How Did It Happen?

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Once again, we have seen that we are living in historic times. Very rare occurrences are transpiring on a regular basis, dramatically impacting our lives, the world in general, and history. Each event strikes fear into the hearts of men, women, and children as they change the trajectory of modern life.

More so, each event demonstrates to man that he is not in charge of what happens anywhere and anytime, as the only explanation for their occurrence is the Yad Hashem. We can go back to the period of the Covid pandemic, but we don’t have to go that far back. We can examine things that took place within the past year.

On Shemini Atzeres, what is referred to as the world’s most impregnable border was exposed as anything but. Thousands of terrorists poured over the border between Gaza and Israel, attacking the towns nearby. Over one thousand Israelis were killed in a historically horrific manner, three thousand were wounded, and over 240 were taken hostage. The shock was overwhelming. The ferocity of the attack was shocking.

The simplicity of the attack, which saw backward savages overpowering the most technologically advanced country in the world, was too much to bear for most Israelis. Hundreds who had been attending a musical festival were shot as they ran for their lives. Those who made it to their cars were shot at, dragged out, and tortured as they died. Cars were set aflame with their passengers inside them.

Twenty-three towns were overrun, and horrors were visited upon their inhabitants. Entire families were butchered, as were any police officers and soldiers who happened to be in the way.

It was historic. It changed the trajectory of Israel and sent the country into a war it has not yet won. The war set off waves of anti-Semitism across Western countries, disrupting years of comfortable Jewish life since the Holocaust in European states. In the United States, it unleashed hatred of Jews among prominent Democrat politicians and the media.

If there is one thing secular Israelis believe in, it is their army. They view Tzahal as the most powerful and successful fighting force in the world, yet on that historic day, it failed them. The victims tried in vain to get police and army protection, but none was forthcoming. For seven hours, they were left to die at the hands of Palestinian butchers. On every level, the government failed its people in its most sacred obligation of protecting them from the very things they were experiencing.

People wondered how it could be that the most advanced army, with the most courageous fighters, backed by the world’s best intelligence agency and the toughest government in Israel’s history, allowed such a catastrophe to happen. It is staggering that thousands of terrorists participated in the attack, yet nobody noticed. The attackers came by air and by land, crashing through the world’s strongest border in eighty places. No alarms went off. Nobody monitoring and guarding the area saw anything. How can it be?

The answer is plainly evident for all to see: The reason it happened is because Hashem wanted it to happen. When Hashem assists Israeli soldiers, they are the strongest in the world, working miracles and fighting like no one else. But when, for whatever reason, Hashem does not help them, things that make no sense happen, and the strongest, mightiest, and brightest are shown to be helpless.

It doesn’t take investigations to see that the only reason a calamity of this magnitude did not previously occur is because Hashem prevented it from happening. We see that the amazing Yad Hashem has been there for Am Yisroel all these years, preventing something this atrocious from happening. We can be appreciative that we merited the protection of our Divine Father, and we can pray that we merit again, all across the world, that He continues to protect us from all those who seek our destruction.

It is providential that this occurred on the day that our Israeli brethren began laining Parshas Bereishis and one day before we did so in the Diaspora. Bereishis reminds us that Hashem created the world and maintains control over everything that happens in the world. Nothing happens by itself.

This past Shabbos, we experienced another dramatic, historic event that will change the trajectory of this country and was clearly directed by the Yad Hashem.

Former President Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally in an open field in Butler, Pennsylvania. Tens of thousands of people were in attendance. Suddenly, shots rang out. Trump was hit in his right ear, one person was killed, and others were seriously wounded. As chaos ensued, Donald ducked behind the lectern, and nobody knew if the would-be assassin succeeded. Within seconds, the Secret Service was all over him, and armed security people swarmed the area.

When the all-clear was sounded, the security people began removing Mr. Trump from the area, but he insisted on stopping for a moment. The 78-year-old candidate stood above the security personnel, held his fist in the air, and said, “Fight, fight, fight.”

He wanted to show his supporters that he was okay, urging them to fight on despite the huge, potentially destabilizing, shocking event of the evening. He was also signaling to the country’s citizens and to world leaders that he would be okay, tamping down any fears that he was seriously hurt. As a true leader, his natural instinct was to think about the people.

And so, the unplanned picture of the bloodied Trump, with determination written all over his face, his fist pumped in the air with an American flag as a backdrop, will be the shot that will be remembered long after the shock over the assassination attempt has settled.

The country and world were instantly abuzz. Someone tried to kill Donald Trump days away from his party’s convention and his official crowning as the Republican nominee for president. The leading candidate for the most powerful job in the world was targeted by a would-be assassin.

Once again Trump dominated the airwaves and sucked all the oxygen out of all other news stories. The contrast with his opponent became even more obvious. While his opponent can barely stand, even an assassination attempt wasn’t able to suppress Trump. Where his opponent can neither find the right word nor correctly pronounce it, even in a time of chaos with death hanging over him Trump was able to proclaim the right word and pose to reassure his supporters, the nation and the world. The iconic photograph of him doing that should propel him towards a landslide victory.

Then people began watching and rewatching clips of what happened and noticed that there was a complete breakdown of security and communication. The shooter was positioned on a roof within 150 yards of Mr. Trump, with a line of sight to the former president and a clear shot at his body and head. The only way to describe what happened is to say that it represented a total security failure.

It is disconcerting that in this day and age, a someone with an AR-15 gun can get that close to a former president and the leading candidate for president.

How did it happen?

The FBI and the Secret Service were very slow to discuss what occurred, though everyone saw the attack, and much was obvious, including that fact that the roof was left unprotected. The Secret Service director and the director of the FBI were in hiding after their offices almost lost the life of the man most likely to be the next president of these United States. They didn’t appear in front of cameras to read statements, answered no questions, and did nothing to calm and allay the fears of the American people.

The FBI will investigate the incident and come back sometime in the future with a long, complicated report which will create more questions than answers. But we all know what happened. The country and the world know what happened. Everyone saw the massive negligence. A man was given a clear shot from 150 yards away.

Nobody trusts the FBI or the other branches of government anymore, and that is a tragedy born out of four years of targeting and going after Trump by different devices of the Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the Border Guards and the Secret Service.

Even people who aren’t conspiracy-minded see connections more insidious than catastrophic incompetence, and it is hard to convince them otherwise.

So, how did it happen?

