In a powerful address delivered this week at the Ponovezh Kollel in Bnei Brak, Rav Tzvi Drebkin, Rosh Yeshiva of Grodno in Be’er Yaakov, offered words of chizuk for Shavuos, focusing on the challenges of our generation, particularly the overwhelming flood of information confronting all of us.
Rav Drebkin spoke about Klal Yisroel’s elevated capacity to receive the Torah, before turning to the modern reality of non-stop news and information flowing from every corner of the globe. He warned that the constant exposure to media, current events, and chatter can dull one’s spiritual senses.
“There must be caution when it comes to information,” he said. “A person today is exposed to a torrent of information—it’s simply beyond belief. Every single detail, from the most remote corner of the world, reaches a person’s ears. Every event, every incident—it’s all delivered directly to the individual through newspapers with supplements, through the media, through cell phones and ‘neias.’ It’s astounding how much a person hears, how much he knows about every place and every situation, to the point that he’s filled with knowledge about every development across the globe, day in and day out.”
Rav Drebkin then raised his voice in anguish: “How can such a person hear the word of Hashem?” he asked. “An ear like that cannot absorb the dvar Hashem. When there is such kol, such noise, the voice of Hashem cannot be heard. Chazal tell us to be careful in what we listen to. Don’t listen to anything but the dvar Hashem. If there could be a person who listens to nothing but Torah and yiras Shamayim, then Torah becomes embedded in his heart.”
He went on to explain that this was the hallmark of gedolei Yisroel throughout the generations: “They simply weren’t interested in anything else. The stories and events of the world never entered their ears. That’s why Torah became part of them. This, the Shem MiShmuel says, is the ‘third path’—aside from toil in Torah, kindness, and tefillah. If a person’s curiosity is entirely focused on Torah, he will merit a unique connection, and the dvar Hashem will be engraved in his heart and soul.”











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