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Dear Parents:
I have no doubt that as we move towards the end of the Yeshiva year you are looking forward to welcoming your sons back home. Baruch Hashem, we have had a wonderful year. The boys have grown beautifully in their learning, their appreciation and commitment to Torah, Tefilah and Mitzvot, and in their love of Eretz Yisrael. The boys have developed close friendships with their friends and Rebbeim. We are in the midst of a very special time of year as we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim and get ourselves ready for Chag HaShavuot - zman matan torateinu. But I am writing this letter to share with you something else. I want to tell you of a recent episode in Yeshiva that truly embodies everything that Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Tzion is about - a real sense of combining Torah study with Chesed in doing what we can to help fellow members of Klal Yisrael.
Our Av Bayit, Avi Goldberg, has a friend named Gilad. Gilad is a 19-year old boy from Baltimore who has been battling cancer for the past few years. Gilad spent part of last year learning in a Yeshiva in Israel (not ours) and is currently a freshman at the University of Maryland. Recently, Gilad's condition took a turn for the worse. Avi thought to himself how can we in Israel help Gilad in his struggle in Baltimore? Avi came up with a concept -- a special all-night mishmar, with learning and shiurim, to build zechuyot for Gilad. Our Yeshiva hosted this very special evening. Almost all of our students participated, and we hosted many students from other Yeshivot who also joined this special enterprise. There was simultaneous women's learning and shiurim that took place in Avi's home, across the street from the Yeshiva. Our Rebbeim gave shiurim throughout the night, and there was a beautiful Kol Torah emanating from our Beit Midrash. I have little doubt that Hashem was looking down at our Beit Midrash, at your sons, with a real sense of nachat ruach at what was being accomplished. The learning and shiurim continued until around 5:30 am, when the Yeshiva davened vatikin.
My description, however, does not give this evening the justice it deserves. Please read the words of Gilad's mother, and her sense of hakarat hatov for what was accomplished on this very special night. Her letter to me can be found below.
May Gilad see a refuah sheleima, and may we all see a tremendous amount of nachat from the boys. Best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and a wonderful Shavuot.
Rav Shimon Isaacson
Rosh Yeshiva
Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Tzion
To the Rabbanim ha'mchubadim at Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevaseret Zion:
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the learning that the
students and rabbanim at Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevaseret Zion took upon
themselves for the zechut of a refuah shlayma for our son, Gilad Hillel ben
Bracha Mirel. It was so very touching to us that people we don't know, at a
yeshiva our boys did not attend, made this commitment and followed through
with passionate learning for a 24-hour period.
You must know, of course, what a gem you have in Avi Goldberg. We have known
Avi since he was a young boy, and the mischievous glimmer in his eye has
developed into a beautiful passion for the things he loves and believes in.
His dedication to Israel, to learning, to his family and friends, and to the
ideals he supports know no bounds. He has a heart of gold and is someone one
can depend on in both good times and challenging ones. This learning effort
is but one example of what Avi is capable of - setting a goal, organizing an
effort, seeing to the details, following up, carrying everything through and
picking up the pieces that others may have inadvertently dropped. He is
gentle, but as the grandson of Holocaust survivors, the words "I can't do
this" is simply not part of his vocabulary.
We are so moved that so many people all over the world have been praying for
our Gilad. In addition to a tehillim gathering here at our shul in
Baltimore, Avi thought that learning would be something for young adults to
do, something that could make a difference - both in Gilad's situation - and
to all of those who are at a loss as to what to do to help us. We definitely
need to bend God's ear, and to let Him know that He must heal Gilad. We
don't understand God's ways, and we are both pained and puzzled by them. But
last week's learning session lifted our spirits and I personally felt closer
to God than I have in a long time. The learning at and around Mevaseret
reminded us of another way to communicate with God - as a kehillah, as a
group - pleading with God through not just tefillah, but through the words
of His Torah.
Thank you all for what you did for our family. We appreciate that so many of
you took this on, and that not only the students, but the rabbanim took time
from their sleep and personal time to do something so wonderful for someone
else. What a beautiful act of chesed, and how wonderful that your students
have seen this modeled in their rabbanim.
Tizku l'mitzvot and thank you so very much for Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevaseret
Zion's beautiful participation in last week's learning effort.
Gilad's mom/Michelle aka Bracha Mirel
--
Rav Shimon Isaacson
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