After a trip to strengthen Jewish communities abroad, Rav Azriel Auerbach returned to Erets Yisroel today via an unusual route, crossing the Jordanian border under tight security after landing in Aqaba on a private aircraft.
The journey concluded a trip that began two weeks ago, when Rav Auerbach responded to the request of American gedolim to travel to the United States and serve as the keynote speaker at the Adirei HaTorah gathering. Throughout his visit, he participated in numerous kabalos panim held in yeshivos and Torah centers across the country, delivering powerful divrei chizuk and shiurim to thousands of bnei Torah.
The rav boarded a flight back to Israel last Thursday. However, about 30 minutes before the scheduled landing, Israeli airspace was closed due to the onset of the military operation in Iran. The pilot was instructed to divert, and the aircraft was rerouted to Cyprus.
The plane landed in Larnaca on Friday, and Rav Auerbach, together with his entourage, spent Shabbos at a boutique hotel on the island. A prominent philanthropist and confidant of the rav, who had been on the same flight, quickly arranged all the necessary logistics — including meals, accommodations, and a minyan of travelers. Special arrangements were made to designate part of the hotel for Shabbos tefillos, and during the course of Shabbos, the rav addressed the stranded travelers, offering words of encouragement and invoking the verse from Parshas Beha’aloscha, “Al pi Hashem yachanu v’al pi Hashem yisa’u” — emphasizing that everything happens according to Hashem’s will, and there is no room for complaints or second-guessing.
Following Shabbos, Rav Auerbach accepted an invitation from community leaders in London to spend a few days in the city while waiting for conditions in Israel to stabilize. He continued his mission of chizuk among European Jewry, attending kabalos panim in local yeshivos and Torah institutions.
Today, the rav boarded a private jet that flew to the Jordanian city of Aqaba, adjacent to the Israeli border. Accompanied by his entourage and under police protection, he crossed into Israel and traveled to his home in the Beit Vagan neighborhood of Yerushalayim, where crowds of talmidim and admirers were waiting to greet him.

{Matzav.com Israel}