The Sitra Achara Is Working Overtime
The sitra achara has been working overtime. As thirst for Yiddishkeit grows in Israel, the frustrated yetzer hara is making every effort to counter its effects. Here is a story that was reported last Friday in a local newspaper in Haifa: A violent incident occurred on Friday afternoon near a municipal school in Haifa, where a man assaulted a student who was attempting to put on tefillin. The incident ended with the arrest of the suspect, and the students in the school were stunned by the highly unusual event.
The story was reported elsewhere in greater detail: “On Friday, March 28, at approximately 12:00 p.m., a tefillin stand was set up outside Municipal School 5 in the city of Haifa. The stand was operated by Lubavitch youths who offered passing students an opportunity to wear tefillin, which is a standard practice on Fridays in public spaces. A student from the school accepted the offer and began putting on tefillin, but another man arrived on the scene and asked the stand’s operators to leave the area. Tensions rose, an argument developed, and the suspect allegedly took out a knife and attacked the student and his friend. Police were summoned to the scene and questioned the parties who were involved, and the suspect was subsequently located and detained for questioning…. The incident shocked the students and their parents, many of whom were surprised by the violence and expressed concern about similar incidents in the future. ‘I never believed that something like this could happen here,’ one of the students said. ‘Everyone should have the freedom to believe and pray as he sees fit, without having to fear violence.’”
Unfortunately, tefillin isn’t the only mitzvah at which the yetzer hora has taken aim. A new shopping center, BIG Fashion Glilot, located just outside Tel Aviv, announced that it would be open for business on Shabbos. This is a terrible sacrilege; the largest commercial center in the country has decided to be open on Shabbos, in defiance of societal norms and halacha. It was such a terrible precedent that all three moatzos of gedolei Torah issued a kol korei prohibiting anyone from entering the mall’s premises. “At this time,” they wrote, “when tens of thousands of Jews are being inspired to observe Shabbos, the businesses and sites that publicly desecrate the Shabbos are creating a major challenge for those who wish to return to our Father in Heaven by observing the holy Shabbos, and are preventing them from observing Shabbos…. We call upon all those who observe the Torah and mitzvos to refrain from shopping, visiting, or assisting any businesses that desecrate the Shabbos, including franchises. One should not even enter other stores that carry the same name as those that desecrate the Shabbos, Rachmana litzlon, for all Jews are responsible for each other.”
The call did not faze the management of the BIG mall chain in the least. They wrote disdainfully in response, “We have never been troubled by the threats and intimidation from the chareidi sector, which seems to have found someone to pay it for these threats, this time for commercial reasons and to prevent competition…. The State of Israel is a liberal and democratic state, at least for now. We respect all opinions, we do not require tenants to open on Shabbos, we do not force customers to come on Shabbos, and we certainly do not force employees to work on Shabbos. In our view, every citizen in the State of Israel should have the right to choose what he does and does not do. We will never give in to threats that stem from religious matters for any reason.” Their response mocks the gedolei Torah and suggests that chareidim should join the army. They took pride in the fact that despite the “boycott,” the mall attracted 70,000 patrons this past Shabbos. Indeed, the sitra achara is hard at work.
On top of all that, unidentified vandals spilled piles of garbage at the entrance to a large shul on Rechov Dizengoff in Tel Aviv. The shul has been in operation for 117 years and is one of the oldest shuls in the city. The vandalism was widely condemned, but it is also clearly part of the sitra achara’s battle against kedusha of any kind.
Attorney General Demands Arrests of Torah Learners
The yetzer hora’s battle does not end there. Last week, I wrote about the ongoing conflict between Netanyahu’s government and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The government has decided to impeach Baharav-Miara, and the process is moving forward. Next week, the Knesset is scheduled to select the members of the search committee that will be tasked with finding a replacement. The attorney general, for her part, is continuing to fight the government and to resist her dismissal. She claims that it isn’t true that she generally opposes the government; however, someone publicized some very clear data on the subject this week, and the results are astounding.
