“I kept shemittah,” Yehudah told his audience, “and who knows how many miracles I merited in Gaza because of it?”
Rabbi Avi Mammon, the dynamic rabbi of the Light of Israel congregation in Rochester, New York, recently led a group of mispallelim on a life-changing trip to Eretz Yisrael for a Yarchei Kallah organized by the Mir. There, they spent first seder learning and listening to shiurim from celebrated Mir maggidei shiur. They then met with numerous gedolim, who shared significant time and words of chizuk and brachah with this group of American tourists.
Having enjoyed the blessings of Torah, they then went to enjoy the blessings of the Land. Representatives of Keren Hashviis introduced the group to several heroic farmers of Eretz Yisrael who have committed to keeping shemittah. These farmers are heroes indeed, having taken on shemittah observance shortly after sustaining tremendous losses during Covid, and now enduring significant challenges from the war.
Nonetheless, the farmers cling to the Land promised to our forefathers and bequeathed to us — an eternal gift for an eternal people. The visitors from Rochester were duly inspired.
But one farmer named Yehudah shared a story that made a lasting impact.
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