Bein Hazemanim Becomes a Time for Chizuk
When the Jewish people sense danger around the corner, they gather together for chizuk. And when the gedolei Yisroel call on the people to ramp up their Torah learning and davening to ward off possible tragedy, the response is even greater. The call of the gedolim this summer to learn with hasmodah on a daily basis spawned many new yeshivas bein hazemanim programs. Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky announced in the Yeshiva of Ponovezh, “At a time when there are harsh decrees aimed at the community of lomdei Torah, it is proper for everyone to increase their Torah learning during bein hazemanim as well.” Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch told the talmidim in Slabodka, “We are facing danger of a type that hasn’t existed since the war in 1948, and everyone should learn for at least four to five hours a day.” And the bnei Torah have truly risen to the occasion.
Rav Gershon Edelstein was always deeply concerned during bein hazemanim due to the reduction in Torah learning in the yeshivos. He explained that the tragedies that took place during the bein hazemanim vacation were due to the lack of Torah learning. This week, a kuntres was published, titled Darchei Hachizuk, based on the contents of Rav Gershon’s shmuessen on the subject of bein hazemanim. (The kuntres, culled from the writings of Rav Gershon’s talmidim, is titled Ohr Shraga and was sponsored by Rav Meir Shraga Gelley in memory of his father, Rav Zechariah Gelley, and his father-in-law, Rav Yacov Halevi Lipschutz.)
In the Mir yeshiva, notices were posted before Tisha B’Av announcing that in light of the call of the gedolei Yisroel and the power of the Torah to protect us from our enemies — which presumably refers both to Iran and the Supreme Court — special learning sedorim would be held in the yeshiva from Wednesday, 10 Av, through Monday, 15 Av. Participants would receive monetary stipends, and transportation would be arranged. The participants would be bused back to their homes after Mincha, and the stipends were set at 20 shekels per hour for a yungerman and 15 shekels per hour for a bochur.
Observing the sight of botei medrash filled with bochurim and yungeleit learning Torah during bein hazemanim, I cannot help but have the sense that something beautiful will result from this tense situation.
Rav Shmuel Berenbaum’s Memorable Comments
Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir in the United States, discussed the proper approach to bein hazemanim at a vaad at the home of Reb Tzvi Fleigelman z”l. Reb Tzvi founded a program known as Bais Vaad in his parents’ home, which saw roshei yeshivos and baalei mussar take turns delivering shmuessen to audiences eager for spiritual growth. My readers may remember Reb Tzvi, a young man who led a life replete with unspeakable suffering and extraordinary achievements. Sadly, Reb Tzvi passed away this past week.
It was the end of Tishrei 5767/2006 when Rav Berenbaum made an appearance at the Fleigelman home. After expressing his admiration for his host, he began discussing the centrality of Torah for Klal Yisroel. “Rashi says that the world was created for the sake of the Torah,” he declared. “Without the Torah, we are inferior to all other nations. A Jew without Torah isn’t even a mentch! He has no tzelem Elokim! A Jew without Torah has no special quality at all!”
At the end of the shiur, when someone told him that the zman was beginning on the following Sunday, he pounded on the table before him with his fist. “Do not wait for the beginning of the zman!” he exclaimed. “If you don’t learn now, how will you become great? I beg of you: Do not let a single minute go to waste. Will you agree to have a shorter breakfast tomorrow, and to use the time you save for learning? That is what I ask of you.”
The bochurim nodded, and Rav Shmuel beamed. “In that case, it was worthwhile for me to come to Eretz Yisroel,” he said with satisfaction.
Last Sunday, I attended Tzvika Fleigelman’s funeral. The levayah procession stopped at both of the places that he called home: Yeshivas Kol Torah in Bayit Vegan and his parents’ home in Givat Shaul. The niftar was eulogized by the roshei yeshiva of Kol Torah, the rabbonim of the neighborhood of Givat Shaul, and the members of his family. When his father, Reb Yissochor Dov, recited Kaddish, there was an atmosphere of profound anguish. Reb Tzvi Fleigelman’s life story is an astounding case study of a human being’s capacity to rise above adversity. Trapped in a body racked by suffering, he rose almost to the level of a malach, using his hardships as a tool to promote Torah and kedusha. Over the years, the other bochurim in the yeshiva related to him with incredible devotion, and his parents likewise remained at his side for 53 years, setting aside their desires and interests to help him realize his ambitions. His passing is another reminder that Hashem sometimes collects His choicest creations when they are still young — and there is no question that these beautiful blossoms are planted in the most precious of the Heavenly gardens.
