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30 July 2026

Eikev: The Chofetz Chaim Relates The Saga of the Closing of the Volozhin Yeshiva

The Hilltop Youth Are Heroes | The Story the Media Refuses to Tell

When the media talks about Judea and Samaria, the headlines almost always focus on "settler violence." But what if they're ignoring the far bigger story? In this Pulse of Israel video, Avi Abelow explains why the hilltop youth are among the unsung heroes protecting Israel's future, the Jewish people and the frontline for the whole freedom-loving world against jihad. 16, 17, 18 year old, and young families who put their lives on the line to be shepards and hold on to the land of Israel, instead of trying to get famous on TikTok? What an unbelievable generation of youth. Following a devastating weekend of terror arson attacks that destroyed homes in Chavat Gilad and targeted Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria, together with ongoing rock attacks, shootings, livestock theft, and illegal construction surrounding Jewish communities, Avi asks a simple question: Why does the media spend so much time demonizing the young Jews living on Israel's front lines instead of highlighting the daily terrorism they face? These young pioneers are not chasing comfort or social media fame. They are choosing to build farms, raise sheep, establish communities, and maintain a Jewish presence in strategic areas that many believe help prevent illegal encroachment and strengthen security for nearby communities. While not every action taken by every individual should be beyond criticism, Avi argues that their overall contribution to Israel's security and Zionist mission deserves far greater recognition than it receives. The video also examines the broader debate over deterrence, media narratives, security policy after October 7, and why many Israelis believe Judea and Samaria remain one of the most critical fronts in Israel's struggle against jihadist terrorism. Watch, share your thoughts, and decide for yourself whether the hilltop youth deserve condemnation, or gratitude. If you appreciate independent pro-Israel content that challenges mainstream narratives, Like, Subscribe, and Share this video.

Series on Efforts to Abolish Charedim, the Torah Kedosha, and Deny God: 3. Friend or Foe?

CLARIFICATION - Ezram UMaginam

Rabbi Winston: Aikev

THE GEMORA DOES not speak too highly about flatterers, but a little flattery can have its place in life. If you want to learn the art of flattery, use AI. The compliments it will throw your way will leave you feeling great and accomplished. I did after.

If you want to see how NOT to flatter someone, read this week’s parsha. In it, G–D tells the Jewish People in no uncertain terms what’s what:

Do not say to yourself, when G–D, your G–D has repelled them from before you, “Because of my righteousness G–D has brought me to possess this land”…It is not because of your righteousness or honesty of heart that you possess their land. It is because of the wickedness of these nations that G–D your G–D drives them out from before you, and in order to fulfill what G–D swore to your forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov…You are a stiff-necked people, and you should remember and not forget how you angered G–D, your G–D, in the desert. From the day you went out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place you have been rebelling against G–D. (Devarim 9:4-7)

Ouch. It all sounds so “bidieved.” In halachah, that’s when a situation arises that is permissible but not ideal. It’s not the way you are supposed to do things in the first place (l’chatchilah), but if it happened to occur you can still move forward.

And, it is one thing to be told that by a spouse, business partner, or friend. It is something different to be told that by G–D who only knows and speaks truth. Well, at least in the ultimate sense of it. Humans may seek false praise, but G–D offers painful but necessary truth.

When I was a teenager, my father got me a job one summer with a graphic artist painting houses. It took some time, and a little damage here and there, but eventually I learned some of his tricks of the trade, and the following summer I took on my own jobs successfully doing the same thing.

Years later it came out that my father had actually secretly given the money to the graphic artist who had “hired” me to pay for my salary. At the time, I took offense because I had believed that I had earned my salary on my own, and now I had found out that the only reason the man hired and paid me was because it wasn’t his money. He got free help, and I got paid for training.

It took a couple of years of growing up (and extra humility) to change my perspective on that. I had realized how good my father had been to me, and how fortunate I had been to get such valuable training at no cost to me. It allowed me to go out on my own the next year and actually earn my own money, and have great fun doing it. Over time, I became extremely grateful to my father and, fortunately, it was better late than never.

In other words, it may have sounded bidieved, but in fact it was “l’chatchilah” for the Jewish nation to know that Eretz Yisroel was a gift to them, and not earned. When you earn something, you develop a sense of entitlement, and that hadn’t worked out for us very well until that time. The biggest problem we have today is how entitled everyone feels about what they have or want in life. It’s ruining people and the world.

