In a rare event, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar visited HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, z’tl at the end of March, and as YWN reported at the time, the meeting was held in secrecy and no photos or videos were published.

The meeting took place in the wake of the unprecedented protest in Bnei Brak by supposedly anti-judicial reform protesters, whose rhetoric had begun taking on a decidedly anti-Chareidi slant. Bar decided to visit the Rosh Yeshivah, z’tl in order to establish a connection with the leader of the Chareidi sector to try to thwart potential issues in light of the sensitive times. A video of the meeting was publicized on Sunday for the first time.

The video shows the end of the meeting, when the Rosh Yeshivah, z’tl, gifted Bar with the sefer Darchei HaChizuk [authored by HaRav Yisrael Cohen], telling him: “The sefer writes about matters that you can understand, it’s not hard to understand.”

Bar looked at the sefer and said: “Ahh, it’s in Hebrew.” Smiling, he added: “I’ll read it and send the Rosh Yeshivah my summary.”

HaRav Edelstein, z’tl, smiled and said: “Yes, it’s in Hebrew, it’s not Gemara. It’s interesting to read.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)