A landmark moment is set to take place this evening as Hagaon Rav Asher Arieli will, for the first time, deliver remarks outside the framework of his regular shiurim. The highly anticipated address will be delivered at the Malki Rabbanan gathering, scheduled to take place tonight at the Pais Arena in Yerushalayim.

For decades, Rav Arieli — the most prominent maggid shiur in the Torah world — has declined invitations to appear before large public audiences beyond his daily shiur at the Mir. His shiurim, which draw approximately a thousand lomdim each day, have become legendary. Yet despite his stature, he has consistently avoided public speaking engagements and any form of personal publicity, devoting himself exclusively to delivering Torah through his daily shiur and smaller chaburos. He also delivers a shiur each week at Yeshiva Tiferes Tzvi and a shiur each year to the participants of Agudas Yisroel’s Yerushalayim Yarchei Kallah.

According to information obtained behind the scenes, the decision follows a personal request from the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, who urged Rav Arieli to address the Malki Rabbanan event in light of the significance of the occasion and its importance in being mechazeik the Olam HaTorah.

Event organizers explained the deeper message behind the gathering. “Specifically at this time,” they said, “in a period when the honor of Torah is being trampled and in the public square one hears voices of ‘Mai ahanu lan Rabbanan,’ this event comes to proclaim in a clear voice the public’s appreciation for those who toil in Torah, as Chazal said: ‘Man malki? Rabbanan!’”

{Matzav.com}