A Strike from Afar
It’s only natural for this week’s opening story to be the Israeli attack on Yemen.
Last Thursday, an unmanned aerial drone fell in Tel Aviv, killing a man named Yevgeny Perder and injuring ten others. The drone stuck the heart of Tel Aviv, at the intersection of Rechov Ben Yehuda and Rechov Shalom Aleichem. And I have good reason for mentioning the location. First of all, terrorists have thus far largely refrained from launching missiles or other incendiary warheads in the direction of Tel Aviv. For some reason, they consider that to be an inviolable red line; they knew that missiles striking Tel Aviv will draw a much fiercer reaction from Israel than attacks on Sderot or even Ashkelon in the south, or Kiryat Shemonah or even Nahariya in the north. Now, if you are wondering why the blood of Tel Aviv residents is redder than that of the residents of the north or south, I will tell you that that is actually a very good question, and one that has given rise to sufficient controversy and outrage in Israel. Why, indeed, does the Israeli government react more rapidly and with greater ferocity when Tel Aviv is struck? Many people are demanding an answer to that question.
But that isn’t all there is to this story. In case you are wondering why I gave you the address of the missile strike, that is because it is very close to the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, a building with great symbolic significance. Was the embassy deliberately targeted? I don’t know the answer, but I will tell you that the missile was launched from Yemen and the Israeli response was indeed swift and fierce. Netanyahu convened the war cabinet on Shabbos, personally summoning each member of the cabinet and asking them to keep the meeting under wraps, and the officials gave the green light to Operation Long Arm. Israeli fighter jets then took off from Israel, refueled in the air, and passed over enemy countries before arriving in Yemen, a distance of 1800 kilometers from Israel, where they unleashed explosives to sow chaos and destruction. Of course, this was a most unusual occurrence.
The Yemenite health ministry reported that the Israeli air strike caused fatalities and casualties. Saudi Arabia reported dozens of deaths and injuries. The Al-Arabia network in Saudi Arabia claimed that it was a joint attack carried out by Israel, the United States, and Britain, adding that the British had assisted Israel in refueling the planes. The United States denied the reports and claimed that Israel had acted alone. According to other sources, over ten Israeli planes participated in the attack, and while Israel had informed America about the operation, neither America nor the European countries were actively involved. Israel claimed that the planes were refueled in the air by Israeli planes, not by those of their allies. Why was it so important for Israel to emphasize that America was not involved in the attack? Because the great country of America is fearful of the reaction of the Houthis in Yemen!
It is also rumored that Israel gave advance notice to the Arab countries whose airspace they used to reach Yemen, and the governments of those countries were actually pleased with the Israeli offensive. The Houthis have become a disturbance not only to Israel, America, and Europe but also to local Arab countries, whose governments are vexed by the Houthi domination of various maritime routes and their attacks on any ships that pass through those areas. Yemen is threatening a massive response to the Israeli attack, and we, as usual, are responding by davening for salvation.
Netanyahu: “We Will Defend Ourselves Through Any Means”
After Shabbos, the Israeli public was informed about the attack on Yemen, and Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation. “This operation made it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel cannot reach,” he announced. “Israel expects the international community to step up its efforts against Iran and its proxies, to halt Iranian aggression, and to protect the freedom of international maritime travel. Anyone who wants to see a stable and secure Middle East must take a stand against Iran’s axis of evil and must support Israel’s struggle against Iran and its proxies everywhere.” Addressing Israel’s enemies, the prime minister added, “Make no mistake: We will protect ourselves in every way and on every front. Anyone who attacks us will pay a very high price for their aggression.”
To be honest, I cringe whenever anyone in the government boasts about Israeli might in that fashion. Experience has shown that such displays of hubris are often followed by a blow from Shomayim, chas v’sholom.
The IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, released a statement of his own with a few details of the incident. “The pilots of the air force have now landed in Israel safely after striking Hodeida,” he began. “We have stepped up our defensive systems and are prepared in every area. At the same time, there are no changes in the Home Front Command’s instructions. If any such changes are made, we will inform the public. This is the first time that an Iranian drone has penetrated Israeli territory and killed an Israeli civilian. That is especially serious regardless of where it takes place in the country. Our response was a cumulative reaction to everything that has occurred.” Of course, this was meant to pacify those who claimed that Israel would not have reacted as strongly if the attack had occurred elsewhere in the country. “Israel expects the nations of the world to join together in a united front against the threat of terror from Yemen,” Hagari added. “This is a shared international interest. Israel has no intent of harming the Yemenite people; we attacked the Houthis, who control a portion of the country.”
