Keren Olam HaTorah arrived in Deal on Sunday, June 21, drawing large crowds eager to greet the gedolei Eretz Yisroel and demonstrate their support for the lomdei Torah of Eretz Yisroel.

The day began with a breakfast hosted by Mr. Jimmy Khezrie, where Rabbi David Haber noted that the challenge confronting the olam haTorah today is not merely another worthy cause, but a struggle over the spiritual future of Klal Yisroel.

R’ Baruch Jeremias reflected on the recent Rischa D’Oraysa gathering in Lakewood, where Rav Dov Landau joined hundreds of distinguished talmidei chachamim in vigorous debate across numerous sugyos. Despite his own accomplishments, R’ Baruch said he felt like a beginner before the depth and intensity he witnessed. His rav encouraged him to preserve that feeling, explaining that when Moshiach comes and the chachmei Yisroel once again gather in Torah, that awareness will deepen immeasurably. The way to belong to that eternal world, he concluded, is to become a partner in Torah today.

At the home of Mr. Jack Safdeye, Rav Malkiel Kotler noted the extraordinary sight of elderly gedolim traveling from city to city despite the immense responsibilities of leading major yeshivos, all in support of Torah. 

Rav Chaim Peretz Berman addressed the host’s discomfort that the gedolim had traveled to him, observing that such anivus reflects genuine ahavas and yiras haTorah. Citing R’ Akiva Eiger in the name of the Sefer Chassidim, he explained that those who enable Torah learning acquire a share in everything that learning produces. Rav Avraham Salim reinforced the point with the Vilna Gaon’s explanation of “Be’er chafaruha sarim, karuha nedivei ha’am”: those who sustain Torah become its partners and share in its eternal reward.

At the home of Mr. Nathan Hoffmann, Rav David Ozeiry recalled how his mother taught him as a child to view rabbanim as malachim. The kehillah, he said, now had the rare zechus of sitting with such malachim. Torah will endure; the only question is who will merit a share in that eternity.

The day culminated in a stirring Asifas Chizuk at the Deal Kollel. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch recounted how the Chofetz Chaim refused to spare the frail Vishka Illui from the hardships endured by other young talmidim, explaining that the nisayon itself would help mold him into a gadol.

Rav Malkiel then recalled how his father, Rav Shneur, had charged him to establish a kollel in Deal. Seeing the flourishing makom Torah it had become moved him deeply. The gathering’s purpose, he explained, extended beyond fundraising: it was a public expression of kavod haTorah.

Rav Avraham Salim concluded by leading an uplifting Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim, capping a remarkable day of kavod haTorah and a commitment to securing its future.