Since the Petira of the Sar Hatorah, Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ZATZAL, there have been Hespeidim taking place in every single Yeshiva in the world. Many Shuls and Batei Midrashim around the globe, including by Chassidim, Sefardim, have held events where Divrei Hesped have been delivered, as Klal Yisroel continues to mourn the loss of the Gadol Hasdor – who was a literal Sefer Torah that the Ribono Shel Olam had placed into our generation. One of those events was on Thursday night in Chevron Yeshiva, where thousands packed into the Bais Medrash to hear a Hesped from Mashgiach, Hagaon HaRav Don Segal, as well as the Roshei Yeshiva of the Yeshiva. VIDEO & PHOTOS BELOW FROM TONIGHT (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Three teenagers approached and harassed a group of Jewish children on Wednesday in the vicinity of 17th Avenue and 61st Street in Boro Park. Surveillance footage shows the trio approaching the children before knocking off the yarmulka being worn by one of them. Boro PArk Shomrim and the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is investigating the incident and safety patrols have been stepped up in the area in case the perpetrators return to the area. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)  

YWN obtained rare footage of the Steipler, z’tl, and HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, at the groundbreaking ceremony of Yeshivas Haran in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem in 1983. It’s intriguing to see the great kavod accorded to HaRav Chaim, z’tl, so many years ago while he was still relatively young and his father, the Steipler, z’tl, was still alive. Despite literally decades of being revered by hundreds of thousands of people, HaRav Chaim, z’tl, acted with great anivus and simplicity to his last day, a spiritual phenomenon that can only be been in those whose kavod stems from the Torah and the Kisei HaKavod.

HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein, the brother-in-law of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, met with the police officers who guarded the mittah of the Gadol HaDor at the levaya on Sunday. The meeting, which took place at HaRav Zilberstein’s Beis Medrash in Bnei Brak, was the initiative of Rav Erez Sabad, the Rav of the central Border Police unit. During the meeting, HaRav Zilberstein spoke about the greatness and kedushah of HaRav Chaim, z’tl, and on the great zechus that the policemen were zocheh to secure the mittah. He also thanked them for their efforts in guarding the public in general and the exceptional security at the levaya, which greatly contributed to kavod HaTorah. “My dear Jews – know that the sechar of the shotrim is that of the Sanhedrin,” Rav Zilberstein said.

Channel 12 News reporter Yair Cherki published a rare video of the levaya of HaRav Chaim Kanievksy’s father, the Steipler, z’tl, in Bnei Brak in 1985. Since 1985, the world has become much more connected due to the Internet, with the news of the funeral on Sunday of “the great Rabbi in Israel’ with hundreds of thousands of “ultra-Orthodox followers” covered in the press worldwide. However, when the Steipler was niftar, it received little attention from the world press and even the secular Israeli press, and therefore the published video is a rare one. The video was taken by a private photographer, who lived abroad at the time and traveled to Eretz Yisrael to film the levaya. From the video, it appears that the police were not involved in the event.

Following the petirah of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, a video was published of HaRav Chaim and Rebbitzen Batsheva reciting Birchos HaShachar and answering Amen to each other’s brachos. The video quickly spread but how was this moment of time captured? Kikar H’Shabbat revealed the story behind the video on Tuesday. Tamar Lev of Bnei Brak told Kikar: “Twelve years ago, the Bnei Emunim organization asked me to produce a special event for the principals of Chinuch Atzmai schools on the topic of answering Amen.” “The head of the organization, Rav Yitzchak Mandelcorn, mentioned to me: “Did you know that HaRav and Rebbetzin Kanievsky say Birchos HaShachar together every morning?” “I was surprised,” Lev said. “I said: ‘Really?

Israel Police on Wednesday morning returned the weapons of the two Israeli civilians who saved lives by killing the terrorist on Tuesday in Beer Sheva. A public uproar ensued on Tuesday evening after it was reported that the police not only refused to return the weapon to one of the civilians who was scared for his personal safety after photos of him killing the terrorist circulated online, but threatened to arrest him if he continued to refuse to leave the police station without it. About 200 Be’er Sheva residents even carried out a protest outside the police station, yelling “Shame, shame.” The protesters said that they were not only demonstrating against that day’s incident but were also protesting against the police for allowing the Negev to deteriorate into a state of lawlessness.

It’s no secret that HaRav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l was a renowned talmid chochom who had kol hatorah kulah at his fingertips. In the following audio, recorded in 1988, HaRav Mordechai Gifter zt”l speaks of Rav Chaim’s phenomenal Torah knowledge, how he would make a siyum on kol hatorah kulah ever single year, and how everyone should aspire and work towards being a small reflection of Rav Chaim’s greatness. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)  
The post LISTEN TO THIS! Rav Gifter Talking About Rav Chaim Kanievsky 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Yeshiva World.

President Isaac Herzog traveled to France on Sunday at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and spoke at a memorial ceremony marking ten years since the terror attack at the Ohr Torah school in Toulouse. Rav Yonasan Sandler, h’yd, his two sons, Ari, 6, and Gavriel, 3, and Myriam Monsonego, 8, the daughter of the school principal, were killed in the attack. Prior to the memorial ceremony, Herzog held a meeting in Paris with Macron, who began the meeting by saying: “I heard that a big Rav in Israel passed away. I ask that you convey my condolences to the people of Israel.” Deeply moved to visit Ohr Torah school in Toulouse, the scene of a terrible massacre 10 years ago.

Estimates of the Sunday Levaya of the Sar Hatorah, Maran Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ZATZAL, have ranged from 600,000 to one million. Despite being a day of sadness and Aveilus, the Levaya was a Kiddush Hashem, due to the fact that such a massive number of people packed into a a few blocks, and there was virtually no pushing or shoving. Emergency personnel reported relatively few minor injuries for a crowd of this size. Police are being hailed for their outstanding work in ensuring the safety of the crowd, as more than 3,000 police officers were brought into Bnei Brak.