Speaking before approximately 4,000 bochurim preparing to enter yeshiva gedolah at a special Dirshu gathering in Bnei Brak, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch delivered a far-reaching address on the challenges and opportunities awaiting them, emphasizing that the transition to yeshiva gedolah lays the foundation for the rest of a person’s life.
Rav Hirsch urged the bochurim to recognize the tremendous importance of this stage, saying that their diligence in Torah, tefillah, middos, and halachah during these years will shape their entire future.
He warned that entering yeshiva gedolah brings new spiritual challenges, particularly the feeling of newfound independence.
“There is a new yetzer hara,” Rav Hirsch said. “Until now you were under the supervision of your parents and your yeshiva. Now you feel free, and that feeling itself can become a trap.”
To illustrate the point, Rav Hirsch shared a personal story.
“There was once a strong Chassidishe bochur from America whom I caught going to a movie theater,” he recalled. “I felt I could work with him, so I kept him in the yeshiva. He began learning seriously, and today he is a distinguished mechanech.”
When Rav Hirsch later asked the former bochur how such a thing had happened, the man replied, “I came to Eretz Yisroel, I felt free, and that’s why I did it.”
“Know that this feeling of freedom is itself a yetzer hara,” Rav Hirsch told the students.
He also cautioned bochurim against believing they no longer need guidance from roshei yeshiva and mashgichim simply because they have entered yeshiva gedolah.
Addressing students who may doubt their own potential, Rav Hirsch encouraged them to leave behind old labels and limitations.
“When you enter yeshiva gedolah, you are a completely different person,” he said. “Forget the weaknesses you had in yeshiva ketanah. Don’t tell yourself, ‘I’m just not the type.’ There is no such thing.”
He urged every bochur to aspire to know all of Torah, master halachah, excel in mitzvos, and develop exemplary bein adam l’chaveiro, while recognizing that each person must grow according to his own abilities.
Quoting Rav Chaim Volozhiner, Rav Hirsch added that even during periods of spiritual decline, a person should never stop learning.
“If you can only learn at 30 percent today, then learn at 30 percent,” he said. “Through that, you will return to 100 percent.”
Concluding his address, Rav Hirsch turned to the challenges currently facing the Torah world, including efforts to draft yeshiva students.
“We all know there are decrees against the Torah world,” he said. “The way bnei Torah fight them is through Torah learning itself, careful mitzvah observance, and strengthening our connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.”
“If we are connected to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He will give us siyata d’Shmaya,” Rav Hirsch concluded. “Nothing will happen to us, and we will overcome them completely.”
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