Maran HaGard Lando carried a special burden this evening (Sunday) at the dramatic gathering attended by hundreds of rabbis, rebbes and yeshivot heads from all denominations and circles, against the backdrop of the cruel decrees on the world of Torah, and ahead of the "World of Torah Fund" trip to the US next week, to raise funds for the world of Torah in the Holy Land.
The words of the Maran Rosh Yeshiva during the evening session:
""We are in a very difficult situation. Everyone who has the scent of Torah in every website feels and senses this. The Torah and the media are subject to looting and looters.".
For several years now, they have been persecuting the Torah and the Lumedi in a shameful manner, and the situation is becoming increasingly difficult, and no one knows to what extent.
The decrees against the Torah are unbearable, and the decrees are in many areas, in wind and rain, but God, the Almighty, keeps His covenant and His promise: "I will not break My covenant with them, nor will I break My covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.".
And we stand in awe, at the steadfast spirit of Torah students against all the decrees, at their special immersion in the study of the Holy Torah of the yeshivot students and the kollel abrahams, and not only that, we see the growth of Torah places, of Torah students, and also many, many people approaching the light of Torah and adhering to its study and enlightenment.
All of us, all the people of the Torah, in Israel and abroad, truly and sincerely share in the sorrow of the young man who groans under the burden of the financial decrees that disturb his peace every day, and the decrees that are renewed every morning plant in his heart a feeling - that according to the way of nature, God forbid, he will not be able to bring prey according to the law, may God have mercy on him.
We all pour out our hearts before the Creator of the world, the Giver of the Torah, that He may have mercy and compassion on the children of the Torah.
Our hearts bleed, and our eyelids are filled with tears, for the great anxiety in which the Torah students, the Abrahim Kollel, the yeshiva students, and their families are in, from the terror of arrests, the sword of conscription, and the difficulties of the decrees. Our hearts ache for the sorrow of their families. Before our eyes stands the concern and tears of the Abrahim's wife and the mother of the yeshiva student, who fears every time her husband or son goes out, lest God be caught by the Zealots.
We believe and are confident in the Creator's promise, "The Torah will not depart from our mouths or from the mouths of our descendants forever," but there is no doubt that the fear and sorrow are extremely deep.
In the divine assistance, the spirit of righteous benefactors from the United States and all of the Diaspora Israel has been generous, benefactors who deserve to be asked for blessings, and for more than two years now they have taken it upon themselves to complete what was missing from the yeshivots and kollels following the decrees, and there is no doubt that the hearts of the kollelim and yeshivot students are filled with feelings of gratitude for the benefactors of the people abroad, and their ability to immerse themselves in their studies is strengthened more and more despite all the difficulties, as Torah students feel like they are carrying the burden of the benefactors of the people abroad.
Now our plan is to go back to the United States with more Torah greats and see the Lord, to once again speak about their open and broad hearts for the plight of the Torah world here in the Land of Israel, the generous people who are sued and given, and are sued and given again, and now for the third time are sued again and given, and not only that, but even more generous people are being sued to reduce their fortunes for the sake of the Torah world.
There is nothing more wonderful and sublime than when the name of Heaven is sanctified by the generous people in the lands of exile, when they see their great effort for the sake of the world foundation of the Torah, and it is not easy, but it is clear to them that this is their role, this is their right, this is their duty.
Blessed are you who are generous to the foundation of the world of Torah, blessed are you who maintain and establish the world of Torah in the Land of Israel, know that by standing firmly at the right hand of the foundation of the world of Torah, in addition to strengthening the students of Torah, you encourage their spirit against all difficulties and decrees, there is no limit to your reward in this world and in the world to come.
Hence our call to American Jewry and world Jewry: participate with all your strength and energy for the sake of the World Torah Foundation. Even those who cannot afford to make large donations, let each one take it upon themselves to carry at least one avrech, each according to their ability and more than their ability.
And may everyone who participates in the World Torah Fund, and especially the generous ones who raise donations in large amounts, be blessed with all the best words, with decent marriages for boys and girls, with peace from all the offspring of his loins, with sound health, complete healing, with lasting seed, and with great success in all his endeavors. From a donation to the World Torah Fund, one cannot lose, one can only gain double and double.
And to those wicked Israelites who persecute the Torah, it will be said: The people of Israel, and in particular the students of the Torah, have experienced harsh and cruel persecutions throughout the years, terrible and sophisticated decrees in their wickedness. But the Torah is eternal! And the Torah and its teachings have always stood firm, even in ways that are not natural, because the Torah is truth, and the Torah will stand forever.
But you, how are you not ashamed? You are Jews from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, fighters in the Torah and in the land of Israel. If your fathers and grandmothers, who stood against the persecutors of Israel in all the exiles, were to awaken from their ashes, what would they say to you?! Be ashamed and disgraced! You are the followers of the persecutors of the Torah. Be ashamed and disgraced. Your path will not succeed.
The people of the Torah will continue to study the Torah, and the entire Diaspora will burn like a bonfire in the fire of the Torah, and we will merit eternal redemption soon in our days, Amen.".
