The Man and the Vision

By: Yaakov Rosenfeld

Fifty-five years ago, the pure soul of the Ponevezher Rebbe passed on. The Rebbe never stopped dreaming and aspiring, and with his great spirit he was able to fulfill his dreams and ambitions in an unbelievable way; from their strength, the yeshiva world was built in Israel. His work is a pillar and cornerstone for countless institutions and yeshivas all over.

The Torah world in Israel cannot be described without the wonderful vision of the Ponevezher Rebbe. The Jewish People were, at the time, heartbroken and disaster struck. Most of the Torah and chasidic world was killed in the Holocaust; the Rebbe himself also drank from this poisonous glass. He lost his family, children, and members of his community in the Holocaust.

When he saw his dream fulfilled, his heart overflowed with excitement, and he said: “Have you seen a tombstone in your life that will be many times larger than the size of the grave itself?”

“This is the great merit of the State”

From the editorial of the “Bais Yaakov” newsletter, at the time of the Rebbe’s passing:

A time of emergency once again attacked the Jews and the State of Israel. What the Nazi corrupting satan left to survive, the evil communist dictators are plotting – G-d forbid – to exterminate. And the anxiety is great. And the anxiety is doubled and redoubled. The anxiety of the body and the anxiety of the soul, because a vibration of anxiety passes over the tents of Torah in the Holy Land: Will they, God forbid, be disturbed and bothered in this holy duty?!

The hour is very serious. And the pressure of the reality full of dangers is intense and piercing. And quite a few are anxious regarding the fate and status of the holy yeshivas. Many were horrified – but not the genius of Ponevezh. He is firm in his confidence, firm in his outlook, firm in his reasoning.

Please, my friends – explained the genius of Ponevezh to those who explained – go tell them, to the people in power who have decision making power, that there are many shadows, but this is the great merit of the State, this is the shining light in it, that it has become the Torah center of the world, and we are not asking for an act of kindness for my yeshiva students, but we ask by virtue of the Holy Torah to spare and have mercy on the State of Israel itself.”

And his words then, how fitting they are for our times, and how worthy they are to be said in a crystal clear manner.

In his words, in the famous speech given by the Ponevezher Rebbe in the midst of the Holocaust, in the year 5704 (1943-4), he said:

All of the Jews are holy.

We do not have a question of majority and minority, of a secular majority. By no means! All Jewish People are holy. There are holy people who have been innappropriate, holy people who have come out of their midst, but they are holy. And in these days of terror we turn in the call of brothers: Jews are a holy people, yes, all of them are holy, also our brothers in Ein Charod and Givat Brenner are holy, because they will finally return to their roots – their holy lineage. Our job is to prepare yeshiva heads for Ein Charod and its members, we are ordered to prepare a stock of tefillin (phylacteries) for these Jews, and I am sure that not a single Jewish head will remain in the country without tefillin.

And the supreme revelation in our generation is the revelation of kiddush Hashem (the sanctification of the Name of G-d).

And the the Rebbe continued and said:

Nineteen hundred years ago in Israel, they arrested the rabbi, Rabbi Akiva, and executed him. While he was tied up in the prison house, he asked for water to ritually wash his hands and said: “It is better that I die as myself and not go against the words of the sages.” And now, in Treblinka, the brother of the Gerrer Rebbe, the holy genius, Rabbi Mendeli, may G-d avenge his blood, marches to the death camp and calls out: “Jews, in a little while, we will sanctify the name of G-d there. It is proper to prepare ourselves for this great mitzvah. Bring me water for the ritual hand washing.” One person jumped up and said: “Rebbe! I will risk my life on the condition that you guarantee me a share in the next world. The holy genius gave up his share in the next world, and received in return – a cup of water to for washing.

In what merit did we withstand the long and bitter exile, this nineteen hundred years; before you is the chain from Rabbi Akiva to Rabbi Mendeli. Due to the fact that we learned Torah, due to the great Torah scholars who instilled in the entire nation the light of the Torah and the candle of the mitzvahs…

Below are rare photos from the Ganzach Kiddush Hashem archive, published for the first time, of the cornerstone laying ceremony of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, the yeshiva building, and inside the yeshiva at its start.