Mothers of yeshivah bochurim arrested by military police tearfully spoke about the shocking arrests of their sons and the difficult ruchniyus conditions in prison to Kol Chai radio host Yankele Friedman.
Hadassah is the mother of Ariel Yechezkel, a yeshiva bochur from Ma’ale Adumim who was arrested a week ago. She described the shock of the arrest, recounting how the police arrived at their home at 3 a.m., dressed in civilian clothing.
“We never believed that such a thing could actually happen,” she said. She said they tried for two hours to prevent the arrest, but the police threatened to arrest her as well. “My son went because he was afraid they would take his mother,” she said painfully. She emphasized the humiliation they put her son through: “They didn’t allow him to go to the bathroom or change clothes; they demanded that the bathroom door stay open.”
Hadassah described the ruchniyus challenges in prison: “Ninety-five percent of the prison staff are female soldiers,” she said. “Ariel suffered especially on Shabbos, when the others were all smoking.”
“He almost gave in and enlisted. He told me: ‘Ima, I just want to get out of here.’ But at the end, he signed a refusal, with help from a lawyer.”
She added that she’s hoping that he’ll be released next Wednesday and asked for tefillos.
Anat Bukra, from Be’er Sheva, is the mother of a yeshivah bochur who was also arrested a week ago. She described the arrest. “A week ago, there were knocks on the door at 11:30 p.m.—eight husky men were there and took my son handcuffed by his hands and feet, handcuffed to a police officer, like some Arab terrorist.”
Anat compared the situation to historical persecutions: “I feel that there is currently a terrible decree upon us, as if we are in the times of the Romans who persecuted lomdei Torah.”
She expressed pain at the lack of public interest, though she noted the large atzeres tefillah “Today it’s my son, and tomorrow it’s another child,” she warned
Rina spoke about her relative who was arrested and whom she has already visited in prison several times. “I feel like the issue is already disappearing from the agenda, and that can’t happen,” she stressed.
She emphasized the suffering of families from the periphery (lower-income cities in northern and southern Israel), especially from small Sephardi yeshivas, where there is insufficient support. “There are families from the periphery that aren’t receiving any assistance. They could end up breaking and agreeing to enlist,” she warned.
Radio host Yankele Friedman clarified for families who may face an attempted arrest: “You do not have to open the door if there is no search warrant.”
He painfully concluded, “To think that we are in the State of Israel, the Jewish state, where lomdei Torah are pursued like this—unfathomable.”
One listener mentioned an Ethiopian boy, Yitzchak ben Esther, who has been sitting in prison for two months and has not received any legal assistance.
It should be noted that although there are legal aid organizations that are assisting lomdei Torah who were arrested, their families must contact the organizations to facilitate legal proceedings. Bochurim from families who are not well-connected or are not part of a Chareidi community may not be aware of the available legal assistance.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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19 Responses
Wow horrific. It’s a shame that Jews are becoming Nazis against their own people. And even sadder that many of our fellow Jews support this. But the end will come and we will celebrate when they are erased from history
YWN – when are you going to write a similar tearjerker article about Avivit Granot, Sara Zimbalist, and the other mother’s of Yeshiva Bochrim whose sons WILL NEVER COME HOME since they gave their lives Al Kidush Hashem while willingly defending their fellow Jews? Are the tears of those mothers, which also started with a dreaded knock on the door, worth any less to you – or, more imporrantly, to HKB”H?
Shame on you!!!!!
an Israeli Yid
Boo Hoo! My Heart Bleeds Borscht For You!
Zionist Nazi Storm Troopers.
He was NOT being forced to go to the army, only to register, which every citizen is expected to do and which yeshiva students have done for decades.
Really bad decision, to not register for the draft and then think that no one would notice.
(BTW, is there any evidence that this fellow is actually a yeshiva student? Of the 10’s of thousands of yeshiva bochurin, the police singled him out randomly, for no reason, while leaving the other 10’s of thousands alone? Seems like there’s more to the story.)
These Nazi/communists are not arresting dozens or hundreds for their “sin” of learning Torah; the impact of their unwarranted hostage taking is affecting a million Torah true Yidden – every incarcerated bochur or avreich has parents, siblings, children chavruses, friends rebbes etc, who all suffer greatly from those terrorism.
Only continued Tefillos and מעשים טובים will hopefully bring an end to this Golus Yisroel.
He spent 2 hours arguing with them, and then was upset they wouldn’t let him have time to change his clothes?
He doesn’t like the ruchniyes conditions in prison, because he thought prison would be a summer torah camp?