Yet another response came from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: “I have just emerged from the air force pit, where I was with the prime minister, the chief of staff, and the commander of the air force while we monitored our planes striking the port of Hodeida, which is 2000 kilometers from the State of Israel. The fire that is burning in Hodeida now can be seen throughout the Middle East, and the significance of that fact is clear. The Houthis have attacked us over 200 times, but this is the first time that they have harmed an Israeli civilian. We struck them in response, and we will do the same wherever it is necessary. The blood of Israeli civilians has a price; it is not cheap. Today, this is known in Lebanon, in Gaza, in Yemen, and in other places as well. If anyone dares to attack us, the result will be the same.”
The media also quoted a “senior Israeli official,” which is usually a veiled reference to the prime minister, as stating that Israel understands that the attack has opened an active front against the Houthis that will lead to a series of responses, and Israel is prepared to deal with that. The unnamed official claimed that the government had weighed two options—exchanging military blows with the Houthis and exercising restraint in the face of Shiite aggression, which would cause it to lose its deterrent power—and had decided that it was better to respond. A Yemenite source has already threatened a response to the Israeli attack on Hodeidah. A senior Houthi source claimed that the Haifa port will be the target, and the Houthi deputy minister of communications warned that the reprisal would be fierce.
Half of Hamas’s Leaders Liquidated
You are surely already aware of the fierce controversy in Israel surrounding the war in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that increased military pressure on Hamas is the key to inducing the terror group to accept a prisoner exchange deal and release the hostages. Others disagree and maintain that the pressure is only causing Hamas to harden its stances. Past experience seems to support Netanyahu’s contention, and Israel has not only refused to delay or minimize its offensives in Gaza but is actually ramping up the pressure. The average Palestinian in Gaza today is cursing the leadership of Hamas, which has brought catastrophe on Gaza’s civilian populace.
The IDF’s most noteworthy recent operation was the elimination of the notorious terrorist Mohammed Deif. Immediately after the strike, the media reported with certainty that Deif’s right-hand man had been eliminated, but the senior terrorist’s fate wasn’t yet clear. Israel had yet to find his body or any evidence that he had indeed been killed. At the beginning of this week, there were rumors that Hamas had admitted that he was dead, or possibly that Israel had intercepted a telephone call between two Hamas leaders who were speaking about his death, and the kill had thus been confirmed.
IDF forces have eliminated or captured about 14,000 terrorists in total since the beginning of the war. This number includes six terrorists who commanded entire divisions, more than twenty terrorists who commanded battalions, and over 150 terrorists who commanded platoons. The recent focused strike that took out Rafaa Salameh and Mohammed Deif (presumably) was the end of a long process that had been unfolding over the course of two weeks. The IDF has been exerting intense military pressure on various areas of the Gaza Strip, using an assortment of strategies and cutting off underground escape routes to enable them to carry out targeted assassinations, as we saw on that Shabbos.
To sum up the current progress of the war, the IDF has been operating for the past 269 days on the ground, at sea, and in the air to achieve the goals of the war. To date, the IDF has attacked about 37,000 targets in the Gaza Strip from the air and over 25,000 terror infrastructure and missile launching sites. Thanks to highly accurate intelligence and operational planning, half of the leadership of Hamas’s military wing has already been eliminated in a series of attacks. The IDF is continuing to hunt down the leaders of the terror organization as part of their bid to dismantle Hamas.
One Thousand Yeshiva Bochurim Receive Draft Orders
Another topic that must be discussed is the flurry of draft orders sent by the IDF to yeshiva bochurim and kollel yungeleit this week. We do not know how they selected the recipients of those orders, but at the beginning of the week, draft orders were sent to 1000 draft candidates out of the 65,000 eligible young men in the chareidi community. I am not even certain if the IDF themselves had precise criteria for selecting the recipients of the orders. At first, they announced that they would check the databases of the National Insurance Institute to identify the potential draft candidates who are working and receiving salaries. Every salaried employee in Israel pays a certain amount of tax to the National Insurance Institute, so the tax records could easily help the IDF catch men who are registered in yeshivos or kollelim to avoid the draft but are actually working. Army officials hoped that this would reduce the outrage in the chareidi community over the draft orders; since talmidim in yeshivos and kollelim are not officially permitted to work, they expected that no one could complain if they sent draft orders to such individuals.