Once again, it is apparent that the only way that there were so many breakdowns of protocol and common sense was because Hashem planned this and willed it so. And just as Hashem blinded the security teams at the Gaza border on October 7^th, He fooled what people consider the world’s toughest bodyguards. All the security personnel, with all their plans, their guns and their many precautions, are useless when Hashem decides that He wants something to happen.

There will undoubtedly be people who will come up with other reasons for the breakdown of the protective wall, but nobody will be able to explain why the bullet that was directed at Mr. Trump’s lower brain did not hit its target. For had Hashem not turned Mr. Trump’s head as the bullet raced towards him, it would have likely hit the brain stem area which regulates heart and lung function and he would have been killed. Hashem had him turn his head seconds before the bullet hit his ear. Had his head not been turned, the man a majority of Americans are supporting for president would have been history. He would have been gone.

Donald Trump is alive today because of a miracle. There is no doubt about it. And Trump, in his statement to supporters Sunday morning, admitted so, saying, “It was G-d alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Once again, we are reminded that while there is such a thing as teva, nature, everything that happens in this world is because Hashem wills it so. This should be comforting to us in these tumultuous times, when we never know what the day will bring. We hear of unspeakable tragedies, of young people losing their lives suddenly, leaving grieving families behind.

Not to equate the two, but people are having a historically difficult time providing for their families. Food, rent, homes, cars, insurance, tuition, and other basic needs have risen so much over the past three years that people are choking and have nowhere to turn for assistance, for help, for a way out of the quagmire they are in.

To be reminded that everything that happens is from Hashem is most comforting and indicates that there is a reason for this and a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

The Chovos Halevavos writes that the person who maintains faith in Hashem has the benefit of calmness, for he knows that everything that happens is from Hashem, and therefore there is no reason for him to be nervous, agitated, or ruffled. Through emunah and bitachon, a person understands that everything that happens to him is from Hashem and He assists those who have proper faith.

The Maharal in Gur Aryeh in last week’s parsha takes it a step further and writes that through emunah and bitachon, a person achieves simcha, happiness.

The Chazon Ish states that a person can be experiencing the greatest tragedy and still be in a state of happiness. Perhaps he arrived at this from a study of the Maharal. Someone who has proper emunah and bitachon knows that everything that is happening, whether it appears to be good or not, emanates from a loving Father who cares for him. Therefore, not only is there no reason for sadness, but there is much reason for happiness.

Yes, it is easier said than done, but it is something to strive towards, a goal for us to aim for so that we can be calmer and happier, despite whatever we are experiencing or have experienced in the past. We learn that trauma is not a harsh sentence, but rather a nisayon, a surmountable bump in the road of life.

We get there by studying the classic seforim written to provide support and guide us, such as Chovos Halevavos, Mesilas Yeshorim, and the like. There is an abundance of shiurim and meforshim on these seforim, and we would do ourselves well to use the summer downtime to connect to the inner soul and essence of our being.

Why are we here and what does Hashem want of us?

If all we do is gripe and complain, then we are no different than the Jews in the desert who never missed an opportunity to fret that Hashem took them out of Mitzrayim and brought them to the midbar to kill them, starve them, or cause them to die of thirst. Although they had benefitted greatly from Hashem’s kindness, they always found something to complain about, and whenever they thought something had gone wrong, they assumed that their end was near. We learn the parshiyos of Bamidbar and wonder how the people could be so shortsighted and forgetful of all the good in their lives.

We must learn from their lessons to always remember that no matter what is going on in our lives or what went on, Hashem is looking after us and is doing the best for us. It may not always be evident or obvious, but if we look for the good, we will find it. With proper emunah and bitachon, we can be joyful in otherwise stressful situations and overcome tragedy, sadness, bad days, and bad people.

May we all merit the ultimate joy with the coming of Moshiach speedily in our day.

On Logic

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

The United States is currently facing something it has never previously faced. Its presidential elections are several months away, and its president, who is also his party’s candidate for president, is senile. No, he didn’t just now become senile. He has been slipping for several years, likely even prior to his election to his current term. The more astute citizens were able to perceive that Joe Biden, the candidate in 2020 and president since 2021, is not operating at full capacity.

The media and his fellow politicians have been hiding the president’s condition from the American people. His administration governed following a leftist agenda, embedding it deeply into American governance, culture, and society. Expressing the truth about the president and his abilities risked the return of Donald Trump and his traditionalism and America First agenda.

Journalism today is less about objective reporting and more about framing occurrences to advance agendas and objectives. So, when there were clips of the president demonstrably weakened, saying silly things, or speaking gibberish and displaying that he was in decline, the right-wing media reported on them while the prevailing mainstream media, whose objective is to advance social progressivism, ignored them.

Biden was kept hidden from the general population. Sometimes they would trot him out to read speeches or comments from cards or a teleprompter, but he would rarely interface with people for long and didn’t engage in small talk. Invariably, when he did, he would say something foolish, wrong, or incomprehensible.

He would meet with leaders and dignitaries and read his comments from cards. It was poor form for foreign leaders to tell anyone that the president wasn’t with it. At summits, everyone would play along and cover for the American president. Liberalism was enabled to govern and lead the country and the world.

Generally, the gambit worked, and when the media and Democrat politicians were unable to ignore the instances, they blamed them on the right and said that the right-wing media was dishonestly editing clips to portray a healthy, sharp, vigorous president as incoherent and weak.

But the campaign messed up. They believed their own narratives about Donald Trump and assumed that, in an early debate, he would expose himself to the world for the madman they told everyone he is. The country would see that he is insane and wants to be a dictator. They would be rid of him once and for all.

But the tables were turned, and even after a full week of rest and preparation, their candidate could not perform. He spoke in incomplete sentences, was unclear and unfocused, and at times made absolutely no sense at all. There was no way to sugarcoat what 50 million people saw with their own eyes in real time. So instead of Trump being exposed, Biden was. And the jig was up.

Once they realized that, everyone who had been covering for Biden ran for cover. Then they made it seem as if they were surprised. They knew that if permitted to run for reelection as their candidate, Biden would lose, and the liberal enterprise they had going would implode. With little choice, they began sacrificing their man and playing up the incompetent woman he had chosen to serve as his vice president, hoping that they would be able to do for her what they did for him and convince the low-information voters to vote for her and then carry her over the finish line.

They say that their campaign is all about democracy, yet here they go and seek to upend the results of a primary in which Democrat voters across this country voted that Mr. Biden should be the Democrat nominee for president. However, because they fear that he will lose, they are now preparing to do something that was never done before and simply disgorge the democratically chosen candidate for president. Then they tell us that they are the ones fighting for democracy and Trump is the dictator. The media is gleefully formulating and driving this instead of simply reporting what others are saying and doing.