No Proctors, No Cameras
Last Friday, I witnessed a Dirshu test in progress. The participants, ranging from bochurim who seemed to have just emerged from childhood to yungeleit who appeared to have reached old age, sat in their seats, examining the questions on their test papers with great intensity. The serious mood and thirst for growth among the test-takers were astonishing. To anyone familiar with the standard procedure for exams, there was another aspect of the scene that should have been equally amazing: There was no proctor or monitor present in the room. These test-takers were bnei Torah, and they did not need anyone to supervise them and ensure that they did not peek into a Mishnah Berurah or Gemara in the course of the test. The test papers featured a warning: Anyone who happened to be exposed to the test questions in advance would not be permitted to take the test, and no seforim or notes were to be used in the course of the exam. But there was no need for that warning to be enforced; there were no security cameras or undercover agents watching the test-takers. It was entirely on the honor system; the participants in the test were all assumed to be people of integrity.
Disinformation About the Hostage Deal
There are many newsworthy stories that I could write about, but I think it is most fitting to begin with the subject of the proposed deal with Hamas. There has been a tremendous amount of disinformation on this subject; everyone seems to be throwing out “facts” without concern for the feelings of the hostages’ families, who are struggling to cope with unbearable tension. The worst offenders, in my view, are those who are citing the negotiations in Doha as evidence that Hamas is interested in a deal and that Netanyahu is preventing it from coming to fruition. This is a crime not only against Netanyahu but also against the families of the hostages, whose nerves are already completely frayed and who do not deserve to be subject to hearing such torturous allegations.
In truth, I would report any real information that came my way, but I have been told that most of the information published in the media is not true, and most of the details that are true are not being published. Then again, one thing is certain: The American government is doing everything in its power to promote a deal, albeit at a price that Israel may not be able to pay. The main problem is that the proposal calls for bringing the hostages home in two or three stages. But if Israel stops the fighting and leaves the two most critical areas in Gaza, then Hamas will have no reason to release any more hostages. In short, the lives of many of the hostages may hinge on the terms of this deal.
It is also important to note that Israel has essentially destroyed Hamas. Not only have a large number of high-ranking members of the terror group been killed, but tens of thousands of rank-and-file terrorists and potential terrorists have also been eliminated. Gaza has been destroyed, their weapons have been eliminated, and they have been essentially left with nothing. And the Israelis are not particularly willing to allow them to rearm themselves. If Israel accepts the American terms, then Hamas may be in a position to repeat the atrocities of this past Simchas Torah in another five years, chas v’sholom.
Ben-Gvir Keeps Making Trouble
Let us move on to a couple of other brief items. First of all, El Al is boasting that its profits have risen dramatically in the most recent quarter. With all due respect to El Al, I am not sure that this is really something to brag about, especially since El Al is now a monopoly, as the only airline to fly to and from Israel (although they deserve accolades for continuing to fly), and the company is managing to exploit its monopoly very effectively. An Israeli who lives in Lakewood was recently planning to visit his family but was deterred by the astronomical fares. Just a few months ago, an economy ticket on El Al was priced at about 1000 or 1200 dollars, but the cost has jumped to a whopping 4000 dollars today. One must therefore wonder why the company takes pride in its record profits. Even if they deserve to be applauded for continuing to fly while other airlines have canceled their service to Israel, that does not mean that they should also boast about their fares.
Another major story revolves around Minister Ben-Gvir’s provocative visit to Har Habayis on Tisha B’Av. Ben-Gvir was fiercely criticized for his actions by all the leading rabbonim, but their reactions do not seem to have affected him. He also came under fire from President Herzog, who made a comment about removing Kahanism from the government; this time, the minister decided to fire back. “When Buji Herzog ran for president,” Ben-Gvir wrote, deliberately using Herzog’s nickname instead of invoking his title, “he met with me several times to receive my support. Of course, he also said everything that was necessary to win that support. We have met several times since then, and he has always complimented the ministers of Otzma Yehudit for their intelligence and has expressed satisfaction with our members of the Knesset. He has always said that despite our differences of opinion, he admires me greatly on a personal level. I found it amusing to hear the honored president showing weakness in front of a handful of anarchists who are trying to take control of the country and create a rift in the nation. Of course, this can be added to the badge of honor that he gave to the anarchists and draft refusers who harmed the army and brought about the tragedy of October 7. Perhaps it would be best for Buji to do what he did when he was questioned by the police and simply to remain silent. Hypocrisy is a revolting thing.”