This line of reasoning, however, doesn’t exactly satisfy the chareidi community. First of all, a yeshiva bochur who works for a few hours a day is still considered a ben Torah, and a yungerman who works from time to time is likewise still a yungerman. Moreover, as I wrote last week, the gedolei Yisroel feel that anyone who joins the army is in danger of being led away from. You may remember that I quoted several gedolei Yisroel—Rav Avigdor Miller, Rav Shlomo Wolbe, and Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, who cited the Chazon Ish’s position—on this issue last week.
But even if we were to set aside this fact, the army would really have no basis to conclude that anyone who has received a salary cannot be a full-time ben yeshiva. These salaries may have been paid for temporary jobs during bein hazemanim, or the bochurim or yungeleit may merely be working for a couple of hours at night. The mere existence of a salary doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is not learning throughout the day. There is also another possibility, although it might be more difficult to explain—that some yungeleit may be receiving salaries under their names for the sake of tax avoidance. The bottom line is that it is far from a simple matter to use the National Insurance Institute’s records to select candidates for the draft.
The IDF Is Not Interested in Conflict with the Chareidim
The army is well aware of the chareidi community’s thoughts on the draft issue. As far as the IDF is concerned, the current spate of draft orders will serve as a trial balloon for them to gauge the chareidi community’s response. The gedolei Yisroel, at least in the Sephardic and Litvish communities, have instructed yeshiva bochurim not to comply with the draft orders at all, even by reporting to the draft offices in response to the summons. (The chassidishe rebbes have yet to release their final decision on the matter.) Presumably, these directives will now be put to the test. The army is also aware of the complaints that chareidim who are conscripted to the army are often drawn away from religion, and IDF officials therefore insist that they will open fully chareidi units that will even provide reasonable times for davening, shiurim, food on the highest possible level of kashrus, and no interaction with female commanding officers. However, no one believes their word on this subject. It is impossible to put any stock in these assurances; the dati leumi community’s experiences have already shown that the IDF regularly breaks its promises.
In the meantime, we know what happened at the beginning of this week: On Sunday, the Meitav unit of the IDF personnel division, which is the unit responsible for the conscription process, sent one thousand initial draft orders to chareidim. The orders were sent from three of the country’s main draft offices: in Yerushalayim, in Teveria, and in Tel HaShomer. Half of the orders were sent to chareidim at the age of 21 or older. According to sources within the IDF, the defense ministry initially planned to send draft orders to 3000 of the 60,000 chareidim eligible for the draft; however, due to the vehement reaction of the gedolei Torah and chareidi politicians, the army decided to divide the initial draft into three batches of notices. The first set of 1000 notices was sent this Sunday, the second set is due to be dispatched in two weeks, and the third will be issued in about a month. After each set of draft orders is issued, the army and defense ministry plan to evaluate their success and to determine how to cut down on bureaucracy, avoid deterring potential recruits, and conduct the draft process while maintaining, in their words, “appropriate conditions for the chareidi community.”
A senior officer in the IDF who is involved in the current draft efforts claims that if the response is sufficient and most of the chareidim cooperate with the draft orders, the next batch of notices will be sent out in two weeks. However, if the chareidim resist the draft orders, the army will reevaluate the situation and will try to come up with a different approach. The IDF made it clear that they plan to deal with chareidi draft evaders with the same tools that are used against draft dodgers from other communities, but they also plan to focus on communicating effectively with the candidates for the draft. The Personnel Directorate is planning to open a dedicated telephone hotline and website to answer questions from the chareidi community about the draft and about military service in general, in the hope that it will reduce the community’s skepticism about the army. Defense officials criticized the politicians on both ends of the political map who engaged in rhetoric that created a media furor, stoked the public’s passions, and deterred rabbonim from cooperating with the IDF.
