The young men learning in Yeshivas “Tzama’ah Nafshi,” under the leadership of the esteemed chassid R’ Yaakov Amzaleg shlit"a, merited to enter this past Monday night—Leil 23 of Marcheshvan—for an inner, holy shiur. Below is a small selection of the words and topics that The Rav shlit"a spoke about during the shiur:

The Rav shlit"a opened the shiur with Eliezer’s questions about Avraham Avinu. Eliezer could not understand how Avraham could send him to find a match for his son from the most impure place in the world—and from the most impure family: Lavan and Besuel, who were sorcerers. In the course of these words, The Rav shlit"a aroused the bochurim regarding impure devices—especially the “Yomi” device, which appears to be kosher, yet hides great dangers within it, and in truth is wide open in every sense. After that, he spoke about how this year, in an unusual way, they will not read Parshas Miketz on Chanukah, nor Vayigash. He said that this year the yahrtzeit of Moharanat (Rabbi Nosson) will fall in Parshas Vayigash, because Rabbi Nosson cries out, “I am Yosef!” He explained that the brothers did not understand that everything happening to them in Mitzrayim—the imprisonment of their brother and the “theft” of the goblet—was all because they had sold Yosef. The Rav shlit"a also spoke about how Lot was the first captive, and Avraham Avinu was not afraid—he went to war against millions in order to free Lot. He then spoke about the horrific massacre on Simchas Torah, and said that the hakafos are what protect against attacks. It was a mistake that they canceled the hakafos on Motzaei Simchas Torah, because that was a shield so that there would not be additional casualties. Within these words he brought the teaching of the Ben Ish Chayil, that a person should go with thick, coarse peyos. He also cited the words of “Mayim Adirim” to R’ Menachem Mendel of Shklov—a student of the Gra of Vilna—who says that peyos are what protect a Jewish person, as it is written: “And he struck the corners (p’asai) of Moav.” The Rav shlit"a expressed it and said: “Peyos are like tanks—whoever has peyos, no one can harm him!” Afterwards, he strengthened the point with which he began the shiur—Eliezer the servant of Avraham’s questions—and said that “kushya” (a question) is an acronym for “Shema Hashem koli ekra” (“Hear, Hashem, my voice when I call”). If a person has a question on the Tzaddik, he should go out to the field and pray and cry out to Hashem! In the course of these words he also said that Besuel and Lavan said, “From Hashem the matter has come,” because they had seen—and even practiced—sorcery in their lives. But a miracle like this, that Eliezer eats the poison and Besuel dies—this they had never seen!

Later in the shiur, The Rav shlit"a spoke about how Balak feared Am Yisrael mainly because he knew that David would come from his nation—Moav—and he would cut down Moav and all the nations. That was his great fear when he asked Bilam, “Come, curse Yisrael for me.”

In the shiur, The Rav said a chiddush in the name of his teacher, R’ Eliyahu Lapin zt"l. He asked: How can it be that Rabbi Yochanan carried the tenth bone of his son in his pocket and seemingly was not broken by that pain—yet when Reish Lakish passed away, his mind became unsettled from the magnitude of his grief over him? He explained: From here we see that a student is even more important than a son! Within these words, The Rav shlit"a also spoke about the greatness of Rebbe Nachman, and said that anyone who believes in Rebbe Nachman can bring the entire world back in teshuvah. Toward the end of the shiur he spoke about the situation in Eretz HaKodesh, and about the massacre on Shemini Atzeres, comparing the atrocities of Hamas to the deeds of the Nazis. He also related several stories of rescue from the time of the Warsaw Ghetto.

After that, he spoke about the story brought in Maseches Bava Kamma 117: When Rav Kahana was learning by Rav, he killed an informer. As a result, Rav instructed him to flee to Eretz Yisrael—and not to ask questions for seven years. When he came to the beis midrash of Reish Lakish, because he remained silent during the shiur they moved him back seven rows, and then it was considered for him as though seven years had passed. He then asked questions on Rabbi Yochanan, and Rabbi Yochanan did not have answers. It appeared to him that Rav Kahana was smiling about it; because of this, Rabbi Yochanan was strict with him and Rav Kahana died. The next day Rabbi Yochanan understood that Rav Kahana had not smiled, and he went to the burial cave. There he found a snake that would not let him enter until he said, “Let the Rav enter by the student.” He begged for mercy for him and revived him. Rav Kahana then resolved all of Rabbi Yochanan’s doubts. This is what Rabbi Yochanan meant when he said, “Your teachings are said—because they are theirs,” meaning: everything I have is from the people of Bavel. After that, Rav Kahana returned to Bavel. With this story, The Rav shlit"a concluded the shiur—after about forty minutes of fiery words of Torah!