Sticks and Stone?!
Sounds like a story out of czarist russia.
I guess the real weapons were reserved for the non-yeshiva bochurim.

I have read before how they took everybody they could grab to fight in the war. It was a war for the very existence. Everybody had to go. and it was a new state. they had few weapons. everything they could grab was used.
It just shows how much more so was the victory a miracle.

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It IS an amazing story.
My favorite part was where it said:
"because he was commander, he got the largest stick."
Look how far the IDF has come, thank God.

It is an amazing story, but a type of story I've heard before quite a number of times. I've always wondered why the technical aspects of the "giyus" during the milchemet shichrur hasn't really been documented very well anywhere (well, anywhere that I've seen to date).

The description isn't entirely accurate because it seems to be missing one small point (that the Rav likely was never aware of). Generally some hours or days before, the Roshei Yeshiva (and the heads of other educational institutions) were informed that the students will be needed and that they should prepare as best as possible.

Interestingly enough I heard some of these stories directly from my father and grandfather who were there at the time. In fact, they were quite close to this particular Yeshiva (ישיבת לומז'א) because they lived in Petach Tikvah (more accurately in Kfar Sirkin just outside Petach Tikvah) at the time.

The sticks and stones were purely out of necessity as there was a shortage of proper weapons and ammunition (and thus few people were trained in the use of those weapons to avoid wasting ammunition). Luckily we had a most powerful ally at our side.

I am *VERY* impressed that a Charedi publication published this in its entirety. It is heartening to me that they did.

Mark

And these Rabanim never, ever told anyone? Their children? Why?

Despite the microscope the gedolim live under, always surrounded by people, everyone commenting on their every move, and something like this was never made known....

On the contrary the microscope only came about in the past 20 years or so.

the previous viznitzer rebbe and the sert-viznitzer rebbe also served in the IDF during that war

When my father fought, the local brigade had one small artillery canon so they mounted it on the back of a truck and drove from place to place, firing at each one to give the Arabs the impression that they had a dozen guns. It worked too.

Somebody removed the original article?