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The Closing of Volozhin Yeshiva was a Salvation
Tuesday, the 28th of Menachem Av, was the yahrtzeit of the Netziv of Volozhin who passed away 133 years ago. He was the successor of his father, Rav Itzele, who was the only son and successor of the Father of Yeshivos, HaRav Chaim of Volozhin. The Netziv stood at the helm of the yeshiva for forty years, producing thousands of disciples while simultaneously, illuminating the eyes of Jewry through his responsa and writings in all areas of Torah and ways of conduct.
His passing did not come in a vacuum but left a strong imprint for generations to come, leaving behind his illustrious son, HaRav Chaim Berlin. In a sort of will and testament for the coming generations, the day before his demise on the 13th of Tishrei, 5673, HaRav Chaim Berlin gave over a message, as meticulously recorded by his close associate, HaGaon R' Arye Levine, a message which, according to its content was apparently written out close to the events themselves. They appear as relevant today or in these times, as they were 133 years ago.
The Law of the Accused, which the Opposition promises to pass if it can muster a majority, determines that the head of state (president) cannot assign the task of putting together a government upon anyone who has been judicially accused. The significance is clear: If such a law had already existed in Israel, Netanyahu would have been prevented from setting up a government many long years ago.
Supporters of this law claim that it is a fitting law which would prevent a prime minister who had charges against him from serving as such, both from the judicial aspect and also from the conflict of interests due to his high rank which has impact on the judicial system as well as the public's faith on the governmental structure.
No such law exists regarding government ministers, but the court's decision did serve as a precedent regarding ministers against whom charges were made due to what the court called "an extreme lack of reasonability." That is why the then-serving prime minister ordered that ministers already serving in the cabinet be discharged.
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To remind us that antisemitism is nothing new. This was first published thirty years ago, in 1996.
Ivanov, a detective in Kiev's police department, stood at the opening of a cave at the outskirts of the city. Little did he know that a new antisemitic volcano, capable of putting an entire nation on trial, was about to erupt. His thoughts were focused in another direction.
The clues led to a known family in Kiev — to the apartment of the notorious Vera Cheberiak, a key figure in Kiev's underworld.
The district attorney of Kiev knew that the conclusions of Ivanov's investigation had been presented to Chaplinski, along with a request to arrest Vera Cheberiak.
However, the request, so it seems, was rejected, and for a good reason, too. Ivanov was employed by Kiev's police department, while Chaplinski was a government worker, a representative of the Czar. In government circles, the murder was regarded from a different angle.
Like the marksman who drew the circle after his arrow had landed, so had the authorities earmarked their victim — the Jews — long before the trial had begun. All that remained was to prove that the Jews were guilty. That was their plan!
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Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
Home and Family
HaRav Binyomin Paller, zt"l
by Betzalel Kahn
Since Rebbitzen Paller o"h was niftar this week, we are including this again.
The Torah world fell into deep mourning with the petirah of one of the greatest marbitzei Torah and most venerable roshei yeshiva of our time, HaRav Binyomin Paller, zt"l, the rosh yeshiva of Mekor Chaim in Boro Park, New York. His levaya in Yerushalayim was attended by HaRav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro and HaRav Shmuel Auerbach as well as by many roshei yeshiva and thousands of bnei Torah. It took place both in the United States and Jerusalem.
HaRav Binyomin Paller was born in Brisk. His father, HaRav Yitzchok, was a descendant of HaRav Moshe of Kobrin and one of the most prominent talmidei chachomim in Brisk. His mother was from the illustrious family of Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the Rama.
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Opinion & Comment
The Four Amos of Halocho
The following hesped for Shmuel Yoel Greenhaus, zt'l, a yeshiva student recently killed in a car accident near Kiryat Sefer, was given at the end of the shiva. This presentation is based on the notes of one of the listeners. It is an inspiring his'orerus for Elul and the new zman.
"Hashem loves the gates of Tzion more than all the dwellings of Yaakov" (Tehillim 87:2). Chazal (Brochos 8a) interpret this posuk as describing Hashem's intense love for the study of halocho: "Hashem loves the gates that excel in halocho more than botei knesses and botei midrash. This is similar to what R' Chiya bar Ami said in the name of Ulla: that ever since the Beis Hamikdosh was destroyed the only thing HaKodosh Boruch Hu has in His world is the four amos of halocho." But what does this really mean? What is the importance of these four amos of halocho today?
Shimon Hatzaddik was among the remnants of the Knesses Hagedola. He used to say: "The world depends on three things: Torah study, avoda, and gemilus chassodim" (Ovos 1:2). Surely this statement of Shimon Hatzaddik's is not referring solely to our material world. Each person's spiritual world rests upon these same three pillars.
The abovementioned gemora is teaching us that until the Beis Hamikdosh was destroyed the main pillar, upon which the other pillars were dependent, was the pillar of avoda. "For out of Tzion shall go forth Torah, and the word of Hashem from Yerushalayim" (Yeshaya 2:3). Before the churban of the Beis Hamikdosh the conduit through which all spiritual abundance emanated was the pillar of avoda.
It is said in the name of the Vilna Gaon that the divrei Torah we have today, when we are lacking the avoda in the Beis Hamikdosh, are only crumbs from the Torah. After the churban we cannot be truly zoche to Torah. We say in our tefillos at the end of Shemoneh Esrei, "May it be Your will . . . that the Beis Hamikdosh be rebuilt, speedily in our days, and grant us our share in Your Torah." We mention the avoda in the Beis Hamikdosh as a prelude to our tefillah for success in Torah since this too is dependent on avoda. We cannot be zoche to perfection in Torah without the Beis Hamikdosh. The whole Torah that we have from the Tanoim and Amoraim, the Rishonim and Acharonim, is only crumbs from the Torah's real wealth.
Opinion & Comment
Exalted Life
by L. Jungerman
"A prophet from your midst, from your brethren, like myself, shall Hashem your G-d appoint for you; him shall you obey." Rashi comments: "Just as I am from your midst, from your brethren, so shall someone like me replace me, and similarly, [a replacement] from one prophet to the next."
The Brisker Rov asks: Why does Rashi add the seemingly extra word "replace me," someone who will be in his stead? Did the prophets who rose up from the people's midst after Moshe Rabbenu actually come to replace him? Is not every prophecy different from another, every prophet of one generation, different from that of another, each one designated to serve the needs of his contemporaries? No one was meant to replace Moshe, merely to succeed him!
Even Rashi's ending needs clarification: "And similarly, from one prophet to the next." Prophecy is not something actually transmitted from one prophet to another but each utterance is a separate message in of itself. One prophecy does not necessarily -- and rarely does it -- follow the previous one.
But we find a similar phrasing later on in Tanach. Before Hashem gathers Eliyohu up to Heaven in the chariot, He tells him, "And you shall anoint Elisha ben Shafat as a prophet in your stead," that is, to replace him. This is stated very explicitly and therefore, we must understand what is meant by the term.
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