From all over the country and from all sectors in Israel: Thousands of network students including 'Tiferet Zakenim Levi Yitzhak' packed the nation's buildings for a special honoring ceremony • The highlight: Completion of the world's largest tractate by 3,000 avrechim. Businessman Levi Leviev chose to celebrate his 70th birthday with pensioners: "I learned from the Rebbe that there is no such thing as a pension"'
Thousands of network students from the 'Tiferet Zakenim Levi Yitzhak' kollel, and hundreds of heads of kollels, from all over the country and from all sectors, packed the Binyamin Ha'ama in Jerusalem last night for an exciting ceremony of recognition.
The event was held during the week that marked the anniversary of the death of the Kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn, father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, founder of a network of kollelim intended for the elderly.
The kollel network has gained historic momentum in recent years in all aspects of the spectrum, thanks to the joining of forces between the Chabad kollel and the Bukhara Jewish Congress under the presidency of Levi Leviev.
There were special speeches and fine productions, but the highlight was the episode that the students had been waiting for months: For months, they sat in the 225 kollels scattered across the country and toiled over the profound issues of Tractate Hagiga. Last night, for the first time, they all came together under one roof to finish the Tractate together – at the world’s largest Tractate Completion Ceremony.
The event was skillfully moderated by media personality Rabbi Benjamin Lipkin, who invited the rabbi of Harish and the head of the city's kollel, Rabbi Asher Zigdon, to conduct the closing ceremony.
When the rabbi reached the final lines of the tractate, over two thousand avrechim rose to their feet as one man. The sounds of the "Hadran Alech" erupted from thousands of mouths, in a rare moment when thousands of Jews who do not know each other finished a tractate together.
Before the thousands had time to return to their seats, the lights in the hall went dark. Documentaries from the chain's six branches in Kiryat Ata were projected on the giant screens.
The mayor, the city's rabbi and a member of the Chabad Rabbinical Court, the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Diskin, the heads of the kollels and the avrechims, told how the city became one of the network's major centers of activity. Exciting moments were recorded when the avrechims shared how the kollel changed their lives: "It changes our lives.".
As the film ended, the Rabbi of Kiryat Ata and member of the Chabad Rabbinical Court, Harach Diskin, took the stage. "I was privileged to be at the gathering where the Rebbe announced the establishment of Tiferet Zakenim Levi Yitzhak," he said. "And here, here in this hall, the Rebbe's vision is coming true before our eyes.".
As he finished speaking, the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s voice was heard in the hall, and thousands gathered to listen. In the words that were heard, the Rebbe spoke of his holy vision for establishing a network of kollelim for the elderly – a place that would restore the dignity of the elderly Jew and fill his years with Torah and living. One only had to look at the thousands of avrechim who filled the hall to understand: this vision is already alive and well!
Immediately afterwards, the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yafo and Av Batei Din, Rabbi Zebadiah Cohen, spoke. During his remarks, he said that "the Torah gives a person meaning, stability, and joy in life, and in turn also affects the entire home.".
The thousands of students who came from all over the country were also honored by the Secretary of the Chabad Rabbinical Court and Rabbi of Nachalat Har Chabad, Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Yaroslavsky, a member of the Chabad Rabbinical Court and Rabbi of the Chabad community in Elad, Rabbi Zalman Yaroslavsky, the Rabbi of Bat Yam, Rabbi Eliyahu Bar Shalom, the Rabbi of Hod Hasharon, Rabbi Erez Elharrar, and the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mercaz HaRav, Rabbi Yaakov Shapira.
Between medical treatment and study
The lights went out again in the hall. The giant screens projected the story of Rabbi Yosef Cohen, who heads the "Hasdei Naomi" organization. After dealing with kidney disease and dialysis treatments, he told how the kollel changed his life: "From dialysis treatments I continue directly to the kollel, and it gives me back my strength." Many of those in the hall identified with his story and also found the kollel to be much more than a place of study.
As the film ended, world-renowned lecturer Rabbi Yoav Akrish took the stage. "The Blessed One is watching us from above, the Rebbe is watching us, and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak is watching us," he said. "They are amazed at the miracle that is taking place in this hall. All over the world, people of this age are withering away, while here stand Jews who are extraordinary in their age - but young in spirit.".
After him, the Chabad kollel director, Rabbi Shalom Duchman, spoke, presenting the figures of the revolution – 225 kollels, 95 cities and thousands of avrechims – and shared with the audience what he had heard from the Rebbe about the establishment of kollels. "On this depends his present world and his next world," he quoted, and blessed "that we may live.".
At the conclusion of his remarks, a special production was shown on the life of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Schneerson – a network of kollelim is named after him, from his rabbinate in Yekaterinoslav, through his imprisonment and exile, to his legacy. The production, which used innovative technological means, left a strong impression on the participants.
Leviev's insights from the age of seventy
To the sounds of the orchestra and the singing of Yishai Lapidot, the chairman of the Bukhara Jewish Congress, Governor Rabbi Lev Leviev, took the stage.
""When I saw the hall filled to capacity," he said, "I thought to myself - I wish we had a bigger hall." He later announced: "Anyone who wants to open a kollel of the glory of the Levi Yitzhak elders is welcome. We will support him.".
In an exciting move, Leviev chose to celebrate his seventieth birthday, specifically with his kollel elders: "I learned from the Rebbe that there is no such thing as a pension. We should have established these kollel elders decades ago, but it's never too late.".
Leviev explained why he recruited the Bukhara Jewish Congress to boost the Kollel network: "The Jews of Bukhara owe a debt to Chabad Hasidism for the fact that 140 years ago, the Rebbe Rashab sent emissaries to the cities of Bukhara - headed by Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Eliezerov, to open a yeshiva. The Jewish embers of the Jews of Bukhara were preserved at all times - and especially during the era of communism, thanks to the Rebbe and the emissaries.".
Knowledgeable people in the audience excitedly noted the exciting closing of the circle: At the end of his mission in Bukhara, Rabbi Eliezerov was appointed by the Rebbe Rayatz as the director of the Chabad kollel - and it is no wonder that today we see the connection and fruits of the cooperation between the Chabad kollel and the Jews of Bukhara. It should be noted that Rabbi Levi's two sons hold key positions in the development of the kollel network: Rabbi Yehoshua Leviev heads the network and Rabbi Or Avner serves as a board member.
Afterwards, the Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Israel, the Rabbi Yosef, presented Leviev with the "Golden Letter" – a parchment scroll signed by over two thousand members of the kollel, as a token of appreciation for his support of the network.
In his words, Rabbi David Yosef said: "Blessed is the eye that saw this. Especially in these days when there are those who seek to diminish the value of the Torah, this situation proves to what extent it gives life, joy and meaning. We have nothing left but this Torah." The Rabbi praised the Rebbe's vision and the expansion of the network.
After him, the first to ascend to Zion, the Gersham Amar, was born. "Many enterprises have been established in the world," he said, "but the glory of the elders, Levi Yitzhak, surpasses them all.".
At the end of his speech, he held a ceremony to receive the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thousands of the students stood on their feet, and seven times the rabbi declared: "The Lord is God," with the entire audience answering after him in a loud voice.
The ceremony was closed to the sound of Yishai Lapidot's singing. Thousands of avrechim returned to the 225 kollels across the country to continue the Torah revolution that is fulfilling the Rebbe's vision every day.
Photos: Haim Toito
