Gedolei Yisroel Offer Guidance Regarding Many Major Hashkafah Issues Facing Bachurim Today

“Our Torah learning is bringing the entire yeshuah to all of Klal Yisrael. The reason for this is, that when we learn Torah, this brings us closer to Hashem, and when we are closer to Hashem, we merit siyatta d’Shmaya. We and all the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael can merit siyatta d’Shamaya only when there is a tremendous amount of Torah being learned.

“When you are in yeshiva gedolah, there may come a time when you have to be very careful. You should know that there might be people who try to convince you to join the army. They may tell you that there is a chareidi program. You should know that it is not permitted to go to the army. Each and everyone of you is obligated to learn Torah. That is the key to our hatzlacha in Eretz Yisrael!”

Those were the passionate words of HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka, in a seminal address to thousands of bachurim at Dirshu’s annual “Seder Hachana” event for bachurim who are completing yeshiva ketana.

Indeed, it was an unforgettable scene. More than four thousand bachurim from all over Eretz Yisrael, all the same age, converged on the Armanot Chen Halls in Bnei Brak to hear guidance from senior Gedolim. The upstairs floor of the hall, the downstairs floor of the hall, the streets and all the hall’s environs were full of bachurim. Those who could not get in watched on screens. The bachurim, who are concluding yeshiva ketana (high school) and will be attending yeshiva gedolah (beis medrash) this coming Elul, came in droves anxious to quench their thirst for guidance at this pivotal stage in their lives.

In addition to being addressed by the Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva, HaGaonim HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, HaRav Dovid Cohen, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron, HaRav Messoud Ben Shimon, shlita, Sephardic Rav of Bnei Brak and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Ohr Elitzur, and Rav Yaakov Shternshus, shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshiva Shaarei Shmuos they were also treated to an address by Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, Nasi of Dirshu.

There was also a unique shailos and teshuvos session wherein many questions about how to be successful in yeshiva gedolah were posed to the three panel members, HaGaon HaRav Yehoshua Eichenstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Yad Aharon, HaGaon HaRav Bunim Schreiber, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Nesiv Daas, and HaGaon HaRav Chaim Peretz Berman, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva at the Ponevezh Yeshiva. The event was also transmitted live to thousands of bachurim in locales around the world.

The Importance of Preparation for Yeshiva Gedolah

What exactly is the Seder Hachana that Dirshu has been hosting annually for nearly two decades and why is it so important? Seder Hachana is a unique maamad specifically designed for one demographic, bachurim finishing yeshiva ketana and entering yeshiva gedolah. In Eretz Yisrael, the transition from yeshiva ketana – a very regimented system – to yeshiva gedolah which offers much more independent learning can mean the difference between a lifetime of success in learning or challilah the opposite. It is a transition that requires much guidance.

Shmuel, a bachur who came to the event and sat towards the front awaiting the entry of the Roshei Yeshiva, explained, “My three older brothers have come to the Seder Hachana in past years. They consistently returned home full of inspiration, saying that the guidance tremendously helped them acclimatize to the very different atmosphere and reality of yeshiva gedolah. Now it is my turn. I knew I wanted to be here.”

A Foundation for Life

Without a doubt, the very practical hadracha of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch was powerful, fascinating and transformative. In clear, concise language he underscored a number of major keys to success and outlined strategies to avoid pitfalls.

“The most important thing that a bachur should know,” Rav Hirsch began, “is that in just one month from now, on Rosh Chodesh Elul, you will be making what might be the most transformative change of your life! One’s entire life is built on the foundation that you make in yeshiva gedolah. I would therefore like to give you several pieces of advice on how best to succeed.”

“The first thing a bachur must realize is that he can unwittingly waste so much precious time in a yeshiva gedolah setting when there is less hashgacha than there was in yeshiva ketana. After a full day of learning, a bachur finally returns to the dormitory and wants to schmooze with his friends a bit. A bit of schmoozing is permitted. The problem begins when that twenty minutes of permissible and even necessary schmoozing can turn into two or three hours… one goes to sleep very late, and the next day is a disaster. The talmid sometimes feels so bad in hindsight, becoming broken and that leads to the next day not being good and the vicious cycle begins… all because he couldn’t control the bittul zeman of excessive schmoozing at night.

