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Rav Gigi of ‘Gush’ inspires Rambam talmidim

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Last week, the boys at Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence were privileged to hear a surprise shiur by Rav Baruch Gigi, rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion. Rav Gigi stopped by Rambam during his busy trip to New York because of the longstanding relationship that Rambam has with “Gush,” said Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, rosh mesivta. 

Rav Gigi spoke about the lessons to be learnt from Yakov Avinu, who worked 24/6 for Laban.

“The Torah tells us the Yakov endured the cold of winter and the heat of summer and didn’t sleep for many years. How is such a thing possible — we know it is impossible to go three days without sleep,” asked Rav Gigi.

Rav Gigi explained that the Torah means to tell us about personal responsibility. Yakov never slept because his responsibility was always with him, “It was always on his head.”

Continuing, Rav Gigi mentioned that the Gemara derives from the Torah’s account the extent by which a shomer must watch an object. According to one opinion, a paid watchman must stay with the object all the time and can’t even lock it up safely without being physically present. “Our job is to be responsible and serve Hashem 24/ 7,” he said.

Rav Gigi recounted that in the early days of the yeshiva, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l used to play basketball with the talimidm and “always made sure to run up and down the court — he used to chastise the boys who waited under the basket, saying that they weren’t putting forth their full effort.”

Rav Gigi’s message echoed that of Chazal who taught, “lefum tzara agra,” in accordance with effort is the reward.”

The talmidim truly enjoyed the shiur and were inspired by his words.