Yeshivas Ohr Baruch of Yerushalayim decided to fine talmidim with a drivers license NIS 5,000 as rabbonim explain they are following the derech of police of Maran HaRav Shach ZT”L. In some of the cases a talmid found to have a license was thrown out of yeshiva but it appears some yeshiva prefer to respond in a different fashion.
According to a Kikar Shabbos News report, Yeshivas Ohr Baruch, headed by Rabbi Refael Toledano has decided to fine the talmidim. The report adds that some talmidim are faced with paying NIS 10,000 or face being expelled from yeshiva and for one in the process of seeking a shidduch, such a reality could have devastating results.
The report states that eight talmidim with found to have a license. Two of them decided to pay the fine and remain in yeshiva. A third bochur received special permission to keep his license due to special circumstances. The other five talmidim did not pay and they were thrown out of yeshiva as a result.
A source in the yeshiva is quoted saying “Any decision made in this matter was done after rabbonim of 23 yeshivos met to discuss the matter, including gedolei hador and profound talmidei chachamim. The source adds the report stating that some talmidim were ousted from yeshiva because of this is not accurate, clarifying the talmidim who were thrown out were expelled for their failure to adhere to the regulations of the yeshiva.
Kikar adds that a legal expert who was consulted states the yeshiva has absolutely no right to oust the talmidim or to fine the talmidim or their parents. It is suggested that the yeshiva reach agreement with the talmidim and their parents towards their return to yeshiva.
In conclusion, whatever the outcome will be, the talmidim involved have a ‘blemish’ as a result of being expelled and while it may not be legal under the Israeli legal system, it will nevertheless carry ramifications in the chareidi community and impact their ongoing efforts towards finding a shidduch.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
14 Responses
If this is true then their leaders are running a cult. A monopoly with the type of ideology forms the next generation to act the same because that’s what the “gedolim” of the previous generation did. Kicking a Bochur out of a yeshiva for having a document that permits a person to drive and identify himself to authorities? I’m afraid we’re gonna have more of these people that remove people from yeshiva for their extreme standards. We should look up to the Sephardim.
If hashem wants to mete judgement with these people for making people sad, when these people reject to listen and claim their leaders speak the word of Hashem, what solution are we expecting?
Could this be edited for readability?
“they are following the derech of police of Maran HaRav Shach ZT”L.”
should we assume the correct word is policy or is this saying something else?
“The source adds the report stating that some talmidim were ousted from yeshiva because of this is not accurate”
Does this really mean that the bachurim were “ousted” but this is not the correct reason?
Please take away the drivers licenses of some of the adults who drive like maniacs too.
Are we speaking of bochurim? or avrechim?
Some reasonable explanation is needed for such a policy to go into effect… Is driving assur? is driving for a bochur assur? at what age? and why?
Yeshiva world why do you have to even report these stupid stories really now go do some real reporting
When did Chazal asur driving?
How about Yeshivos doing something about the amount of smoking going on
Any young woman who would break off an engagement to a bochur who was sanctioned by his school for obtaining a driver’s license probably has serious mental/emotional issues and such a bochur is lucky to know about it in advance. He should move on and find his real beschert and not some ditz who would use such a trivial issue as a pretext to break the engagement.
Next up: any bochur that has learned to read and write in English should be thrown out. If they know how to multiply two numbers, they should also be thrown out. In fact, if they can do anything practical at all, they should be thrown out — we need 100% full dedication to learning Torah, and anything else they spend time on is a complete distraction and shows that they are poor talmidim and bad influences on other bochrim.
I just dont chap
charliehall: “When did Chazal asur driving?”
Did Moshe Rabeinu, R’ Akiva, Rav or Shmuel ever drive a car? Did the Ramban or the Ritva or R’ Akiva Eiger?! What makes you think that you’re great than all of them?! And if they didn’t drive cars then of course you shouldn’t either. Chazal didn’t have to assur things like the internet and driving, and instead we should learn from the examples they set for us.
I personally think that although having a driving license is not in the best interest of becoming a real total talmud chacham, still very few bochrim will become talmidi chachmim, rather they will either become avachim or go out to work.
To punish them with dismissal is the opposite purpose of learning Torah, to bring them closer to HaShem in all manners of how they chose to live their lives.
There is a critical problem in our Israeli charadi yeshivas since most of the emphasis is put on NOT going out into the world since the rabbis are afraid of the boys slipping down in their manner of Torah observance.
Instead of punishing the boys, it seems to me to rethink the goals of chinuch, to emphasize how they can still be observant Jews and work in the world too.
# 12 It is more than a critical problem, it is an existential problem. An edifice built on anything less than emes lamito is doomed to fail. The chareidi world has admitted its failure in that their “product” is very perishable. If you put their fine bochur in the army, he is expected to get geshmaded in two years. Any involvement at all in the wider world is considerd a lethal dose of slow acting poison. This is not the profile of what a Jew is meant to be. It is the profile a monk locked in a monastary. Our inheritance from Avraham Avinu is that we should be able, as generations of Jews did, to deal with nisyonos. This is also related to the sickness of disparaging work and working Jews. A drivers license is a vector to work and gashmiyus. When they solicit funds from the Zvulunim they are essential taking dirty money.
This is good on so many levels… 1) inspite of having a license most yeshiva bochrim don’t know how to drive so the world is safer this way. 2) there are already too many cars on the road. 3) reducing the cabon footprint of these yeshivoth will put them more in-line with the leftists, this will either lead the yeshivots toward accepting gay marriage or the leftists to sit and learn or both. 4) חֶבְלֵי מָשִׁיחַ