they are only concerned with the [well-being of the] body

from the Sentry

Hagaon Rav Yehudah Cohen shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Yakirei Yerushalayim, recently spoke about what is transpiring in the Israeli yeshiva world, he said; “This situation of the corona has confused gevulos olam, ba’avonoseinu harabim. Only one thing is left ‘saru maher min haderech asher tziveesim asu lahem maseichah’ [maseichah in Ivrit is a mask], [the message is] if you have a mask you have everything, if not you have nothing. With this one starts in the morning modeh ani lifanecha, and with this [he says] krias shma al hamitah. This is the aseres hadibros, this is the Torah, the mitzvos, everything. 

What about limud haTorah? ‘Im lo brisi yomam va’laylah chukos shamayim va’aretz lo samti’, without Torah the world has no existence … 

I attended a meeting last week of Roshei Yeshivos in Bnei Brak, together with officials of the Ministry of Health. They said openly; the percent of infection at home is higher than anywhere else… The bocherim are begging and crying; allow us to go [to yeshiva], and they are not listening to them, [they are not permitting them] to go learn…

Rav Chaim of Volozhin writes in Nefesh HaChaim that not only is the existence of the world dependent on learning Torah, but the world’s situation is dependent on the amount and quality of Torah learning in Yisroel. Therefore, if we see that the world is full of sickness and problems, it stems from bittul Torah, for abundance [of good] comes exactly in proportion to Torah learning of the am segulah… 

This they forgot, they are only concerned with the [wellbeing of the] body… Thousands were infected with corona, and Baruch Hashem from tens of thousands of bochurei yeshiva nothing happened from the corona… On the other hand hundreds and thousands of pure souls went lost to aveiros. Who will [be able to] give judgment for this? It’s okay to take care of the body, but what about the neshamos?...

All are busy with the coronavirus, from the morning until late at night. But no one is talking about this; what about the Torah? What about the lomdei HaTorah? How can am Yisroel survive without limud HaTorah?

In Chodesh Adar when it all started, I said to myself, Ribono Shel Olam, thank you, the days of mashiach are coming. And that should have happened. But the Yetzer Harah, who is the Satan, took charge of the entire show. Everything became one issue; how to take more and more care [of the health]. What about the shuls? What about yeshivas? What about shiurim? What about yaldei Yisroel? What about them? The media people are uninterested in these matters, they don’t speak about it…”

One example of spiritual deterioration; a Sephardi bocher, a serious ben-Torah who has already completed all of shas, was forced to go home when his yeshiva closed. At home he had a wayward brother. With the extended time they were spending together, he was negatively influenced and has now gone astray as well.

And now the new “capsulot” system for the yeshivas has been announced for Elul zman. The capsule arrangement is extremely difficult, and last zman a large percent of bocherim left the system mid-zman. In the best case scenario of the new system, an estimated 20% of the bochurei hayeshivas will not have a yeshiva from the onset. 

It is interesting to note that in the capsulot yeshivas the bocherim must wear masks only when davening and learning, and not when in the dining room or dormitory. One wonders if the Ministry of Health has come to an agreement with the virus, and it has promised to stay out of the dining rooms and dormitories, and only when engaged in “dangerous” activities such as devarim shebikedushah one must take precautions. Or perhaps the intended message is; critical matters such as eating and sleeping must be tended to at all costs, however “extras” such as davening and learning can only be done if and when all precautions are taken.