A 17-year-old Israeli yeshivah bochur was arrested in France after being caught with a package containing an illegal substance and is now sitting in jail.
The bochur is from a family that is currently in severe crisis, with his mother ill with a fatal illness and his also ill father trying to singlehandedly support the family. Someone took advantage of the bochur’s vulnerable state and naivete and convinced him to take a package to France for a large sum of money.
There are a number of askanim involved in the case and the best lawyers have been hired to fight his case. However, his first appearance in court isn’t scheduled until January 2022.
The mother of the bochur is in her final days of a fatal illness and her last wish is to see her son before her death. The family has asked that the public daven for the release of Yehoshua Menachem Refael ben Gila Miriam.
The family does not have the financial means to release their son from jail and askanim have launched a campaign on The Chesed Fund site to assist the family.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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14 Responses
YOU NEED TO PUBLICIZE THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO SENT HIM
PEOPLE ARE FEDUP ABOUT THESE CAMPAIGNS AND OTHERS AS WELL
With absolute URGENCY the Israeli government must take action against those known individuals putting so many innocent youngsters into trouble!
Play stupid game, get stupid prize…
How somebody can be so stupid?!?!?!?
In front of the judge everyone is equal and need to pay the price for his stupidness…….
He is not the only with a hardship in his family, this not justify at all to became a drug smuggler….. people who are using this drugs he smuggled can die from it…..
He should get his punishment!!
Educate our kids, give them better choices. Help them learn that easy money is dangerous
This story has repeated itself too often. Why?
Rafi Cohen
Your comment is disturbing. Who said he knew it was drugs. Stomach churning comment….
Ohevet Yisroel – there’s an unfortunate attitude that unless a rule is sourced in Halacha, it’s not “real”, and thus only applies to Goyim or the modern crowd. Therefore, the fact that smuggling is illegal doesn’t necessarily raise the red flag that it might raise for others from a different population. It’s at least in part a carryover from the “old country”, where the government’s actions were often capricious or antisemitic – so now, even when the rules are (generally) more logical, the old attitude persists.
an Israeli Yid
Unfortunately, there are too many ignorant people around, which are being taken advantage of – better publicity warning against such games, and tough action against the perpetrators.
It really boggles the mind that this bochur would do this, regardless of his family situation. It is not as if no one has experienced this before. The only instruction is: JUST SAY NO!!! And especially if they are offering money. I wonder if this bochur even knows the person who gave him the package
Exactly what are we davening for? You break the law, there is a consequence. It works that way in halacha as well.
Pashut08701
From a 17 years old, even frum bachur, you can expect that he knows that if somebody gives you a unknown package or unknown substances that you should NOT carry it with you or even touch it…… Espacially if you are able to board a plane alone, you should know the rules, despite that Israeli security asking everyone, even Israeli citizen, if he received something unknown from somebody….. it’s interesting what he was answering to that question?!
@Rafi, frum teens trust frum (or frum-looking) adults almost implicitly. The people who abuse that trust are the ones who need to sit in jail. Teens need to be made aware of potential dangers, but after the fact, they should not be villainized and forced to pay for others’ crimes.
Back when the three bachurim were imprisoned in Japan, there was a lot of awareness being spread about not taking packages. This boy is probably too young to remember that. We need to double down our efforts to re-spread this awareness.
Rafi, your statement makes me wonder if YOU are one of those horrible people who are exploiting our children while getting off scot-free themselves.
This could definitely happen to a kid from any community, kids being kids, but the question is – did the community do it’s part? Do they teach halokhos of honesty and behavior in the world in same amount and passion as shabbos and kashrus? Can someone local go and interview the yeshivos where these kids are coming from?
Does anyone know the latest about this boy?