The following ad was in the Hamodia newspaper last week:




I am wondering what this means - the tzaddik who stopped the Holocaust? What is the story here? How did Rav Shlomo of Zvhil stop the Holocaust?

The Vilna Gaon was one of the strongest and most vocal "misnagdim", opponents to Hassidic Judaism.

I wonder what he would think if he found out that he would one day be treated like a Hassidic Rebbe...

That's pretty much what is happening with this trip by "the Greatest Torah Luminaries of Israel" as they travel across Eastern Europe praying by gravesites of past gedolim for a good year for donors...

There are various possibilities of what is protecting Israel from harm, despite the onslaught of rockets being shot out of Gaza by Hamas. Obviously we know Hashem protects us, and we do our physical hishtadlus to effect that protection. The physical hishtadlus consists of having an army and mobilizing it as necessary, defense systems similar to Iron Dome, and others. But sometimes one wonders what, of all the various actions we take, has more of a direct affect on matters.

Let's go through the options (in no particular order):

1. Iron Dome. Iron Dome has done a tremendous job knocking rockets out of the air. It is not perfect, it has missed some, but it has done a tremendous job with a very high percentage of success. To that end, we'd have to include Amir Peretz (as Ynet has started a campaign to thank him, probably reviving a possible political comeback) for being the man behind the original creation and promoting it into reality. As well, RAFAEL, the defense contractor who actually created it. Of course add to the list the army, the politicians and the people of the USA who largely fund it.

2. Prayer. Prayer is, perhaps, a spiritual version of the Iron Dome. We have so many people around the country davening, whether personally saying tehillim, or shuls saying tehillim, or special prayer sessions like the mass prayer yesterday at the Kotel.

3. Kabbalistic activity. Perhaps this should be categorized as part of prayer, but it is not prayer that the average person bombards the heavens with. It is a unique form of prayer and activity, thus qualifying for its own category. A group of Kabbalists went to Meron to say special prayers, then on to Kever Rachel, Hebron and the conclusion of the series of special prayers for a time of war that were said in Beer Sheva.

According to Ladaat, the special tefillot that were said in Beer Sheva were said by Rav Kaduri at the time of the Gulf War, and prior to that they had been said by mekubalim as the Germans were preparing to invade the Holy Land.

4. Torah learning. Torah learning can be such a strong protective force that Rav Chaim Kanievsky said the safest place to be is in Bnei Braq due to the high amount of Torah learning done there. Rav Kanievsky said that the Chazon Ish had promised that Bnei Braq would not have explosions, and the Chazon Ish is great enough that we can rely on him and his promise today as well. (source: Kikar)

While Rav Kanievsky recently said that residents (yeshiva students) from the south should go to Bnei Braq for safety, perhaps Bnei Braq should prepare to receive residents from the south until as north as Tel Aviv and Gush Dan and provide them with safe harbor..

Rav Shteinman is also being flooded with questions from people concerned and looking for answers as to what they should do. According to Bechadrei, Rav Shteinman, though considering each question anew is generally telling people that learning Torah is the best form of protection. Rav Shteinman said that if there should be a siren during davening, during shmoneh esrei, or during learning, they should run for cover. On the issue of Bnei Braq, it doesn't seem, to me, that Rav Shteinman is quite as definitive as Rav Kanievsky is. Rav Shteinman said there is no chazaka that rockets will not fall there, as there is no chazaka on the future. Chazaka only defines the past. Bnei Braq has a chazaka that rockets have not fallen there, but there is no such chazaka that rockets will not fall there in the future.

5. Tzaddikim. A few months ago Rav Chaim Pinto, the rav of Kiryat Malachi, according to Mynet, said that Kiryat Malachi is protected by the special graves of tzadikkim that are buried there.

Rav Pinto has been saying that special, very powerful, tzadikkim are buried in Kiryat Malachi. Some of them (or maybe all of them) are buried in his office (below his office? I am not sure what exactly his claim is, but that is what he said). These tzadikkim provide protection to the city to the point that there is no need to even take cover, if one is in the middle of davening, when the sirens blare announcing an incoming rocket. In other places like Ashdod, one should interrupt his tefilla and take cover, even though we have the protection of Iron Dome (making a direct hit unlikely), but in Kiryat Malachi one should not interrupt his prayers.

Rav Pinto has not revealed the identity of of the tzadikkim buried there, but he hinted that Rav Chaim Vital is buried there, among others including the grave of Rav Chaim Pinto (presumably his own ancestor).

Rav Chaim Vital was buried in Syria, though rumors have persisted for a long time that Rav Pinto secretly moved Rav Chaim Vital's grave to Kiryat Malachi many years ago. The same rumor also claims other graves of ancient tzadikkim were moved as well. The only other name I have ever heard in reference to this rumor was that of Rebbe Nachman of Breslav.

