Just one day before the outbreak of Operation “Roaring Lion,” Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, the revered posek, delivered powerful words of chizuk and reassurance during his renowned shiur for doctors and rabbanim at Maayanei HaYeshua Medical Center. In the midst of mounting tension, his message was one of calm, bitachon, and deep emunah.

Concluding his Thursday night shiur on Parshas Tetzaveh, Rav Zilberstein addressed the matzav with clarity and serenity, speaking directly to the concerns that were already in the air — concerns that, within 24 hours, would erupt into open war.

He said: “What can I say? First of all, residents of Bnei Brak — there is nothing to fear! My sister-in-law, Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, of blessed memory, once woke up in the middle of the night and told my brother-in-law, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, that a bomb had fallen in Bnei Brak. But he told her, ‘That is a mistake, it is not Bnei Brak,’ and indeed it turned out that it fell a few meters beyond Bnei Brak.”

With palpable warmth, Rav Zilberstein continued: “Look, my dear ones, today in the yeshivos they are learning very well, very, very well. It seems to me that here in Bnei Brak nothing will happen, and I very much want to ask that all of us together fulfill the mitzvah of loving our fellow Jews, and that we also pray for all our brothers. Residents of Bnei Brak — there is nothing to speak about. I only want to ask that everyone think about our brothers who are not residents of Bnei Brak.”

He then added words that resonated deeply with those present: “It seems to me that they have no chance — that is how it appears to me! Look, people are sitting here and speaking words of Torah, they are not handing out chocolate…, not blankets…, they are simply sitting and learning, truly Torah for its own sake!

“I think that regarding Bnei Brak there is nothing at all to fear, and I also think that in the other cities there is nothing to fear. Why? Because the yeshiva students today also have good character traits. The mussar studied in the yeshivos — if that is so, I believe they protect the entire nation. That is how it seems to me.”

In a striking moment of confidence, Rav Zilberstein declared: “It seems to me that only salvations await us. That is what I think.”

One of the Rav’s close associates later related that he personally heard Rav Chaim Kanievsky say regarding the city of Modiin Illit that Kiryat Sefer has the same din as Bnei Brak, since it is a makom entirely filled with lomdei Torah.

Rav Zilberstein concluded with heartfelt divrei chizuk: “Therefore, I think that right now we simply need to increase love among fellow Jews, and it does not appear to me that anything will happen here. It seems to me that nothing at all will happen here.”

Following his remarks, Rav Zilberstein recited a kapitel Tehillim together with the participants, with deep kavana, and concluded with the tefillah of “Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael.”

{Matzav.com}