Rav Netanel Shriki, the mekubal who heads the Tehilat Shalom institutions in Netivot, traveled last week to the graves of gedolei Yisrael across Europe with a delegation of more than 50 avreichim. The mission took the group to the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Poland, where they davened at the kevarim of the Maharal of Prague, the Vilna Gaon, the Rema in Krakow, the Chozeh of Lublin and Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk zt"l, among other tzaddikim.
At each site, the participants recited tefillos for the safety of Klal Yisrael, for the protection of IDF soldiers on all fronts, and for the refuah of the wounded. The mission came as Israel faces renewed threats from Iran and concerns over a flare-up on the northern and other borders.
A particularly moving moment took place on the anniversary of the October 7th massacre, when Rav Shriki and the avreichim reached the kever of the Rema in Krakow. There, they held special tefillos for the elevation of the neshamot of those murdered on Simchas Torah, sharing in the pain of the bereaved families.
The most wrenching gathering of the mission was held at the Majdanek death camp in Poland, where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered al kiddush Hashem during the Holocaust. The mekubal and the avreichim stood in the place where so many kedoshim perished, davened for the elevation of their neshamot, and cried out from the valley of slaughter for Hashem to protect the remnant of His people, to nullify the plans of our enemies, and to bring ahavas chinam and a complete yeshuah to all of Klal Yisrael.
