As the tumultuous events in Eretz Yisroel around the status of bnei yeshivos keep unfolding, there’s no day without more updates and developments. For many it’s just news, but for others it’s their own lives being discussed. Yeshiva bachurim are being arrested? That’s someone’s son. Young kollel men deprived of benefits? Think of his wife and little children. People who need to travel in or out the country – hopefully for simchos, but also so many other critical reasons… and the airport is closed before them.
Alongside the hundreds of thousands whose lives are being affected in a very real way, are the English-speakers of Eretz Yisroel. Chutznikim, they’re often called. In Yerushalayim, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Sefer and more. Many in English-speaking communities, others semi-integrated into Israeli communities, and some without any community infrastructure. Someone needs to be there to help them through this period. Limited by the cultural and language divide, they don’t always know how to access the assistance they need. Baruch HaShem, there is someone there for them. AGUDIM, the “Bnei Chutz L’aretz” organization, have the right people in the right place at the right time.
To find out a little more about AGUDIM, what need they’re filling and how, we sat down with the director, Rabbi Shimon Gartenhaus, who found a few minutes to answer our questions. American-born, a veteran talmid of Rav Moshe Meiselman, and a respected rosh kollel in Kiryat Sefer for many years, Rabbi Gartenhaus had more than enough already on his plate but he heeded the call of the hour.
“There was simply no one out there helping the chutznikim“, he explained. “Again and again, we heard of very well-meaning, temimusdik families who didn’t know where to turn. I spoke to my rebbes, and to askonim in the field, and last year we opened up. Now we have a team of volunteers who really invest themselves in this avodas hakodesh“.
“It could be divided into three parts,” Rabbi Gartenhaus delineates for us. “Without any particular order. One of them is simple reassurance. Knowledge is power. There are parents who are terrified at the thought of their son being arrested. They literally live in fear of the knock at the door. That’s geferlach. We’re not living in Soviet Russia, Boruch HaShem. There is no KGB and no Siberian gulag. With a clear understanding of the situation, based on the facts and without media hype, they can go back to normal life.
Second of all, practical advice and assistance. Chutznikim who need to get in or out the country – sometimes urgently. They need to know the legalities, what they can and can’t do. There are so many vital organizations which are happy to help, but someone has to make the connection to them and make it accessible. Sometimes a bachur will try independently to deal with the military authorities without guidance, and it can lead to a lot of avoidable agmas nefesh.
Thirdly, there is spreading awareness. This is something we’ve only been able to begin working on recently, but we really want it to take off in a big way. There are IDF recruiters who look for chutznikim as an easy target. They’re more open-minded, less antagonistic to the authorities. Plus, they speak English, making them ideal candidates for high-tech units. A chutznik bachur – and even more so his parents – might not understand what they’re getting themselves into.”
Why is that? Chutznikim are not more gullible or less savvy. They simply are unaware of how little trust they can place in the system. To hear more about the efforts to protect chutznikim from being victimized, we turned to a volunteer in AGUDIM, who lives in Beit Shemesh.
“As could be expected, a lot of work centers around Beit Shemesh. There are so many English-speaking families here, who left America and Europe to live with more ruchniyus in Eretz Yisroel. They are real bnei aliya, always looking to grow and develop. But they can also be more at risk of being misled.
Last Chanukah, AGUDIM participated in organizing a major English-language assifa in Ramat Alef of Beit Shemesh in the Gra Shul to raise awareness of the situation. Very prominent Roshei Yeshiva spoke, as did rabbonim and the maggid Rav Shlomo Miller. It made a big impact, and we really need to do it again – in Yerushalayim, maybe in Beitar.
THE ASSIFA IN BEIT SHEMESH
“Let me tell you something Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein said at this convention. He’s been involved in the issue of the giyus for decades. He was the one Rav Steinman entrusted with dealing with the military authorities. He spoke about the risk of being temumsdig. People from chutz l’aretz often have an innate trust of the authorities (he called it “the cherry-tree culture” after the George Washington story). It doesn’t occur to them that officials could be lying to them and selling them something that doesn’t exist – Torah life in the IDF. He told us about a meeting with some of the highest-ranking generals in the IDF, where he asked them why the army breaks its promises every single time on religious issues. They told him – you’re a tam! You’re naïve! The reason why the IDF want chareidim in the army is to make them less chareidi. Not because of the manpower shortage. So if there would be a way to stay chareidi in the army, that would be counterproductive…”
AGUDIM volunteers are doing all they can to combat the lack of knowledge. They meet with rabbonim of chutznik communities to provide them with all the information, and have worked on English-language materials which could make a major impact, and available already now. Click here to acces. The work is just beginning. The AGUDIM hotline, 00972-9-313-2216, handles with questions, concerns and requests of every type. They can also be contacted at [email protected].
A genuinely non-political organization, AGUDIM is warmly endorsed by rabbonim from all sectors. “We’re not involved in anything but simply helping people,” concludes Rabbi Gartenhaus. “That’s what it’s all about. Yidden helping Yidden.”
One Response
The young chareidi men that I have met after their army service have displayed a deeper connection to HaShem and Torah than they did prior to drafting.
If the real purpose is like the rosh yeshiva claims, then the chloinim sure are bad at it.