Israel is also still contending with the fighting in Gaza and the deaths of soldiers, as well as the demonstrations in the streets and the specter of terrorism. This week, a 20-year-old former soldier named Yehonasan Deutsch, who was engaged to be married, was murdered in a terror attack in the Jordan Valley. We are all sorely in need of Heavenly mercy.
In other news, a stone fell at the Kosel this week, and it was only by a miracle that it did not cause harm. Meanwhile, the attorney general and Prime Minister Netanyahu are locked in a bitter dispute over who will appoint the next civil services commissioner. And, on a note that may or may not be related to that dispute, Justice Minister Yariv Levin is determined to continue advancing the judicial reform.
The Day Care Subsidy Cut
Of course, I must also fill you in on the latest developments in the battle over daycare subsidies. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has formally informed the Finance Ministry that subsidies for daycare for the children of men in kollel must be halted immediately. Her reason is that the Supreme Court ruled that it is no longer legal for men to remain in kollel without serving in the army. The attorney general was condemned for this stance from many directions; she and her deputy, Gil Limon, who signed the letter along with her, are seen as having taken an even harsher stance than the Supreme Court. After all, the judges on the court did not say that all 60,000 yeshiva bochurim and yungeleit in the country should be immediately deemed in violation of the law. Perhaps the only “illegal” Torah learners are those who received draft orders and did not respond to the summons.
The subsidy cut is a very serious blow to the average kollel yungerman. The state currently provides a subsidy for daycare to the tune of 1100 shekels per month for every child, and some yungeleit have multiple children in daycare programs. And while the loss to the average kollel family is staggering, the total sum that the government will save is a paltry 160 million shekels. I could easily fill an entire newspaper with the reactions of various public figures to the attorney general’s decision, but I don’t see much reason to go into too much detail. In my interview with MK Yisroel Eichler, I questioned him about why the attorney general, rather than the justices of the Supreme Court, is bearing the brunt of the criticism for this move. I am not sure if his answer was completely clear, but I have my own explanation, which I will share below.
Yoav Ben-Tzur, the Minister of Labor, announced that he will not comply with the attorney general’s decision, which he plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. He is actually quite furious with her; he claims that he met with her at length to discuss the matter, together with the legal experts in his ministry, and he was certain that he had convinced her to leave the daycare subsidies in place. Like all of us, he was shocked by her bombshell decision. After a party meeting, United Torah Judaism announced that it would present a demand to the prime minister for a law to be passed that would overturn the attorney general’s decision. Moreover, Netanyahu has already made a similar promise to pass a government resolution overriding the attorney general.
Smotrich Attacks the Attorney General
The latest development is the position of Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who sent a sharply worded letter at the beginning of the week to the attorney general and the legal advisor of his own ministry. Smotrich denounced the decision to cancel the subsidies for daycare, writing angrily, “I find it astounding that you are conducting discussions, exchanging letters, and making decisions with far-reaching implications on budgetary and economic issues among yourselves, without even considering the fact that it would be appropriate at least to involve, consult, or ask for the opinion of the finance minister. You are behaving like a separate state within the state.” Smotrich accused the attorney general of making a decision based on a preconceived opinion and an improper agenda. “The starting point that led to this decision was the notion that this subsidy for daycare is given because of the father’s Torah study and to support that study, and the ruling was based on the Supreme Court verdict concerning funding for yeshivos after the expiration of the draft arrangement. This basic presumption is fundamentally wrong; it is a flimsy house of cards that has no basis in reality. The subsidy for daycare has nothing to do with the father’s Torah study; it is intended as an incentive for the mother to go to work, which is facilitated by funding for childcare.” I will note parenthetically that this is exactly the point that I made; I told the Minister of Labor and the members of the Knesset that they should stress this idea
Smotrich’s letter continues, “The subsidy is given with the stated purpose of advancing the integration of chareidi women into the workforce. The government decided that this subsidy would be given only to women whose husbands learn in yeshivos and are not present in the home during the day. This is a practical decision based on the simple fact of life that in a chareidi family in which the father learns Torah, the mother often stays at home to care for her children even if it means that the family will suffer from poverty and a low standard of living. The project has been a major success. Over the past two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the employment rate among chareidi women. One would have to be blind to fail to notice the positive impact of the employment of chareidi women on the economy and on chareidi society.”