They took him handcuffed, presumably because he refused to go with them?
Of course there were 8 police officers, they weren’t going to risk sending just 1 or 2, given what has happened before.
And “tomorrow it could be your son” – only if you don’t fulfill your legal and moral and spiritual responsibility.
There are thousands of frum men in their 30s and 40s who had to leave their jobs and families for TWO YEARS because of the manpower shortage.
I don’t understand these comments. I thought this was “Yeshiva World”. You should be censoring comments that go against all the gedolim who said clearly not to register!
Joseph Goebbels,
You should be tuned over to Germany for prosecution as an anti-Semitic Nazi, just like your close relative was. You’re not even Jewish.
If something is not worked out real soon the situation is going to go from bad to worse. I think there needs to be a compromise and the compromise should be that every yeshiva bochur that is actively learning in yeshiva should be allowed to stay and learn in yeshiva without any question. However, all the boys that are not in yeshiva for whatever reason – and there are many, they should enlist and it’ll be probably be better for them doing nothing..I really don’t understand when our gedolim say that noone should go join the IDF, even bochurim who are not in yeshiva and that it’s the worse thing for any bochur to join the IDF. I find that so hard to understand, just look how many frum boys are in the IDF! We have all seen beautiful pictures these last two years of frum soldiers learning daf hayomi behind enemy lines or soldiers davening with tefilin along side their tanks or making kiddush/havdala. We’ve seen clips of them saying divrei torah from the front lines so how can people say the worst things about these amazing frum soldiers that are serving in the IDF. All these boys that are not in yeshiva for whatever reason should be accommodated with all their ruchnius needs but these boys should be the ones that should have to join. That’s what I think needs to be done. It’s the most sensible compromise that also makes the most sense..
Why aren’t they registered with the army? They are violating the law and should be arrested. Is their blood redder than those who have died al kidush hashem and will never return home? The tears of those mothers will never stop flowing. As Moshe Rabeinu said in Sefer Devarim, you can’t stand by while your brothers go to war.
your son is a terrorist; by not serving in the IDF Hareidim cause more deaths due to understaffing
The amount of hate that comes from seemingly people that call themselves religious toward the Yeshiva students makes me tremble. And then we wonder why why doesn’t the Redemption come it’s because so many of us are soneh torah ourselves and this confusion is going to get straightened out the hard way
History repeats itself. The “misyavnim” have power now, but they will all fall soon to the Chasmanayim.
I am a Hareidi mom who has had three sons in the army, two of whom have been doing milium for an extended period of time because there are not enough soldiers to do all the work. They are fathers and husbands. While I do feel that learning Torah is very important, unless these men are seriously sitting and learning, they should also serve in the IDF. It’s the Jewish army defending Eretz Yisroel, all the Jews in Israel, and in reality, the world. Being in the IDF is also a great mersert nefesh. Rather than go to jail, these guys should register. Not everyone is accepted into the IDF, and there are all sorts of roles, including managing the kashruth in the kitchens. worst-case scenario, a guy goes into Nachal Hareidi and serves his time. The army will give him skills and improve his physical health. He’ll also get many benefits when he finishes, and can do some learning when he’s in the army.
reply to yisssacher.
there actually only going after the frum people,as they want to break them and make them become less frum. I also live here and see what goes on the army people or should i say Nazis are not the best people out there and they keep on bothering us. I also now that they dont arrest not religious people that dont register for the army its literally just the frum they do. so you have it all wrong
and don’t tell me that we need the army, the whole reason why we have it is ever since the zionem decided that they need the state of Israel the Arabs attacked them. until then they werent really attacking us the way they do now
“They took him handcuffed, presumably because he refused to go with them?”
so you dahn the officers lekaf zechut and not the bochur. what did they deserve to be Dan lekaf zechut more than the bochur
where do you get that he refused to go with them why is that presumed and not the fact that they wanted to terrorize him like they have a history of doing where did you get that they argued with them for 2 hours
why are most of the officers in the jail female. no one’s asking for a Torah camp but they re asking for mentschlechkeit that a mans prison shouldn’t be manned by women predominantly,
ujm, you will burn forever in Gehinnom for putting Zionists and Nazis in the same sentence
The blindness of the haredi community to the problems they are causing themselves is frightening and unbelievable and it will only get worse if current behavior continues. Why should someone who is not sitting and learning Torah full time be exempt from serving in the IDF? There are so many jobs they could fulfill and so many accommodations the IDF makes for haredim. There are also so many opportunities for making a real kiddush hashem.