Students and kollel members gathered at the Torah and Faith yeshiva in a major evening of encouragement and celebration, combined with a sheva brachot for the son of Menachem Hillel Klein, the director of the yeshiva and the Tzohar organization. The event was held in the hall of the Belz yeshiva, founded by the Belzer Rebbe more than 50 years ago, and drew yeshiva students, rabbis and public figures from across Israel.
Leading Torah authorities addressed the audience with words of uplift and guidance, including Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, head of Or HaChaim Yeshiva and a member of the Council of Torah Sages, Rabbi Yitzchak Azrazi, head of Mir Yeshiva, and Rabbi Moshe Brandesdorfer, a prominent halachic authority. Belz hasidic figures also attended, among them Rabbi Pinchas Friedman, head of Mekhakei Hashem Yeshiva, and the Belzer Rebbe’s grandsons, Rabbi Shalom Rokeach and Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Tzvi Rokeach.
Rabbi Friedman connected the weekly Torah portion, the students’ spiritual progress, and the sheva brachot in his remarks. Rabbi Shalom Rokeach urged the students to recognize their own worth and believe in their abilities as they make their way toward full religious observance, despite the challenges. Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Tzvi Rokeach said his grandfather cares personally about the yeshiva’s growth and each student individually.
One of the evening’s highlights came when Rabbis Elbaz and Azrazi danced together with the students and kollel members, drawing the hall into singing and unity. Speakers repeatedly praised the spiritual outreach efforts and the yeshiva’s work under the direction of the Belzer Rebbe. Other participants included Rabbi Eliezer Chaim Weber, who delivered the yeshiva’s message; Deputy Minister Yisrael Eichler, who said the students are “the apple of the eye” of the Belzer Rebbe and all the great rabbis; and several leaders and lecturers from the Tzohar organization. The evening ended with a sense of elevation and renewed appreciation for the yeshiva’s place in Torah study and outreach.