Here is a selection of the positions that the attorney general has taken, contrary to the government’s stands on the same issues: She opposed the death penalty for terrorists. She opposed granting immunity to soldiers and police officers. She opposed deporting terrorists. She opposed placing freestanding bomb shelters in Yehuda and Shomron. She opposed the use of administrative detentions for the leaders of organized crime in the Arab sector. She opposed the harshening of prison conditions for security prisoners and demanded that fruit be provided for terrorists in prison. She refused to allow the operation of the Sde Teiman detention facility and demanded its immediate closure. She opposed the establishment of an intelligence agency that would be subordinate to the prime minister. She opposed changing the open fire orders for police officers. She opposed involving the Shin Bet in the fight against crime in the Arab sector. She opposed a law that would have made it possible to shut down the Arab network Al Jazeera without approval from a judge. She opposed a law that criminalized the denial of the October 7 massacre. She opposed Itamar Ben-Gvir’s demand for the immediate sealing of the home of a terrorist. She opposed canceling the residency of a mufti who was inciting violence against Jews. She opposed a bill that would have prevented public defenders from representing Nukhba terrorists in court. She opposed the appointment of Gal Hirsch as coordinator for the hostages and missing people. She opposed the dismissal of academics who were guilty of incitement to terror. And despite this long list of measures that she tried to shoot down, she still claims that she generally sides with the government. There is also a long list of Arabs and liberals suspected of various crimes, mainly incitement to violence, whom she refuses to investigate, while she is extremely quick to authorize investigations into right-wing figures.
But as I have mentioned in the past, the chareidi community has another score to settle with the attorney general, who is overtly and virulently hostile to religion. She consistently takes positions against Torah learners and calls for even harsher measures than those espoused by the Supreme Court. The army has already been arresting bnei yeshivos at the airport, and the attorney general has now ordered them to begin arresting bochurim at their homes. It is utter madness!
Another Decree Takes Aim at Yeshiva Budgets
There is yet another new decree against Torah learners: The judges of the Supreme Court are weighing canceling the budget for yeshivos, or at least the most important part of that budget, which deals with funding for kollelim. This was revealed by Chief Justice Yitzchok Amit last Monday, when the court heard a petition from the National Union of Israeli Students against government funding received by yeshivos and kollelim. The petitioners argued that the funding doesn’t actually serve the kollelim, which it claims are merely a pipeline for stipends for the yungeleit. And since the Supreme Court decided that any kollel yungerman who doesn’t join the army is considered a criminal and is not entitled to government funding, they argued that all government funding to kollelim should be cut off immediately. This particular argument, at least, does not apply to bochurim in yeshivos, who do not receive stipends for learning there. But for married men in kollelim, a court ruling agreeing with this petition would have severe economic consequences.
Given the severe consequences of a ruling against the kollelim on this subject, the judges ordered a series of organizations representing yeshivos to be included in the case as respondents. Justice Amit said to the state attorneys, “Keep in mind that our focus is on a subject that you might consider very trivial—the question of supporting institutions versus people. It is not trivial in the eyes of the court.” Amit pointed out that the petition touched on an issue that is somewhat volatile. Justice Yael Wilner added that it would not be necessary to strike down the entire budget law because of a single problematic clause, and that the clause itself could be overturned independently. In light of these comments, it should be very clear where the court’s sympathies lie.
As the court prepared to resume its hearings on this subject, the judges ordered the petitioners to submit revised arguments and to include the representatives of yeshivos as respondents. Wilner explained that it would be problematic to make serious cuts to the budget of a specific entity without due representation.
The student union filed its petition nearly two years ago, in May 2023. Political commentators believed that since the petition attacks a component of the budget that has been in place for decades, it didn’t appear to have a high chance of succeeding. On the other hand, since the judges have already labeled all kollel yungeleit as criminals, there was a distinct possibility that they would accept this petition as well.
The court case has shed light on some relevant statistics: The number of talmidim in yeshivos reported to the Ministry of Education reached a record high of 203,000 in December 2024, including 125,000 married students. The Ministry of Education pays a monthly stipend of 850 NIS to every yungerman, which serves as the base for the stipend provided by their kollelim, which is estimated at an average of about 2000 NIS every month. In the budget for the years 2023 and 2024, annual funding for yeshivos was increased from 1.2 billion shekels to 1.7 billion shekels. However, the Supreme Court issued an interim order prohibiting the government from transferring funds to bochurim and yungeleit who are considered draft evaders, and approximately 310 million shekels from the current budget returned to the Treasury. The petition that the Supreme Court is currently considering calls on the court to block more of the funding for kollelim, since some or all of the funds reach the yungeleit.
