In an interview with the ‘Bama‘ magazine this week, Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, Rosh Yeshiva of Ateres Shlomo, emphasized the unprecedented challenges that Klal Yisroel are facing today.
“This is the first time in Israel that we are facing such trials and difficulties that have not been seen since the establishment of the state, and even before that. There is a need to prepare the youth for the period we are going through and will continue to face,” he said.
Rav Sorotzkin’s remarks come against the backdrop of the wedding of his son, where a controversial song was sung to the words “‘בשלטון הכופרים, ובלשכותיהם אין אנו מתייצבים – In the rule of the heretics, and in their offices, we do not stand,” a video of which garnered millions of views.
The Rosh Yeshiva further expressed his concern, stating, “All of this—’עוצו עצה ותופר’—is that people must repeatedly instill in their hearts the greatness of our position, that no one can change us. If, God forbid, there is no sufficient preparation for this period, woe to us and woe to our neshamos.”
When asked about a change in attitude toward the authorities, and whether the community has become “kannaim,” Rav Sorotzkin clarified: “The outlook has not changed and will not change. We have never been in the streets [for protests], we have never engaged in anything in this matter. The only way is ‘בוא בחדריך’—to escape into the study halls of Torah.”
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