"He looks like he did ten years ago and twenty years ago too…”

In the halls of the great yeshivos, Rosh Chodesh Elul ushers in not just a new zeman, but the new year, new talmidim, new rebbeim, and a new masechta. In Yeshivat Porat Yosef, tradition continues, and the new zeman, as always, means a shiur klali from Chacham Shalom Cohen, the venerable rosh yeshivah who is also chairman of Shas’s Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah.

A close talmid reflects that, as chairman of the Moetzet, Chacham Shalom has endured a difficult few months, with the party suffering along with its frum constituents, dealing with severe government cutbacks. “But when the Rosh Yeshivah says the traditional shiur klali, the lines on his face disappear, and his voice grows stronger. He looks like he did ten years ago and twenty years ago too…”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 874)