Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
We spent Shabbat in Toronto, Canada. We were introduced to hundreds of brothers and sisters whom we had never met before. Three ideas which were revealed to me this past Shabbat were especially meaningful, and I will be taking them with me:
- Rav Seth Grauer, principal of Ohr HaChaim High School: “Every morning, we have seven different minyanim. We have an auditorium that is big enough so everyone could pray together in a single minyan, but I prefer to foster a sense of responsibility among the students. When there is a number of small minyanim, each participant must take responsibility for something – one student is the gabai, one reads from the Torah, one organizes the room. Our challenge today is to transform students into activists”.
- Yisrael Dov Meir, chairman of the World Bnei Akiva movement: “In my opinion, Eretz Yisrael is a land of people on a mission with a very important message to bring wherever they go. This is true of all your emissaries (Shlichim) who come to spend time with us. They really change the community. Recently I thought about this: Why is it that we never send out emissaries from here, from Canada? There is something so good about Eretz Yisrael that it cannot be contained within its borders but must burst forth and be shared with the entire world.”
- Eyal Shmueli, emissary from Keren HaYesod: “I grew up in Israel and served 8 years in the army in special forces units. Only upon arriving here, however, did I attend a synagogue service where I suddenly heard, for the first time, a prayer for the well-being of Israeli soldiers. 8 years in the military and I never knew for a single moment that you were praying for me. This was one of the most emotional moments of my life.”