Receiving the land as a gift made them more aware of their tenuous relationship with it. It was intended to make them feel a need to earn it for themselves by how they lived on it. And it worked for a while until people started feeling they had the land in their own merit. Once that became the perspective the clocked started counting down to destruction and exile.

Have a great Shabbos.

Pinchas Winston

Rabbi Wein: Ekev

WEEKLY PARSHA FROM THE DESTINY ARCHIVES
Ekev

In this week's portion, the Torah seemingly indicates that there is a simple formula for Jewish life and success while living in the land of Israel. If we follow the commandments of G–D and observe the laws of the Torah, the Jewish people will be showered with physical blessings of health, longevity, and prosperity. And if the Jewish people, for whatever reasons, chooses to deviate from the service of G–D, then physical calamities will befall them.

A literal reading of the Torah portion would certainly bring the reader or student to this conclusion. And yet, this understanding, i.e., observance of the commandments as the determining factor in achieving blessings and success in life in this world, flies in the face of the famous victim of the rabbis of the Talmud, that states that a reward for observing the commandments does not really exist in this world

If that is the case, then what are we to make of the obviously literal lesson that this week's Torah portion seemingly teaches us? If reward and punishment are not to be based upon the performance of the commandments, then what does the Torah really mean to teach us? These issues and questions have been raised by the scholars and commentators for many centuries. As one can well imagine, there are several different approaches to this question. All of them are worthy of mention, but in this short essay, I will restrict myself to one of the central ideas advanced regarding this problem.

The promises advanced by the Torah for the observance of the commandments is not meant as a reward, so much as it is intended to be a natural consequence of good behavior and enduring faith. True reward and permanent blessings are rare events in human existence. Many times, a person rejoices when having what he or she believes, to be a stroke of good luck. Unfortunately, just as often in life, it turns out that the good luck was not so good after all. And the same thing is true in reverse. Many times, we are discouraged by events that occurred to us, only to later see, in the fullness of time, that we should be grateful for that experience. Heaven uses a different measure of goodness and reward than the one that we use in this world.

We all pray for length of life and longevity of years. However, we have learned that our father Abraham, who was apparently scheduled to live for 180 years, passed away five years prematurely. The Talmud saw this as a blessing, so that he would not be alive when his grandson Esau began his sinful rampage of murder and rape. Standards of reward and punishment that are exhibited by heavenly judgment are beyond human comprehension and understanding. And the rewards of heaven are eternal, while all the good or benefit in this world is always temporary. Therefore, it is indeed possible to say that reward and punishment are truly not present in this world.

Shabbat shalom

Rabbi Berel Wein

Reb Neuberger: Returning to Gan Eden

RETURNING TO GAN EDEN

Following Tisha b’Av we enter the “second half” of the summer, which is dominated by the approach of Chodesh Elul, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Season of Teshuva.

What kind of year will 5787 be? The world is a dangerous place, filled with high tempers and angry voices directed at Am Yisroel. Sensitive people feel the imminence of the Geulah Shelemah, but we want to see it!

With that in mind, how should we approach the Season of Teshuva?

“Rabbi Yehuda expounded: In the future days, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will bring the yetzer ha ra and slaughter it in the presence of the righteous and the presence of the wicked ….” (Sukkah 52a) The Ramban writes that, in the Days of Moshiach, when “Hashem will circumcise [our] hearts,” (Dvarim 30:6), there will be no more yetzer ha ra; mankind will naturally do good. Thus, he says, there will be “no more credit or obligation, because the desire for evil will have been eliminated.”

But who would want to live in such a world, where there is apparently no reward for doing good? Will we be like robots?

I believe that the answer sheds light on our avoda for the Season of Teshuva.

Adam and Chava unleashed a catastrophe when they violated the one mitzvah of Gan Eden. They were expelled from that perfect garden and cast into a world of suffering and death. But how could it be that Adam, who lived in a perfect environment, would willingly deviate from Hashem’s command?

Rav Eliahu Eliezer Dessler zt”l writes that Adam was actually trying to accomplish a mitzvah by doing the aveira. In other words, he thought he could ascend to a higher level of ruchnius by confronting an evil which had hitherto been foreign to him. But he was unprepared for the power of the yetzer ha ra with its infinite depths of darkness.

