This past Erev Shabbos was the 24th yahrzeit of HaGaon HaRav Elazer Menachem Man Shach, z’tl.
On the day of the yahrzeit, HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman, HaRav Shach’s son-in-law, visited his kever and spoke words of chizzuk at his yeshivah, Yeshivas Rashbi in Bnei Brak.
At the kever, HaRav Bergman addressed the situation in the Olam HaTorah, saying, “It must be stated here that for a long time already, the bnei yeshivos hakedoshos have been persecuted. Already many years ago, I heard from Rav Shach that such an era will come—when every father would have to protect his children himself, that chas v’shalom they be taken into the army, and that one must be prepared to sacrifice oneself for this.”
“Woe unto us that this has befallen us in our days, and we have no one to rely on. Therefore, we ask here from Rabbeinu HaGadol, z’tl that he go before the Kisei Hakavod and plead for mercy on the Olam HaTorah, that this evil gezeirah be annulled.”
It should be noted that HaRav Shach, z’tl also foresaw the withdrawal of state funding for yeshivos.
HaRav Bergman has said many times in the name of HaRav Shach, z’tl, that if a day comes when all bnei yeshivos are drafted, it is considered a gezeiras shmad and one must give up their life to avoid complying with it.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
13 Responses
Why do we complain when some go to the Ohel and ask their Rebbe to intercede on their behalf? I always thought that was forbidden. Isn’t that EXACTLY what the Rosh Yeshiva Shlita did? As quoted, “…we ask here from Rabbeinu HaGadol, z’tl that he go before the Kisei Hakavod and plead for mercy…”
Question: Mishnah Berurah 581:27 clearly writes: We visit graves because a cemetery where tzaddikim are interred is a place where prayers are more readily answered. But one should not place his trust in the dead. He should just ask Hashem to have mercy on him in the merit of the tzaddikim who are interred here.
You pray that in the person’s Merit you will be helped or that they will pray for you, but God forbid to ever pray to the dead person and not Hashem, that would be a problem of idol worship
The evil of the Zionist regime is so off the charts that anyone who supports such a body any of their branches institutions is tzarich bedikah
The Satmar Rebbe Reb Yoelish saw it years ago
There is one solution
Stop taking money from the government!!!
Halevai the people at the Chabad Lubavitch tomb would do just that. Unfortunately, too many go too far in their veneration of their late Rebbuh.
Doresh la’meisim is prohibited for stam yidden, but maybe gedolim know when one is allowed to break away from normative halacha.
This is ridiculous. No one is persecuting bnei yeshivos.
This is the same classic mistake Chareidi leadership makes all the time, fighting the battles of 100 years ago.
Let Rav Shach Zt”l rest in peace, and don’t drag something he said 50 years ago into this.
No one cares if you’re chareidi, dati, chiloni, purple or orange.
What people care about is that there is a huge need for soldiers , and fully one quarter of the draft eligible males are not joining.
It says that Rav Bergman asked Rav Shach to go before the Kisei Hakavod and plead on behalf of the olam haTorah. This is not considered davening to a person. There are opinions that one may ask a niftar to intercede with Hashem. However, according to the Mishnah Berurah and others, the proper approach is to daven to Hashem, and the niftar may then be aroused to intercede on one’s behalf.
Casually reader
Rav schach said it 25 years ago not 50 and he said it about now right now not then l.
how could he speak about how because he was a big chochom and what he said was that a father will need to protect his child with his life not to join the filthy decadent idf and all its kefirah and he should risk his life so his son does not join the sin called the idf
Rebbetzin – Chas Veshalom this isn’t “doresh el hameisim” (which actually is referring to attempting to ‘contact’ the dead through unholy means). One can ask the Neshama of a departed Tzaddik to daven for you like one asks a living Tzaddik to do so, (or like asking the Tzibbur to say Tehillim for a choleh), and neither of those things is considered to be an ‘intermediary’ ח״ו. We find this already by Calev ben Yefuneh who went to מערת המכפלה and said אבותי בקשו עלי רחמים.
CasualReader – This has nothing to do with a need for more soldiers, and started before the war did. This topic has been beaten to death in the ‘Coffee Room’ for months. בקיצור, this is a coup attempt by the SC/AG junta to topple the Netanyahu government by forcing him into conflict with the Chareidim. Nothing more. The last thing the IDF needs on its head are 80,000 Chareidim with special needs the army brass don’t want to be bothered to accommodate, and who aren’t really ‘with the program’. If and when the IDF will actually need Chareidim, the army will have to engage with them in good faith and learn to keep their promises. The SC will also have to allow the elected government to legalize gender separation in the IDF…
Yaakov Yosef A – obviously you do not know that it is prohibited as per Be’ur Hetev end of s. 581 and Eishel Avrohom there, and Chatyay Odom Klal 138, 5. Plus many other poskim, (aside from Mishne Brura 581:27) that explicitly forbid talking to the deceased and asking of them to pray on our behalf. They consider it included in the prohibition of doresh l’meisim. Look, there might be a heter that justifies it, in an emergency or a need that overrides halacha.
Yaakov Yosef A – #2 regarding the “proof” brought from Calev ben Yefuneh, who went to pray at the מערת המכפלה, the poskin already answered that from there is no proof because he went to pray there TO HASHEM because it is a holy place, and not to ask for the Avos to intercede on his behalf. You may disagree, but that is what the poskim explain in several seforim.