By Rabbi Yair Hoffman Maran Sar HaTorah Rav Chaim zatzal held that a siyum is actually preferable to fasting on Erev Pesach.  Why is that?  Because a Siyum is actually a seudas Mitzvah, while the firstborn fasting on this day is a Minhag – a strong minhag, but nonetheless a Minhag. Rav Chaim zatzal would conduct his siyum on the entire Bavli each year at the Lederman shul.  He would then go home and make his siyum on the entire Yerushalmi. This year, the congregants and the Gabbai of the Lederman shul had requested that Rav Chaim’s eldest son, the b’chor, conduct the siyum in his father’s stead.  Those in attendance heard the words of the Siyum Kaddish and could not help thinking that Rav Chaim zatzal would no longer be conducting the annual siyum on Shas, but were consoled by the fact that his son, yblct”v Rav Avrohom Yishayahu Kanievsky shlita would continue the tradition. It did involve a change, however.  Rav Avrohom Yishayahu Kanievsky shlita would always conduct the siyum on the yartzeit of his grandmother, the Steipler’s Rebbitzen and sister of the Chazon Ish – Rebbitzen Pesha Miriam Kanievsky a”h, on the second of Nissan.  In deference to the needs of the Mispallelim, he made the siyum on Shas and the Tosefta on Erev Pesach and then immediately began Meseches Brachos. Beside him at the siyum was the list of those who had sent in their names as for brachos and as a z’chus. Rav Avrohom Yishayahu shlita completed the Yerushalmi siyum at home.   The author can be reached at [email protected]

“It Is Our Fervent Hope That the Zechus of the Chofetz Chaim Will Protect Us!”  Yidden around the world are bring requested to be mispallel for our brethren in Ukraine. An exclusive Interview with Rav Aharon Motoz, Head of Dirshu in Ukraine, as he, together with 200 Members of the Odessa community flee the area Rav Aharon Motoz is a Rav in Odessa and heads all of Dirshu’s operations in Ukraine. As Russian troops began bombing and encircling large parts of Ukraine, Rav Motoz consulted with Gedolei Yisroel and was told to flee. His hometown of Odessa, one of Ukraine’s largest cities, is strategically located on the Black Sea and is a very important city that the Russians are certainly planning on conquering. Rav Aharon spoke to a senior member of Dirshu’s hanhala in Yerushalayim this past erev Shabbos, from the bus on which he was fleeing with his wife, children and a convoy of more than 200 members of the kehillah. Rav Aharon. Where are you now? How are you and your kehillah faring? We have been in transit for twelve hours already. The plan is to travel for another full two days until we reach the most western part of the country. The entire kehillah has fled together with me. Many goyim who live near us begged us to let them come along, but we simply did not have room. People are sitting in the aisles and in every available inch of the busses. I must admit that right now, the mood is one of great despair. Odessa is located right near the Black Sea and the Russian forces are gathering en masse for an invasion. We know that they have no problem killing civilians. That is why we have fled. At first, we tried to get into the nearby country of Moldavia, but many of us did not have the proper papers to be allowed entry. We are now traveling to the West where we hope to stay in a refugee camp until things quiet down. Why didn’t you stay in Odessa? The Russian Army says that they do not plan on targeting civilians? Even if that would be true, we felt we must flee. The Ukrainian government is planning on drafting every male between the ages of eighteen and sixty. My brother is already fighting in the army. Those of us who cannot fight have decided that it would be safest to flee. Our primary fear is that we will be stopped and forced to return. That is why we will be travelling straight, day and night, until we reach our destination. It will soon be Shabbos, but we have been told by our poskim that we must continue traveling, even on Shabbos. It is truly pikuach nefesh to get as far away from the war zone as possible. The truth is everyone who can find a way to leave is leaving – Jews and non-Jews. Everyone knows that during war, human life is considered worthless. Are you worried about what life will be like under a government that is effectively controlled by Putin? No one wants Putin. We don’t want to be under Russia in any shape or form. We view Putin as another Stalin type of dictator. He is an enemy of humanity. He

WATCH VIDEO BELOW ARTICLE by Riki Goldstein The year which is drawing to a close, 5771, has brought a series of heartbreaking blows. We were shattered by the multiple tragedies Klal Yisrael endured in Meron, then just weeks later, the Surfside collapse brought us to a new low. Composer and producer Eli Gerstner shares how he felt. “Like many people, we knew of families who were in the Champlain towers building. And for the first two days, we still hoped and prayed they would be found alive. Coming on the heels of the Meron tragedy, we all felt that another disaster was just too much.” As Eli was davening for the rescue, the powerful words “Avinu Malkeinu kera ro’a gezar dineinu…[tear up the evil decree]” were going round and round in his mind. Just then, he received a text from a friend of his, who had been diagnosed with cancer. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he says. “It all just hit me.” And in the overwhelming pain of so much suffering, in the swirl of darkness, he began to sing and plead with Hashem. At the piano, he put the pain into music with the words “Avinu malkeinu, send a refuah sheleimah to the sick of Your people, tear up the evil decrees.” The melody that emerged from those tearful prayers, “AVINU,” was just released on Sunday August 29th, the first day of Selichos. One phrase which jumps out from that first night of Selichos is we ask Hashem to look at our misfortunes instead of our sins—“Penei nah el hat’laos, ve’al lachataos.” Instead of focusing on what we are doing wrong, please, Hashem, won’t You consider all our pain and troubles. Consider the pain of Your children who are sick, the families who are grieving and forever incomplete, the couples longing for children, the teenagers lost and broken. If You look at those, surely You will have mercy and bring an end to harsh decrees. Surely You will stop sending us tragedies. Eli had already planned the final two songs to be released as part of The Chizuk Project, but when he sent his new nigun to Jeremy Strauss of Strauss Music and the Chizuk Project, they decided to lay their original plans to the side, and work on this new song, which is so expressive of the pleas arising from all our hearts.  They both knew who would sing it: Benny Friedman, whose depth of emotion enriches his vocals and touches the listeners’ hearts. “When we sent the song to Benny, he immediately agreed to sing it,” Eli says. “And we all knew, as we worked on the track, who we were dedicating it to—the cholim of Klal Yisrael.” Benny loved the song, “it’s a song you could feel in your kishkes.” More than that, he loved the idea that singers and fellow Yidden were getting together to daven. “When a person is mispallel by himself, that’s a beautiful thing. But being mispallel with the community is an entirely different level. The Chizuk project is bringing people together, creating a tzibbur to daven for cholim across the world, and we all hope our united tefillos will be answered speedily.” Eli immediately began to work on the arrangements. Although he had composed the song on