Malicious Messaging in the Media
The issue of the draft for chareidim has been surfacing in innumerable newspaper articles, often in a blatant effort to turn the tide of public sentiment against the community. Last Friday, in its weekend edition, the newspaper that is reportedly the most widely circulated in Israel featured a headline on its second page that read, “Heading Toward a Stormy Waiting Period.” Above that, in large block letters, was another headline that spanned the entire width of the page: “The Budget and the Draft Law: Netanyahu’s Headaches as the Knesset Leaves for Its Recess.” All of this was more or less unremarkable, but then came the subheading. It began on a relatively innocuous note: “Without excessive resistance from the opposition, the government managed to overcome the hurdles to the budget and to changing the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee. Nevertheless, the waiting period set to begin as the Knesset goes on recess isn’t expected to be calm.” This part is fairly unremarkable, but the next line is malicious: “While 59 hostages are still languishing in the tunnels, and despite opposition even within the Likud party, Netanyahu has set his sights on his next two inflammatory goals: satisfying the chareidi ultimatum over the draft and advancing media regulations from the days of the judicial reform.”
This is a textbook case of subliminal messaging. The media has created a narrative that it is attempting to stuff into the heads of its readers by force. Think about this for a minute: What is the connection between the hostages’ plight and the draft law or the laws concerning the media? The answer is that there is no connection at all. But the writers and editors made a point of linking the topics to create the subconscious impression that the government is callous and evil. There are Israelis rotting in captivity, but they are going about their business as if nothing was out of the ordinary! And what about the newspaper and its readers, one might ask? Have they suspended their own routines?
But it gets worse. The body of the article quotes a statement publicized by the four leaders of the opposition—Lapid, Gantz, Lieberman, and Golan—in which they vow to make sure that the changes to the Judicial Selection Committee will be reversed in the next government. “The government of Isarel has approved this law with a single purpose: to ensure that the justices will be subject to the will of the politicians,” they added. And then, for good measure, they noted cynically, “This is happening while 59 hostages are still being held in Gaza.” Again, this is an effort to create a link that doesn’t exist, for the purpose of attaching a stigma to the government. But we really shouldn’t expect anything better from the opposition. They are vicious, and they will always remain that way. As far as they are concerned, the most brutal and cynical tactics are fair game for their battle against Netanyahu. And their speeches are characterized by the same vicious invective. But what should be objectionable is that the newspaper in which this article appeared, which is supposed to be impartial and free of any political agenda, is working with the same playbook and trying to subtly shape its readers’ biases.
More Hostage Videos Emerge
Hamas is up to its old tricks again, as it has been releasing new heartrending videos of the hostages in Gaza. The first video, which was publicized on Monday night, shows two hostages, Elkahah Bochbot and Yosef Chaim Ochana, shouting, “Tell them, Ohad! You promised you would fight for us!” These words were addressed to Ohad Ben-Ami, who was recently released and was held captive together with them. The captives in the video emphasize that the message isn’t a form of psychological warfare, and that they are simply begging to be saved. But there is no question that it is pure manipulation. It is hard for anyone to remain calm and indifferent upon viewing their recorded pleas and hearing their strained voices after 542 days in captivity.
“This government has silenced everyone for long enough,” Elkanah Bochbot declares in the video. “Enough! Let the truth get out! Everyone who emerged from this place must open their mouths. Ohad, speak! You were here with us; speak for us! Tell everyone what we are going through. You know how much we are suffering. You went home to your wife and daughters; tell them how hard it is, and how much I am suffering. I want to be with my own wife and my son!”
Yosef Chaim Ochana said, “Until the last deal, on January 19, when the crossings were closed, the situation was difficult. There was no food, and the conditions were harsh. The worst thing of all was that we didn’t know if we would live or die. When the deal began and the crossings were opened, they started taking care of us. We saw light, we began breathing, and we believed that it was all going to be over. But now we have received a blow. The Israeli government decided to launch air strikes on the Gaza Strip. This attack almost led to our end. You should know that this attack brought my friends and me closest to the end. We saw death before our eyes. And now the crossings are closed, and our food is about to be depleted.”
It was probably very painful for Ohad Ben-Ami to view that video. He responded, “I love you and I miss you, along with the other three hostages, whose names I cannot yet reveal. They have no hope, and their living conditions are being worsened at this time. To my five friends who remained behind, I want to say this: I love you and I miss you. I am doing and will do everything in my power to bring you and all the other hostages home quickly.”
Elkanah Bochbot’s family responded to the video, “We appeal to Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and to President Trump: Think about what you would do if your son, the father of your grandson, was waiting to see the light of day and heard the IDF bombings, and was living in constant fear for his life.”
