Lithuanian-haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando on Thursday delivered words of encouragement at a special gathering in the main hall of the Hebron Yeshiva, sharply criticizing what he claimed were "decrees" against Torah learners.
"Those who hate the Torah are intensifying their decrees against us and placing a heavy yoke upon the necks of Torah learners," he said, adding that “one cannot ignore the concern residing in the hearts of many that the difficulty may, Heaven forbid, continue to worsen."
Rabbi Lando placed the current challenges into a broader historical context, calling on the students to persist in their studies despite the challenges.
"Torah scholars have always been harassed, their steps constrained, and efforts made to harm them and demean their honor - in every generation, the difficulties placed before Torah learners have taken on different forms," he said.
"You yeshiva students are fortunate, and you ignore all the hardships and fears, immersed in the halls of Torah, laboring with all your heart and soul in its study, held in the depths of Torah analysis, [seeking] to decipher its secrets and occupied in understanding its essence. In this way, you acquire eternal possessions in Torah, as the Midrash on Shir Hashirim says, one who studies Torah in hardship receives a thousandfold reward."
Rabbi Lando added, "The hardship is a collective one, and when engaging in Torah through camaraderie, even if the path of spiritual ascent is filled with obstacles, since it is a shared path for many and the public shares the burden among them, every crooked path becomes straight and the ridges become a valley."
Concluding his words, Rabbi Lando blessed the yeshiva’s heads and students, emphasizing the value of fellowship as a central pillar in the yeshiva's education.