For almost six thousand years, the children of Adam and Chava have been trying to undo the tragic sin of our first parents. The Nation of Israel was created to accomplish this, to overcome the Yetzer ha Ra and reopen the Gates of Gan Eden.

At Har Sinai we actually regained that perfect state. We lost it soon again when our ancestors sinned with the aigel, but the Children of Israel never give up! “For, although the righteous man may fall seven times, he will arise! (Mishlei 24:16)

What is blocking our way? Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch zt”l, writes that the cruvim, who stand with their “ever-turning” swords at the entrance to Gan Eden, can be understood in one of two ways. “Either [they BLOCK] the way to the tree of life, so that man will NOT be able to [return] or [they PRESERVE] the way … so that … man SHOULD [be able to] return some day.” (Rav Hirsch on Beraishis 3:24)

Perhaps, when Hashem slaughters the yetzer ha ra in the days of Moshiach, this will represent the culmination of thousands of years of unending avoda on the part of the Children of Israel, who have labored “b’chol levavchem uv’chol nafshechem” to bring us back to Gan Eden. This will have been our historic mission throughout history.

Please listen to this letter written by the Chazon Ish to one of his students: “Strengthen yourself, my dear one … and envelop yourself … in Torah. It is for this purpose that you were created. With just a little more [effort] you will be able to come to grips with your evil inclination. Then his defeat will be total, and he will no longer bother you. Just overcome him today and he will be your faithful servant for all time.” (From the book, “In Their Shadow” by Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz zt”l)

Several times I was privileged to daven by the minyan of Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l. When one entered his daled amos, it was as if there were a sign at the doorway, “No entry allowed for the Evil Inclination.” You felt as if you were entering Gan Eden.

Rabbi Hirsch says further, “the … purpose of [our spiritual struggles throughout the millennia has been] to guide man toward moral perfection, which will pave the way for his return to Paradise.” (Hirsch Chumash, Beraishis 3:19)

May we see it soon in our days!

The Perfect Garden

GLOSSARY

5787: Next year in the Jewish calendar

Adam & Chava: Adam and Eve

Aigel: the Golden Calf

Am Yisroel: the Jewish People

Aveira: an act prohibited by the Torah

B’chol levavchem …. with all our heart and soul

Chodesh Elul: the Jewish month before Rosh Hashanah

Cruvim: the two sword-bearing angels who stand at the entrance to Gan Eden

Daled amos: immediate presence

Gan Eden: the Garden of Eden

Geulah Shelemah: the Final Redemption of the Jewish People

Hakadosh Baruch Hu: G-d

Har Sinai: Mount Sinai

Teshuva: repentance

Yetzer ha ra: the Evil Inclination

Learn Yourself! Don't Rely on Your Children - The Chofetz Chaim Uncovers the Message of the Kri/Ksiv

איך נלחמים נגד הגיוס? מרן ראש הישיבה הגרמ"ה הירש שליט"א במשא הדרכה מכונן לאלפי העולים לישיבות גדולות