To make a long story short, although the IDF has no choice but to comply with the Supreme Court ruling and act to draft chareidim, the army isn’t interested in an all-out war with the chareidi community, and they hope that the process will take place quietly and peacefully. Unfortunately, I cannot predict whether that will be the case. I think that the pivotal question now is whether Netanyahu will succeed in passing a draft law, which will make it possible for the army to lower its target number of new chareidi recruits. But the situation, as I have mentioned in previous articles, is becoming increasingly complicated. And just to give you an idea of how complex it has become, consider this: Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which is preparing the draft law for the vote in the Knesset, declared this week that he is not sure that the draft notices sent by the army are legal. Edelstein asked the army to clarify the basis of their decisions. In short, there are complications in every aspect of the situation.
No Chief Rabbis in Israel
The next story might not be quite as earth-shattering as the draft issue, but it is still a sad commentary on Israeli society today: For the first time since the founding of the state—and, in fact, since the founding of the Chief Rabbinate of Eretz Yisroel over a century ago—there are no chief rabbis in Israel. The terms of the previous chief rabbis, Rav Yitzchok Yosef and Rav Dovid Lau, came to an end at the beginning of Tammuz after they were extended twice. Since no new chief rabbis have been elected, the state is left without any chief rabbis at all. According to Israeli law, elections for the positions must be held between one month and three months before the outgoing chief rabbis reach the end of their terms. However, despite the clear dictates of the law, the process of electing new chief rabbis hasn’t even begun. And the reason for that is that the state is demanding that the electoral body include “rabbaniot”—not just any women but female “rabbis.” The chief rabbinate, which is charged with selecting the ten women who will serve on the electoral assembly, informed the Supreme Court that they are willing to place women on the board but they will draw the line at choosing “rabbaniot.” This is the reason for the current impasse.
The chief rabbis of Israel and the members of the Chief Rabbinical Council are chosen by a special electoral assembly convened specifically for that purpose. The electoral assembly consists of a total of 150 members: eighty rabbonim and seventy public representatives. A large number of the assembly’s members are appointed by virtue of their positions. For example, the assembly includes the chief rabbis of Israel’s thirty largest cities and of the fourteen largest local councils, as well as the mayors of the 25 largest cities in Israel. These appointments are automatic. In addition, the government chooses two ministers to represent it on the assembly, the Knesset selects five of its members to participate in the elections, and the outgoing chief rabbis choose ten rabbonim to serve on their behalf, in consultation with the Minister of Religious Affairs and subject to the government’s approval. The religious affairs minister also chooses ten public representatives on his behalf, again in consultation with the chief rabbis and with the government’s agreement. The current dispute centers on the ten rabbonim who are required to be chosen by the two chief rabbis.
As the date for the last chief rabbinical election approached, someone petitioned the Supreme Court to require female “rabbis” to be included in the electoral assembly, and the court accepted the petition. The two outgoing chief rabbis, however, responded that they would not acknowledge women as “rabbis,” which would be a violation of halacha. They refused even to appoint women to the assembly as “highly educated Torah scholars” or anything of the sort; there would be no compromise on this issue. The Chief Rabbinical Council met as well and decided that women could not be appointed to the committee as rabbinic figures. They confirmed that they were willing to place women on the assembly, but not in the capacity of rabbonim. The Supreme Court tried to force the chief rabbis to comply with its ruling, but those efforts proved futile. Even the current interim rabbonim who are filling the positions temporarily have informed the state attorney that they will not be able to appoint women to the assembly as rabbis.
When the case was heard by the court, the government argued on behalf of the chief rabis that according to Jewish law, which is accepted by broad rabbinic consensus, only men may be appointed as “rabbis.” Hence, since Israeli law states that the chief rabbis of Israel should appoint “ten rabbonim” to serve on the electoral assembly, it must refer specifically to male rabbis. After about 14 months and three hearings, the judges of the Supreme Court issued their ruling in January. Justice David Mintz, who was in the minority, opined that the petition should be dismissed. “Stretching the interpretation and including women who have studied religion and Jewish law in the definition of ‘rabbis’ misses the true meaning of the language and distorts the concept of rabbonim beyond its true intent,” he wrote. Nevertheless, the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Dafna Barak-Erez and received the approval of Justice Yitzchok Amit, maintained that the petition should be accepted. The result was that the Supreme Court accepted the petition, but no one was willing to appoint female rabbis to the assembly, and the country therefore lacks chief rabbis at the current time. It is a classic example of discarding the baby along with the bathwater.