The second point Rav Moshe Hillel passionately made was that when one enters yeshiva gedolah one is also the recipient of a “new yetzer hara.”

“Until now, you were always under someone’s control. You slept at home, you were under your parents, the yeshiva ketanas are very regimented and you are under constant watch. In yeshiva gedolah there is much more ‘freedom’. When a person has more freedom, he likes to think, ‘I will now decide what is good for me and otherwise…’ That is a mistake! That is the yetzer hara talking!

“That yetzer hara talks in two ways,” said Rav Moshe Hillel. “Once, a bachur came to our yeshiva from the diaspora. He was brilliant! He knew how to learn. He was a very chashuve, Chassidishe bachur.

“During his first period in yeshiva, he fell tremendously. He frequented places at night where a yeshiva bachur doesn’t belong and we sadly came to the conclusion that we need to send him somewhere else… when he heard this, he cried and begged us to give him another chance. I felt that he really meant it and gave him another chance and indeed, from then on, he shteiged and became a very good bachur. Today, he is very distinguished yungerman, a true talmid chochom. Years later, I asked him, ‘What happened when you first came to yeshiva? Why did you fall?’

“He answered, ‘It was the first time in my life that I had “freedom.” No one was standing over me telling me what to do. I decided to sample the freedom…’

“This yetzer hara of ‘freedom’ is a great one and one must be vigilant!” Rav Moshe Hillel exclaimed.

“Also, when a bachur is ‘free’ he thinks, ‘I am older and mature. I can make my own decisions. I don’t need to ask anyone.’ This is absolutely false! A person must “make for himself a rav,” a guide. He cannot rely on his own seichel because often the yetzer hara is in charge of his seichel.”

A Clean Slate

Another important point Rav Hirsch made is that “Yeshiva gedolah is a clean slate! Even someone who was not so successful in yeshiva ketanah is empowered to make a fresh start and should come into yeshiva gedolah with great she’ifos. Some bachurim wrongly label themselves. ‘I am not such a masmid,’ ‘I am a bekius person’ or ‘I don’t like bekius.’ Don’t bring your deficiencies with you to yeshiva gedolah!” he thundered, “yeshiva gedolah is a clean, new slate! You are a yeshiva gedolah bachur now. Everything is new.”

Rav Moshe Hillel concluded by imparting guidance from his own Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Aharon Kotler, zt”l. He would say, “Human nature is such that a person is afraid to accept upon himself the full yoke of Torah and yiras shomayim. He thinks that perhaps it will be too hard for him. However,” Rav Aharon Kotler continued, “he is making a mistake. He doesn’t realize that when he accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah without compromises, he will automatically begin to taste the sweetness of Torah.”

“What is a Yeshiva? A Factory that Produces the Greatest Thing in Humanity – a Ben Torah!”

An exceptional highlight of the event was the powerful, moving words of Rav Dovid Cohen. He said, “I have merited to participate in this event for several years already, and each year I am filled with emotion when I see the massive turnout of bachurim who are joining the ranks of Hashem’s army, yeshiva bachurim, bnei Torah.

“Entering yeshiva gedolah is not only a new chapter in life but perhaps the central chapter in your lives! I can still remember how I felt on the day I entered yeshiva gedolah. It was a new chapter in my life, the chapter of becoming a ben Torah, a ben yeshiva.

“Let us try to understand what defines a ben yeshiva and what defines a yeshiva. The yeshiva,” explained Rav Cohen, “is the ‘factory’ that produces the greatest thing that can be found in humanity. That great thing is called a ‘ben Torah!’”