בתוך משאו עמד בדבריו: "מורי ורבותי, אתם נכנסים כעת למצב שניתן לומר שהוא הכי חשוב בחיים שלכם. הזמן שבו עולים מישיבה קטנה לישיבה גדולה הוא זמן היסוד. אתם בונים כעת את היסוד הרוחני לגבי כל החיים שלכם. ההתמדה בישיבה גדולה היא היסוד להתמדה של כל החיים; התפילה, המידות הטובות, הדקדוק בהלכה - ככל שתעלו ותתעלו בדברים אלו, זה יהיה היסוד של כל חייכם. תכלית החיים של כולנו היא להידבק בהקדוש ברוך הוא, והדרך לכך היא על ידי תלמוד תורה. ככל שיש יותר תלמוד תורה בכמות ובאיכות, כך יש יותר דביקות. זה מתחיל עכשיו, ועל פי מה שתעשו בישיבה גדולה ייבנה היסוד של כל החיים. לכן צריכים להיזהר מאוד לא לזלזל בשום רגע: לנצל את הזמן בישיבה גדולה כל הזמן, ללכת לישון בזמן, לקום בזמן ולא לבטל תורה". ראש הישיבה עמד על היצרים החדשים העומדים בפני הבחור בעוברו לישיבה גדולה: "יש יצר הרע חדש. עד עכשיו הייתם בישיבה קטנה, תחת שליטה של הישיבה ושל המשגיח, ורובכם גרתם בבית תחת שליטת ההורים. כעת יש תחושת שחרור. בלילה אף אחד לא יודע מה אתם עושים. עצם הדבר שבן אדם מרגיש משוחרר - זו סיבה בפני עצמה שבאמצעותה היצר הרע יכול לתפוס את האדם. "היה פעם בחור חסידי מאמריקה שהגיע כבחור חזק מאוד, ותפסתי אותו שהלך לקולנוע. הרגשתי שאני יכול להקל עליו, השארתי אותו בישיבה והוא התחיל ללמוד. כיום הוא מחנך גדול מאוד. כששאלתי אותו איך בחור כמוהו עשה דבר כזה, הוא ענה: 'באתי לארץ ישראל, הרגשתי משוחרר, ולכן עשיתי זאת'. תדעו ששחרור הוא יצר הרע, וחשוב להתגבר עליו". י"צר הרע שני הוא ההרגשה 'אני חכם, אני כבר בישיבה גדולה ואני יכול להחליט מה טוב לי, אני לא צריך לשמוע מה אומרים לי ראש הישיבה או המשגיח'. זו טעות גדולה. למעשה אתם עדיין צריכים לשמוע לכללים של המשגיח וראשי הישיבות, ולא לחשוב שאתם חכמים יותר." "הנקודה השלישית: בחור שנכנס לישיבה גדולה עלול לחשוב שהוא 'לא מסוג המתמידים' או 'לא מסוג הצדיקים'. תדעו שכאשר נכנסים לישיבה גדולה - פנים חדשות באו לכאן! אתם בחורים אחרים לגמרי, 'חפצא' אחר. תשכחו מכל החולשות שהיו לכם בישיבה קטנה. אל תחשבו 'אני סוג כזה'. אין דבר כזה". "גם בחורים שהיו בינוניים בישיבה קטנה - בישיבה גדולה אתם יכולים להיות מצוינים! ומאידך, בחור שהיה מצוין בישיבה קטנה צריך לדעת שלימוד בישיבה גדולה הוא משהו אחר. הלימוד קשה יותר ודורש התמדה גדולה יותר. אל תישברו אם אינכם מספר אחד בשיעור; תעשו את המקסימום שלכם ותצליחו". "בחור צריך להיכנס לישיבה גדולה עם שאיפות גדולות מאוד: שאיפה לדעת את כל התורה כולה, לדעת הלכה במאה אחוז, לקיים כל מצווה כראוי ולהיות בדרגה הגבוהה ביותר בבין אדם לחברו. החפץ חיים אומר שהיצר הרע מנסה להכניס באדם הרגשה ש'זה לא בשבילי, זה בשביל עילויים'. זו עצת היצר! כל אחד יכול ללמוד בהתמדה עצומה ולדקדק במצוות". "בנוסף, מרן רבי אהרן קוטלר זצ"ל אמר שאדם מפחד לקבל על עצמו עול תורה, אך מי שמקבל עול תורה - לבסוף התורה מתוקה לו. גם כשיש סוגיה קשה ואין בה הנאה מיידית, יש סיפוק עצום בידיעה שעושים את הדבר הכי חשוב בחיים." "צריך לשאוף להכי גדול, אך לפי הכוחות והכשרונות שלך. אם בחור צריך שבע שעות שינה, שלא יישן חמש וחצי שעות רק כי חברו עושה זאת, כי אז ייפול לגמרי. עיקר העיון הוא בהירות נפלאה, ולא אמירת מילים בעלמא. רבי חיים מוולוז'ין זצ"ל אומר שאם אדם נמצא במצב של ירידה ואין לו חשק, שלא יעזוב את הלימוד. אם יש לך אפשרות ללמוד ב-30% - תלמד ב-30%, ומתוך כך תגיע בחזרה ל-100%". בסיום משאו התייחס ראש הישיבה לגזירת הגיוס: "כולנו יודעים שיש גזירות נגד עולם התורה, גזירת הגיוס, ובאים נגדנו בכל האופנים. צריכים לדעת: הדרך של בני התורה להילחם נגד זה היא על ידי לימוד התורה עצמו, דקדוק במצוות והתקשרות להקדוש ברוך הוא. אם אנחנו קשורים להקב"ה, זה יביא לנו סייעתא דשמיא. אם נחיה בתחושה של 'ויודעי שמך', נחשוב מה ה' רוצה ונלמד בהתמדה - שום דבר לא יקרה, וננצח אותם לגמרי! אין מה לדאוג בכלל. הקדוש ברוך הוא יעזור לכל אחד להגיע למדרגות הכי גבוהות בתורה, בתפילה ובמידות, ונזכה להביא כבוד שמיים ולביאת הגאולה השלמה בב"א".

