Rabbi Aharon Salim: Torah Gives Life and Strength in Difficult Times

At the main rally of the World Torah Fund in Deal, New Jersey, last night, Rabbi Aharon Salim, head of Maor HaTorah Yeshiva and a member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages, delivered an impassioned address about the value of intense Torah study. The event was held as a declaration of accepting the yoke of Heaven, as part of the fund’s campaign to help the Torah world cope with severe financial damage affecting thousands of Torah learners and married students.

Salim said the worth of learning is not measured only by how much one studies or how deeply one understands, but by how much effort is invested. “According to how much a person toils in Torah, that is how he receives his reward,” he said, stressing personal exertion and commitment.

Referring to the rabbinic teaching that Torah only endures in one who “kills himself over it,” Salim addressed the apparent contradiction with the verse “and you shall live by them.” He explained that the meaning is not literal self-destruction, but that in the hardest trials of life, when a person feels unable to withstand the pressure, Torah is what revives him. “It is Torah that gives him the power of life,” he said, adding that it enables a person to continue and overcome the test.

His remarks came as the World Torah Fund tour, which began about two weeks ago with leading rabbis across the United States, nears its culmination with the arrival of Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who had been unable to take part until now because of a family celebration. Before his trip, Hirsch sent a letter to tens of thousands of kollel families in Israel calling for a half-hour “fast of speech” at the start of each study session until the end of the High Holy Days, saying the difficulty itself would bring salvation and greater divine favor. Over the weekend, dozens of yeshiva heads from around Israel held a farewell gathering for him and thanked him for his role in establishing the fund. In recent weeks, Salim has also spoken several times about the draft law battle, backing Shas representatives and sharply criticizing the judicial system.