WITHIN THE WALLS
HaRav Baruch Mordechai
Ezrachi, shlita
Rosh Yeshivas Ateres Yisroel, Yerushalayim
My dear young brothers: I wish to share with you a sod, a secret. I am sure
that every one of you sincerely desires to become an adam gadol, which
requires amassing a great amount of Torah knowledge. I will tell you how
to become a gadol in Torah, in feeling a sense of achrayus for the Klal, in
matters bein adam l’Makom and in matters bein adam lachaveiro. I will tell
you and you will wonder why I referred to this as a “sod.”
T
he answer can be summed up in one word:
ratzon, desire, as Chazal state: Bederech
sheadam rotzeh leileich molichin oso, in
the way that a person seeks to go, in that
way does Shamayim lead him.
People tend not to believe in themselves. They
have no idea of the treasure house of hidden poten-
tial that Hashem has instilled within them.
I would like to relate a story in which I was per-
sonally involved.
34
BEDARCHEI HATORAH
WINTER 5780/2020
It happened when I was a young bachur just past
bar mitzvah, learning in the Chevron Yeshiva. One
day, I was standing with a friend outside the yeshiva
building when a stranger arrived. He appeared to be
in his 20s, and was wearing knickers and a beret,
and carried a backpack. The man asked the two of
us how one gains admittance to the yeshiva. While
it seemed like a strange request, we directed him
to the office of the mashgiach ruchani, Harav Meir
Chodosh, zt”l.