Tens of thousands of people worldwide attended an unusual event hosted by a major seminary school in Jerusalem on Sunday, ahead of the Shavuot holiday, marked this weekend.
Yeshivat HaKotel, a religious Zionist hesder yeshiva located across from the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, hosted an international Torah studying session headed by four chief rabbis of Israel, past and present, who were joined by 80 speakers – Diaspora chief rabbis, world leaders, community rabbis, and leading speakers from a wide range of sectors and views.
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The event was held on the day which traditionally marks when the people of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai ahead of receiving the word of God from Moses.
Yeshivat Hakotel produced the event in collaboration with some of the world's leading Jewish organizations including OU Israel, the local branch of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; the World Mizrahi, The Office of the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, and "Aish Ha'Torah" in South America.
The event was dedicated to the memory of the Rebbe of Novominsk, Rabbi Yaakov Perlov, the president of Agudath Israel in the US, and the chairman of its Torah Council, who has worked extensively for "Clal Israel."
"Shavuot, the giving of the Torah holiday is approaching, and we are preparing for it," said Col. (res.) Moti Jerby, executive director of Yeshivat Hakotel institutions. "The entire Jewish world is recovering from tremendous losses inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic and we seek to unite the entire Jewish world, in Israel and in the Diaspora, around the Torah."
OU Israel Director Rabbi Avi Berman noted"Many good things happened thanks to the corona. The most important thing was the assembling of so many rabbis from various seminaries, who came together for joint prayer and study. This shows a great connection in heart and mind, and it makes all the Jewish people all over the world connect to one another. It is important that we all come together and pray for all our brothers and sisters around the world."
Yeshivat Hakotel President Rabbi Baruch Vider said, "In the third month, the people of Israel came the Sinai desert, exactly in Rosh Hodesh. Mount Sinai was a one-of-a-kind event in which we received the Torah. Jerusalem, as the city that is joined together and connects all Israel together. Yeshivat Hakotel symbolizes the return of the Torah to Jerusalem between the ancient walls, through the gathering of Torah leaders from all over the world, a direct continuation of the Torah teaching on Mount Sinai.
"Lately the situation has been dire for Jews around the world, and we all pray that this special and historic event will be a blessing for complete health to all our sick and for the entire world."
