Since Monday morning, almost 30 Chareidim were arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport on the way to Uman, which means that there will soon be over 60 Chareidim sitting in military prison.

UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf wrote a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanding that the Chareidim be released for Rosh Hashanah.

“I turn to you as the head of the government of the only Jewish state in the world in a request for my brothers who have been imprisoned in the Land of Israel for the ‘sin’ of limmud Torah,” he wrote. “I am ashamed and humiliated by the very fact that I have to make such a request. I am heartbroken that in our days, in the Jewish state, lomdei Torah scholars are arrested and harassed along with their families.”

“The painful facts speak for themselves, and therefore I ask you in every which way to act for their immediate release, and at the very least to allow them to celebrate the days of Rosh Hashanah with their families and to daven in the shuls where they daven every year.”

“According to media reports, there are currently over 30 detainees behind bars [as of earlier on Monday] for the ‘sin’ of choosing to learn Torah. In the stories of the past of Jewish kehillos in foreign lands, we learned about the advocacy they would employ ahead of the Yamim Noraim in order to release prisoners so that they could daven b’tzibur on the Yimei HaDin and celebrate the Chagim with their families.”

In conclusion, Goldknopf wrote, “I very much hope and expect that you, Prime Minister, will assist in their release and at least grant them the opportunity to daven properly on Rosh Hashanah.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)