The process is now playing out, and it is an eis tzorah l’Yaakov. The left has now gained power in England and France. Should there be elections anytime soon in Israel, al pi derech hateva, the left will win. Should the left somehow be able to hang on to power here, expect the world to seriously tip to leftist positions and the cultural slide will continue at a faster pace. Western support for Israel can seriously decline, as that country goes through an anti-religious crusade.

Where does that leave us? How are we to live our lives in a period such as the one we now face? Should we engage in outreach, attempting to explain the Torah to those who mock and vilify us? Should we demonstrate the truths that have been guiding us ever since we stood at Har Sinai? After all, we are in the 21^st century now. Perhaps we should be using modern tools to explain to the world how wrong they are about us. Maybe they hate us because we have a marketing problem.

This week’s parsha opens with the high ideal we are to live with: “Zos chukas haTorah adam ki yomus ba’ohel.” This is the way of the Torah: If you wish to be a student of the Torah, you need to be consumed by it, without giving consideration to physical desires. To grow in Torah and kedusha, it is essential to avoid activities that do not contribute to spiritual growth.

The first Rashi of the parsha quotes the Medrash Tanchuma, which states that the Soton and nations of the world mock us and ask for the rationale of this mitzvah. Therefore, says Rashi, the Torah spells out that Parah Adumah is a chok, a gezeirah min haShomayim, and we do not ask questions about it.

The nations of the world, and those who mock us and attempt to steer us from the path of our forefathers, question us and our practices. They say that the mitzvos are backward and without reason. We don’t answer them. We don’t try to explain it to them. We reinforce to ourselves that we are following the word of Hashem, which is a chok. This way, we are able to succeed and flourish in a world of sheker.

A lion once encountered a chicken and began to choke it. “Why are you trying to kill me?” the chicken called out to the lion. “I never hurt you. You don’t know me. Why are you doing this to me?”

The lion looked at the poor little chicken it held in its grasp and responded, “Do you know why I am doing this? Because I can!”

For thousands of years, that was how the nations of the world treated us. They tortured and tormented us. They questioned our loyalty and intelligence. They asked us many questions. The Torah tells us not to bother answering and not to engage in debates. They are not interested in our answers and explanations; we gain nothing by engaging them.

Besides, the ways of the Torah do not lend themselves to mortal explanation. We accept its teachings, chukim as well as mishpotim, because we acknowledge that we are bound to the bond of Torah living, which goes beyond what the world considers reason and logic. The Torah was presented to us by the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the world and all the constellations. He gave it to us and we promised to study and observe it.

We have been dedicating our lives to following its teachings for thousands of years and have been spending our spare time delving into it and working to know and understand its teachings. The Torah and the life it instructs do not lend themselves to simple, one-sided explanations, for it is only those who are sworn to its allegiance and subscribe to what has been handed down for dozens of generations who can excel in it and gain differing levels of comprehension.

Torah is more than a compendium of laws that can be memorized and followed.

A community was facing a crisis, and a group of well-intentioned people held several long meetings to discuss the issues involved and formulate a solution to the problem. After spending much time on this, they believed that they had arrived at a resolution. They met with local rabbonim for their approval. The proposed solution was impressive and sensible, and the rabbis went along with it. However, since this took place in the time of Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, one of them suggested that he would present the idea to Rav Shach for his final blessing.

Surprisingly, upon hearing the plan, Rav Shach immediately shot it down. He said, “I saw from the Chofetz Chaim that this solution is improper.”

The group who had worked so hard to solve the communal crisis was convinced that they had thoroughly analyzed the issue and arrived at a perfect solution. They were convinced that the reason Rav Shach didn’t go for it was because it wasn’t properly presented to him, so they arranged to go themselves and explain the problem and why their solution was most appropriate.

They were taken aback when Rav Shach told them that he could not agree with them. He explained that he would not get into a discussion with them about their ideas. It may be that your proposal is logical, but Klal Yisroel is not guided by the logical conclusions and thoughts of smart people; Klal Yisroel is led by mesorah, tradition.

“If the mesorah from the Chofetz Chaim is that we don’t pursue that avenue,” he explained, “then we don’t do it, no matter how smart it seems.”

He added that he had spent time with the Chofetz Chaim and discussed many issues with him, and this idea was not something the Chofetz Chaim would have supported. Therefore, despite its brilliance, it should not be implemented.

We face many problems and an uncertain future, but as we seek solutions, we must know that our people are not led by what is referred to as logic. We are led by the Torah, by the logic of the Torah as handed down through what we refer to as the mesorah.

No one, as smart as he thinks he is and as pressing as the issues are, has the ability to formulate plans that differ from our mesorah. Doing so fails to solve the problem and leads to more difficulties. Though the logic may be compelling, it is wrong.

So, when it appears that the kochos of tumah that the left promotes are gaining, the way we fight back is by increasing kedusha in the world. We are seriously impacted by what takes place around us. The leftists talk about climate change and preach that it threatens the world’s existence. Tumah is much more real than climate change and affects us significantly. It affects the underpinnings of the western world and country in which we live in many spiritual ways, and it also trickles down to us in our cloistered world. We are not immune to anything unless we immunize ourselves.

Hundreds of years ago, the Kotzker Rebbe closeted himself in his room. He famously commented to a chossid who opened the window to the room, “Der velt shtinked. Farmach dem fenster. Close the window and don’t allow the stench of the world into this room.”

How can we effectively close the windows to our homes, rooms, and offices?

How do we protect ourselves from the anti-Semitic and anti-Israel onslaught?

How do we protect ourselves from the anti-Torah forces in Eretz Yisroel?

For as long as people alive today can remember, gedolim such as the Chazon Ish and Rav Shach have been saying that the proper response to such situations is to add more yeshivos, more Bais Yaakovs, more elementary schools, and more kollelim. The way to respond to those who curse our existence, to those who seek to stem our growth and to the various festering issues, is by ignoring their calls and dedicating ourselves to increase our own study of Torah and to increase the study of Torah in general.

In our personal lives as well, when we are acting properly and people mock us and seek to harm us, our reputations, and things that we have worked hard to build up, our response shouldn’t be to get in the gutter with them. We should instead take the higher road and do our best to continue living our lives according to the Torah, halacha and darkei mussar.

