principles of faith. What does He want to convey to us with this? That we must learn Torah in purity, as it was in earlier generations, without modernizing influences. These open the way to spiritual descent and have a [detrimental] influence. By bringing cell phones into the beis hamedrash when not absolutely necessary, people bring the street inside. We must train our children by showing them modesty and Torah in our homes. The secular population must know that we will not capitulate to anything. Let them know that we shall continue treading the path of our holy ancestors, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov. We shall follow this path for all eternity. May Hakodosh Boruch Hu shield us, that we might merit the complete redemption.

Hesped of HaRav Nissim Karelitz The rov of Ramat Aharon, HaRav Nissim Karelitz, quoted a statement from Chazal. "Whoever is present at the moment of death must rent his garment" (Moed Koton 25). This is learned from the law of a sefer Torah that was burned. Rashi explains that this is because Torah is referred to as a light (Mishlei 6:23) and a person's soul as a lamp (ibid. 20:27). This world is likened to the nighttime. Only through Torah's light can the soul find the path it should take through the night. Only Torah provides a person with guidance as to how to conduct himself. The sefer Torah serves this purpose for Klal Yisroel. It is the same sefer Torah that Moshe Rabbenu wrote; the same one that we received at Sinai three thousand years ago. All of Torah shebe'al peh is contained within it. When a sefer Torah is burned, we ought to feel as though a life has been extinguished. This is a time for engaging in soul searching. Heaven wants us to examine our deeds -- "Let us look at our ways and investigate" (Eichoh 3:40). While we cannot know what Heaven's reckonings are, we are duty-bound to examine fundamentals -- strengthening our Torah study and our decorum in the beis hamedrash. How distant we are from according the beis hamedrash proper respect. It is a place that must be completely holy, kept only for holy pursuits, for Torah and for prayer. How far we are from this! We bring cell phones into the beis hamedrash in case someone will want to discuss mundane affairs with us. This is not fitting behavior for a beis haknesses. We must strengthen Torah and its study and the guarding of holiness of the beis haknesses. If we elevate ourselves in this area, we will earn ourselves and Klal Yisroel great merit.

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