                        Are You Worried?
                        August 23, 1993
                  A New Year's Message of Hope

     You hear the news every day and listen carefully to what they say about Israel.  Is
America pressuring Israel?  Will the "Peace" process lead to her destruction?  Will Rabin give
away the Golan? the Gaza Strip?  Shechem?  Beit El?  Jericho?  Hebron?  Jerusalem???
     What will happen to Jews living in these ancient holy Jewish cities?  Are the Jewish
communities in these areas already being choked off?
     When you hear terrible scenarios painted by commentators who are more interested in
selling newspapers than they are in the truth, you must stop for a minute and think.  Before
1948, we had barely a hope.  Prior to June 1967 it appeared as though we were about to be
annihilated.  Today we are a modern state with a top notch army equipped with the most
sophisticated military technology known to man.  
     We have always been led by people who failed to understand the enormity of our new
and growing prestige in the world, yet, in spite of this we have always continued to grow and
progress.  This process has not and will not change, for it is a Divine process.
     Rosh Yeshiva, MK Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, understood this back in 1967 when he
committed himself and his family to participate in a true pioneering effort to rebuild Jewish life
in the City of Abraham-- Hebron.  At that time such a stance was a futile demonstration of a
hope which had no chance to succeed.  
     Today the yeshiva which he founded is a highly respected institution of higher Jewish
education whose students have earned a reputation, not only of becoming scholars and
educators, but also as being among the most dedicated and courageous soldiers in time of
battle.
     The town of Kiryat Arba is no longer a tiny settlement, rather a bustling city of over
8000 and growing daily.  There is no question but, no matter how knotted up our befuddled
leaders may become in this so called "peace" process, the real process of Divine redemption
will never as much as slow down.
     You, who have watched Yeshivat Kiryat Arba grow over the years, have a firm basis
upon which to reflect upon our future here.  The future does not lie in the hands of politicians,
rather with the thousands of simple, ordinary Jews who have chosen to come home and live in
all parts of our divine inheritance.
     We, at Yeshiva t Kiryat Arba, are proud to be in the forefront of this process of return. 
General Ariel Sharon didn't have to make a special trip here to encourage Rabbi Waldman to
continue the struggle.  But he recognizes the quiet strength possessed by those who live by
their faith.  It is a strength which he admires.   For it is only this strength which sees its reward
in the continuing fulfillment of authentic Jewish Destiny.
     To you, who have demonstrated your recognition of this eternal strength by supporting
Yeshivat Kiryat Arba, even back when it was little more than a hope, belongs a full share of
the fruits we now are but beginning to taste.  You are not worried because you can clearly see
the future unfolding before your very eyes.
     May HaShem grant you and your loved ones a New Year filled with health, happiness,
and satisfaction in knowing that the Jewish dream is still coming true.