No matter where Yidden find themselves throughout the world, the coronavirus is upending their lives in unprecedented ways. The way our religious life and family life has been totally transformed has been extremely unsettling and difficult, to say the least!
This past Chol Hamoed, Dirshu presented a special tele/video conference wherein leading Torah luminaries from Eretz Yisrael, North America and Europe addressed bnei Torah worldwide, in order to provide chizuk and a Torah perspective as klal Yisrael navigates this global crisis.
The conference was addressed by HaGaon HaRav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha, HaGaon HaRav Nissan Kaplan, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva Daas Aharon, HaGaon HaRav Avrohom Eherentrau, shlita, Rav of Bais Medrash Zichron Binyomin and R”M at the Wilrijk Yeshiva, Antwerp, and HaGaon HaRav Asher Druk, shlita, famed maggid from Yerushalayim, and the nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita.
The event was chaired by Rav Eliezer Ralbag.
In his remarks, Rav Nissan Kaplan explained the unique nature of this current challenge. “Throughout history, we experienced terrible gezeiros. Whether it was the crusades, the inquisition, the Nazis and so many others. Those were all gezeiros that we suffered at the hands of our oppressors. Hashem made shlichim, emissaries, to carry out these gezeiros. Today is different. It is Hashem Himself, as it were, Who is closing our yeshivos, our batei midrash! There are no guns and no police. Hashem Yisborach Himself is doing all of this. My rebbi, HaGaon HaRav Asher Arielli, shlita, has said that this is unique and shows that Hashem is doing something different than He has done in any other galus.
Rav Kaplan compared this to the Gemara’s account of the Roman emperor Titus, who arrogantly thought that he ruled the world and he could, as it were, conquer Hashem. “What did Hashem do? He sent a tiny fly, one of the tiniest, seemingly most benign creations… and that fly buzzed its way through Titus’s nose, eventually entering his brain and killing him.
“Hashem is showing that if He wants, He can send a tiny microscopic speck of bacteria to turn over the entire world, rendering all the arrogant leaders and scientists helpless.”
Rav Yeruchem Olshin gave a very emotional drasha. At times, his voice faltered as the rosh yeshiva’s expansive heart clearly felt the pain that Acheinu Bnei Yisrael are undergoing at this extremely difficult time.
He addressed the necessity to engage in truly heartfelt tefillah. He cited the words of the Ramban that “the bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim were not worthy of being redeemed. Why then did Hashem redeem them? It was for one reason. They cried to Him with all their hearts and souls. ‘Vayitzaku, they screamed! Their cries went up to Hashem and He accepted them. This is the foundation of yetzias Mitzrayim. This is the critical ingredient so pivotal to enable us to extricate ourselves from any tzarah. When klal Yisrael cry to Hashem from pain and truly cry out with their entire heart and soul, that arouses the koach, the power of geulah!”
Rav Dovid Hofstedter, the nasi of Dirshu, focused on the imperative of social distancing that has overtaken the world. “We have spent our Pesach locked up in our homes. Our shuls are closed, our batei midrash are barred, our chadorim are under lock and key.
“This hasn’t been the first Pesach that klal Yisrael spent locked up at home!” exclaimed Rav Hofstedter. “On the very first Pesach, Hashem commanded the Bnei Yisrael to remain locked in their homes so that the malach hamashchis shouldn’t attack them. The only way that we were protected was with the blood of the korban Pesach and the blood of bris milah. Dam Pesach connotes mesiras nefesh in distancing ourselves from false ideologies. The sheep was the deity of Mitzrayim and we were specifically commanded to slaughter it in front of them, with mesiras nefesh, to show our allegiance to Hashem regardless of the cost. The blood of mila connotes mesiras nefesh to refrain from engaging in the unbridled decadence and pursuit of physical pleasure that symbolized the culture of Mitzrayim.
“Perhaps the imperative to practice ‘social distancing’ in our times contains a message for us. Maybe the ideology of the surrounding cultures has crept into our world as well? Perhaps the entertainment that we engage in, the way we celebrate our simchos, the tremendous accessibility of the unbridled pursuit of pleasure that has crept into our world, even in the hallowed enclaves of Torah in which we live, have now triggered a Divine message of ‘social distancing.’ Perhaps now is the time for us to contemplate how we can better socially distance ourselves from the host culture that has so infiltrated our collective machanos.”
Rav Avrohom Eherentrau then gave his address from in front of the aron kodesh in his beis midrash in Antwerp.
“What are we meant to think during this period?” asked Rav Eherntrau. “Hashem, Who is the source of all chesed and mercy doesn’t, chalilah, want to hurt us, but sometimes the only way to bring home a message is through pain, the same way we can only administer a vaccine to a child with an injection. So many of us have become so attached to our phones and various forms of media that it is hard to find a place in our hearts and minds for Hashem. Perhaps Hashem is telling us, ‘My children, I want to rejoice with you this Yom Tov. I want to build a kesher, a bond with every Yid. You do not need to know every piece of news that is transpiring throughout the world. Is it really relevant to you?’”
Another stirring drasha was given by Rav Asher Druk, well-known maggid from Yerushalayim. Rav Druk cautioned that it is important that we not fall into despair and a sense of feeling lost.
“Hashem also wants every person, on his own level, to introspect and determine what he can improve in his personal life. Everyone is different. For one person it will be improvement in bein adam l’chaveiro, for another it will be the need to increase his Torah learning, for a third his davening, for a fourth it will be care in matters of speech, and the list goes on. We should make this cheshbon hanefesh,” Rav Druk stressed, while cautioning, “it should not be done in a depressing way, but rather with enthusiasm. That is the key to enable us to come out with our heads high, ready to greet Moshiach!”
Dirshu’s video/teleconference—which is archived and available on TorahAnytime.com—inspired multitudes of Yidden throughout the world with timely messages delivered in English, Yiddish and Hebrew in order to give much-needed chizuk during these trying times.