Smotrich’s letter calls on the attorney general and the legal advisor of the Finance Ministry to immediately retract their legal opinion, which he described as fundamentally flawed, and “to allow me to continue my economic policies, which support the growth and integration of chareidi women in the workforce.” He also admonished them to refrain from “harming my policies and the economy in a manner that is neither legal nor reasonable.”
The State Was Founded to Combat the Torah
Let me add one last thought about the issue of the draft, which stubbornly refuses to go away. The State of Israel is locked into a perspective that has robbed its secular leaders of their senses. Years ago, they decided to slash the government child stipends in the mistaken belief that it would lead to a reduction in the chareidi birth rate, and now they are going after the subsidies for daycare. I read Gil Limon’s letter, and even without being a legal expert, I found a number of flaws in his reasoning. Limon argues that the government is legally barred from encouraging a yungerman to continue learning Torah after he becomes subject to the draft. Quoting the Supreme Court, he explains, “Due to the lack of a legal basis for deferring army service, there is also no legal basis for supporting or encouraging the activities of those who evade the draft.” But I would like to point out that the daycare subsidy was never given for the purpose of encouraging a yungerman to learn Torah. The goal has always been to encourage mothers to go out to work!
Furthermore, even if Limon is correct and the subsidy is meant to encourage both a father and a mother to pursue their respective activities, why should a working mother lose her subsidy simply because her husband’s Torah learning is deemed illegal? The Supreme Court never made such a statement, which is entirely the product of the attorney general’s warped reasoning — and that is the reason for the outrage against her. Moreover, it is undoubtedly due to both malice and ignorance that they have chosen to equate bnei yeshivos who received draft orders and did not comply with those who were never summoned to the draft office at all. If a man was never called up for the draft, there should be no reason to deprive his family of any subsidies at all.
But these absurdities make sense when we consider the context of the state’s ingrained hostility to the Torah and Yiddishkeit. Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro once said (presumably quoting the Brisker Rov) that one should not make the mistake of believing that the State of Israel was founded and then decided to fight against the Torah. The reality, he explained, is that the state was established for the purpose of fighting the Torah. Sadly, the enemies of Yiddishkeit do not understand that they are merely drilling holes in the proverbial boat in which we are all traveling. They are rebelling against Hashem Himself specifically at a time when the middas hadin is in force, and they are endangering the very existence of the country!
From Philadelphia to the Knesset
The Knesset recess often presents me with an opportunity to write about some of the employees who frequent the building. The Knesset is a very interesting place to work; it is almost like a state within a state, with its own budget and its own bylaws and almost no oversight. I am not sure if the state comptroller is even allowed to enter the building without special authorization, and I am certain that the accountant general does not have any special access to the Knesset. But this does not prevent Israel’s parliament from running like a well-oiled machine.
One employee of the Knesset who could easily be the subject of an entire article is Mordechai Gonen, who works in the printing department. Gonen is a resident of Mattersdorf who is a walking kiddush Hashem, and whose sons and sons-in-law are elite talmidim in their respective yeshivos and kollelim. Then there is Chaim Rabinowitz, a Boyaner chossid whom everyone recognizes from the annual bonfire in Meron and who works in the office of the Knesset director-general. Rabinowitz is heavily involved in the Boyaner hadlokah on Lag Ba’omer and in the hillula in general, but in the Knesset, he serves as an aide to the director-general. And it turns out that this Boyaner chossid can win the affection of high-ranking political figures. He is both intelligent and highly personable.
However, I would like to focus on a different individual: Moshe (Martin) Kahan, whom I encounter regularly at the Knesset shul. I have long wondered about his exact role in the Knesset; he is a relatively older, distinguished-looking man who wears a badge identifying him as a Knesset employee. I presumed for a while that he was a computer expert (since many employees in the computer department are chareidim) or something of the sort, but I eventually learned that he is one of the group of retirees who responded to a notice that the Knesset was seeking tour guides. Today, he serves as a tour guide for visitors who speak English, which is his native tongue. When I heard that, I began to take even more interest in his story.