We shouldn’t let detractors get us down and lead us to curtail our good actions. We should seek out seforim based on the Torah and mesorah to strengthen ourselves and give ourselves chizuk.

Life is tough enough without us stopping to engage with detractors of all types and fretting over the future.

Zos chukas haTorah: If we stick to the chukim of the Torah, follow the Torah no matter how difficult it is, and are honest, caring, and loving as the Torah tells us to be; if we act correctly according to the Torah, remain strong in our emunah and bitachon, and rely on the chochmas haTorah instead of our logic, then we are guaranteed that Hashem will protect us and do the best for us.

May we all merit to go in the ways of the Torah and mesorah, without falling prey to the many vices of the yeitzer hora to divert us from the proper path, which should lead us to Moshiach bekarov.

Leadership Lessons

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

To those who follow the news and have been following politics since the 2020 election, President Biden’s performance at last week’s debate came as no surprise. The confused man who wasn’t able to formulate coherent thoughts and seemed lost at times is the same man who was plucked from his fifth place finish in the New Hampshire Democrat primary and declared the official party candidate for president. He barely campaigned or left his Delaware home. While his campaign attributed the basement strategy to Covid, many suspected that the people who selected him as their candidate feared that if voters would be exposed to Joe Biden, they wouldn’t be able to vote for him. The gambit worked and Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021.

As president, he basically remained detached from the people. He has held very few press conferences, and when he does, they are rehearsed and scripted, down to him calling on pre-selected reporters, whose names and photographs are clearly printed out for him on cards. There haven’t been interviews with national or local publications that may ask serious questions. He rarely, if ever, speaks off the cuff. Everything he says is either on a teleprompter or a card, and should he ever go off script, he gets in trouble for saying incorrect and silly things.

Every cabinet secretary and every government official who has come into contact with Joe Biden knows that he doesn’t have the mind necessary to make decisions and lead the country and the free world. Every time one of his emissaries went to Israel and said that the president said this or the president said that, it was a lie, because the president was plainly shown on Thursday night to be unable to think through an issue or present a coherent plan or statement unless it is placed in front of him by assistants.

The president’s performance in the debate was so bad that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men feared that they would never again be able to portray Joe Biden as an effective, strong, and respected leader. They panicked that the truth was out and the jig was up. The people had seen the truth about Biden’s abilities and would never vote for him again. The marionettes would have to pull Biden from the race and find someone who could defeat former President Trump in the November election.

Twenty-four hours later, they had thought it through, and word came down from on high that “we are sticking with Biden and doing what we have done until now. If everyone sticks together, we will be able to pull this off and get Joe Biden reelected. We will project Joe as a resolute, strong leader who had one bad debate performance, and we’ll get the leading Democrats to line up behind him with expressions of support and portray Trump as a liar and convicted felon. We can make it work.”

The question is: How can the leaders of a major political party, which represents fewer than half of Americans, support keeping an ineffective president in office? How could people who saw the same thing as everyone else who was watching deny the obvious fact and work to keep a weak and feeble person in the most important position in the world?

An examination of this week’s parsha will help us understand their mindset. We study the archetypical machlokes, which Chazal point to when describing a machlokes shelo lesheim Shomayim. We learn how Korach, a cousin of Moshe Rabbeinu, led a revolution against his leadership. Although he had been considered a righteous person, Korach acted as a politician, using cunning to spin the people against Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon Hakohein. Using demagoguery, he portrayed Moshe as heartless and cruel to the poor, forcing people to do silly things, such as putting tzitzis and techeiles on a tallis shekulo techeiles. With deceit and sleight of mouth, he was able to gather around him serious leaders of the Jewish people and present a serious challenge to Moshe’s leadership.

That Doson and Avirom rallied to Korach’s side should have given away that something had happened to Korach that affected his judgment. Still, the 250 nesi’ei ha’eidah were convinced to go against everything they had stood for until then and join the revolution to topple Moshe.

How can people be so foolish? How can people who saw how the Jewish people were Divinely freed from Mitzri servitude through Moshe forget what they had seen and experienced? How could people who stood at the foot of Har Sinai as Moshe went up to Heaven and returned with the Luchos turn their back on him?

Rav Moshe Mordechai Shulsinger, in his sefer Peninei Avi Ezri, quotes a letter that the Steipler Gaon wrote him. In it, he says, “Because Korach was insulted that he wasn’t chosen to be a nosi, he became angry at Moshe, and to get even with Moshe and topple him, he became a kofer, a scoffer, and began to find things to complain about.”

How did this happen? Because, explains the Steipler, when the bad middos of a person are in control, his intelligence and ability to think clearly are compromised, and then negios set in.

Korach was blinded and hindered by his negios. His desire for personal advancement grew out of his jealousy of Moshe and Aharon. He was able to convince the great men of Klal Yisroel to join him in his rebellion, for it wasn’t only Korach who was subsumed by jealousy; the others were as well. They all wanted the “big job.” Their jealousy of Moshe and Aharon so clouded their understanding that they forgot what they had just been through with the meraglim, as well as everything that Moshe had done for them and the many times Hashem addressed the Bnei Yisroel through Moshe and Aharon. Their mental acuity was compromised, overtaken by their lust for power.

When people don’t learn mussar, they lose their hold on their middos, which become progressively worse. Bad middos lead a person to think highly of himself and pursue kavod, honor. He becomes overwhelmed by his desire for kavod and his jealousy of others who people honor and respect. His desire becomes a need, and his jealousy becomes outright hatred of others. His bad middos take him over and destroy him. That is what happened to Korach.

Motivated by his desire for honor, prestige, and power, Korach was able to mislead his many followers by peddling empty, disingenuous arguments. His follower, Ohn Ben Peles, was saved from the fate of Adas Korach by his wife. When he informed his wife that he had joined Korach’s revolution against Moshe, she did not engage in a debate with him. As he told her of Korach’s arguments against Moshe, she sat silently and did not respond to anything he said. She quickly understood Korach’s motivation for his revolution and why her husband joined with him. She promptly got to work to save her husband from the mess that she knew would result from battling Moshe.

She said to Ohn, “What will you gain by getting involved in this machlokes and following Korach? You won’t gain anything! You’ll be the same simple person with the same job and low position in life whether Moshe wins or Korach wins. Why are you jeopardizing your life and everything else for Korach?” She won the day and saved her husband’s life.