🎶מה השיר שהלחין זקן הרבנים הרב נבנצאל מול רדיפת לומדי התורה? ארי היל בסינגל חדש ומחזק ל'לומדי התורה'

קרדיטים: יוזמה: הרב שלמה רענן - איילת השחר. לחן: בנצי שטיין. מילים: רבי אביגדור נבנצאל שליט"א. עיבוד והפקה מוזיקלית: אלי קליין & איצי ברי. גיטרה ובס: נחמן הלביץ. מיקס ומאסטרינג: אלי קליין & איצי ברי. עיצוב עטיפה: שניאור קורטס. הפקה וייצוג אמנים: נטע לוין. באדיבות ובתמיכת: מנחם טוקר ותכנית זמן אוויר. יחסי ציבור ותקשורת: ישראל רוזן. מילות השיר: מי מי מי שברך אבותינו אברהם יצחק ויעקב ונתם לנו את התורה הקדושה הוא יברך את לומדי התורה הקדוש ברוך הוא יחזק כוחם לעלות מעלה מעלה במעלות התורה ויזכו לראות פני המשיח במהרה בימינו. איצי ברי, אלי קליין, ארי היל, בנצי שטיין, הרב אביגדור נבנצאל, הרב שלמה רענן, לומדי התורה

Eikev: JEWISH HUMOR {After the Churban}

Those who call them parasites are the real parasites!

HaGaon HaRav Shraga Steinman, Nasi of the Orchos Torah yeshivos network, spoke about the persecution of Lomdei Torah during a question-and-answer session with HaRav Eliav Miller, a renowned mechanech and the head of the Lev Shomea organization, which provides guidance and support hotlines for yeshiva bochurim and Chareidi high-school girls.

HaRav Eliav Miller: “Today there is unprecedented persecution of Torah, with people from within Klal Yisrael persecuting the Torah world. What is the proper perspective? There are bochurim here who are about to reach the age at which they themselves may be persecuted. How should they view this? What should their attitude be? They’re the soldiers of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Are people trying to harm them, or are they really trying to harm Hakadosh Baruch Hu? What should their inner perspective be?”

HaRav Shteinman replied: “The Rambam says at the end of Hilchos Shemittah V’Yovel that because Shevet Levi was set apart to learn Torah and serve Hashem, they are called ‘Hashem’s Army.’ Just as there is an Air Force, Ground Forces, and Navy, there is Hashem’s Army. And it is not only Shevet Levi. Anyone who understands what Torah is, separates himself from this world, and dedicates himself to learning Torah is part of Hashem’s Army.”

“In every generation there has been persecution. There are young people here who think this is something new. I remember that every few years there is another wave of hatred. There was a time when they were searching for a boy named Yossele. A religious child couldn’t walk down the street without being beaten and asked, ‘Tell me where Yossele is!’ Did I hide him? Did I kidnap him? That’s how it was. The harassment resumes every few years. It is the work of the yetzer hara. The same thing happened in Communist Russia—’Your destroyers and those who ruin you will come from among you.'”

“That is the way of the world. We are not frightened by it. ‘A decree is destined to be annulled.’ This too will pass. We have survived many hardships and many troubles, and, with Hashem’s help, we will survive this as well. The Torah—’Hashem will not forsake His people.’ The Torah will always endure. There were periods when it was more difficult and periods when it was easier, but the Torah and those who study it will always remain. They are the pinnacle. They are Hashem’s Army. We have nothing to fear.”

HaRav Miller: “The Rosh Yeshivah compares today’s persecution to the persecution under the Russians and the Bolsheviks…”

HaRav Shteinman: “Under the Bolsheviks, it was Jews who fought against Yiddishkeit! There was a Jewish department called the Yevsektsiya. They informed on people, and because of them Volozhin was closed. They were always the problem. They fought against Yiddishkeit. But we got through it. Every few years these problems arise, and then they pass.”

HaRav Miller: “Thousands of bochurim are sitting here. People call them ‘parasites.’ Are they parasites?”