As horrifying as this video was, however, the two families have at least received a sign of life from their loved ones. Let us daven for Hashem to have mercy on them and on all of us.
On motzoei Shabbos, Hamas published another video, this one showing Elkanah Bochbot alone. In the heartrending video, Bochbot can be seen weeping and begging to be freed from captivity. At one point, he gets down on his knees and says, “I am prisoner number 22. I want to tell the prime minister that I asked to make these videos. Hamas didn’t tell me to do it. This isn’t psychological warfare. The real psychological war is the battle I fight with myself. Every morning, I have to get up without my son and without my wife, and it is torture for me. Don’t you understand? I want to get out of here! Please help me!”
It was impossible to see this video without being moved to tears.
Failures of IDF Brass Exposed
The investigations into the failures of October 7 are among the main topics holding the country’s attention today. One after another, the IDF’s internal probes are being published, revealing the mind-boggling scope of the army’s failures. Some of the investigations were released to the victims; the residents of Kibbutz Beeri received information on the events in their kibbutz on October 7, and the residents of Kfar Azza were informed about the army’s bungling of the invasion in their community. The participants in the Nova festival were likewise updated on the failures surrounding the unnecessary event.
One of the investigations also sparked severe tensions between Defense Minister Yisroel Katz and the incoming chief of staff of the IDF, Eyal Zamir. A brigadier general in the IDF was recently summoned for questioning and barred from accessing any of the computers on which he worked. This took place after he conducted an investigation that was especially incriminating for the IDF, indicating that the chief of staff and several high-ranking generals were guilty of severe failures. It was impossible to avoid the impression that he had been targeted for investigation in retaliation for his findings.
In a letter to Defense Minister Katz and Prime Minister Netanyahu that was written before he was questioned, and that reached the media as well, Brigadier General Solomon wrote, “The impetus for this trumped-up questioning is an investigation that I have conducted for the past few months. Unfortunately, I encountered a well-oiled apparatus using the power of authority and rank that did everything in its power to make me disappear, and above all to prevent the findings of my investigation from being revealed within the IDF and outside it.”
Yisroel Katz, the minister of defense, heard the officer’s statement, as did every other citizen of the state. However, as the minister responsible for the army, he took action, publicly calling on the chief of staff to probe the reason that Solomon was facing investigation. Katz added, “I have given orders for Brigadier General Oren Solomon to appear before me as soon as possible and to present the findings of his investigation into the events of October 7, which I haven’t yet seen. The fact that an investigation has specifically targeted Brigadier General Solomon, who conducted an authorized inquiry into the actions of the Southern Command on October 7 that resulted in negative findings about the higher echelons of the IDF, gives rise to many questions. I intend to order the chief of staff to examine the conduct of the military prosecution in this case.”
In an unusual public reaction, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir responded, “I do not accept instructions via the media.” Regarding the substance of the case, he added, “The claims that this officer is being investigated because of his part in a probe into October 7 are false and completely baseless.”
Irked by the affront to his authority, Defense Minister Katz responded, “I will give instructions to the chief of staff in any way that I deem correct.” He added that Zamir’s response was “unnecessary and out of place.”
Zamir and Katz have since met and reached a reconciliation, but the distasteful impression created by the investigation still hangs in the air. It will be interesting to see how this story develops.
The Documents Prove It: The Shin Bet Fell for Hamas’s Deception
Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet, cannot seem to escape from the headlines. After he wrote a letter to the cabinet blaming the political leadership for the delusions that led to the massacre on October 7, Yisrael HaYom exposed a trove of documents that paint a very different picture of the situation. According to the newspaper’s findings, Bar was taken in by the very same misconceptions.
Every year, the director of the Shin Bet issues a directive for the coming year. In a document produced for the year 2022, Bar recommended strengthening the Palestinian Authority, continuing to isolate the areas around the Gaza Strip, and promoting economic strength in the area of Yehuda and Shomron. In his strategic document for 2023, Bar wrote that economic investment in the Gaza Strip would lead to stability and security and would erode Hamas’s power. Bar recommended focusing the national defense strategy on dividing the so-called “axis of resistance” consisting of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran by creating rifts between them, isolating Hamas, and neutralizing events that had the potential to ignite violence. He also recommended strengthening the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, and the mechanisms that would create change in Yehuda and Shomron, along with providing economic support. Bar’s document for 2023 does not recommend eliminating officials in Hamas; it suggests only neutralizing “events.” As far as the Shin Bet director was concerned, Hamas was not perceived as an enemy with military capabilities at that time. Bar added that strengthening the economy of the Gaza Strip would erode Hamas’s power, and he repeated his recommendation for “economic investment” for the purpose of “stabilizing the arenas.”