Now, if the dispute was over the issues that Korach had presented, of what use was her argument? Ohn should have responded to his wife and admonished her for what she told him. “How could you tell me to drop out of the campaign for Korach? Moshe is corrupt. He did so many things wrong. The laws he presents don’t make any sense. We are engaged in a serious battle over ideology. You are undermining the revolution.”

But Ohn’s wife was a wise woman. She knew that the root of Korach’s insurgency was neither halacha nor hashkofah. Nor was it about fairness and integrity. It was about his negia, about jealousy. Everyone in Korach’s eidah, including her husband, was motivated by their negia, their jealousy over other people’s attainments and their desire to achieve power. Therefore, she addressed his negia and not his intellectual arguments.

Rav Elozor Menachem Man Shach would explain that the power of daas Torah is that those who possess it are free of negios. They have no personal investment in what they are called to rule upon. Their only negia is to the truth. They study Torah, and Torah overtakes them and transforms them. All their decisions and actions are guided by Torah, not by their middos. They are possessed by a love of Torah and Am Yisroel.

The appetite for leadership positions is an outgrowth of insufficient humility coupled with a lack of belief in Hashem. One who is immersed in Torah and maasim tovim, and reinforces himself with mussar study, doesn’t crave attention and praise from the masses, for he knows that mortal praise and adulation are fleeting and meaningless. The eternal accolades are those that he aims for. Hashem has the ability to reward him for his actions and to properly respect him and his actions.

So many of our gedolim shunned recognition and publicity until Hashem thrust them into leadership positions.

The Chazon Ish studied alone and interacted with few people. When he settled in Bnei Brak, there were few Torah Jews living there. As the post-Holocaust Olam HaTorah grew, the Chazon Ish would have to assume a leadership role, which he did, becoming a prime mover behind the establishment of the Israeli Torah community as we now know it.

Rav Elozor Menachem Man Shach was known as a person with no interest outside of learning and teaching Torah, and the welfare of his talmidim. When the passing of numerous Torah leaders left a leadership void, the man who knew only Torah stepped out of his zone of comfort and, in his older years, led the generation to unprecedented heights.

When Rav Shach felt his strength ebbing, he turned to another person with no outside interests, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, whose life revolved strictly around his learning, and literally forced upon him the mantle of leadership.

Lehavdil, the Democrats are the exact opposite. They knew that President Biden was diminished and incapable of leading the country, but he was their ticket to power, so they lied about him to the people and pushed him over the finish line. They hid him from the people and manipulated the strings of power. All of them, from Dr. Jill on down, don’t care about the people, or the country, or the world. They care only about themselves.

They say that their campaign is about democracy, but instead of going after him the democratic way, they have been doing everything in their considerable power to make sure that Donald Trump doesn’t return to the White House. Not because they care about democracy, but because they are motivated by their need for power, and if he returns, they will all lose their power.

Their negia for power causes them to perceive everything in a twisted fashion, and they collude with the media to convince more than half the country that they represent leadership and decency and honor, and that their opponent is just the opposite.

Their desire for honor and power led them to attempt to destroy Trump through many different ways, from alleging that he colluded with Russia to impeaching him twice, and lately seeking to tie him up in court with charges never previously brought against a former president. Their negios prevent them from seeing the incongruity.

They selected Biden to be their man and propped him up as a leader. They hid him from the people and have had the media portray him as forceful and precise when he is anything but.

It’s easy to learn the parsha and then look at the hapless Democrats and mock them, but it is a lot more important and a lot harder to learn the parsha and then look at ourselves and examine how we act and what motivates us.

Each week, when we learn the parsha, we should seek out the lessons it contains for us in our day. When we learn Parshas Korach, it should prompt us to keep our middos in check and ensure that our motivations for what we do are proper. We should be reminded that humility is the most important middah. The more humble we are and the less we seek power, attention, and recognition, the safer we will be and the more we will accomplish.

By following the Torah and Moshe, without getting involved with the arguments and attacks of people who have strayed from the truth, we will earn benefit for ourselves and the world, helping prepare us all for the coming of Moshiach.

Truly Historic

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

There are times that are described as historic, but aren’t. There are times when, in hindsight, it becomes apparent that they were historic turning points. And then there are times such as ours, when it is obvious to all that they are historic. We are living through historic times on so many levels and in so many areas that it is hard to keep track.

We see the world changing before our eyes, but we don’t know where the changes will lead and how they will affect us.

In Eretz Yisroel, we witnessed an embarrassing military and intelligence disaster and a terrible tragedy in which over 1,200 people lost their lives, hundreds were taken hostage, a million people were evicted from their homes, lives were upended, and incomes were destroyed. A nine-month-long war unfolded as a result in Israel’s south, costing many more lives and unleashing an unprecedented torrent of international anti-Semitism. Jews fear for their lives, not only in Israel, but also in Western countries, where it has become accepted to bash Israel and Jews.

As the southern war shows signs of winding down before Israel has successfully completed its goals and achieved victory, a much more ferocious war in the north looms.

In Israel itself, people are deeply divided. The left is engaged in a concerted, multi-pronged effort to unseat the current government, which consists of right-wing parties and is led by Binyomin Netanyahu. As part of their campaign, they are focusing on chareidim, specifically targeting the draft deferment that allows young men studying Torah to decline army service. Stipends to yeshivos are being cut, and a range of financial penalties for bnei yeshivos and kollelim are being planned. Chinuch Atzmai, responsible for the education of many religious children, is also on the chopping block.

The United States, Israel’s ally, is no longer as dependable as it once was. The Democrat Party that controls the White House and Senate is openly anti-Semitic and hostile toward Israel and Jews. It is led by a weak, incompetent leader, who caused inflation to skyrocket, eroded the moral fabric of the country, and opened the borders to millions of unknown and undocumented people from around the world.

Russia battles Ukraine, with the West giving Ukraine just enough aid to keep them afloat, but not enough to win, so the war drags on and people continue to be killed. Russian President Putin visited North Korea last week and announced that he would help them be more of a pariah state and threat to the West.

China stirs the various pots as it prepares for its own war against Taiwan, becoming a greater adversary of the United States.

Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terror, supporting Israel’s enemies on the north and the south, while galloping towards developing nuclear weapons with which to attack Israel and the United States.

Our community is greatly affected by the nation’s economic woes and rising prices, with many families unable to afford basics. The mounting costs of home ownership have placed the dream of owning a home out of the range of affordability for average wage-earners. Tuition affordability has become a rapidly increasing concern, as families struggle to come up with enough money just to make ends meet.

