Selichos is upon us and Rosh Hashanah is around the corner. It is a time for introspection and tefillah. Moreover, it is the week of the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrzeit, to whom we owe an enormous spiritual hakaras hatov for bestowing upon us the twin brachos of the Mishnah Berurah and the Sefer Chofetz Chaim, sefarim that illuminate our spiritual lives every single day of the year.

In recent years, the week of the Chofetz Chaim’s yahrzeit has been marked with remarkable achdus as klal Yisrael the world over engaged in an “International Yom Limud and Tefillah.” Jews throughout the world gathered to recite specific chapters of Tehillim and learn segments from his sefarim.

The Yom Limud and Tefillah, under the auspices of Dirshu and its kiruv arm, Acheinu, is designed to reach out with a message of achdus to all Jews from across the spectrum and at all levels of observance.

There is so much strife in the world, so much danger as countries threaten each other and natural disasters strike. There is so much polarization and heated rhetoric. The Yom Limud and Tefillah has been designated as a day of remarkable unity, a day when all Jews will learn together and make a special effort to avoid discord and lashon hara, thereby combining sur meirah with aseh tov.

This year’s Yom Limud and Tefillah is the fourth such event. Over the past three years, more than one million Yidden across the world participated in this auspicious day.

From skyscrapers in Manhattan, to classrooms in Texas; from the Kosel Hamaaravi to Teveria; from Melbourne, Australia, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Yidden will come together to recite Tehillim and learn from the Chofetz Chaim and resolve to follow the hallowed path he forged.

Schools in Eretz Yisrael and all across America, representing the entire panoply of Orthodox Jewry, have signed up for the Yom Limud and Tefillah school programs with specially prepared age-appropriate material to bring the message and legacy of the Chofetz Chaim to life. The material is divided by age groups and contains age-appropriate halachos from both the sefer Chofetz Chaim and Mishnah Berurah, inspirational and educational stories about the Chofetz Chaim, as well as age-appropriate, biographical material about the Chofetz Chaim and his life’s mission. The booklets are available in both English and Yiddish, thereby enabling each school to participate b’achdus in accordance with their mesorah. The schools will also say Tehillim on behalf of klal Yisrael and the tefillah of Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael.

One of the highlights of the Yom Limud and Tefillah will be a major tefillah gathering at the Kosel Hamaaravi led by numerous gedolei Yisrael reciting Selichos, followed by vasikin tefillas Shacharis and special tefillos on behalf of klal Yisroel. This incredible event of achdus will be live-streamed in America on Thursday night, September 6, at 11 p.m.

In addition, large tefillah gatherings will be held at other mekomos hakedoshim in Eretz Yisrael as well. Among them will be special gatherings in Meron at the kever of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai, Kever Rochel, the shul of the Ari Hakadosh in Tzefas and the storied Churva Shul in the Old City of Yerushalayim.

Another important component to the Yom Limud and Tefillah is the fact that many frum-owned businesses with multitudes of employees have similarly pledged to take a few minutes on Friday 27 Elul/September 7, a busy workday, to participate in the davening and learning.

The effort to go well beyond the Torah-observant community and to encourage Jewish unity among the masses is being spearheaded by the Acheinu organization, the kiruv arm of Dirshu, and has been remarkably well-received by secular Jews in past years.

Jews must realize that we are living in truly perilous times. Even in the United States there is a certain sense of instability as the harsh political strife and extraordinary mean-spiritedness has reached unprecedented levels. Civil unrest and the threat of terrorism at home and abroad can have severe ramifications.

At this uncertain juncture we are in dire need of tremendous rachmei shamayim. Now, right before the Yom Hadin, is the time to join together with untold numbers of Jews all over the world to daven for klal Yisrael. Join with klal Yisrael in the Yom Limud and Tefillah this Friday, 27 Elul/September 7, 2018, and tap into this unique eis ratzon!

To have your shul, school or office participate, please call Dirshu at 732-987-3948, ext, 112.

By Chaim Gold