Unlike the official Shin Bet inquiry that was released for public consumption, an internal investigation points to the Shin Bet’s failure to recognize that Hamas hadn’t been deterred from further violence. “We assessed that Hamas had an interest in maintaining quiet in the Gaza area, and that over time, after Operation Guardian of the Walls, it grew stronger and shifted its focus to Yehuda and Shomron,” the report said. At a discussion attended by the Shin Bet chief two days before the Simchas Torah massacre, Bar said that Israel had two strategic options: a short-term “calming” period that would not be contingent on negotiations for the return of captives and missing persons held by Hamas at the time and would not address the issue of terror in Yehuda and Shomron being directed from Gaza, or a more long-term approach that would require such a deal and would provide extensive relief to Gaza. Bar was in favor of providing aid to Gazans, fully believing that Hamas had been deterred from violence and wanted only peace.
Revealed: Eli Feldstein Was Employed by an American Lobbyist
The Shin Bet is investigating two aides to Prime Minister Netanyahu who are suspected of working for the government of Qatar. That investigation, too, is grabbing headlines. Netanyahu has claimed that the case was manufactured to provide a pretext for rejecting the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar; with his own aides under investigation, it is easy for anyone to argue that the prime minister decided to fire the director of the Shin Bet to protect his staff and himself. Bar and Netanyahu have been arguing over whether the investigation or the dismissal came first; as I noted last week, there seems to be evidence that Netanyahu’s version of the story is correct.
A new detail that recently came to light is the American angle in this case. It has now been reported that the payments to Netanyahu’s two aides who are under investigation, Eli Feldstein and Yonasan Urich, were made by an American lobbyist named Jay Footlik. This week, the media (including Channel 12 and a website named Shomrim) reported on the nature of the relationship between Footlik and his employers in Qatar. Footlik worked for the Clinton administration and later became a lobbyist in Washington. In March 2019, Footlik’s firm, ThirdCircle, signed a contract with the Qatari embassy in the United States. That contract has been renewed every year, including in January 2025. According to the contract, Footlik was hired to help advance Qatar’s interests in the United States and was paid a monthly fee of $40,000 in quarterly payments. To date, Footlik has received over 2.5 million dollars for his services to Qatar.
According to the terms of the contract, Footlik and his employees are prohibited to represent or work for any other country in the Middle East without advance permission from Qatar’s embassy to the United States. Did Footlik report to his clients that he was employing two aides to Prime Minister Netanyahu? In fact, did he even know that the men were Netanyahu’s advisors? When Feldstein was hired, he was a media advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office (even though he wasn’t officially employed by the office). Feldstein received this position shortly after the war began and was supposed to be serve as a liaison to the military correspondents. Ostensibly, Footlik should have reported this to the Qatari embassy and received their permission to employ him.
According to one report in Israel, Footlik related that he had met with Feldstein and explained to him that their goal was to improve Qatar’s public image in Israel, since the Israelis’ opinion of Qatar had soured after the October 7 massacre. Feldstein was recommended to him as a public relations expert. “I told him that I wanted to use him to explain the Qataris’ great contributions to the public,” he said. “Feldstein introduced me to a few journalists, but his period of employment was very short. I woke up one day in October and saw that he was a suspect in a criminal case, and I wrote him an email informing him that I was terminating our business relationship.”
Meanwhile, America features in another major news story in Israel: The Senate has demanded a report from several Israeli organizations on the funding that they received from the Biden administration. It seems that these organizations were funded by the American government with the goal of bringing down the Israeli regime. Indeed, these groups bombarded the Supreme Court with petitions seeking to hamstring the government, but they seem to have gotten themselves into a legal mess. We can only hope that they will receive their just deserts.
