A scorched, ravaged Beis Medrash, a shattered Kehillah. Huge flames burst out in the dead of night, enveloping the Beis Mussar of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. Scraps of charred wood are all that remain of the beautiful furniture, and the vast majority of sifrei kodesh, the pride and joy of the Beis Medrash, were tearfully placed in genizah after their letters ascended to Shamayim. A sacred house of Torah, tefillah and mussar was devastated, leaving many bleeding hearts and a fervent yearning to rebuild.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter’s Mussar Movement continues flourishing and expanding today, inflaming hearts with passion and desire to serve Hashem with love. Twenty years ago, Harav Tzvi Miller shlit”a, founder and Nasi of the Salant Foundation, founded an organization to disseminate divrei mussar to thousands of Yidden worldwide. The inspirational, accessible content, which is presented in pleasant, easy-to-learn format, is disseminated by email every day to thousands of learners around the world. The relevant, compelling lessons arouse many hearts to serve Hashem with ahavah and yirah and to rectify our middos in the sacred tradition of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. Over the years, Mosdos Salant has translated foundational sifrei mussar into several languages and disseminated them to Jewish communities around the world in order to ingrain mussar in the heart of every Jew.
A decade after the founding of Mosdos Salant, Rav Miller opened Kollel Tiferes Yisrael which is called after the founder of the Mussar Movement Rabbi Yisrael Salanter zt”l. This exceptional Kollel integrates high-level learning of hora’ah and halachah with a special daily seder in mussar, with the goal of cultivating Rabbanim and talmidei chachamim whose knowledge and erudition is matched by outstanding character traits and integrity.
As Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel grew and was settled by thousands of Torah families, Rav Miller opened the Beis Medrash and Beis Mussar of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, which over time, developed into a large, close-knit kehillah of the finest lomdei Torah and yirei Shamayim. The Beis Medrash, which also became home to Kollel Tiferes Yisrael, hosts daily shiurim, chaburos and shmuessen, as well as occasional lectures from famous mashpi’im and baalei mussar who inspire local residents to enhance limud Torah, middos tovos and kedushah.
Several weeks ago, in the middle of the night, a fire broke out on the main floor of the Beis Medrash. Within minutes, a wall of fire enveloped the Beis Medrash; the windows exploded and tongues of fire reached inside, causing terrible damage to the building.
Our beloved Beis Medrash and Beis Mussar, along with hundreds of precious sifrei kodesh were consumed in flames, and our hearts are shattered. How can we stand idly by in the face of such catastrophe? We must reinstate the Kollel, shiurim and chaburos, along with the magnificent kol Torah that pulsates from this sacred place! We must uphold the legacy of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter!
$100,000. It will take us $100,000 to restore the Beis Medrash and Beis Mussar!
Donate now to this worthy cause!
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here to restore the shul building so we can uphold Rabbi Yisrael’s sacred legacy of mussar!
