 |
| HaGaon Rav Yitzchak Arieli ztz"l |
Here is a link to the Yom Ha-atzmaut celebration in Mercaz Harav in 1970 [תש"ל]. In this video you can see HaGaon Rav Yitzchak Arieli ztz"l who was a chavrusa of Rav Kook ztz"l, a Rebbi in Mercaz, author of the עינים למשפט על הש"ס......AND grandfather of HaGaon Rav Asher Arieli Shlita who gives the most popular daily shiur in the world [probably] in the Mir Yeshiva. [Also, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, Rav Yisraeli, Rav Raanan the son in law of Rav Kook and many more]. Wish there were sound.....
 |
| HaGaon Rav Asher Arieli Shlita |
And see here on historical revisionism and censorship of Rav Arieli's works among others.
[Full disclosure - I don't go to Yom Haatzmaut parties. But I am posting this in the interest of presenting history as it happened and not as some people would like it to have happened. Also shows you can wear all black and party on ה' אייר. The clothes don't always make the man:-).]
While on the topic of Yeshivas Mir: Who saved the Mir Yeshiva from extinction [as Hashem's agent]? Rabbi Dr. Zerach Wahrhaftig, Mizrachi activist....
 |
| R' Zerach |
The developments that led to those visas to Japan are described in one of the texts that have been written about the history of the Mir Yeshiva: “It was late in the winter of 5700, and while Rav Eliezer Yehuda [Finkel] was contemplating his next step, Dr. Zerach Warhaftig entered the picture. Dr. Warhaftig, the son of the gaon Rav Yerucham Asher Warhaftig, was a well-known emigration activist and a close friend of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel zt”l, even before the war. On one of the days when the panic was at its peak, Dr. Warhaftig decided to present his suggestion for leaving Lithuania to the rosh yeshiva.”
The book goes on to quote one of the talmidim from the yeshiva, who describes the day Warhaftig appeared in Kaidan:
“It was the middle of the shiur, when our rebbi was sitting in the middle of the bais medrash surrounded by talmidim. Suddenly, an unfamiliar young man entered the room and began shouting urgently, ‘Why are you sitting here? How long will you remain here? Are you waiting to be killed by the murderers, chalilah?’ He introduced himself as Zerach Warhaftig. ‘I have made a special trip from Kovno in order to awaken you,’ he said. He suggested a new plan: escaping from Europe to Japan and Shanghai. Rav Eliezer Yehuda sent one of his talmidim, Reb Eliezer Portnoy, to Kovno to examine all the possibilities, and he reached the same conclusion. The destination would be the city of Shanghai in China, and Japan. During the following days, the siege conditions facing the Jews tightened. The Nazis conquered Scandinavia, and the decision was made: We would flee to Shanghai. But how would we be able to leave the country?”
And see this lovely letter that R' Zerach's father, HaGaon Rav Yeruchem, writes to his son in the hakdama to R' Yeruchem's sefer:
