What happened next? After the Yeshiva of Volozhin was closed, dozens of new yeshivas sprouted over time throughout Lithuania. The yeshiva world flourished and subsequently grew to many times its previous size. To this day we continue to benefit from the fruits of that period.
All this came about because the entire Jewish people shared the sense that the yeshiva’s existence was vital to the nation and that its closing was a national tragedy.
I recently had the zechus of davening at the kever of the Chofetz Chaim in Radin, and at the kever of Rav Chaim of Volozhin. I could not help but think, “What happened to all those people who so cruelly sought to still the voice of Torah by closing the Yeshiva of Volozhin? Where are they now? They have been relegated to the dust heap of history. The yeshivas, the Chofetz Chaim’s sefarim, however, are alive, well, and thriving.”
* * * * *
This brings us to the third recent major event alluded to above. That event is in truth not one event but rather a remarkably unifying series of events I would like to highlight. We have just completed a series of worldwide siyumim marking the completion of the first cycle of Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha daily halacha and mussar sefer learning program. Siyumim were held in the largest indoor stadium in Israel and in large venues in the United States, England, France, South Africa, and South America. Tens of thousands worldwide attended these siyumim.
We are grateful to Hashem that we have been privileged to institute this program and that over the years we have experienced tremendous siyata d’shmaya, with the program spreading throughout the world and its membership rapidly rising.
In honor of this wonderful occasion, we have been privileged to participate in siyumim graced by the attendance of the zekeinim, the elders and scholars of the Jewish people, with rabbanim and Torah scholars of every stripe and from every circle within Klal Yisrael, all who came for a single purpose – to demonstrate the value of learning halacha and to promote its study.
The Derishah (Yoreh Deah 446) makes a famous statement cited by the Mishnah Berurah (155:3): If a person sets aside time only for the study of Gemara and its commentaries, he has not thereby fulfilled the requirement of kevius ittim l’Torah – having a set time for Torah study. A person must also designate a time for the study of practical halacha, for, as the Derishah explains, “That is the root and essence of our Torah.”
The Mishnah Berurah (1:12) also rules that a person must have a set time daily for the study of mussar works, “for the greater a person is, the greater is his yetzer hara, and the antidote for the yetzer hara is the admonitions and teachings of Chazal.”
From all this, it is clear that it is the Will of Hashem for every individual to set aside a period of time each day for the study of halacha and mussar.
We can never definitively know why Divine Providence saw fit to unearth the film of the Chofetz Chaim now, but certainly it is not a coincidence. Perhaps we should take it as a sign that in Heaven they are asking us to rededicate ourselves to the teachings of the Chofetz Chaim.
Could it be that this is Hashem’s way of telling us, “My dear children, it is time to rededicate yourselves to the daily learning of the hallowed sefer Mishnah Berurah that My servant the Chofetz Chaim wrote”?
Is it possible that Hashem is enjoining us, “My dear children, the Chofetz Chaim left us a legacy of shmiras halashon and ethical conduct and it is time we recommit ourselves to learning those famed and vitally important classical works”?
