As Gedolei Eretz Yisroel were traversing the United States on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah, tens of thousands of ordinary people joined them, taking upon themselves the achrayus of sustaining the limud hatorah of Eretz Yisroel.

The grassroots campaign grew out of the unprecedented crisis confronting yeshivos and kollelim across Eretz Yisrael. Severe government funding cuts, coupled with an escalating campaign against bnei yeshivah and avreichim, have placed enormous financial pressure on families already living with very little. 

The Shutfei Keren Olam HaTorah campaign brought that mission directly to the broader klal. Its message was the gedolim’s message: supporting the lomdei Torah of Eretz Yisrael cannot remain the responsibility of major philanthropists alone. Every person must become a shutaf.

The broader American kehilla responded in overwhelming numbers. 

In one gathering, nearly 1,000 post-seminary girls and young women assembled at Bell Works for an evening of chizuk and action. They came to hear from the Gedolei Torah and to accept responsibility for raising funds on behalf of Keren Olam HaTorah by manning phone banks.

Rav Chaim Mordechai Ausband impressed upon the young women the power of a mother’s tears and tefillos to shape the next generation. Rav Dov Landau described American Jews who strengthen Torah as the pillars supporting the Ohel HaMishkan, and Rav Yisrael Bunim Schreiber declared that the assault on Torah in Eretz Yisrael demands that every individual step forward. Rabbi Joey Haber added that the survival of Torah requires mesiras nefesh from everyone. 

That evening, the young women put those words into practice. They spent an hour at phone banks, reaching out to relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Before all the pledges had even been counted, approximately $1 million had been raised.

A second gathering brought together hardworking Lakewood residents in the workforce for an evening of chizuk and achdus with Rav Yisrael Bunim Schreiber, Rav Chaim Mordechai Ausband, and the Skulener Rebbe of Lakewood.

These were men carrying mortgages, tuition bills, business pressures, and the ordinary financial burdens of family life. Yet they, too, wanted to accept achrayus for their brothers in Eretz Yisrael. Through their personal contributions and fundraising efforts, they demonstrated that Shutfei Keren Olam HaTorah belonged to every segment of the kehilla.

The third gathering took place at midnight on Motzaei Shabbos in Bais Yitzchok, one of the great batei medrash of Beth Medrash Govoha. Thousands of avreichim streamed into the building, far exceeding expectations, forcing a second room had to be opened to accommodate the overflow crowd. 

Rav Malkiel Kotler told the gathering that recent events had shown the emptiness of believing in “kochi v’otzem yadi.” The true protection of Klal Yisrael, he said, is the Torah itself. The miracles witnessed in Eretz Yisrael come in the zechus of its lomdim, and any campaign against them places the entire country in danger.

Rav Yisroel Bunim Schreiber described the depth of the hostility faced by chareidim in Eretz Yisrael. He related a chilling personal encounter during his medical treatment: after learning that Rav Schreiber was a rosh yeshivah, a doctor refused to treat him and sent someone else in his place. The incident offered a disturbing glimpse of how far the atmosphere had deteriorated.

The response to all three gatherings was overwhelming. Thousands became fundraisers. Families contributed modest sums that combined into enormous totals. Phone calls were made, messages were sent, and one person after another joined the campaign.

By its conclusion, Shutfei Keren Olam HaTorah had raised more than $13 million.

The campaign revealed what happens when the klal recognizes that the burden belongs to everyone. No single donor produced the result. It was built pledge by pledge and donor by donor, through countless people who decided that the struggle of an avreich in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, or Ofakim was their struggle as well.

When the Olam Hatorah of Eretz Yisroel called, Klal Yisroel answered.