HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Yedidya Zafrani, Av Beis Din of Kesser Torah, a Rosh Kollel in Yeshivas Tiferes Shraga, and the Rosh Yeshivah of a yeshivah ketanah in Har Nof, spoke words of chizzuk to Bnei Torah in an interview with Kol Chai host Betzalel Kahn on Tuesday
“We’re beginning to read [in the Parsha] about the descent to Mitzrayim, about Galus and Geulah,” the Rosh Yeshivah began. “The entire purpose of going down to Mitzrayim was—’When you take the people out of Mitzrayim, you will serve Hashem on this mountain.’ We went down into the iron furnace not for the spoils of silver and gold, but in order to receive the Torah.”
He added that the question of how Avraham Avinu remained silent regarding the decree of Galus, while he stood and argued for Sodom and Amorah, is answered by the words of the Zohar: “The Dor Hambul was supposed to be the generation that received the Torah, but ‘all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.’ Therefore we went down to Egypt to rectify this, and the ‘great wealth’ is the redemption of speech—Pesach, peh‑sach (the mouth that speaks). When there is speech, there is Torah.”
Rav Zafrani stressed that the very essence of the existence of Am Yisrael emerges here. “Our nation is a nation only through its Torah. The Torah is not just ‘bread for ’life’—the Torah is life itself. And when you stop life, there’s a danger of death. That’s the meaning of Rebi Akiva’s words in the mashal of the fox and the fish.”
Addressing Bnei Torah directly, he said, “Dear bochurim, precious avreichim, you are not just partners in the burden—you’re the ones who uphold the entire burden. ‘And you shall meditate on it day and night’—this is what sustains Am Yisrael, both in times of war and in times of decrees.”
“They want to secularize us. Pharaoh decreed openly—an enemy from outside. But Lavan the Arami spoke nicely, with a smile, and sought ‘to uproot everything’—that’s much more dangerous. This is the Galus of Greece—a Galus among Jews.”
At the same time, the Rav clarified that there are differing approaches among Gedolei Yisrael: “There are Gedolim who say not to conduct a dialogue, and there are Gedolim who say yes, to conduct a dialogue. This is not a dispute; it is a difference of perspectives. Like Rebbi Yossi ben Kisma versus Rebbi Chananya ben Teradyon—a natural view versus a supernatural view. Who am I to decide? Gedolei Yisrael will decide.”
The Rav emphasized that the current reality is not random: “The hearts of kings and ministers are in Hashem’s hand. A decree—by nature—is destined to be annulled. The Borei Olam is orchestrating events in order to demand more mesirus nefesh from us, more toil in Torah, and more effort.”
“We’re not surrendering, not raising our hands. Everything that happens is from Hashem Yisbarach. And with His help, through the steadfastness of Bnei Torah, Malchus Shamayim will be revealed and the yeshuah will come to Israel speedily—Amen.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
Kind of makes it sound like the soldiers don’t shoulder any burden.
What a dumb thing to say in the current climate.
Who fought in milchemes mitzvah? The bums or tzadikim? Sounds like a maskilish position.
Don’t know who this is, I assume a Talmud Chacham. Even if he believes this, it is a very insensitive thing to say to people who have lost limbs, children, parents and friends. Sensitivity is also a חלק of Torah. It would be a good idea for people on all sides of the debate to remember that.
they don’t want you in the army, they want the army in you.
the army and not yahadus thee Zionist jew and not thee Torah jew
anyone who doesn’t see that is an idiot
Thankfully the tzaddik doesn’t have to come here and read the words of hatred that inevitably pop up after they say anything, thankfully the commenters stay where they belong on some random Jewish news board where they remain irrelevant forever. Yes I know the irony of that last sentence but hey at least I’m on the side of the righteous
DJM:
Yes, that is right. The actual burden of ensuring the continued existence of the Jewish people (and, liHavdil, the entire world) is carried only by those who learn Torah and follow Hashem’s commandments.
10/7 should have made very clear that it is only Hashem (including his rules re: Torah and Mitzvos) that saves and protects, no matter how much money anyone spends. (The Zionists’ Gaza wall cost over 1 Billion “NIS”, yet the savages plowed through it in over 100 places!)
pinkapple:
Milchemes mitzva has zero relevance to this. The Zionist army has nothing to do with Judaism; in fact, it is likely the greatest force opposing Judaism. Of course, only tzaddikim fought in actual Jewish armies in history.
TorahTruth and beisyosef :
The article indicates that he “spoke words of chizzuk to Bnei Torah”.
In other words, he was saying this to Jews under Zionist threat of being shmaded in their army.
Enough of this nonsense.
Everyone needs to serve in the Army. People saying things like this Rabbi is saying are out of touch and should be ignored.
Many chareidim want to serve.
All they need is for the proper permission structure to exist.
The only way that will happen is by “leapfrogging” over the objections of out of touch leadership
there are many bnai torah fighting in the war the hesder boys and others why do they not recedive any credit. Something is wrong here. I am afraid to think what would be if there was no army.
People think that hashem.doesnt exist and that we’re under attack by arabs constantly for fun bec hashem forgot us . Learn to read chumash and see WHY