| Dear Friends:
In recent days, Klal Yisroel has experienced an incredibly broad array of emotions.
Unbridled joy at the homecoming of a number of our brothers and sisters after over 500 days in captivity . . . offset in part by horror at the hostages' emaciated physical condition and disgust at the humiliating spectacle of their release.
Profound sorrow at the deaths of other hostages, and outrage at the wanton acts of cold-blooded murder that caused their deaths . . . coupled with a measure of relief that at least those returned to their families will receive a proper k'vuras Yisroel.
Severe misgivings about Israel's release of so many Palestinian prisoners as the price it had to pay for the hostage "deal" . . . together with nervous apprehension about what lies ahead.
And now, in the aftermath of this past Thursday night's failed terror plot to explode five buses during Friday morning rush hour in Bat Yam – clearly a neis nigleh, an open miracle – we are overwhelmed with a different emotion: gratitude to the Maker of Miracles. Thank You Hashem!
Rabos machshovos b'lev ish, our enemies harbor many evil designs against us, and at times we wonder how we will ever be able to withstand their nefarious plots. But as Thursday night's miracle reminds us, all the plots mean nothing against the Will of Hashem. Atzas Hashem hie sakum!
Last week, I had the great privilege of participating in Agudas Yisroel of America's 25th annual Yerushalayim Yarchei Kallah, a high intensity week-long learning experience lasting through Thursday evening. As we later discovered, the Yarchei Kallah concluded at just about the same time the first explosives were detonated in empty buses, causing not even a single injury.
Upon making that connection, I allowed myself yet another emotion: appreciation that, as Chazal teach us, Torah study is magna u'matzla, a shield and a salvation against our enemies. Indeed, the American Agudah's decision to sponsor the very first Yerushalayim Yarchei Kallah 25 years ago was made at the behest of Gedolei Torah in Eretz Yisroel who felt that this would be the most meaningful way American Jewry could support Eretz Yisroel during the height of the Intifada.
Far be it for me to say that last Thursday night's miracle was brought about in the merit of the nearly 200 businessmen and professionals who took time out of their regular schedules in America to spend a week in Yerushalayim immersed in Torah study. Drawing such a direct line is beyond my, or anyone's, competency.
But the general message of Chazal is clear: Limud haTorah protects!
So as we intensify our tefilos on behalf of the remaining hostages, and on behalf of the brave soldiers who are on the front lines of defending our people, and on behalf of our embattled brethren in Eretz Yisroel and across the globe, let us also intensify our own Torah learning and our support for others' learning – and may we thereby have the zchus of contributing to the protective shield of limud haTorah.
Hashem oz l'amo yitein, Hashem yivoreich es amo ba'sholom!
Bydidus, | 
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