Rav Aharon Tzvi Heller, a representative of Toldos Aharon known as Hersh Michel, who is responsible for all the Lag B’Omer logistics for the chassidus, testified to the state commission of inquiry into the Meron disaster on Tuesday.
“Whatever you decide is kodesh, that’s what will be,” Heller told the members of the commission, to the surprise of many. “You can rest assured that we’ll obey every word.”
“We don’t do anything without the police,” Heller said. “If the police would have said before the hadlaka that there won’t be a hadlaka, there’s too many people – then there wouldn’t have been a hadlaka. I promise you that we wouldn’t have carried out the hadlaka.”
In order to illustrate that he was speaking the truth, Heller said that in 2020, when Meron was closed due to COVID, the chassidus could have obtained a permit for the Toldos Aharon Rebbe. But the Rebbe decided to refrain from traveling to Meron and instructed his chassidim to remain in Yerushalayim. Instead, he conducted a hadlaka on the roof of the shul, without the chassidim. “No one from our kehilla was at Meron in 2020. Our public is very disciplined.”
“I get calls almost every day from other chassidiyos who ask what our plans are. I tell them that whatever was won’t be in the future, it’s history. Whatever the commission decides b’ezras Hashem, we’ll do. There’s no ‘chachmos’ here, we’ve paid a very painful price.”
“I told a member of a large chassidus today: ‘It’s not pleasant for me to testify but I’m loudly proclaiming: ‘We must obey the instructions of the police and security forces, whether there is or isn’t a hadlaka, the amount of people, etc. We must obey what they say and not make light of even the smallest instruction.'”
“We’ve experienced great pain and tzaar since the disaster. The Rebbe is not the same Rebbe, he’s broken and shattered. The Chagim weren’t Chagim. There are nine yesomim [the children of the Toldos Aharon chassid who was killed at Meron] surrounding the Rebbe every day.”
Retired Supreme Court Justice Miriam Naor, the head of the commission, asked Heller about their contacts with the police. Heller responded that four years ago they received instructions from the police to raise the stage where the Rebbe sat and to remove the children. “We removed them in accordance with their instructions and we also moved the women to the top level. Everything was done in accordance with police instructions.”
Heller said that he entered his position as the liaison with the police for the Hamekomos Hakedoshim 15 years ago. “The police issues instructions, we need to fulfill them, and only then do we proceed,” he said. “This year we had six meetings with them. They issue instructions and we carry them out. They tell us what we need to do, how many levels for the bleachers, how many barriers, what to fix – and we proceed only in accordance with their instructions.”
Naor then asked about the number of people allowed to enter the Toldos Aharon area for the hadlka. “The engineer testified and told us how many are allowed to enter. Did you know anything about that?
“I didn’t know about it until after the disaster,” Heller responded. “There weren’t any signs in the area saying how many could enter. We never ever heard that there’s a limit on the size of the crowd or the area. Anyway, who are we that we can tell people who can enter or who cannot? Does it belong to us? We’re not the police. Are we even permitted to put up barriers? There were areas we wanted to block off, by the steps of Rebbe Elazar where all the women are. We wanted to separate between the men and women but the police didn’t let us. They told us that we can’t because it’s an escape route. We accepted this despite the fact that in accordance with our way of life there should have been a mechitza there.”
“We didn’t put in a single nail without the police and the engineers. There’s no one who will say that Toldos Aharon did even little things without a permit. Two hours before Lag B’Omer I received an entire booklet. The engineer came, threw me a booklet, and said: ‘Here’s your signed permit.'”
“What was I supposed to know? What do I understand? I’m an engineer? An architect?”
When Naor mentioned the size of the crowd, Heller responded that he didn’t notice that the crowding was more intense than in previous years. “They should have told us – stop the hadlaka,” he said. “Why didn’t anyone do that? We simply obey what the police tell us. If the police would have said before the hadlaka that there won’t be a hadlaka, there’s too many people – then there wouldn’t have been a hadlaka. I promise you that we wouldn’t have carried out the hadlaka. If they would have told me – stop the event, they wouldn’t have had to repeat it twice – it would have happened immediately. The police were the ones who managed the event.”
In answer to Naor’s question about the difference between lighting at Meron or in Jerusalem – Heller answered that the Rebbe said that there’s no obligation to travel to Meron. “On the street, we’re known as an extremist sect but we’ve worked in close cooperation with the police throughout the years and you can check this out. We ensured public safety.”
Heller wore a “ring” from a Sukkos lulav on his finger while testifying, apparently a segulah for success.
