Page 49 - Hamizrachi #30 USA 2021 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman

Rabbi Yeshayahu Chaim Hadari zt”l

A Man of Yerushalayim

abbi Yeshayahu Chaim Hadari the traditional descent to the Kotel for Hoshanah Rabbah, when people from
zt”l, who was both my teacher the Kabbalat Shabbat service, which the entire Jewish spectrum, from both
and Rabbi, became one of the became one of the yeshiva’s trademarks. Israel and the Diaspora, would come to
most influential and important Every Friday night at dusk, one could see learn in the beit midrash.
Rspiritual figures in the life of the yeshiva students, led by Rav Hadari, His combination of vision and
the Old City of Yerushalayim after the dancing on their way to the Kotel to pragmatism also expressed itself when
Six-Day War. pray, while at the same time singing he encouraged his students to purchase
His death three years ago left the תבש ירמוש ךתוכלמב וחמשי. When they housing in the Jewish Quarter, many of
Jewish Quarter in the Old City without reached the Western Wall Plaza, many of whom did so.
one of its paragons of Torah scholarship. the people already there joined them in He would often quote the words of
Rav Hadari was the founder of Yeshivat the dancing and the tefillot. the Sages: “Any generation in whose
Hakotel and served as Rosh Yeshiva for days the Beit HaMikdash is not rebuilt,
more than 50 years. He shaped its special it is as if they destroyed it.” The Sfat
educational and religious approach, to Emet explains that the rebuilding of
which he added his own extraordinary Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash
personal qualities to create a way of life is not a one-time matter, but rather a
characterized by friendship, loyalty and long and continuous process. Every
mutual responsibility among the yeshiva generation lays its own foundations
students. until the rebuilding is complete and
The yeshiva was initially situated in the Beit HaMikdash stands before us.
rundown, abandoned buildings and Therefore, if a generation failed to lay its
moved to the almshouses overlooking own foundations and did not contribute
the road leading to the Kotel until it was its part, it is as if it destroyed the Beit
finally housed in a permanent building HaMikdash. Rav Hadari zt”l, driven by
within the rebuilt Jewish Quarter. a vision of a rebuilt Beit Mikdash, laid
Through the yeshiva, Rav Hadari also a wealth of solid foundations for the
left his imprint on the revitalized life spiritual rebuilding of Yerushalayim.
in the Old City, including its physical This year on Yom Yerushalayim,
renewal and the development of its when Yeshivat Hakotel will celebrate its
spiritual and religious life. anniversary and the Jewish Quarter will
As an outstanding and well-respected mark the day on which Yerushalayim
educator, endowed with rare pedagogical was liberated and reunified, we will
ability, he transformed the yeshiva into a sorely miss the man who did so much to
spiritual beacon. Sounds of Torah study, build and rebuild it.
joy and prayer could be heard between
its walls day and night, enjoyed by local Rav Hadari’s concern for the spiritual
residents, tourists strolling through the development of Yerushalayim, coupled Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman is Head of the
alleys and the masses making their way with his creative way of thinking, Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora
down to the Kotel. turned the beit midrash into a place in the World Zionist Organization and one
Rav Hadari was a man of thought and that welcomed all Jews who wished to of World Mizrachi’s representatives in the
deeds, and acutely aware of the huge study Torah close to the remnants of the National Institutions. He is a graduate of
spiritual potential inherent in the yeshiva Beit HaMikdash. This would especially Yeshivat Hakotel and was one of its first
and its strategic location. He introduced occur on Shavuot eve and on the eve of students.

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