Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the head of yeshiva and a leading Haredi figure, is scheduled to fly to the United States on Saturday night to take part in the closing events of the World Torah Fund campaign. He had not joined the earlier stages because of a family celebration, the wedding of his granddaughter, but after repeated appeals from Jewish community leaders in the U.S., he agreed to attend the final ceremonies.
According to the report, Hirsch will remain in the United States for only about three days. The short visit is meant to bring the fundraising effort to a close after the creation of the World Torah Fund, which was established to help Torah institutions cope with severe financial harm affecting thousands of yeshiva students and kollel fellows.
On Friday, a farewell gathering was held at Hirsch’s home, with dozens of kollel heads from across Israel, representing tens of thousands of married learners. They came specifically to wish him well before his departure. At the event, the kollel heads thanked Hirsch for his extensive work in establishing the fund and for joining other major rabbis in fighting government measures seen as harmful to the Torah world. They also expressed appreciation for his efforts to raise money around the world to support Torah study in Israel, and blessed him on his way.
The U.S. campaign began about two weeks ago, when leading rabbis split into three delegations working in parallel in New Jersey, Florida, and Pennsylvania. On one day alone, 19 dinners and support events were held in four different states. Among the participants were Rabbi Dov Lando, Rabbi Yitzchak Ezrachi, Rabbi Asher Weiss, Rabbi Dan Segal, Rabbi Aharon Simcha Saliem, Rabbi Yisrael Hillel, Rabbi Moshe Kotler, Rabbi Shmuel Glaib, Rabbi Yitzchak B. Shriber, Rabbi Chaim Meir Ozband, and Rabbi Yitzchak Hevroni. The climax was a massive rally in Lakewood, where tens of thousands of Torah learners gathered in what was described as one of the city’s largest events in recent years.