HaRav Shteinman: “Those who call them that are the real parasites! Upon whom does the world exist? The Gemara says that the entire world was sustained in the merit of Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa, while he himself lived on a measure of carobs. The whole world is sustained by Torah! HaRav Chaim of Volozhin says: ‘Were it not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the laws of heaven and earth.’ If Limmud Torah were to cease for even one moment, the entire world would return to chaos! Everyone lives because of Limmud Torah! And they call them parasites?! But they simply don’t understand that. Not everyone merits that understanding.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2578979/hagaon-harav-shraga-shteinman-bnei-torah-are-parasites-theyre-the-parasites.html

Rav Nachman of Breslov on the Secret of Kinnus

Journey to Har Hakarmel - The Cave of Eliyahu Hanavi

Journey To Jerusalem: Old City; The Ohr Hachaim Shul & the Machlokes Ohr Hachaim & R Chaim Kanievsky

29 July 2026

היסטורי: כך שר המנהיג הגר”ד לנדו ניגון שהלחין רבי ברוך בער לפני 100 שנה

חביבות התורה: צפו בתיעוד נדיר ומיוחד משמחת שבע ברכות לנין רשכבה"ג רבינו מרן ראש הישיבה הגר"ד לנדו שליט"א כשהוא שר את הניגון הנודע של רבי ברוך בער ליבוביץ'.

YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.....B'yomeinu

THE LIONS OF SLABODKA

The LIONS OF SLABODKA

[If you scroll down to the names of the Prominent Rabbis you will recognize names that we read in the news, voices supporting Torah, Bnei Torah, standing tall for HKB”H and our Mesora, fighting for the Torah community, and hear some making bombastic statements that reach into every Israeli Neshoma. These Lions of Torah are responsible for the continuation of our way of life in a sometimes hostile world.] (please leave your comments)

JUST LIKE RABBI KOTLAR CARRIED THE TORAH TO AMERICA AND CREATED THE MIGHTY YESHIVA IN LAKEWOOD TO BRING THE WORD OF HASHEM PLANTED IN THE NEW WORLD, THE LIONS OF SLABODKA BROUGHT THE DVAR HASHEM TO ERETZ YISRAEL.

Yeshivas Slabodka (Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael) was a legendary Torah academy founded in 1881 in Slabodka (Vilijampolė), a suburb of Kovno, Lithuania, by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (the "Alter of Slabodka"). It became famous for pioneering the Mussar Movement (moral introspection), fostering elite analytical Talmudic study, and raising a generation of preeminent rabbinic leaders. [from an ai overview]

Foundation and Philosophy in Lithuania

Creation: Established in 1881 by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel under the spiritual influence of the Kovno Kollel and Rabbi Yisroel Salanter's ethical framework.

The Mussar Approach: Integrated rigorous, high-level Talmudic analysis with deep, daily character refinement (mussar).

Greatness of Man (Gadlus HaAdam): Promoted a unique philosophy emphasizing the supreme dignity, nobility, and potential of the human individual.

The "Standard": Encouraged students to dress cleanly and maintain an elevated, dignified external appearance to reflect internal greatness.

The Move to Hebron (1924)

Draft Pressures: Relocated a branch to Palestine in 1924 when Lithuania stopped exempting full-time yeshiva students from military conscription.
Establishment in Hebron: Led by Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein and joined later by the Alter of Slabodka, becoming the foundation of the Hebron Yeshiva.
1929 Tragedy: Hit hard by the 1929 Arab riots in Hebron where 25 students were murdered, forcing a permanent relocation to Jerusalem.

Destruction and Reestablishment

European Remnant: The original Kovno/Slabodka branch under Rabbi Yitzchak Sher functioned until the Holocaust, when most remaining faculty and students perished.
Post-War Rebirth: Reopened after World War II in Bnei Brak, Israel, by survivors, continuing its legacy as a prominent modern Lithuanian-style Torah academy

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This next section is from Wikipedia

From the second half of the 19th century onwards, Kovno became a hub of Jewish cultural activity in Lithuania. Prominent scholars included Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (the "Kovner Rav"; officiated 1864–96), Abraham Mapu, one of the first modern Hebrew writers, and Israel Isidor Elyashev, known as the "Ba'al Makhshoves," the first Yiddish literary critic. The yeshivot of Slobodka, particularly the Or HaChaim yeshivah founded by Tzvi Levitan around 1863 (also known as Yeshivas R' Hirschel), attracted students from other countries. Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as "Der Alter fun Slabodka" (The Elder of Slabodka), who had also founded several kollelim in the area, served as mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) and introduced Musar ideals there.