The Defense Minister at a Shiva Visit
At the root of the enormous gap between those who learn Torah and those who wave the flag of kefirah and oppose the Torah is a very simple yet significant difference: The former group understands what the Torah is, while the latter has no comprehension of it. As religious Jews, we have been raised with the understanding that Torah learning sustains the world, and that those who learn Torah will be blessed with Heavenly brachos, while the failure to engage in Torah learning has devastating consequences. The modern-day eirev rav does not understand the meaning of Torah and the hashgocha of the world’s Creator. Perhaps they should take a page out of the book of the non-Jewish world; every politician in America concludes his speeches with the words “G-d bless America,” and Donald Trump declared repeatedly that G-d had saved him from his assassin. On that note, the Knesset is holding a session to encourage the study of Tanach. I was quite saddened to hear some of the speakers who clearly did not understand the meaning of Torah to the Jewish people; on the other hand, MKs Avrohom Betzalel, Yitzchok Pindrus, and Avigdor Maoz deserve accolades for presenting the hashkofah of the Torah with clarity.
I traveled to Beer Sheva on Thursday to visit the Deri family during their shiva, and I discovered that I had never grasped the greatness of the late Rav Yehuda Deri. I listened to the speeches between Mincha and Maariv, when Rav Yehuda Cohen, rosh yeshivas Yakirei Yerushalayim, lamented the fact that so many people do not recognize that the Torah protects the Jewish people. “They do not comprehend the fact that the tanks, the missiles, and the planes do not protect us; only the Torah protects us,” he said. Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense, was sitting in the room at that time between two rabbonim, with a black yarmulke perched on his head, and he nodded as the rosh yeshiva spoke. The defense minister and his entourage of bodyguards remained at the shiva home for a long time, staying for the ashkavah that followed the speech and for Maariv as well. I had to wonder why, with all his elite intelligence units and advisors with all their classified knowledge, no one had managed to tell the minister that a person who arrives at a shiva house ten minutes before shekiyah and wishes to offer condolences to the mourners will have to remain there for an hour and a half, especially in the Sephardic community.
When Rav Yehuda Cohen left the house, I approached him and asked, “Did the rov change the content of his speech at the last minute because of Yoav Gallant?”
The rov looked at me in bewilderment. “Gallant?” he repeated. “The defense minister? What do you mean?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Gallant listened to your speech and drank in every word.”
The rov was surprised. “Gallant was here?” he asked incredulously.
He may not have intended it, but it was surely a message that the minister needed to hear.
Nothing Is by Chance
Prime Minister Netanyahu is now in America, and one would have to be blind to avoid seeing the hashgocha pratis on display at this moment. Many of Netanyahu’s critics have relentlessly assailed him for falling into disfavor with President Biden. Well, where is Biden today, and where is Netanyahu? The contrast between their respective positions is startling.
Not long ago, a prominent Israeli media personality and one of Netanyahu’s most ardent critics reported that Biden estimated that Netanyahu’s days in politics were numbered. Many Israeli public figures have long been proclaiming that the “Netanyahu era” has come to an end. But where are they today, and where is Netanyahu? The tables have certainly turned.
If we do not remember that the world is overseen by a Supreme Being and that He orchestrates everything that occurs, then the situation will only get worse. Rav Shimshon Refoel Hirsch comments that the tochachah warns us that if we try to explain the misfortunes in our lives as natural events, and we turn a blind eye to the fact that everything that occurs in the world is the work of Divine Providence, then we will be punished repeatedly until we remember Who is truly the Master of the universe. This idea is essentially stated explicitly in the pesukim: “If you view Me as chance and you do not desire to listen to Me, I will add blows to you seven times your sins (Vayikra 26:21). The Hebrew word “keri” in this posuk is interpreted by many meforshim as a reference to writing off an event as pure chance. This is exactly what the media does, offering explanations for every catastrophe that disregard the true cause of a misfortune—the fact that it was orchestrated by the One Above.
Take the drone that hit Tel Aviv, for instance. It traveled about 2000 kilometers to reach Israel, and it is highly unusual for such an explosive not to be discovered while it is en route, especially when it appears above the Tel Aviv beach; nevertheless, it went undetected until it caused fatal damage at its target. The IDF explained that such things happen, and the media described it as an error on the part of the army. But it was neither happenstance nor a simple error; it was a decree from Shomayim. When Hashem issues a decree, then the IDF officer sitting at his screens will not see the incoming missile, just as the army was blinded to the imminent disaster on Simchas Torah. This is an important lesson for us: If we dismiss these incidents as mere chance, then we are merely harming ourselves. Everything that is happening in America similarly transcends the laws of nature, whether it is the bullet that missed its mark by a millimeter or the elderly presidential candidate who was forced to drop out of the race. Our job is to recognize Hashem’s guiding Hand behind these events.
