ושמרתם את כל המצוה אשר אנכי מצוך היום למען תחזקו וכו' (יא-ח)
Bein Hazmanim (between time periods) is when yeshivos allow their students some time off to relax and recharge from the many long weeks and months of intensive Torah study. It generally corresponds to the Jewish Holidays of Sukkos and Pesach. Additionally, time is given off in the summer, usually the month of Av through Rosh Chodesh Elul. In the past, the zmanim (semesters) were slightly different, the atmosphere not being the same as today, and the duration of the time was differed. R’ Nosson Nota Hanover ZT”L (who died during the Cossack pogroms of 5408-5409) in his journal Yaven Metzula, writes how learning was organized in Poland. The zman, during which time students would learn with the Rosh Yeshivah, began with Rosh Chodesh Iyar and lasted until the 15th of Av, and in the Fall/Winter it began with Rosh Chodesh Elul and lasted until the 15th of Shevat. Then, after Av 15 or Shevat 15, the Rosh Yeshivah would accompany his students to a large fair - in the summer they would travel all the way to the fairs of Zaslow and Yaroslav, and in the winter to the fairs of Lvov and Lublin - where the boys were given permission to study in any yeshivah of their choice.
In Germany, Bein Hazmanim was conducted differently. In Worms, for example, students relaxed within the walls of their own Batei Medrashim. Year-round in-depth learning, with intensity and thorough pilpul, gave way to the study of other works that were less conceptual, such as the books of Nach and Medrashim. Rabbi Yosef Shamash ZT”L, who describes the customs in the city of Worms, recounts a particularly widespread custom in his city: “During Bein Hazmanim, we learned the halachos of Maseches Bein Hazmanim, the twenty-four books (of Nach - prophets), and other works that students wish to learn (on their own).” There was a great fear that students, especially youngsters, would neglect the study of Torah during this time and the spiritual heads of the generation, who carried the responsibility of the people upon their shoulders, wholeheartedly opposed this threat in every possible way.
On March 8, 1969, Egypt proclaimed the official launch of the “War of Attrition” (מלחמת ההתשה), using heavy artillery, advanced Soviet-designed surface-to-air missiles and MiG aircrafts. The Egyptians inflicted heavy losses on Israel forcing the prime minister to respond by ordering massive air raids deep into Egypt. Israel was also beset by guerrilla attacks from Jordan, launched by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The war, characterized by large-scale shelling along the Suez Canal, extensive aerial warfare and commando raids, broke out a few short days before the end of the “Winter Zman” and every day, there were reports of more dead and wounded Israelis added to the battlefield. As a result of the difficult conditions that existed at the time, a number of yeshivos in Israel urged their students, who had gone home for the holiday of Pesach, to come back early and commence the “Summer Zman” immediately after the Chag.
In the Slabodka Yeshivah in Bnei Brak, R’ Yechezkel Abramsky ZT”L also asked his students to return early and on the first day of the zman, he delivered a פתיחה שיעור (opening shiur). “You don’t know the terror I experienced over the last month,” he told his students. “I was trembling for an entire month. Soldiers are stationed at the Suez, and bombs are falling on them. Their lives are in danger, while yeshivah students, whose Torah protects soldiers, left for Bein Hazmanim! This fear also prevented me from experiencing the joy of the holiday! I was counting the days until the yeshivos returned to their regular scheduled learning. My joy is indescribable on this day that learning begins once again in the yeshivos.”
R’ Yechezkel added, “I know that not all students stopped learning. Of course, we must return home and help our families prepare for the holidays. It’s a ‘bodily mitzvah’ (מצוה שבגופו) whose reward is infinite. However, many yeshivah students used every spare moment of their free time to learn. To them, I would like to repeat the words of the Yerushalmi in Berachos (פט-ה): ‘If you see those who have forsaken the study of Torah, but you have strengthened yourself in it, you will merit the reward of them all.’ The boys who studied during Bein Hazmanim, it is their Torah which protected the country, and which continues to protect it. They earn a reward as great as that of everyone who studies put together!”
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