For decades, I have been connected to Yeshivas Shavei Hevron. Located in the heart of Chevron, the yeshiva was founded in 1982 by Rav Moshe Bleicher, who used to say, “We are not in Chevron because the Avos are buried there but because they are alive there.”
The Torah of the Avos continues to
live, and we strive to connect to it as much as possible.? I started as a talmid,
became an avreich (married student), and then headed the yeshiva’s
publishing house. Today I am a Ph.D. in Jewish history and thought, but every
year, I continue to come to Baltimore and other places to assist the yeshiva.?
The
Heart of the Mosdos
The heart of the seven mosdos
that comprise Shavei Hevron is the yeshiva in Beis Romano in Chevron, where
some 450 talmidim learn. This past year, 140 talmidim joined us
in shiur alef. Due to the great demand, we opened an additional branch
of the yeshiva in Yoqne’am near Haifa, a place that until now had almost no mosdos
Torah. Our talmidim come from all over Eretz Yisrael and even from
abroad. I often say that the yeshiva in Chevron is like a heart, drawing people
to Chevron and then sending them back to diverse places with the special Torah
they learned in Chevron. We have thousands of alumni, including rabbanim and talmidei
chachamim gedolim, the current Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Chananel Etrog, Minister
of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer, and the new head of the Shabak, David
Zini.?
The talmidim in the yeshiva
are taught that the Torah we learn is not private, not just for ourselves but for
Klal Yisrael. It is therefore no surprise that rabbanim and alumni of
the yeshiva have established several yeshivos and kiruv centers in Tel
Aviv.?
Our
Talmidim in the IDF
We are not a hesder yeshiva,
but nearly all our talmidim serve in the IDF after a few years of
learning in yeshiva. Many serve in combat units, and, like many others in
Israel, we too suffered very heavy losses during the war. More than 10 of our alumni
gave their lives in the recent war, under heavy fighting.?
We see no contradiction between
learning Shas and poskim in yeshiva and army service. On the
contrary, service is a great mitzvah. We are well aware of the spiritual
challenges soldiers face in the army and prepare them to cope. Even during
their service, we accompany our soldiers. For every five soldiers, there is an avreich
who keeps in regular contact with them. They continue to visit the yeshiva on
their vacations and even after completing their service. 0Just this week, one
of the rabbanim in the yeshiva met a bachur who enlisted less than a
year ago.
Challenges
and Inspiration
As mentioned, there are challenges
in the army but also great potential for personal aliyah (growth). The
last two years brought a spiritual awakening in Eretz Yisrael, especially in
combat units. At the start of the war, there was enormous demand for tzitzis
among the fighters; it even reached the point where female soldiers wanted to
wear tzitzis. My son, a Shavei Hevron alumnus who served about two years
in Gaza, helped two chiloni soldiers in his platoon do teshuva.?
One of the challenges for my
son-in-law, a tank commander, was fighting in Gaza through the Yamim Tovim of Tishrei.
He could not come home for any of the chagim. My daughter, his wife,
drove specially before Rosh Hashanah to a base near Gaza to try to deliver a
crate of cakes (and also sefarim from the yeshiva). Only after the chag
was she happy to hear the package reached its destination. My son-in-law, like
the rest of his armored battalion, could not fast on Yom Kippur because they
were in the midst of combat. They davened, ate, and fought in turns.?
With your permission, I will tell
two stories about our soldiers in the army and their great ru’ach, drawn
from Chevron and the special Torah of the yeshiva.?
Stories
of Mesirus Nefesh
Rav Rafi, one of the rabbanim in
the yeshiva, is a talmid chacham gadol and serves as magid shiur
of one of the advanced classes. Rav Rafi continues to serve in reserve in one
of the IDF’s top elite units, the naval commando. Over the years, his talmidim
got used to him suddenly disappearing for a few days. Sometimes you could guess
where he was from the news.??
Almost two years ago, in Adar 5784,
special IDF forces raided Shifa Hospital in the heart of Gaza City. The
terrorists systematically place their headquarters, among other places, in
hospitals to make it harder to strike them. The operation was successful, b”H;
hundreds of terrorists were killed and hundreds more captured. Rav Rafi
participated and was wounded. He was hospitalized at Sheba Hospital in the Tel
Aviv area. How happy I was to see him about a week later, on Purim, in shul. He
walked with difficulty, on crutches, clearly in pain, but, b”H, he
looked much better than I had feared.?
At the end of davening, I asked him
if he needed to go back to the hospital. He replied immediately with a smile:
“Which one?” He of course meant Sheba or Shifa. Indeed, since then Rav Rafi has
fully recovered and returned to reserve service.?
I would like to tell you about
another alumnus, S. He served in the security forces, in a very classified
unit, so even his first name cannot be revealed. On the difficult morning of
Shemini Atzeres, he was urgently sent with other fighters to the front. They
fought in several hot spots and then entered Kibbutz Kfar Aza. There they
encountered murderous fire. Another fighter was killed, and S was severely
wounded. He was sure he was dying, said Shema Yisrael, and in his heart
took leave of his wife and children. After long efforts, his comrades managed
to evacuate him and rush him to the hospital. He was sedated and ventilated for
about a week.? He suffered from many bullets that struck him in the upper half
of his body.
After waking, he discovered that
the terrorists shot at them from the home of a family that survived in their
home shelter because the terrorists were busy shooting at him and his comrades from
inside the house.?
S has undergone 11 surgeries since.
His body has over a hundred bullet fragments. One stopped half an inch short of
his aorta. He told me that along the way he saw many yeshuos and open nissim.
His rehabilitation is not yet complete, but about a month ago, he held an
impressive seudas hoda’ah, where the singer Yishai Ribo performed and
rabbanim from the yeshiva spoke.?
Growth
and Future
Yeshivas Shavei Hevron continues, b”H,
to grow and develop in quality and quantity, and accordingly, the talmidim
continue to suffer from overcrowding. There are rooms with 14 or even 16
talmidim in bunk beds. The space available to us in Beis Romano is very
limited, and we are almost always in the middle of construction or renovation,
trying to improve conditions for the talmidim.?
The war exacted a painful price
from Am Yisrael, but many now see the to’eles (benefit) that also
grew from it. We even understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu did us a chesed,
because our enemies’ plan was far more dangerous; they intended to attack from
several directions at once. Perhaps Hamas’ impatience saved Israel.?
As a result of the war, the
government’s courage to establish Jewish yishuvim in Yehudah and Shomron
has grown. In Chevron, too, there is expansion of the Jewish homes connected to
the yeshiva. Yeshivas Shavei Hevron is located right next to the Kasbah (the
ancient, crowded center of Chevron). Near us are several old Jewish homes
abandoned in the 1929 massacre. One is Beis Valero, which belonged to the
important banker Chaim Valero. For several years, were in talks with government
officials to allow us to open another dormitory there. About half a year ago, after
efforts and long legal proceedings, we received permission to enter the
building. On the very day permission was given, we entered the place and to our
amazement discovered that it was the yahrzeit of the owner Valero. The
house was in bad shape, without electricity or water, and we began renovating
it. We hope to dedicate a new dormitory there soon for about 40 yeshiva talmidim.?
I wish to take this opportunity to
praise the Jewish community in Baltimore. There are richer communities, but
when I speak to people in Baltimore, their ahavas Yisrael and ahavas
Eretz Yisrael shines through. In Baltimore, they give with their heart.
May these words be for the ilui
neshama of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt”l, a great friend of the yeshiva,
in whom all these fine middos were clearly evident.?
Comments
and feedback are very welcome. Please contact yair@shaveihevron.org.
