[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Hundreds of thousands of children, Yeshivah Bachurim and Jews from all over joined in a day of Tefillah organized by “Dirshu” and delved into the teachings of Maran the Chofetz Chaim *  Heartfelt event at the circumcision of a boy who reached the age of Mitzvot who asked to enter the covenant of the Brit of Avrohom Avinu and became circumcised and was called ‘Yisroel Meir’ * The Rabbonim also visited the gravesite of the Father of all Yeshivot, Rabbeinu Chaim of Volozhin, and beseeched him in prayers to be an advocate  for the benefit of the Yeshivot in the Holy Land * Tens of thousands began to study Siman 34 of the Mishnah Berurah in the framework of learning a Daf Halachah a Day’.

Masses of Jews from all over the world marked with emotion the Yahrtzeit of Maran, the Chofetz Chaim, by learning his seforim, the Mishnah Berurah and the Chofetz Chaim, and by saying chapters of Tehillim in the framework of the International Day of Prayer that was organized for this event.

Among the others, about one hundred thousand boys and girls in hundreds of schools in Israel and all over the world took part in this event. Similarly, hundreds of yeshivot and Kollelim, work places, etc joined in the study of the teachings of Maran. Countless others, in the privacy of their homes, participated in the day of Tefillah when their children came back from their schools with the pages in their hands that were printed and distributed by “Dirshu“, with the prayers and study that were to be recited and learned. “Dirshu” printed and distributed over a half of a million study sheets in the days prior to the international event.

The height of the day’s events  was reached in the late morning hours in the ancient cemetery in the outskirts of Radin when the tens of Rabbonim, Roshei Yeshivot, Heads of Batei Din, Rabbonim of communities and Mashgichim lifted their hearts in prayer by the gravesite of Maran. First Shacharit was davened in the hall of the Yeshivah that has been desecrated and turned into a cultural center for non-Jews. In the Beit Hamedrash hall the participants listened to the shiur on Daf Yomi in Halachah given by the President of “Dirshu.” This was after Shacharit and Selichot were recited, led by the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshivat Kiryat Melech.

An especially emotional moment was experienced towards the end of the Shacharit service, when the congregation stopped their prayers and the Brit Milah, circumcision, of an 11 year old boy who studies in Beit Aharon V’Yisroel-Karlin Stolin, from the city of Pinsk whose Mara D’Atrah is Rabbi Moshe Pima shlita. The Mohel, Aharon Kramer, who joined the “Dirshu” delegation, circumcised the boy who so much wanted to enter the covenant of Avrohom Avinu and be called on the name of Maran of all Israel, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Hacohen from Radin. The sentences of the Tefillah that are recited before the actual circumcision were recited by the boy himself with great emotion, not leaving a dry eye in the hall.

Upon leaving the hall, the delegation stood outside by the entrance to the building and listened to the emotional lecture given by the Gaon Tzaddik Rabbi Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky, shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshivat Orchot Hatorah. He stood at the exact place that his great-grandfather, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky, zatsa”l, the Rav of Krinik, stood 82 years ago when he eulogized with tears pouring from his face, his great teacher the Chofetz Chaim before his burial .

There was not a dry eye and no one remained unmoved when the Tefillot were recited in unison by the gravesite. They were representing the tens of thousands of Jews from all over the world who accepted upon themselves to participate in the study of the Daf Yomi in Halachah. The emotions peaked when, after finishing reciting the prayers and Kaddish, when the participants shouted in unison, as messengers representing the masses of Jews who accepted upon themselves the study of the Daf Yomi in Halacha: “Rebbe, we are learning your Torah!”

As the delegation left the gravesite they stopped by the common grave that the Jews of the village and surroundings dug near the cemetery, under the watchful eyes of the Nazis, their names should be eradicated, who then shot them dead. Afterwards they slaughtered all the Jews of Radin and nearby Dugalishok, fathers and sons, mothers and children by the edge of this pit. The members of the delegation stood around the mute stones and answered Amen on the Kaddish that was recited by the Gaon Rabbi Refael Alkarif, shlita, for the benefit of the souls of those murdered there.

Afterwards the delegation travelled to Volozhin and visited the gravesite of the Holy Master Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin who was the Father of all Yeshivot by creating the idea and building the first Yeshivah as we know it. The members prayed by his tomb asking him to be an advocate for all of the Yeshivot which have become a target by the enemies of Torah and religion to close down the Yeshivot under lock and key and to uproot Torah, heaven forbid, from Klal Yisroel.

In the evening the delegation reached the airport in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and made their way back to the Holy land with everyone hoping and praying that they fulfilled their mission with trust, and in the merit of the historical journey, and entreating by the gravesite of the Chofetz Chaim, something which has never been done before on such a scale ever since the destruction of Judaism in Europe, all the delegates and all whom they represent, should merit to be inscribed in the Book of the Righteous and merit to a good and successful year in all of their endeavors.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)