A yeshivah bochur went to the Petach Tikvah police station early Tuesday afternoon to request a “certificate of good conduct” [תעודת יושר] and was arrested on the spot as an army deserter.
A “certificate of good conduct” attests to a person’s lack of a criminal record, which is required to apply to certain official bodies or jobs.
When the bochur, a talmid at the Sephardi Minchat Yehuda yeshivah, arrived at the station, the investigator who checked his details discovered that he was subject to conscription—and he was transferred to the military police.
Shortly afterward, Peleg Yerushalmi called for demonstrations near the police station, and dozens heeded the call, leading to clashes between the police and the protesters.
Rav Doron Gedalia, the Rosh Yeshivah of Michat Yehudah, said in an interview with Kol B’Ramah, “Bochurim were instructed to be careful and not approach police officers. This is an extreme war against Hashem and lomdei Torah. Arrest is a red line; everything must be done to stop it.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
9 Responses
“Everything must be done to stop it” means everything except enlisting. The panic has arrived.
How is this not Bitul Torah?
Who gave them the Heter to make this Chilul Hashem?
Where in Torah does it say that you only need to learn and nothing else?
!לא המדרש עיקר, אלא המעשה
!גדול הלימוד המביא לידי מעשה
Where in the history of עם ישראל do we see that the husband sits and learns while the wife goes to work and the Yoch of taking care of the home? I am asking because I simply don’t know, please help me source this new type of Yiddishkeit.
Each and everyone of these protesters should be arrested and put into military uniforms immediately. But I fear most of them are Americans having a good time. If so put them on planes home to mommy and daddy
I am very bothered at the way this makes us look.
There are hundreds of thousands of Yidden that are on the front lines guarding the borders to Eretz Yisroel while these good for nothings sit and waste precious resources with their חילול השם
it’s not a new kind of yiddishkeit
try the gemoro in kesuvos somewhere (around the 60s) where talmidim would ask their wives for permission to go off to yeshiva for any number of years – which is actually how Rabbi Akiva became Rabbi Akiva
as to your first question, the concept of “hafgana” is mentioned explicitly in taanis 18a. Granted the gemoro means tefilla as well, but you do see there that they petitioned the ruling party as well. At that time it was also a gezera against the Torah
Beis Dovid, you are correct. Both reform and Hareididom are reactions to modernity. One embraces it too completely. One rejects it too completely.
i hope everyone will finally admit:
these are NOT out brothers
these are NOT our friends
Beis Dovid,
First, to clarify: Limud Torah is not just another occupation; it is considered the foundation of Klal Yisrael’s spiritual existence. Chazal teach us that Talmud Torah keneged kulam—Torah learning is equal to all other mitzvos because it sustains the world. In times of spiritual or physical threat, the merit of Torah study is our strongest defense.
Regarding bitul Torah and public protest: this is not a matter of individual choice but a communal response to a threat to the very ability to continue Torah learning freely. When Torah learners are arrested for being who they are—lomdei Torah—the community must act. This is not a parade or a political event; it’s a protest rooted in mesirus nefesh to preserve Klal Yisrael’s core mission.
As for the idea that men learn while women support the home: this is not a new “type of Yiddishkeit.” We see echoes of this even in the Gemara (Sotah 21a), where it speaks of the reward women receive for enabling Torah learning. In more recent history, post-Holocaust Gedolim like the Chazon Ish and the Steipler strongly supported the Kollel model to rebuild Torah in Eretz Yisrael.
Certainly, this path isn’t for everyone. But for those who commit their lives to Torah, it is done with full awareness and often with great personal sacrifice—not laziness or escapism.
Lastly, לא המדרש עיקר אלא המעשה doesn’t mean Torah isn’t primary—it means Torah must lead to action. And what greater action is there than preserving Torah itself?
May we be zocheh to see the Torah respected by all, and to continue its transmission without fear.