A Lesson from the Ohr Hachaim
On Sunday night, I attended a hillula and siyum in Moshav Beit Meir in memory of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh. The meal was lavish, and the atmosphere was highly uplifting. I learned that a weekly shiur has been taking place every Thursday on the moshav for over seven years. The shiur was first conceived at a business meeting between Yankele Halperin and Yossi Deutsch, and the participants view it as an inviolable commitment. It is delivered by Rav Shmuel Rabinovich, who is known for his oratory and is also the binding force that unites most of the participants. This group includes the brothers Dovid and Ahrele Weingarten, Ovadiah Yair, Chaim Raavad, Natan Chefetz, Yisroel Kellerman, Shmulik and Eliku Cohen, Yossi Shor, Avi Dzadak, several members of the Halperin family (including Dovid, with his famous slogan “loshon hora doesn’t speak to me”), and, of course, the host, Yanky Halperin. Naturally, Rav Shmuel Rabinovich was present for the siyum along with his right-hand man, Yossi Bloch. This group is dedicated to their study of the Ohr Hachaim. On the rare occasions when Rav Shmuel is not available for a shiur, it is delivered by Rav Meir Weingarten instead. And when Yanky Halperin is out of the country, which is also exceedingly rare, the shiur is moved to the home of the rov or of Ahrele Weingarten. The group recently began learning Pele Yoetz as well.
Rav Rabinovich spoke at the siyum, praising the participants in the shiur for their consistency, their commitment, and their fortitude. He went on to quote a number of powerful statements of the Ohr Hachaim. “Every week, we find ourselves marveling again at his endless Torah wisdom and the things he writes that border on ruach hakodesh,” he remarked. “For instance, in Parshas Pinchos, the Torah states, ‘The name of the man of Yisroel who was killed, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri ben Salu.’ The Ohr Hachaim questions the apparent repetition in this posuk: Why does the Torah refer to Zimri as ‘the man of Yisroel who was killed’ and then repeat that he was slain? The Ohr Hachaim answers this question with a powerful idea: Even before he was physically killed, his soul was tainted, and a person with a blemished soul is already considered to have been slain!”
I will quote the words of the Ohr Hachaim for your edification: “This can be explained based on the statement of Chazal that the wicked are considered dead even while they are alive. The reason is that the force of evil, which is akin to death, clings to them…. When a person sins, his soul becomes blemished due to its attachment to evil…. This man, who performed an immoral act with a gentile woman, brought ruin to his soul by doing so, and he therefore had suffered a deadly blow even before being killed by Pinchos.”
Rav Rabinovich added, “Every Jew is fundamentally connected to the upper worlds and derives vitality from them. It is impossible to slay a Jew unless he has sinned and has already been blemished above. Therefore, our task is to keep ourselves spiritually whole, because that is the source of our vitality…. The Torah of the Ohr Hachaim gives vitality to those who learn it,” he added.
Rav Rabinovich ended his speech with a fascinating story concerning the Ohr Hachaim. “The Ohr Hachaim once entered a simple home and declared that he sensed special kedushah there,” he related. “He was told that there was a guest who had visited the home several times and had tried to convince the family members not to daven, bentch, recite brachos, or sing zemiros loudly. ‘Hashem is not deaf, and He hears even when you recite a brocha quietly,’ the guest insisted. This time, the mistress of the house drove him out of her home and even returned all the gifts that he had given the family members on his previous visits. ‘That visitor was the sitra achra,’ the Ohr Hachaim revealed. ‘You were correct to drive him away; your act was the source of the kedusha that I detected.’ A house where Torah is learned is a house that contains kedusha,” Rav Rabinovich added. “May the merit of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh help all of us receive our eternal salvation, and may it cause us and all of Klal Yisroel to be showered with brachos. May the days of bain hameitzorim become a time of rejoicing for us as the Bais Hamikdosh is rebuilt.”
