In 1925, at the Chanukas HaBayis, dedication ceremony, for Yeshivas Baranovitz, Horav Elchonan Wasserman, zl, its Rosh Yeshivah, quoted the above pasuk in his address. Zos; “This,” was the dedication of the Altar. He observed that the gematria, numerical equivalent, of zos equals that of: tzom, fasting; kol, sound/prayer; mammon, money/charity. This alludes to the idea that in order to build/dedicate/establish a new altar/Torah edifice, in contrast to the amazing joy that accompanies such an endeavor, there must be a tempering of fasting, prayer and weeping. Joy is a mainstay of which our people sadly do not have a surplus. Nonetheless, it is not all about simchah, joy. For a yeshivah, Torah endeavor, to succeed, it must be accompanied by a heaviness of the heart, based upon introspection and repentance, so that we warrant that joy.
The Chafetz Chaim, zl, was wont to say, “The world thinks that a yeshivah is built with money. They are wrong. For a yeshivah to succeed, three ingredients are crucial: the place where it is established must be worthy; the builders must do so out of purity of heart (not just to have a yeshivah); tears. Thus, one is able to circumvent and ward off the evil powers that would take hold of such an endeavor and delegitimize it.” In order for the Shechinah, Divine Presence, to rest upon an edifice, it must have a foundation created and maintained by these three components.
It is well-known that when Horav Chaim Volozhiner, zl, laid the foundation stone for what was to become the mother of all yeshivos, Volozhin, Rav Chaim stood there weeping profusely for an entire hour, with his tears mixing with the sand. It was this mixture of sand and Rav Chaim’s tears that created the cement, which held the foundation stone. Ha’zorim b’dimah b’rinah yiktzoru, “Those who sew with tears will reap with joy.” Rav Chaim’s tears gave the foundation stone and, ultimately, the yeshivah, the strength to withstand the strong alien winds of the Haskalah, European Enlightenment.
Likewise, when the Ponevezer Rav, zl, laid the foundation stone for Ponevez, during a time when the fires of destruction were raging in Europe, he was accompanied at this emotional gateway by the Chazon Ish, zl. Everyone recited chapters of Tehillim, after which the Ponevezer Rav put the stone in place. He then broke down in incessant sobbing for a short while. His sobbing was the capstone of the event. The Chazon Ish remarked, “When one commences an endeavor with whiskey (partying, celebration), it is doubtful if it will culminate in success. When one begins with tears, the success is guaranteed. As David Hamelech says, Ha’zorim b’dima b’rina yiktzoru.
When Horav Raphael Baruch Toledano, zl, emigrated to Eretz Yisrael from Morocco, he was greeted by the dean of mashgichim, Horav Shlomo Wolbe, zl. Rav Toledano survived not only physically, but also spiritually, in a country where radical anti-Semitism was a way of life, and secularism was the norm. Yet, he and his wife raised a family of children and grandchildren, all G-d-fearing Torah scholars. The Mashgiach, an individual who was considered to be one of the generation’s most astute and inspiring educators, asked the Rav what was his unique philosophy of education.
Rav Toledano replied, “We have no special philosophy of education; rather, every night I would sit in one room, while my wife sat in another room, and, for twenty minutes, we poured out our hearts in tear-drenched prayer to Hashem that He protect our children and grant them success in Torah. If you are seeking to identify the z’chus, merit, for our children’s success, that is it.”