At the time Rav Pinto pointed to the fact that despite a series of escalations no rocket had falled in kiryat Malachi to indicate that he was correct that the tzadikkim buried there provide protection. If he was correct at the time, one must wonder what changed, considering the recent rockets that fell in Kiryat Malachi, including one that killed three people (and they were not mechalelei shabbos, as is explained in Bnei Braq when explaining how a rocket did fall in Bnei Braq despite the promises that no rockets fall there).

So, I don't know which of the above do a better or worse job. Maybe it is a combination of all five, and only together does the protection work most effectively.

A nice story is spreading through Facebook, as reported by Kikar. I first saw it shared by Jameel, both on his FB page and then on Muqata.

Nir Mennusi wrote, on his Facebook page, that he went out to his car on a busy street in jerusalem and as he gets to his car he sees a young haredi fellow, Litvishe and clean shaven, feeding the parking meter where his (Nir's) car is parked.

Nir stopped him and asked if he is aware that he is putting coins in the meter of "my car"? The young man responded that in another moment you would be getting a parking ticket... Nir looked up and saw2 meters away and advancing was a city meter maid checking all the cars and giving tickets.

"Ashrecha" - praise to you, he called out to the haredi fellow, though as he turned back he saw the young man was already running off to stick a few coins in the next row of cars that might have gotten tickets.

That's not the end of the story... after all, one can get in trouble for feeding the meter of someone else's car to avoid a ticket. the metter maid caught up with the young haredi fellow. the meter main, a bare-headed and stubble-faced man, stopped the young men and explained that he should check better as he showed him some cars had a digital parking device in the window so did not need the meter to be fed. The meter maid took the young man along with him and showed him which cars needed their meters fed..

Nir says that after he watched this he could not control himself and he went over to them and said "the two of you have made my day! you are simply two tzaddikim, and there should be many more like you in Israel!". The meter maid responded saying "I am no tzaddik, he is the tzaddik and I am just helping him..."

The meter maid might have just been helping, but he probably could have gotten in a lot of trouble for giving up all those tickets by helping the young men feed the meters...

Ynet spoke to Menussi, who seems to be the son of someone famous and is himself a baal teshuva who manages a website and teaches Chassidut, says that despite the cynics who have commented on his status claiming it to be an urban legend, it really happened and he saw it. All he wanted to do was share a nice story that happened to him.

Such a story also raises halachic questions, such as could this young man, if he wanted to, have demanded Nir, or the other car owners, reimburse him the money? if he had gotten in trouble, would they have had to pay his fine? Would they have to not just reimburse him but also pay him for his time? If he saw the meter maid coming, would he have been obligated (rather than just good-will), if it was not too much effort that would incur him a serious loss, to go out and feed the meters?

Despite all those side-questions, there are good people out there doing good things. And it is nice to share a good story every now and then.. Kol Hakavod!

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A couple of weeks ago in the Mishpacha magazine, there was an article about the Israeli operation to bomb OSIRAK - the Iraqi nuclear reactor, and some of the religious aspects of it.


In this weeks Mishpacha there was a "Letter to the Editor" in which the author relates a fascinating story related to the above article. I felt I had to share the story with you.


I am going to translate the letter (from Hebrew) as it was printed. I do not know if the details are accurate and how much of it the writer was actually privy to, but this is what he wrote:


In that year, 1981, on Lag B'Omer, as the Holy Rebbe Rav Moshe Mordechai of Lelov was leaving the grave site of the RASHB"I (Rav Shimon Bar Yohai), he turned to a group of his chassidim and said, "I have accepted upon myself something that is beyond my capabilities, but I had no choice."


The chassidim, obviously, had no idea what he was talking about. The rebbe continued, "If one fights with the power of evil, one is capable of overcoming it, but one must take into account that there will be casualties."


A few days later, at midnight, the Rebbe (who lived in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem), took a taxi to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. He went up to the Neurological ward and went from room to room checking everything out. Without saying anything and no explanation, he completed examining the ward. When he finished, he got a taxi and went back to his home in Geula.


A couple of weeks later, on the eve of the Shavuos holiday (this was June 7, 1981 - the day of the attack), the Rebbe told his gabbai to call Prime Minister Menachem Begin and to bless him with good fortune and success for the operation.


The gabbai did as instructed. When Begin received the message, his face fell in distress. He was concerned that the greatest State secret had somehow been leaked.


As the holiday of Shavuos began, the chassidim in the shul of the Rebbe noticed that something unusual was happening. The Rebbe asked a number of times if anybody had heard any news. The Rebbe turned often to the Aron Kodesh. He opened and closed it a number of times. His prayers were more intense than usual.


At the end of the holiday, the Rebbe was informed of the success of the operation to blow up the nuclear reactor. Immediately after he heard the news, he became completely paralyzed.


He was immediately taken to the hospital - Hadassah Ein Kerem. He was placed in care in the Neurological ward and remained there, in complete paralysis, for 6 years, until his death.


Only then did his chassidim understand his cryptic messages from Lag B'Omer, and his behavior over the holiday. One cannot imagine how much affliction the holy tzadikkim take upon themselves in order to save and protect other Jews.