“The glass between us isn’t enough to dull the shine of the ahavas Torah I see in your eyes"

The first weeks of the new zeman are busy for any rosh yeshivah, but for Rav Gershon Edelstein, rosh yeshivah in one of the biggest yeshivos in the world, it’s even busier. The 97-year-old Ponevezher rosh yeshivah has been delivering his daily shiur and his weekly shiur klali, just as in any other zeman, even though he has not left his home in months (except for tekias shofar), and he sits behind a Plexiglas divider. And for the most part, the usual kabbalas kahal has been suspended.

This week, the gabbaim, eager to lift the Rosh Yeshivah’s spirits, allowed in a group of cheder children, proud young boys who wished to sing a song they had learned, the lyrics consisting of words of Mishnayos ba’al peh.

It was the perfect “break” for the Rosh Yeshivah, who visibly rejoiced as he addressed the boys. “The glass between us,” he told them, “isn’t enough to dull the shine of the ahavas Torah I see in your eyes. May it never wane….”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 836)