In an interview with YWN following the shocking arrest of a Ateres Shlomo talmid on Wednesday morning, Harav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin shlit”a decried the ongoing persecution of bnei Torah in Eretz Yisroel, comparing the situation to the dark days of Soviet oppression.
“I came to America to do a job that isn’t easy — to take care of bochurim,” Rav Sorotzkin said. “We have 13,500 talmidim across our mosdos, and every one of them is precious. When I heard this morning that they arrested a choshuve bochur in the yeshiva — an emesdike masmid, whose only ‘crime’ was sitting and learning Torah — I was shaken. We heard such stories from our fathers and grandfathers in Russia, when people were arrested for learning. Now it’s happening again, in Eretz Yisroel.”
The bochur, named Ariel Shammai, was sentenced to 20 days in military prison. “He was handed a 20-day prison sentence for one thing,” Rav Sorotzkin said sharply. “For being an oved Hashem and learning Torah.”
Following the arrest, a massive atzeres tefillah was held outside the prison Wednesday afternoon. Over 1,200 bnei Torah gathered to show support and solidarity with the imprisoned talmid. The gathering doubled as a psichas zman for the yeshiva, led by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a.
“It was a big maamad of kiddush sheim shamayim in a mechubadike way,” said Rav Sorotzkin. “We began Chezkas Habatim there. It gave the bochur chizuk — he saw that Klal Yisroel is with him.”
Rav Sorotzkin said that he will be cutting short his trip to America – he had come to fundraise for his massive network of yeshivos – and returning immediately to Eretz Yisroel to take responsibility for the bochur and advocate on his behalf. “I have no breirah,” he said. “I am going straight back to Eretz Yisroel. We have an achrayus for this bochur.”
Rav Sorotzkin urged Jews worldwide to be marbitz in tefillah. “We must daven to Hashem: Kra ro’ah gzar dineinu. Klal Yisroel areivim zeh lazeh — we all have an achrayus for one another. The tzarah in Eretz Yisroel is a tzarah for every ben Torah around the world.”
He added that fear is spreading among bnei yeshiva. “Many don’t understand that every bochur nowadays is afraid that he could be arrested at any moment. This cannot continue.”
The arrest of Ariel Shammai followed a series of shocking overnight raids by military police targeting yeshiva bochurim who have refused army enlistment on religious grounds.
In one case, police stormed a home in Ramat Gan at 1:30 a.m. and dragged away a bochur who was in the midst of sitting shiva for his father. The young man’s mother — a disabled almanah — and six orphaned siblings cried out helplessly as he was taken away. After widespread outrage, he was released hours later through the intervention of attorney Shlomo Haddad.
Two other bnei yeshiva were arrested the same night — both now facing prison time.
Military police also raided homes in Adam, overturning furniture in a failed attempt to arrest two more talmidim, and attempted an arrest in Neve Yaakov, which was thwarted after hundreds of protesters gathered and forced the police to retreat.
In response to the arrests, Degel HaTorah convened an emergency meeting of its Knesset members, while Peleg Yerushalmi leaders announced plans for mass demonstrations, warning that these were no longer isolated arrests at airports or checkpoints but direct raids on the homes of bnei Torah.
As YWN has reported, Hagaon HaRav Dov Landau who is currently in Los Angeles spoke via telephone to Hagaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, and has called for a massive Ateres Tefillah and protest this coming Sunday.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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20 Responses
If a man is driving a car with a Gemara propped over the steering wheel, learning intensely, and he runs someone over chas v’sholom, does he get punished for the crime of learning Torah? No, he gets punished for negliglent driving!
We might think that it was a terrible thing that this young man was arrested, but it’s not acceptable for people, no matter who they are, to speak falsehoods about the reason. He was NOT arrested for learning Torah. He was arrested for army avoidance, just like non-charedim who avoid army service are arrested.
Or, to put it another way – it’s ossur to learn Torah on Tisha B’Av, when the obligation of the day is to commiserate over national suffering. If someone learns Torah, does Hashem punish him for learning Torah? No, Hashem punishes him for failing to commiserate over national suffering!
he was arrested for learning Torah….any fool will understand that this war that was brought from so many avenues all is about loathing Hashem…Hashem Gadol….do not forgive the fools…….may America like the rest of what was Egypt and Persia all perish
He was not arrested for learning Torah.
He was arrested for not having followed the law requiring him to register for the draft.
After registering, he could have gone back to yeshiva and not been bothered again, just like tens of thousands of others his age.
However, he thought he was above the law.
And he will now have to pay the price for being an uber chochom.
I presume something is lost in translation. Rav worried about prosecution as bad as in Soviet Russia? Maybe the Rav was so much involved in Kiruv with survivors of USSR prosecution that he measures everything by that. Anyone knows of Russians who are talmidim of this Rav? Was he marbitz in tefillah trying to help our russian brothers? that may explain things.
Wow i thought only the isreali government had such deos. The problem is you think hes driving a car with a gemara, thats where you go wrong hes not avoiding any military drafts, rather he is what is holding up eretz yisroel and the world which is stronger than the army. SHOTEH?
Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin has over 13,000 students yet he compares the State of Israel to Soviet Russia? Something is wrong here.
Nosson Nota:
Please don’t contaminate our Torah by abusing it to attempt to provide cover for the wicked Zionists. (Your driving mashal was reasonable, though.)
In short, they are really exempt from that army, as has been the case since before 1948. So, you can’t say their “crime” was not going to the army, because in truth they are exempt from that army as per the deal Agudah made with the Zionists way back then, shortly before the original Yom haAtzamos.
Agudas Yisrael was founded to fight Zionism. The reason Agudah didn’t protest against the establishment of the Zionist paradise is that the Zionists agreed to the “status quo” including protecting Yeshiva students and their way of life (i.e., remaining as Jews, not converting to New Hebrews/Zionists) including obviously not being forcibly shmaded in the Zionist army.
Therefore, it is indeed these scholars’ Torah study to which the wicked Zionists object, because that study is the basis of their exemption from the Zionist shmad army and, therefore, from being shmaded and converted there, in that army, from Jew to Zionist.
These innocent talmidei chachamim, a true pride of our people, deserve to remain free of hounding and attacks by the wicked Zionists, by respecting their “Toraso umanuso” exemption status, regardless of the excuses Zionists give like it’s all that woman’s fault or whatever else.
i would not want to learn from someone who does not understand the reason for the arrest – draft evasion. Calling it ‘learning Torah’ indicates an inability to reason
His institutions get tens of millions of shekels a year from the Israeli government. And yet he dares to say something like this? Never mind the outright gall he displays. Do people have no sense of decency? How can it be that people support him and his institutions?
He was arrested because he didn’t follow the law!!
No one is forcing anyone to live here.. just like have obligation to pay taxes, obey traffic laws we have an obligation to serve. This does not contradict a Torah lifestyle.
We live in a beautiful community where everyone learns and serves. Ramat shilo beit shemesh.
Arresting someone in midst of sitting שבעה:- I can’t possibly envisage nor think of something more utterly reprehensible & disgusting & Shocking & humiliating & beyond belief.
May everyone involved in the arrest of this בן-שבעה, suffer major Divine retribution & punishment, for such an arrogant lack of basic human decency.
I wonder if he knows that there are thousands and thousands and thousands of bochrim who learn Torah and who are not arrested, or even wanted, for it. The hesder yeshivas have actually seen their budget increase this year. It’s perfectly clear that the government is not treating learning Torah as a crime. To say that it is is a bit silly; to believe that (not sure he does) would be even sillier.
what torah are these rabbis teaching? because mine only has 3 reasons for not joining the army: building a house, planting a vineyard, and betrothing a wife. the torah doesn’t include an exemption for limud torah.
Nosson Nota or Mr. Apikores. Please look up Masechet Makos- Daf Yud, Amud Alef. A – “אמר ריב”ל: “עומדות היה רגלנו בשערי ירושלים –
HaKatan:
Actually, they are NOT exempt from that army.
The law that exempts them has expired.
Nevertheless, all that was being required of this bochur was to show up at the draft board and REGISTER, as has been the case since 1948.
He did not do that.
He is being held for violating THAT statute, which the deal you spoke of never exempted him from complying with.
And that is why he is only being held for 20 days, not sent directly to the Army.
Franklyn I’m surprised that YWN – Yeshiva World News – editorial board approved all the above denigrating comments. These comments are an attack on the Torah. One may “respectfully” disagree: but gosh, the comments are laden with vitriolic sentiment. (My comment was made after comment)
Franklyn I’m surprised that YWN – Yeshiva World News – editorial board approved all the above denigrating comments. These comments are an attack on the Torah. One may “respectfully” disagree: but gosh, the comments are laden with vitriolic sentiment. (My comment was made after comment #14)
Some people are worse than amalek here with their venomous comments and disrespect towards Rabbanim. May they meet their violent end soon
Mordechai HaYehudi – yes, that’s an important Gemara, that needs to be learned carefully. As R. Moshe Klausner explains:
The Gemara does not say “those who study Torah” protected, but rather “those who are engaged in Torah.” And it specifies that this refers to those who were in the “gates of Jerusalem”. Why is this important? If it referred to those who “study Torah”, it could
apply anywhere, not just in Jerusalem. Rather, it speaks about the judges who were sitting at the gates of Jerusalem – the Sanhedrin. The leaders of the generation, who provided judgment and guidance to the people. Even during wartime, or, even more importantly during wartime, it is necessary for the continued functioning of society to have a functional court system with leaders who will lead and guide the people. (This will also explain why King David did not fight in wars once he became king.)
(Also note that the Amora who states this is R. Yehoshua b. Levi – see Kesuvos 67b where he is also of the view that Torah protects from disease, and most other Amora’im disagree.)
For the benefit of all the Goyishe Kup commenters who mistakenly stumbled onto a site called “Yeshiva World” – the ‘law’ you refer to is being manipulated (illegally, against the elected majority) by the AG and SC, and is being used as a tool to persecute a specific group. Anyone commenting here who doesn’t yet understand that has less shaychus to Jewish Hashkafa, or even simply understanding what is really going on, than most “non-religious” Israelis.