Just before Shavuos, the boys of Yeshivah Otzar HaTorah got together for a joint learning session with their family members and the yeshivah staff in honor of the upcoming yom tov celebrating Matan Torah. The highlight of the event was a special visit by Maran Rosh Hayeshivah, Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi shlita, who joined the learning session and delivered divrei chizzuk to the students and their parents.
The Rosh Yeshivah addressed the boys and asked them, "Do you know what the difference is between the bochurim in this yeshivah and the bochurim in all the other yeshivos? All the other bochurim first begin to learn, they work hard, and then they reach mesirus nefesh. But here," and here the Rosh Yeshivah began to cry, "here your very Aleph-Beis is already mesirus nefesh, and your learning comes afterwards!"
The yeshivah staff showed the Rosh Yeshivah the boys' custom Gemara, which makes its learning accessible to their challenges, and the Rosh Yeshivah was deeply impressed. He shared that he had visited many, many yeshivos but never saw anything like this before. Never had he seen such devotion and such a deep desire to do everything possible to make Torah learning accessible to every boy and to ensure that the learning is exciting and appealing to everyone.
The gaon Rav Pinchas Green shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshivas Kamenitz, also spoke to the boys and their family members. He recounted the Gemara's words about Rav Freida, who taught his student each topic four hundred times, and added, "Here in the yeshivah you can clearly see the staff's devotion and the tremendous investment in every student so that he understands and learns Torah with excitement."
As the visit neared its end, the yeshivah students handed the Rosh Yeshivah shlita a havdalah candle which they had personally created after learning the halachos of the combined kiddush-havdalah on a yom tov that falls out on Motzai Shabbos.
On his way out, the Rosh Yeshivah set a new mezuzah in the new, accessible elevator, while the students of both the yeshivah and cheder Otzar Yerushalayim, which is in a neighboring building, accompanied him out with much excitement.
As the Rosh Yeshivah turned to leave, he said with emotion, "You're thanking me for coming here? I'm thanking you! I have never in my life seen a yeshivah like this, with so much devotion to every single student and to the Torah!"
Rav Shimon Levy, CEO of Seeach Sod, shares: "The Torah was given in the desert in order to remind us that anyone who wants to can come and learn it. I am excited to summarize the joint learning sessions conducted in the boys' yeshivos all over the country with the students and their families, public figures, and rabbanim, and to share the tremendous zechus we had in hosting the Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi shlita, at Otzar HaTorah