When Torah Learning Became a Shield

When a deadly epidemic was sweeping through Europe, it seemed unstoppable. Town after town fell ill. The residents of Volozhin, a small Jewish town, feared it would reach them too. But their leader, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin—a great sage and student of the Vilna Gaon—did something extraordinary.

As soon as the plague approached the town’s outskirts, Rabbi Chaim acted. He sent all the students of the yeshiva into the streets with their Gemaras (volumes of Talmud). Each pair of study partners sat a short distance from the next, forming a circle of Torah learning all around the city. From all sides, voices of Torah filled the air.

And then—it stopped. The plague, which had swept through the region without pause, simply halted at the edge of Volozhin. It didn’t enter the town. It was as if the sound of Torah created a wall no illness could pass.

Why did this work?

The sages teach us that the Torah is the spiritual foundation of the world. In the Talmud, it says that if Torah learning were ever to stop completely, even for a moment, the entire world would fall apart, G-d forbid. That’s why Jews all over the world learn at different times—so that the world is always sustained.

This story was told again many years later, in a very different context, by Rabbi Eliezer Eliezer Jacobson, who shared how Torah protected not just a town, but his very own father.

Rabbi Jacobson’s father had suffered from severe asthma for years. Clean air was critical to his health, and the one thing that helped was an open lot near their home in Bnei Brak, which allowed fresh air to circulate.

But then, the city decided to build a Talmud Torah (a school for young boys to learn Torah) on that very lot. Neighbors were worried. They knew the noise and dust from dozens of children might affect Rabbi Jacobson’s father terribly—and one neighbor even began collecting signatures to oppose the construction.

That neighbor assumed Rabbi Jacobson’s father would be the first to sign. But something surprising happened.

Rabbi Jacobson’s father pulled out an old newspaper article he had saved from the Yated Ne’eman, a religious publication. It retold the story of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin and how he had stopped a plague with Torah learning. He turned to the neighbor and said:

“I want to live a long life—and there’s no better protection than having Torah learned right under my window. I welcome it with all my heart. In fact, if there’s no room for the classrooms, they can build them in our yard. Torah only brings blessing.”

And it did. Not only did his asthma ease, but his financial situation also improved dramatically. He was able to buy homes for two of his children—despite already being in debt—and he repaid every loan within a few short years, even after retiring from work.

Just like Rabbi Chaim’s students once protected a town, the sweet sound of young boys learning Torah brought health and blessing to a home in Bnei Brak.