סגולה מעניינת העסקן ר' הרש מיכל הלר מתולדות אהרן שהעיד היום בועדת החקירה לאסון מירון הגיע עם טבעת של הלולב על אצבעו pic.twitter.com/MOk3e5KWzc
— חיים גולדברג (@haim_goldberg) October 5, 2021
השופט: "מה לדעתך גרם לאסון מירון?" pic.twitter.com/9ozVnM4T2W
— אבי רבינא Avi Ravina (@AviRabina) October 5, 2021
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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19 Responses
“Heller wore a “ring” from a Sukkos lulav on his finger while testifying, apparently a segulah for success”
Well, his segulah was highly “successful” since he was able to evade responsibility for just about everything that happened with his disingenuous “I knew nothing” response to the questions posed by the prosecutor while simultaneously blaming the police, the public works ministry etc. etc. Every witness so far has blamed someone else and it seems no one was responsible for anything.
The culprits are there but refuse to admit
It was the polices responsibility
They were told by engineers what needed to be done to ensure safety
They ignored it
And didn’t even give their men basic instructions
It’s very horrible what happened, but I think every person that went there is responsible. I made an innocent mistake of going there once, and I knew right away, I would never never do this again, or let anyone I my family go there on Lag BaOmer, it was so obviously dangerous! My husband and I were shocked at the complete lack of responsibility and disregard for basic safety and especially safety of the children. It felt like a pagan fest, not a Jewish event, complete with selling blessings for male offspring over the loudspeaker.
toldos aHRON ONLY LISTEN TO THE POLICE?thats so funny and sad
?
KotonHadorah once again opens his fat antisemitic trap, again lashing out at the Jews he hates.
Maybe he’s right, could it be that Hashem is the one who did it? Has that idea occurred to any negative commentators?
When we see less people going up next year, we will know that we have learned our lesson. Let’s wait and see…
@Gadolhadorah I agree somewhat, but his insistence that they follow every police directive, no matter what, is impressive. As is his assurance that whatever the commission decides is “kodesh.” He speaks on behalf of the Rebbe, whom one has to believe is speaking emes. Time will tell, I guess.
To Gedol Hador,
If you are indeed the Gadol Hador, as your name seems to indicates, you would understand that the whole Meron thing has never been safe for the past 20 years. Having a million people enter such a small area without proper escape routes is irresponsible and only a matter of time until Hashem Yerachem.
The police have the impossible job of trying to make it safe and the pressure from all the groups and chavrei knesset do not allow them to limit the crowds. They have built bridges and done things over the years but the bottom line is – it is not safe!
There have been nissim there every year and this past year we were not zoche to the nissim.
It is no “one” person’s fault.
There are a million people who come from all over Israel and the world to celebrate Lag Baomer by Reb Shimon.
I am not sure what they are planning to do next year, but unless they keep the crowds off the mountain and create some large open areas to host the million they will not solve the issue.
the question is if the crowds will be willing to celebrate 500 meters away from the actual tziun or will they push their way in etc…
Hashem Yaazor!
But he’s right. If the police were in charge and they followed instructions how were they at fault?
Lollll gadolhadorah u so dumb
Every single eyewitness who laid blame on anyone laid it squarely on the police…
‘Scuse me: I meant “the police yemach shemam vizichram”
@Gadolhadorah – You obviously don’t know how Israeli society is. Too many levels of government, outsourced everything that increase prices (everyone needs their big cut, and the lowest end up fighting over scraps), and then everyone points the finger at someone else.
@Gadolhadorah your comments just spread separation and hatred among us, what do you gain from this comment ? Didn’t you learn from nochosh last week?
I know him personally as an extremely straight and responsible person. Are the police claiming that anything he said is false? I doubt it. I would still like to know if they’re going to allow the eyewitness to the barrier to testify.
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/1970352/i-cried-to-the-policeman-take-the-barrier-away-or-people-will-die.html
To my friend Will Hill,
I like your comment and a Gut Shabbos to everyone.
Lots of good health to everyone
To Saul B.
If someone puts his finger into a fire and the finger gets burned, are we going to say that Hashem did it???
Sorry, but every article here on YWN reporting on the testimony has shown every witness pointing the finger at someone else…the police, the engineers, the various government ministries, the various chassidus organizing their respective hadlakahs. Each denies ANY responsibilities. To those of you pointing at the police or simply saying in EY no one can ever be held responsible for anything, thats your option.
P.S. His line about how the Toldos Ahron always following EVERY directive from the police certainly must have gotten your attention. Really??
police closed the gates, they were the cause of the deaths