As we watch these varied historical transformations play out, we worry and seek direction.  People grow despondent and become depressed over what is happening. They worry about themselves and their families. They worry about Klal Yisroel. What is the correct approach in times like these?

This week’s parsha of Shelach is one of the most perplexing and tragic parshiyos of the Torah. A group of twelve leaders were selected to check out the land Hakadosh Boruch Hu promised the Jewish people. As Klal Yisroel  approached the Promised Land, the people decided that they had to send a delegation to see the land.

These messengers are known for all time as the meraglim. All of them, Rashi says (13:3), were kesheirim when they departed for their tour. Upon their return, however, Rashi (13:26) says that just as they left b’eitzah ra’ah, with bad advice, they returned with bad intents. We are left wondering whether they were good people or bad people. If they were bad people, why did Moshe send them? And if they were good people, where did they go so wrong?

The Zohar (cited in Mesilas Yeshorim, Middas Hanekius) states that at the root of the sin of the meraglim was their concern that when Klal Yisroel would settle in Eretz Yisroel, they would lose their leadership positions. New situations would arise. A nomadic people would become stationary and no longer stateless; they would have their own country. New times would demand new leaders, and those who were effective in the desert would no longer be viewed as worthy leaders for the new world. The meraglim simply didn’t want to lose their jobs, and thus they viewed everything backwards.

The Zohar doesn’t say whether this fear was a conscious one or a subconscious one, and it is possible that the meraglim did not realize that their inner fears were influencing their judgment of what they were seeing as they marched up and down the land.

In fact, the Alter of Kelm taught that Korach, of whom we will learn in next week’s parsha, believed that he revolted against Moshe “lesheim Shomayim,” for holy reasons.

Subconscious intrusions led them to fail. Without regular study of mussar and steady self-improvement, a person can never be sure of himself and whether he is acting properly.

Twelve leading men of the Bnei Yisroel were given a mission to assess the Promised Land. As they crossed into the land that Hashem had promised their forefathers years before, they should have approached every town with the perspective that they were finally meriting to be in the land of destiny, where Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov had lived. They had the merit of being the first members of the Bnei Yisroel to return to the eternal home of the Jewish people.

With Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s promises repeated so many times, they should have seen everything positively. “Oh, the town is empty! Great, we will be able to move right in. Wow, look at these luscious fruits! It will be so easy for us to provide food for our families. One grapefruit can feed the whole family, with enough left over for the next day.”

Most things that we encounter in life can be perceived positively and negatively. We must not permit our biases to taint our vision and perception. Hakadosh Boruch Hu promised this land to us and vouched for its quality and that we would inherit it, because it was created for us.

Had they not permitted their egos to spoil their vision, they would have seen the realization of Hashem’s promises wherever they went. They would have seen a beautiful land that gave birth to strong people and luscious fruits. Instead, they saw people dying and food that was impractical to carry.

They didn’t hear Hashem’s promises reverberating as they traveled throughout the land. Instead, they found fault in everything they saw. They denied the greatness of the land and they denied the Divine promise. Thus, they were resho’im.

With this, we can understand why Rashi says that at the time they left, they were honorable people, and then he writes that just as they returned with evil advice, they left with that same evil advice. They were honorable people when they left, but their advice was evil because it was tainted by their yeitzer hora and their bad middos, such as gaavah, arrogance.

Chazal wonder about the placement of the account of the meraglim in Parshas Shelach. They ask what the tale of spies dispatched to tour and report on the most splendid country on earth has to do with the story at the end of last week’s parsha pertaining to Miriam.

Chazal explain the connection: “Resho’im halalu ra’u velo lokchu mussar - The wicked ones saw what happened to Miriam but didn’t learn a lesson from it” (Rashi, Bamidbar 13:2, quoting the Tanchuma).

The meraglim were leaders, prominent and sincere people who apparently set out to do good. They returned with graphs, maps and demographic details that were factual and accurate. Their reports regarding the land were correct and were not disputed by Yehoshua and Koleiv.

Miriam had spoken to Aharon and they disagreed with something Moshe had done in his private life.

The Torah comments on their conversation, stating, “Veha’ish Moshe onov me’od mikol ha’adam asher al pnei ha’adamah - And the man Moshe was extremely humble, more than any person on the face of the earth” (Bamidbar 12:3).

The mention of Moshe’s humility seems unrelated to what they were discussing. Why is it here?

The Torah is saying that a person such as Moshe, who is most humble, cannot be accused of acting improperly. Moshe achieved the highest levels attainable by man. The only way he could have done something not in keeping with Hashem’s wishes and commandments would be if his yeitzer hora utilized his unperfected middos to cloud his judgment. A person who has perfected his middos and is fully humble cannot be misled by his ego, for he has none.

Thus, the Torah is informing us that Miriam was wrong for insinuating that Moshe had acted improperly in an interpersonal situation. This is the lesson that the meraglim should have learned from the incident. They should have perceived that in defending Moshe, the Torah discusses his humility, because a person who is humble is not misled by subconscious needs for gratification and power. They should have learned that lesson, but the wickedness in their hearts did not allow them to discern that.

The quintessential shliach for his people was Moshe Rabbeinu, whom the Torah testifies was onov me’od, free of personal ambition and calculations. Perhaps it was this that made him the most effective shliach and leader the Jewish people have ever been blessed with.

The Ramban writes in his famous letter that the attribute of humility, middas ha’anavah, is the greatest quality a person can be blessed with. Anavah leads to yiras Hashem. A person who is humble realizes that everything that he has is from Hashem and everything that exists is because Hashem created it. Therefore, he cannot sin and will not fall prey to subconscious fears of losing out on something, because he knows that whatever position he has, the amount of respect he has, and any power and authority that he possesses is because Hashem decided to give them to him.

The same lesson is applicable to us in our times. When we see and read and hear about historic changes affecting the world and us, we should recognize that these things are not happening because different people randomly got ideas in their heads to act in a certain way.

We should know better. Those people were resho’im, as they didn’t learn mussar, but we have the benefit of being able to learn from their sorry example, taking time once a week to read the Iggeres HaRamban, especially now with the new edition featuring the peirush of Rav Don Segal.

There are many mussar seforim available that are easily approachable and reinforce the messages that we need to remain anovim - humble, good people - who live with proper emunah and bitachon.

When there are wars and threats of wars, we recognize these as warnings from Hakadosh Boruch Hu for us to do teshuvah and improve ourselves. When things don’t go the way we would like them to, we need to turn to the sefer Chovos Halevavos and be reminded that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a greater purpose in what He does. Those who remain faithful to Him, despite the nisyonos, challenges and hardships, are guaranteed to be helped.