“Now, we can try to encapsulate what that yeshiva, that factory is,” continued the Rosh Yeshiva. “Some say it is a place where we learn Gemara or learn how to learn Gemara. That is incorrect. Yes, what we primarily do in yeshiva is learn Gemara, but that does not define a yeshiva. When a person l’havdil wants to become a doctor or an accountant he goes to a college to learn that trade. A yeshiva is not a college, it is a factory that builds and produces the unique product called a ‘ben yeshiva’. So, what is a ben yeshiva? A ben yeshiva is one who becomes a child of the yeshiva. The yeshiva functions as his ‘father’ and his ‘mother.’ They enable him to grow and become the talmid chochom who will continue the mesorah of Klal Yisrael for the coming generation!”

Rav Cohen spoke about social standing in the yeshivos. “In more recent years, I have seen that a bachur’s social standing in the yeshiva has become a big deal. Everyone wants to be looked at as geshmak, normal, a person who others want to be around. I am not minimizing the importance of some social interaction, but not only doesn’t the incessant focus on social standing help, it ultimately hurts his social standing!”

“If a bachur focuses more on his learning and not on his place in the yeshiva social life, perhaps at the beginning he won’t be looked at with as much admiration. With time, however, the entire yeshiva will look at him with great admiration. He will be more socially accepted then the bachur who spent so much time in idle chatter in order to be ‘with it.’”

The Importance of Recognizing that “Everything Depends on Me”

Another highlight of the event was the passionate address by the Nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita. Rav Hofstedter cited the words of Rav Eliyahu Dessler who compares the way a person progresses in Torah and avodas Hashem to a ladder that is rooted in the ground but reaches all the way to the heavens.

He explained that a person must climb that ladder one rung at a time. He must conquer the yetzer hara at the level that he is at now. Rav Chaim Volozhiner says that when a person tells his slave to climb up to the roof, he doesn’t demand that he jump up from the ground to the roof in one jump. He means that he should climb up one level at a time.

It is this important lesson that every bachur has to understand about aliyah in ruchniyus. He must proceed step by step. Don’t jump and try to do everything at once. A bachur should not think, “I am in yeshiva gedolah, I can reach shleimus right away!”

That is not a healthy thought. Growth in ruchniyus is a process. Slow and steady. Our she’ifos must be to reach very high, but the way to get there is slowly, step by step.

Even if a bachur periodically falls, he must remember that the ladder is still there, waiting for him. Just because you fell once, that shouldn’t be an excuse to fall again. The ladder is always waiting for you.

Rav Dovid added that it is important for a bachur in yeshiva gedolah to realize that his entire hatzlacha in yeshiva and in life depends on him. “If you invest the effort and realize that everything depends on you, then you will be successful!”

He related a story that transpired in the Holocaust with one of his family members. The Nazis came to their city and shut down their fabric store. Without the store, they could not live and could not try to escape. The problem was that any older person caught on the street was beaten and taken to a concentration camp. There was one child, the youngest in the family who realized that at that time the Nazis still weren’t rounding up children. The child took fabric, rolled it around his body and then put his clothing on top of the fabric. He journeyed by himself to another city where he was able to sell the fabric at a handsome profit. He returned to his town with money that helped keep the family going.

“How did this child have the strength and courage to venture out alone among the Nazi beasts? How? Because he realized, ‘It all depends on me!’”

“Baruch Hashem, you bachurim are living in times where you don’t have to take your life into your hands. Your parents are responsible for you, you have supportive families and rebbeim, you have food and board, but still, there is an element of ‘everything depends on me,’ that you must internalize if you really want to have hatzlacha in yeshiva. If you realize that everything depends on you,” Rav Hofstedter concluded, “Hashem will give you strength that you didn’t even know you had to succeed!”

The smiling, yet earnest faces of the bachurim as they exited after being infused with such divrei chizuk and hearing so many real-life scenarios played out in the question-and-answer session said it all. Their shining countenances displayed how glad they were to have heard practical guidance from the Gedolei Hador on the most important period of growth in their lives!

Fortunate is the generation where the young listen to the elders!