In a heart-warming display of unity among religious groups that generally travel in different orbits, a delegation of North American rabbis of the Young Israel movement was invited to Israel by the Belzer and Gerrer Hassidic movements in Israel.
Currently in Israel on a whirlwind, four-day trip, the visiting rabbis were brought by their hareidi hosts to see an array of sites, including the Belzers' Ezra LaMarpeh medical referral organization, the Tzrifin army base, the Chief Rabbinate, the site of a new Gerrer-sponsored hospital to be built in Ashdod, the Meir Panim soup kitchen enterprise in Kiryat Arba and elsewhere, Rachel's Tomb, Hatzalah emergency medical services, the Western Wall Tunnels, and more.
The highlight of the Young Israel rabbis' trip was bringing ten Torah Scrolls from the U.S. for use in the Israel Defense Forces, joyfully celebrated yesterday at the Tzrifin army base. "It was truly exhilarating," said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel and the force behind this week's trip. "The true joy of the young Israeli soldiers, American rabbis and Belzer and Gerrer Hassidim as they danced together with such enthusiasm and warmth was something unforgettable." Other members of the delegation echoed these sentiments.
The Torah scrolls were merely the last installment of close to 100 such Torahs that Rabbi Lerner has arranged in recent years for Israeli army bases. One of the scrolls, only twelve inches high, is headed for an Israel Navy submarine. "When the Belzer Rebbe saw that this was one of our stops," Rabbi Lerner recounted, "and that we had already brought dozens of Torahs in the past, he said he now realizes the extent of the need for Torahs in the army." The army has enlisted four full-time scribes to meet the growing need for mezuzahs and repaired Torah scrolls.
The Belzer/Gerrer-organized trip also brought the visiting rabbis to the Knesset for meetings with Finance Minister Netanyahu, Tourism Minister Rabbi Benny Elon, Health Minister Danny Naveh - regarding the hospital to be built in Ashdod - and Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin. This morning, the rabbis prayed together with President Moshe Katzav at the daily service at the President's Home, and later met with Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger.
Rabbi Metzger emphasized the importance of "sanctifying one's time and thereby 'acquiring' this most transient of commodities - time." The Rishon LeTzion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Amar, noted that public understanding of the importance of a rabbi's role is growing, and that unlike in the past, one can barely find an Israeli congregation that does not have or is not seeking a rabbi. He also emphasized the importance of a rabbi's all-encompassing dedication to his congregation, and the ambition of overseas rabbis and their congregants to immigrate to Israel.
Currently in Israel on a whirlwind, four-day trip, the visiting rabbis were brought by their hareidi hosts to see an array of sites, including the Belzers' Ezra LaMarpeh medical referral organization, the Tzrifin army base, the Chief Rabbinate, the site of a new Gerrer-sponsored hospital to be built in Ashdod, the Meir Panim soup kitchen enterprise in Kiryat Arba and elsewhere, Rachel's Tomb, Hatzalah emergency medical services, the Western Wall Tunnels, and more.
The highlight of the Young Israel rabbis' trip was bringing ten Torah Scrolls from the U.S. for use in the Israel Defense Forces, joyfully celebrated yesterday at the Tzrifin army base. "It was truly exhilarating," said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel and the force behind this week's trip. "The true joy of the young Israeli soldiers, American rabbis and Belzer and Gerrer Hassidim as they danced together with such enthusiasm and warmth was something unforgettable." Other members of the delegation echoed these sentiments.
The Torah scrolls were merely the last installment of close to 100 such Torahs that Rabbi Lerner has arranged in recent years for Israeli army bases. One of the scrolls, only twelve inches high, is headed for an Israel Navy submarine. "When the Belzer Rebbe saw that this was one of our stops," Rabbi Lerner recounted, "and that we had already brought dozens of Torahs in the past, he said he now realizes the extent of the need for Torahs in the army." The army has enlisted four full-time scribes to meet the growing need for mezuzahs and repaired Torah scrolls.
The Belzer/Gerrer-organized trip also brought the visiting rabbis to the Knesset for meetings with Finance Minister Netanyahu, Tourism Minister Rabbi Benny Elon, Health Minister Danny Naveh - regarding the hospital to be built in Ashdod - and Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin. This morning, the rabbis prayed together with President Moshe Katzav at the daily service at the President's Home, and later met with Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger.
Rabbi Metzger emphasized the importance of "sanctifying one's time and thereby 'acquiring' this most transient of commodities - time." The Rishon LeTzion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Amar, noted that public understanding of the importance of a rabbi's role is growing, and that unlike in the past, one can barely find an Israeli congregation that does not have or is not seeking a rabbi. He also emphasized the importance of a rabbi's all-encompassing dedication to his congregation, and the ambition of overseas rabbis and their congregants to immigrate to Israel.