When we see nations of the world realign, when we see Iran get stronger, we know that Hashem is preparing the world for Moshiach. Hakadosh Boruch Hu does His, but we have to do ours. There were times previously when everything was lined up for Moshiach to redeem us, but we weren’t ready. Hashem sends us reminders and wake-up calls, but we need to get the messages.

When we see and experience disconcerting things, we need to remain calm and not lose our equilibrium. Anshei emunah, people of faith, do not lose themselves in the moment, because they know that everything that happens is from Hashem and for a purpose. They remain tranquil in the face of challenges.

I’ve written previously of my grandfather, Rav Eliezer Levin, who learned in the great yeshiva of Kelm for seven years after learning in Radin for seven years. As one who transplanted himself and his family here from Lita during the war years, he went through much change and had many challenges in his life. Yet, he was always calm and disciplined, carrying himself with distinction into his nineties. As rov of a large city, he had many responsibilities, and he bore them with dignity and honor, never getting rattled or losing himself.

When I asked him how he managed that, he told me that every bochur was given a middah to develop when entering the yeshiva. His middah was savlanus, which includes even-tempered patience combined with serenity and humility.

“Zibben yohr hob ich ge’arbet oif der middah.” He explained that he worked on perfecting that middah for seven years while in Kelm and for the rest of his life.

The lessons we learn from these parshiyos of Sefer Bamidbar may seem simple because we have been hearing them since we were toddlers, but acquiring anavah is not simple and cannot be acquired through simple actions and lessons.

We need to pursue excellence to be and remain anoshim gedolim, solid and unshaken by the challenges of the times, not influenced by conscious or subconscious desires and egos. We must strengthen ourselves and our middos tovos so that we do not fall to any temptations, including those for honor and prestige, as they also lead to sin.

We need to learn the lessons of our forefathers, who learned and lived the teachings and messages of the pesukim, so that we can maintain our equilibrium and emunah in these trying and truly historic times, meriting the coming of Moshiach speedily and in our day.

An Eternal Attachment

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

I had the zechus of spending over a week in Eretz Yisroel. The past two weeks were said to be the hottest since Israel began recording weather temperatures. Since we stayed in Geulah and my favorite mode of transportation there is by foot, the heat was more than a nuisance; it was a real hindrance to walk in 100-degree weather. But it didn’t stop us from traveling to a few places.

Two of the places we visited stand out from the rest of the trip. The first was our visit to Be’eri, Kfar Azah, Nova, and other spots in the south of Israel near the Gaza border that were attacked on October 7^th.

It’s one thing to read about what happened on that awful day and another to be where it took place and hear from people who were there. It was surreal to be in a home where Jews were killed for being Jews and to touch a car that was torched with its passengers inside.

To be so close to tragedy and death is a numbing experience.

It may bring comfort to the martyrs to know that people come and pray and care about what befell them. It may be a sign of brotherhood that people travel there to share the grief and be reminded yet again that to be a Yid is not a simple endeavor and that our eternal enemies are always around the corner, plotting against us and preparing to strike yet again.

Even in this civilized, technologically advanced world, our enemies still believe and spout the same lies of worlds gone by. Millions espouse those falsehoods and chant them internationally at rallies and in governmental meetings and intellectual conferences.

You step foot into a small home, and the first thing you notice are the pockmarks on all the walls and ceilings. You imagine the horror of the couple who was sleeping in that tiny home when barbarians burst in, guns blazing and grenades popping. Everything is upside down and inside out, contents strewn about. You try not to think too much and leave.

Another home has breakfast dishes in the kitchen sink, frozen in time, bearing silent testimony to what happened in that house after breakfast was eaten.

House after house was burned, destroyed, and pockmarked, proclaiming that innocent, peace-loving people died between these walls because they were Jews.

One house and then another and another, each one suffering the same fate in the early morning surprise attack.

Some were killed quickly, some put up a fight, and some were taken hostage, some were taken while alive and others dragged away after they had been murdered.

The scene repeated itself in town after town, small peaceful villages and kibbutzim whose residents went about their business, leading simple lives, far from the noise and commotion of large cities.

Most of them were very different from us, and we would never have been there if not for the senseless tragedy.

I wasn’t too excited about the idea of visiting the site of the Nova music festival, but the guide insisted. So many people were killed there and it has become the focal point of what happened that day.

The area is filled with memorials of young people who went down south to celebrate with music and partying. Every couple of steps you take, you are introduced to another face, another name, another brief bio of a victim or their favorite quote. Before you have time to absorb it, another one grabs your attention. And so it goes until you have had enough and wish to quickly leave that place.

Needless to say, these border towns are emptied of their inhabitants. The desolation compounds the destruction. Nobody knows if the people will ever come back and what shape they will be in if they do.

Sderot, which is considerably larger than those other towns, has come back to life by now. It lost 70 people in the Hamas attack and faced continued rocket shelling for days after. A fierce battle raged in its main police station for 24 hours. Twenty policemen were killed and the building itself was blown up and then razed. Today, the ground it stood on remains empty, except for a few memorials to the martyred and signs of a permanent memorial to be erected there.

We stopped where a small bus carrying 15 Russian seniors got a flat. The driver pulled over to change the tire. The terrorists pulled up and shot them all dead. That bus now sits on display at the large yard where hundreds of vehicles that had been attacked on October 7^th have been towed, creating a most gruesome monument to the hundreds of people who were killed in those cars and vans with bullets, RPGs, and fire. Many of the cars and vans were burned to their steel frames, which rust in the elements and cry out for the world to see and acknowledge the carnage wrought by the savages they advocate and march for.

You look at the vehicles of all shapes and sizes and contemplate the horror their passengers experienced. You think of the people who died in them, and those who were gunned down escaping from them, and the ones who were miraculously saved. Each person with their own story.

And that leads us to the flip side of my trip. I met a survivor from the Nova festival. I met him in what we call Kiryat Sefer and Israelis refer to as Modiin Illit, the giant town of Torah. What was he doing there? As strange as it sounds, he was learning Torah.

As depressing as the trip to the south of Israel was, the visit to the country’s center was invigorating and inspiring. You see, I went to participate in Lev L’Achim’s preparation for Kabbolas HaTorah. Eretz Yisroel’s largest kiruv operation centers around learning Torah with unaffiliated Jews. Volunteer yungeleit travel to irreligious towns one night a week and learn Torah with people who have never done so before. The Torah draws them in, and gradually they get interested in learning and knowing more, and mitzvah observance follows.