Moshe Kahan was born in Philadelphia and completed his university studies in the 1960s. He grew up in a family with a traditional Jewish background, but his home was devoid of mitzvah observance and he knew very little about Yiddishkeit. His father was an immigrant from Russia who spoke Yiddish, and his mother lit candles and kept kosher, but that was the extent of their observance. He was aware of the existence of a yeshiva in Philadelphia, but he never visited it.
Kahan attributes his return to Judaism to an encounter with Rav Meir Schuster, the tzaddik who used to stand at the Kosel and approach young American visitors, whom he would introduce to Rav Noach Weinberg in Aish HaTorah or other yeshivos such as Ohr Somayach or Dvar Yerushalayim. Kahan began his time in Israel as a volunteer at Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz and then moved on to Haifa while he worked as a teacher in Afula. He gradually became religious and eventually joined Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Yerushalayim. After his marriage, he resided in various neighborhoods in Yerushalayim — Arzei Habirah, Itri, Mattersdorf, and ultimately Meah Shearim, where he lived for 14 years during the majority of his children’s formative years. He is proud of the children he has raised; some of them are yeshvish, some are settlers, and some are chassidim (in the communities of Nadvorna, Lelov, Sadigur, Rachmastrivka, Belz, and Vizhnitz). Most of his children speak Yiddish, a language that he does not understand. I also found it interesting that he worked for 14 years as the administrator of the Kamenetz yeshiva and became a close associate of both Rav Yitzchok Scheiner and Rav Asher Lichstein.
Moshe Kahan taught English, wrote books in English, and published a periodical known as Yiddishkeit for ten years while serving as a neighborhood tour guide as well. He also trained as a guide in Yad Vashem and learned to be a medical clown on behalf of Simchas Halev, an organization for which he volunteers in hospitals. “They are opening a course in Beit El; you are welcome to join it,” he told me. He lives in Beit El today and has previously lived in Shiloh and Efrat. He is certainly a very interesting person. He also spent twenty years managing dental clinics that provided treatment to the poor.
Kahan shared an interesting story with me. “When I was in Kamenetz, we wanted to get a letter of recommendation from Rav Ovadiah Yosef for Rav Lipa Zilberman’s cheder, which had 600 boys,” he recalled. “We decided to go to the chief rabbi’s office in Heichal Shlomo; we arrived without booking an appointment in advance, and we found him in the middle of writing a teshuvah. We were ushered into his office, he heard our request, and he immediately picked up a pen and wrote a letter. He didn’t need to write a first draft or have a gabbai or secretary write it for him. I can tell you that it was an excellent and very precise letter, and it was also written in beautiful handwriting. He did not make even a single mistake or erase a single letter.”
When he reached the age of retirement, Kahan left his work in the dental clinics and Kamenetz. He continued serving as a guide in Yad Vashem (and Yad Ben Tzvi), but when the Knesset advertised that they were searching for senior citizens to join a pilot program working in the visitors’ center, he applied for a position. Out of the 150 applicants, only ten were accepted, and Kahan was one of them. The pilot was successful, and the ten participants recently signed up for another year of work.
Moshe Kahan served as the tour guide for a delegation of visitors from Shuvu in America and Europe, and the guests hailed him for his professionalism and knowledge. He also served as a guide for a group of students from Toronto, who visited the Knesset in a project organized by the Wolfson family of New York. Thanks to Rabbi Boruch Weiss, who writes in Yated Neeman, I had the opportunity to join the tour and to hear Reb Moshe.
I complimented Reb Moshe on his expertise, and he replied modestly, “I think that I am a good guide, and I try to make sure that people enjoy their visits. I try to show them the good side of the people of Israel and the positive aspects of our democracy, which cannot be separated from our traditions.”
“Did you, as a religious guide, just happen to be assigned to the students from Toronto, or was it deliberate?” I asked.
“I am not sure that the staff of the visitors’ center gave any thought to it,” he replied. “It’s more reasonable to chalk it up to hashgocha pratis. I enjoy serving every visitor, but I certainly have even more pleasure from serving a group of religious visitors. But the most important thing is for them to gain from their visit,” he concluded.
