Five senior members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah have formally joined the call of Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Shlita, urging kollelim throughout Eretz Yisrael to institute a daily taanis dibbur during the first half-hour of the morning seder until the Yamim Noraim, in response to the severe challenges facing the Torah world.

In a letter now being distributed to kollelim across Eretz Yisrael, the Gedolim called for special sedarim of increased hasmadah, encouraging avreichim to learn with uninterrupted concentration while observing a taanis dibbur for at least the first half-hour of the morning seder.

The letter was signed by senior members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah: Harav Moshe Tzvi Bergman, Harav Berel Povarsky, Harav Eliezer Pilz, Harav Dov Cohen, and Harav Aryeh Yehudah Finkel. They concluded with a bracha that the merit of this undertaking should stand for Klal Yisrael against “the harsh persecutions and renewed troubles caused by those who oppress us.” The initiative comes amid the ongoing gezeiros targeting the Torah world, including the draft decrees and the loss of funding for yeshivos.

The letter follows a recent gathering at the home of Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch with dozens of roshei kollelim before his trip to the United States on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah. During that meeting, Rav Hirsch urged roshei kollelim to adopt a taanis dibbur for the first half-hour of every morning seder through the Yamim Noraim, explaining that precisely because the commitment is difficult and requires mesirus nefesh, it will bring increased Kavod Shamayim and special siyata d’Shmaya for Klal Yisrael.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)