On the Sunday evening before Shavuos, five hundred pairs of yungeleit and their weekly chavrusos came together at the massive Bais Medrash Ateres Shlomo, which lies at the heart of the town.

As the country’s media and politicians engage in non-stop full-throttle bashing of bnei Torah, five hundred people you would think would have been influenced by them left their homes and towns and traveled to a Torah community to learn Torah.

It was there that I met the survivor of the Nova tragedy. He had a broad smile on his face as he sat engrossed in the sugya with his chavrusa, who was as far removed from Nova and what it represented as possible.

He didn’t want to speak about how he was saved that day, other than that it was miraculous and led him to take a serious look at life and ponder why he was saved. He also shared that he had been learning for a few weeks and that it has changed his life and brings him fulfillment and happiness.

He said that his wife is coming along, but slower. With a smile from ear to ear, he shared, “Last Shabbat was her first. And many more are coming.”

There was another fellow there who providentially met up with Lev L’Achim shortly after he retired. Pointing at the large Gemara on the shtender in front of him, he told me, “Until four years ago, I didn’t even know that this existed. I never heard of the Talmud. I was robbed. Boruch Hashem, four years ago, someone came and asked me if I was interested in learning. I had no idea what he was talking about. In the beginning, I didn’t understand a word. It took a hammer to bang it into my head. Then, slowly, I began getting it, and here I am tonight about to make a siyum with my chavruta.”

Each man there had a story. If you had met many of those people learning that night, you would have no idea that they learn Gemara once a week and are on their way to full shmiras hamitzvos. And then there are others who look as if they are frum from birth. One man I met presented himself as a descendant of Rav Akiva Eiger. “And it is in his zechus that I am here today,” he said.

His story? “Thirty-five years ago, shortly after Rav Uri Zohar had become frum and began speaking at Lev L’Achim rallies, exhorting people to follow his path, do teshuvah, and return to Hashem and Torah, I went to hear him. Then I went again and again. I began keeping some mitzvos and then more… And here I am thirty-five years later.”

With a white beard and peyos, in a black shiny suit and hat, he looked like any other man who has spent his life hunched over seforim in a bais medrash. He introduced me to his son, a fine young man, who had come to learn with his chavrusa who he is introducing to Torah.

The country is in a terrible state, fighting a war on its southern border, while its northern border is under serious attack. The citizens of the northern area have fled and don’t appear to be going back anytime soon. Israel has been fighting this war for eight months already. Soldiers are being hurt and mortally wounded every day, over 100 people are being held hostage by beasts, the economy is in shambles, politicians are battling each other, and Hamas’s global support increases exponentially.

With this as a backdrop and people of goodwill seeking to hold the nation together in unity, at least for the duration of the war, the Left decided that now would be the perfect time to fight the long-simmering, on-and-off-again war over drafting Torah students into the army. The Knesset held a fierce debate last week, and all of the media outlets made certain to fan the tension.

To note that the pre-Shavuos Lev L’Achim learn-a-thon took place with that going on is to appreciate the inner strength of the Jewish people and their eternal attachment to Torah. Having strayed from a life of mitzvos, the bond of Jews to the Torah is stronger than any propaganda and the lies that people are taught and brainwashed with.

It is said that Ben Gurion only agreed to free those who dedicate their lives to Torah study from the army because he and the other secular founding leaders of Israel firmly believed that the religious community would peter out and, in a matter of time, there wouldn’t be any draft-age men forsaking careers to study Torah.

Providentially, Ben Gurion and his friends were proven wrong. The Torah community has expanded greatly since near decimation during the Holocaust. And it continues to grow. So, while the heated debate over the draft and what it will lead to is frightening on one level, on another it is a sign of the Torah community’s triumph that the debate is taking place. And just as Hakadosh Boruch Hu has protected us until now, He will continue protecting and nurturing us so that we can achieve the prophecy which tells of the time when “Umolah ha’aretz dei’ah es Hashem.”

My visit came to an end on Motzoei Shabbos when I flew back to the United States. On the same flight was the Slabodka rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who was traveling to address the massive Adirei Hatorah event and create awareness for the financial needs of Israeli yeshivos and their yungeleit.

A product of this country, Rav Hirsch learned under Rav Aharon Kotler back when there were but a few dozen talmidim in the Lakewood Yeshiva. At the time, most believed that Shabbos, kashrus, limud haTorah, and shemiras hamitzvos stood no chance in the United States and that there would never again be a market for seforim such as the classic Ketzos Hachoshen.

This week, Rav Hirsch addressed an arena packed with people studying the Ketzos along with sifrei Rishonim v’Acharonim, as well as seforim that weren’t yet written or published when Rav Aharon Kotler opened his yeshiva and was given little chance of success.

Most of those who filled the arena were not alive in those days of little and have not known of the deprivation that was prevalent after the war and the struggles that were necessary to keep Yiddishkeit alive in those years.

Today we live in a new era, with new challenges and tests, but we stand on the shoulders of those who preceded us here and in Eretz Yisroel as well.

We can sit in a stadium and clap and stand and dance and proclaim, “Netzach Yisroel lo yeshaker,” demonstrating it by being there, by leading lives of Torah, by dedicating our lives to Torah and its principles, and always behaving according to the ways of Torah.

As the words of the speakers bounced around the stadium, older people closed their eyes and imagined what the world was like as they were growing up, and the younger people opened their eyes wide and were pumped with pride as to where we have come without compromising on the ideals of our rabbeim who brought the Torah here after the war.

A visionary came up with the idea of Adirei Hatorah, and thanks to him, all of us who were in Philadelphia on Sunday were able to see and appreciate how far we have come, how great we are, how great our community is, and how great we can be in the years to come.

We went from being the poor and downtrodden, who were pitied and written off, to a burgeoning world of many tens of thousands of bnei Torah families, blessed by Hashem with aliyah in Torah and success in business. Zevuluns and Yissochors are motivated each in their own way to grow and to contribute and to give birth to generations who will place Torah uppermost in their lives.

They support Torah, and the Torah shall support them. Every day, we are getting closer to the time the nevi’im spoke of and we daven for, when the world will be filled with Torah and we will merit the final redemption with the arrival of Moshiach, who will answer all of our questions and right all wrongs.

May it be very soon. Amein.