In 1882, Nosson Tzvi Finkel merged his kollelim and the Ohr Hachaim yeshiva to form the "Slabodka Yeshiva". Finkel oversaw the institution while Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz was appointed rosh yeshiva, a position he held until 1893. After his departure, Finkel appointed two brothers-in-law, Moshe Mordechai Epstein and Isser Zalman Meltzer, as rosh yeshivas. Meltzer left three years later to lead the Slutsk Yeshiva of the Ridvaz.

Division

In 1897, opposition to the Musar method emerged among the students, leading to a split in the yeshiva. The Musar movement followers moved to a separate building, while the opponents established the Knesses Beis Yitzchak yeshivah, named after Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor. Finkel, a strong proponent of the Musar movement, led the Knesses Yisrael faction. Epstein, who remained loyal to Finkel, continued his role at Knesses Yisrael despite being offered the position of rosh yeshiva at Knesses Beis Yitzchak.

Although there was initial rivalry between the two institutions, they eventually achieved a peaceful coexistence. This was largely due to Epstein becoming a posek in Slabodka under Moshe Danishevky, who served as Knesses Beis Yitzchak's rosh yeshiva, facilitating cooperation between the two rosh yeshivas.

World War I

Shortly after World War I began in 1914, some members of the yeshiva, including Finkel, Epstein, and the mashgiach ruchani Ber Hirsch Heller, fled Slabodka for Minsk, which was farther from the front lines. When the Germans started bombing Minsk, most of the yeshiva moved to Kremenchug, though a small group remained in Minsk under the leadership of Finkel's son, Moshe Finkel. The yeshiva in Kremenchug had approximately 40 to 50 students, in addition to the teachers and their families. In 1920, the yeshiva was prepared to return to Slabodka. They traveled through Minsk and Vilnius, and had to pay smugglers to cross the Russian-Lithuanian border.

Partial relocation to Palestine

The Alter of Slabodka surrounded by students in Hebron

Main article: Hebron Yeshiva

A 1924 edict mandating military enlistment or supplementary secular studies in the yeshiva prompted many students from the Slabodka yeshiva to relocate to Mandatory Palestine. The Alter of Slabodka sent Avraham Grodzinski and Yechezkel Sarna to Palestine to find a suitable location for the yeshiva, and they chose Hebron. The staff of the yeshiva in Lithuania was divided between the original Lithuanian yeshiva and the new Hebron branch, known as the Hebron Yeshiva. Epstein was appointed rosh yeshiva in Hebron, while Finkel and Yehuda Leib Chasman served as mashgiachs. In Lithuania, Finkel's son-in-law Yitzchak Isaac Sher became rosh yeshiva, with Ber Hirsch Heller and Grodzinski serving as mashgiachs. Following the 1929 Hebron massacre, which resulted in the murder of twenty-four students, the yeshiva was re-established in the Geula neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

Holocaust and relocation to Israel

Slabodka yeshiva (Bnei Brak)

After World War II, the original yeshiva building was confiscated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The building, with its unique design—shaped like a Torah scroll—is still visible today in Lithuania. The yeshiva was reestablished by Sher in Bnei Brak, Israel as Slabodka yeshiva Bnei Brak.

Alumni

Pominent Rabbis: The Lions of Slabodka that brought Lithuanian Torah to Eretz Yisrael and to Bnei Brak:

Israel Bettan, American rabbi and professor
David Cohen, rabbi, talmudist, philosopher and kabbalist
Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, rabbi in Soho, London
Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, rosh yeshiva of Mir yeshiva in both Poland and Jerusalem
Tzvi Pesach Frank, halakhic scholar and Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
Avraham Grodzinski, mashgiach ruchani, Slabodka yeshiva
Reuven Grozovsky, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yosef Zvi HaLevy, Israeli rabbi and head of the rabbinical court for Tel Aviv-Yafo
Yitzchok Hutner, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
Meyer Juzint, American Talmudic scholar
Avraham Kalmanowitz, rosh yeshiva, Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York
Yaakov Kamenetsky, rosh yeshiva, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Avraham Elya Kaplan, rosh yeshiva, Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary
Aharon Kotler, rosh yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha
Dovid Leibowitz, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen
Yehuda Levenberg, chief rabbi and rosh yeshiva in New Haven, CT
Yeruchom Levovitz, mashgiach ruchani, Mir yeshiva (Belarus)
Avigdor Miller, mashgiach ruchani, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and the Rabbi of his shul, Beis Yisroel in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY
Ephraim Oshry, Lithuanian-born posek, rabbi of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol and Holocaust survivor
Eliezer Palchinsky, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Beis Aryeh, Jerusalem
Shlomo Polachek, Talmudic scholar and one of the earliest rosh yeshivas in America
Pesach Pruskin, rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Kobrin
Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, Baltimore
Yechezkel Sarna, rosh yeshiva, Hebron yeshiva
Elazar Shach, rosh yeshiva, Ponovezh yeshiva
Moshe Shatzkes, Polish-born rabbi and rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Grodno
Zalman Sorotzkin, Polish-born rabbi
Isaac Stollman, rabbi, author and religious Zionist leader
Naftoli Trop, rosh yeshiva, Raduń Yeshiva
Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, rosh yeshiva, Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary

One of Our Famous Rabbis

Rabbi Avigdor Miller often shared vivid memories of his transformative years studying at the famed Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania from 1932 to 1938

Rabbi Miller describing spending Elul in Slabodka:

I’d like to speak about it at length. But briefly, in Slabodka on Rosh Chodesh Elul they began saying a shmuz every day; instead of three times a week now it was every day. And we spoke constantly about the Yom Hadin. As Rosh Hashanah was approaching the air was saturated with gravity, a seriousness. They were serious. All of our thoughts were, “We’re approaching the Day of Judgment.” The entire month was spent in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. All Elul.

Do you understand what that means? When Rosh Hashanah finally came, it was a sight to see. I can’t forget the sight. We’re sitting there at nighttime. And the chazan said “Borchu” and a roar rose from the yeshivah people, raising the roof. “Boruch Hashem hamevorach li’olam va’ed!” Then they sat down quietly.

When they sat down it was quiet. And then all together they started the first bracha before kriyas shema, the word boruch. “Boruch, oy yoy yoy oy yoy oy yoy.” And they were weeping and shouting. Boruch means blessed, but you have to put all that you can into these words now. Boruch means, “We’re thanking You. We bless You. We love You Hashem.” And then “Atah – You! You! You!” And so every word they said took a long time. And finally it quieted down. It quieted down, and the shatz said like this, “Boruch atah Hashem hama’ariv aravim,” and then there was an amen, a roar of an amen! It was an experience. You davened ma’ariv in the yeshivah on Rosh Hashanah, and you were a new person when you came out. No question about it.

And then aseres yemei teshuvah and then Yom Kippur, oh wah!

I remember motzaei Yom Kippur in the morning, the rosh yeshivah gave a little shmooze. Some boys were going home for Sukkos, and he said “You have built up a tower, an edifice of yiras shamayim, of daas, but be careful. You go home and sometimes, you can ruin it. Simchas Torah, other times, there’s leitzanus. ליצנות אחת דוחה מאה תוכחות – one leitzanus can overthrow a hundred edifices of daas. Even the great tower that you built up in yiras shamayim, one day of kalus rosh, lightheaded gaiety – like in some small synagogues they become a little wild on Simchas Torah – it throws everything down and you ruin that building.”

And so when you build up an edifice of yiras shamayim, see to it that it remains standing. Always keep your mind on it. You can always be cheerful. You don’t have to be sad; no, sadness is also the same as leitzanus. Sadness is leitzanus too. Atzvus is leitzanus too. But don’t be gay and don’t be wild. Don’t kibitz; don’t joke around. That building was erected with great effort. It took a whole month of shmuzen, mussar learning, yiras shamayim to raise that edifice. Just by listening to the davening we were changed; they all davened together. It was a tremendous sight to see them davening together. So whatever you built up, make sure that building remains until next year. Then you’ll add some more stories to that building again.

I wish I could speak to you at length about what it was like in the yeshiva during Elul.

This Article is from TAPE # E-29 on Toras Avigdor, https://torasavigdor.org/qa/rav-avigdor-miller-on-elul-in-slabodka/

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30 July 2026

29 July 2026