At a meeting early this week with the heads of the most prominent and largest religious seminaries (Kollels) in Israel, under the auspices of the ultra-Orthodox leaders Maran Hagon Rav�Elyashiv and Maran Rav Shteinman Shlita, a decision was made to institute a Yom Tefillah (day of prayer) and learning at all the Kollels in Eretz Yisroel next week.� Thursday, November 13th will be a united effort to storm the gates of Heaven and plead for the financial health of Jewish philanthropists, so that they can continue to support Torah institutions in Israel.
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Several fundraisers recently returned from appeals in the United States practically empty-handed, due to the collapse of the worldwide economy.� The impact this has in Israel is more than just financial, and means more than just the loss of Torah study. When a Torah scholar is forced to leave his studies because his yeshiva cannot pay him, it endangers his entire family.� The psychological impact affects his wife and children, in addition to their lack of food, electricity, clothing, and other basic needs, and as the husband heads into despair, whole families can fall apart.�
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With the increasing economic challenges and the massive withdrawal of support for the Kollels in Israel, over 6,000 families are left without income from their Torah study, leaving thousands of wives and children without the strength of Torah, without food on the table, and facing a crisis situation that impacts their family, community and the broader Jewish world.�
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"A philanthropist who gives money can be blessed and earn more.� But a family that has been torn apart takes a lot more than a little money to put back together," explains Yaakov Segal, who is the Assistant National Director of a chain of nursery schools in Israel and has volunteered to help manage the new Emergency Fund.
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This day of prayer and learning is intended to bring the cries of the Rabbis straight to the gates of Heaven and also across the ocean to those who fund Torah institutions, to show them that the Torah community depends on them for survival. To help encourage their goodwill and generosity, a new fund is being set up as a joint effort by 11 of the leading Kollels in Israel (listed below).� Funds raised will be distributed directly to the crisis-stricken Kollel students equally � funds will not be dispersed to the Kollels themselves, nor will any staff be paid to manage the Emergency Fund.
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The Emergency Fund's fundraising goal is $14,000,000 � which the organizers believe is the minimal amount needed to help keep Kollel students and their families out of crisis. This is the first time that a joint effort has been made by all the leading Kollels, and the Rabbis believe that this will demonstrate their unity of purpose and the depth of the crisis now being experienced.
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Segal explains that until now, it has been a mutually beneficial arrangement based on the traditional worker-learner model (known in Judaism as Yissachar � Zevulun arrangement).� People supported Torah learning and Torah learning supported the community.� But now, with key donors cutting back their donations in response to financial uncertainty, the damage that this will inflict on Torah study will lead to devastation in the world.� "Repentance, prayer and charity can reverse a harsh decree," he noted. "That is why we need to conduct a unified day of prayer and Torah study to remind philanthropists that not only do Kollel families need their support, but they themselves need the power of Torah study in their merit at this difficult time."
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While this is the first time that such a joint effort and a day of prayer is being instituted, for the past few weeks Torah leaders Rabbi Eliashiv and Rabbi Shteinman have been kept awake at night in despair over the plight of the Kollels.� Rabbi Shteinman has set aside time every morning after his Tefilla to say special psalms and prayers for the financial situation.
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Recently a story circulated quietly through the Torah world that gave inspiration and hope to the Kollels.� An individual who had significant investments in Lehman Brothers was approached by a the head of a Kollel to lend money to the yeshiva.� The donor pulled out $2 million of his investments and gave it as a "no strings attached" loan.� A week later, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, all that was left of the donor's investment was the $2 million that he had loaned.
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The weekend of November 15th, representatives from this new Emergency Fund will travel to the US to make a serious appeal for the members of Kollels and their families in Israel.� They hope to raise significant funds in this trip, to take the pressure off Kollel fundraisers whose overseas visits have not been producing results. The kollel directors Kollel who participated in the meeting and who will be a part of the new fund are well known in ultra-Orthodox circles and include:
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HaRav Natan Einfeld, Kollel Chazon Ish
HaRav Shmuel Elyashiv, Shaarei Zion
HaRav Zvi Weisfish, Yeshivas Haran
HaRav Eliezer Kahanaman, Ponevezh
HaRav Yosef Mann, Beis Hillel
HaRav Shalom Be'er Sorotzkin, Ateres Shlomo
HaRav Avraham Pachter, Medrash Elyahu Elad
HaRav Aharon Dov Freund, Bais Abba
HaRav Rabbi Yaakov Kenig, Breslev
HaRav Avraham Rubinstein, Nachlas Moshe, Bnei Brak
(Dov Gordon - YWN)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=25368
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