The 15th annual winter Yarchei Kallah of Agudas Yisrael Torah projects commission, will take place this year in Yerushalayim. It will be held January 19- 22, 2015 at the Ramada Jerusalem hotel. for more info check out the Yarchei Kallah website http://www.aiayk.org/ .
Dear Chaver,
ReplyDeleteI have been looking forward to this year’s Eretz Yisrael Yarchei Kallah for some time now. I cannot begin to express my appreciation to Agudas Yisroel of America for arranging this magnificent event. What an impact this has had on me and so many others in our growth in Torah and Yiddishkeit!
Recently, however, a very disturbing issue has come to my attention. I would like to share it with you in the hope that perhaps together we can make a difference. In years past the Yarchei Kallah program made a point to invite or to visit the prominent Gedolim of the time. This is indeed one of the most meaningful components of the program for me. For last year’s program, however, the decision was made not to meet some Gedolim and that unfortunate decision is being continued this year as well.
What is so painful about this is that the reason behind this lies in an ongoing machlokes in Eretz Yisrael. One of the main reasons I am proud to be a part of the Agudas Yisroel programs is their well-worn path of avoiding all kinds of machlokes in any way. This has always been the way of our Gedolim, past and present, as transmitted to us in the past by Rabbi Moshe Sherer, z”l, and continues today under the direction of the Rosh Agudas Yisroel, the Novominsker Rebbe, Shlita.
Please join me in respectfully requesting of the organizers of this wonderful event not to repeat this decision of last year. We would like to bask in the presence of all the Gedolei Torah of Eretz Yisrael. Above all, we want no part of any action that is representative of one faction or another – something that is anathema to our special mesorah.
And if by conducting this program in Eretz Yisrael we will be unable to avoid this disagreeable conflict, it would be better, l’maan hashalom, to move the venue to another location. Our Yarchei Kallah must not be allowed to become a vehicle to bring machlokes back to America. It would be sad to miss an opportunity to visit the Eretz HaKodesh, but it is more important to keep our own communities free of the devastating effects of this affair.
THE TORAH WAS GIVEN IN A DESERT AND WITH KLAL YISROEL IN PERFECT UNITY.
WE MUST PRESERVE THIS UNITY AND WE CAN LEARN TORAH IN ANY LOCATION.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Ira Moskowitz