For the last thirty years the government of Israel has been providing monthly subsidies for the families of yeshiva students with low income. In recent weeks the anti-religious media has been conducting a propaganda campaign against proposed legislation that would make it possible to continue this policy of securing economic survival for these families.

At the heart of the controversy is a failure on the part of a segment of the public in Israel to appreciate the value of Torah study to the security of the country. It is indeed unfortunate that most of these people will not be in the synagogue this Shabbat where they would hear how the Patriarch Yaakov prepared himself and his family for their life in Egypt.

Yaakov sent his son Yehuda ahead of him to prepare for his arrival. Rashi cites a midrash that explains that he sent him to prepare a house of Torah study.

Now, as then, the survival of our people depends on the merit of Torah study. It is the government's continued support of this study that will secure Israel forever.

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