When Rav Uri Zohar zt”l ran P’eylim Lev L’Achim, g’dolei Yisrael embraced the group’s mission; the same carries through today. On Wednesday, February 28, the Kew Gardens Hills home of Dr. Marc and Karen Silverman welcomed many of our community’s rabbanim. Two notable roshei yeshivah stood out amongst the attendees: Rav Dovid Harris of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, and Rav Doniel Lander of Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim. Entitled “Now More Than Ever,” the event showed the importance of supporting the organization’s work as they are at the forefront of reigniting Judaism in a country that remains overwhelmed with danger in their midst.
A keynote address from Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshivah of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, was a successful draw for the program, as the master m’chaneich understands the vital efforts Lev L’Achim undertakes daily in cities and towns throughout Israel. Rav Eliyahu Meir Klugman, rav of Khal Torah Utefila of Ramat Eshkol, presented greetings on behalf of hanhalas Lev L’Achim, who strive to perpetuate Rav Zohar’s memory daily.
Twenty-two rabbanim gave their names as a lasting credence to the life-changing methodologies of Lev L’Achim. Their initiative, “Bringing Them to the Beis Midrash,” deserves widespread attention, as its concept is rebuilding Yiddishkeit in Eretz Yisrael.
I express a note of gratitude to Rabbi Yoseph C. Karmel, National Director at P’eylim / Lev L’Achim, based in the US Development Office in Lakewood, for taking me on a verbal tour of the Torah-infused education that occurs at this prized mosad. Billed as a movement, Lev L’Achim once again rises as the visionary that has found a way to bring Torah into more homes than ever before.
Nowadays, the real doers operating Lev L’Achim’s operations are b’nei Torah who have perfectly mobilized to reach the secular public. Lev L’Achim’s mission rests almost solely on teaching Torah concepts to less affiliated Jews and less on infrastructure. The average synagogue in Israel closes its doors after the Minchah and Maariv services. Even the smallest towns and cities where religious observance is not widespread, has a functioning shul. Depending on the time of year, availability often occurs when evening hours can be taken advantage of. Lev L’Achim employs avreichim who take upon themselves working out a deal, allocating these spaces for Torah learning programs, sometimes as a courtesy of the shul leadership and other times for a nominal fee. Before the outbreak of the war in Gaza, 125 such evening learning programs were taking place nationwide, centered in regions where a high populace of unaffiliated Jews exists. As the war progressed, many of these centers grew in participants and now boast 50 to 100 learners where an empty chair is often hard to find.
Today, 157 batei midrash operate, totaling hundreds upon hundreds of hours of Torah learning, a truly remarkable feat. Professionally trained yungerleit learn in groups of three to four students, and the program typically includes a shiur. Providing the basics, including nourishment and transportation to and from their family homes, comes at an operational cost of $30,000 per site. Some sites open once weekly, while others hold sessions two to five nights a week with 100 or so participants keeping the kol Torah nightly. With consistency, those who have embraced the learning with an open mind begin to ask questions several months into the program. By the fifth month, requests to learn the intricacies of Shabbos, kashering a kitchen, educating their spouse on the halachos of Taharas HaMishpachah, or upgrading their family’s sh’miras Shabbos surface.
For Lev L’Achim, print advertising was once the primary mode to attract participants to programming, taking a sizable portion of their budget. These days, society has pivoted, and word-of-mouth has led to overflow crowds at the many neighborhood-based initiatives. With the ongoing war, soldiers on leave seek to expand on their spiritual understanding and in various cases have joined the program. There is an unbelievable awakening occurring in Israel that, according to many, has not been felt since the era of the Yom Kippur War. After October 7, Lev L’Achim projected a need to place some of these batei midrash in hiatus; months later, a vacant seat is a rare commodity at these learning sessions.
At the Thursday night keynote at this past year’s Agudah Convention, “Call to Action,” Rabbi Yosef Elefant was heard providing a solution for the crisis in Eretz Yisrael: “We must learn with others!” and continued by citing Lev L’Achim’s phenomenal network of batei midrash.
As Pesach approaches, yeshivos take on their final acceptances for the school year ahead. “The time is now to convince parents to send their children to yeshivos that advance Torah values,” exclaimed Rabbi Karmel. A current visitor to Eretz Yisrael will wind up paying exorbitant airline fees, allowing only those with financial security to make the trip. These tourists head down south to witness the October 7 carnage firsthand, though such vacationers today incorporate the reawakening into site visits and make sure to find a Lev L’Achim beis midrash – a highlight.
A mesorah of Torah u’mitzvos is more readily accessible in Israel today than ever before. Unaffiliated Jews earnestly believe that by being a citizen of Israel they are living a purposeful life. Faith has forged ahead amongst frum communities immersed in tremendous chesed opportunities, proving themselves to be resilient. The religious fall on emunah and courage to push forward and meet the challenges of living in a war-torn country. Youth are successfully placed in yeshivos, chasunos continue, and shuls are at capacity. Baruch Hahem, the secular population has taken note of this way of life and seeks its measures on their own lives. “Never before have kiruv organizations seen such a thirst for t’shuvah,” related Rabbi Karmel. “The country somehow knows in their hearts where the answer to all that ails them is to be found. The olam haTorah has their trusted army ready and willing to take on this historic challenge. P’eylim / Lev L’Achim, established and led for decades by g’dolei Yisrael, is in place with programs geared to young and old alike. Lev L’Achim can embrace every type of lost Jewish soul.”
By Shabsie Saphirstein