Terror at HaTishbi Junction
I haven’t been writing very much about terror in recent weeks, but that shouldn’t be taken as a sign that it isn’t happening. There have been constant attempted terror attacks, and the Shin Bet has its hands full with efforts to thwart those attempts. Unfortunately, our enemies have even been successful from time to time. Last Monday, a terror attack was committed at HaTishbi Junction, near Rechasim and Kfar Chassidim, in which an elderly man was killed and a 20-year-old man was severely wounded. The terrorist drove up to Route 66, where the younger victim was waiting at a bus stop, and rammed his car into him. The terrorist then emerged from his vehicle, stabbed his victim, seized his gun, and opened fire on the passing cars. Border Guard policemen who were traveling down the highway at that time quickly emerged from their car and killed the terrorist. A video of the incident shows the terrorist running with the stolen gun and then being shot. The elderly victim was killed by gunfire. The terrorist was identified as a 26-year-old Israeli Arab from a village in Wadi Ara. An eyewitness related, “I was sitting at the bus stop when a young man with a frightening appearance suddenly showed up. He began stabbing people, he grabbed the young victim’s gun, and he began firing. I shouted to everyone to flee, and the terrorist was neutralized by soldiers in the area.”
The Border Guard policemen who killed the terrorist were interviewed on the news and claimed that they felt they had missed an opportunity to avert the tragedy. “If we had been there just two minutes earlier, there would have been no fatalities,” they said.
Their commander tried to lift their spirits. “You did a serious and professional job,” he reassured them. “I saw how you went after your target, and that is exactly what we expect from our soldiers at an event like this one. You neutralized the terrorist and prevented a much greater catastrophe. Congratulations on your good work; it is worthy of recognition.”
The man who was killed in the attack was Moshe Horn from Kibbutz Hazorea. The kibbutz released a statement lamenting his death: “Moshe was a dedicated family man whose childhood and life were interwoven with this community, where he was born and lived. He was one of the pillars of Kibbutz Hazorea who spent years managing the crop cultivation system in the kibbutz, and turned it into one of the leading producers in the country. Horn was a gardener with golden hands and a master carpenter. His home and the community around him were filled with woodwork and artwork that he produced with energy and determination despite his advanced age. He was an excellent conversationalist with a perpetual smile.” Horn was survived by his wife, four children, and ten grandchildren. May Hashem avenge his blood.
The Truth About the Knesset
This week, the Knesset is beginning its recess. The Knesset usually begins its spring break before Purim, which elicits protests over its audacity in taking a break during such tense times. These complaints are heard very often, since the times in Israel are usually tense. We have been through the coronavirus pandemic and spates of terror attacks, along with other hardships, and the Knesset is frequently lambasted for starting a recess while the country is struggling to cope with its troubles. This year, the winter session continued into the beginning of Nissan, but that didn’t cause anyone to praise the Knesset for working hard. On the contrary, the media featured headlines such as this one: “They Are Working Mainly for Themselves.” Here is one infuriating quote from that article: “In the Knesset committees and the plenum, the focus is on laws whose entire purpose is the strengthen the government’s power: creating jobs and budgets for cronies, weakening the media and the Israeli Bar Association, and even lowering the chances of recovering the hostages. At the same time, important bills that were proposed by the coalition itself are stuck: benefits for reservists and compensation for the bereaved families of soldiers who fell in battle.”
This is inherently contradictory. If the coalition promoted benefits for reservists and bereaved families, then the Knesset is not focused solely on jobs for the lawmakers’ cronies. And the article actually contains a list of topics on the Knesset’s agenda, which includes the budget, the Feldstein law, the powers of the botei din, a law that would limit land concessions in Yehuda and the Shomron, a law barring the employment of a teacher who received a degree from the Palestinian Authority, and a law prohibiting the return of terrorists’ bodies. These laws have nothing to do with favors for the Knesset members’ friends; on the contrary, most of them deal with national security.
Based on my familiarity with the Knesset, I can tell you with certainty that the article is pure slander. The members of the Knesset, as well as the members of the government who introduced bills to the Knesset, put the war at the top of their priorities. They have been working to benefit the evacuees, the residents of the Gaza envelope, and the wounded. Bills have been proposed and motions filed to address all these issues. The Knesset committees have been dealing with every aspect of the war, and the hostages’ plight has dominated the Knesset agenda.
Birkas Ha’Ilanos Outside the Knesset
As the Knesset begins its recess, Pesach is in the air. I find that there is no experience that compares with simply leaving the Knesset behind and sitting in my well-scrubbed home, enjoying the festive holiday atmosphere. But perhaps the time has come for me to tell you a bit about the Knesset. You might think that it is a place of pure politics, but the Knesset actually employs hundreds of wonderful workers, dozens of whom daven with us every day. The Knesset shul has many daily minyanim: There is a minyan for Shacharis at neitz, three or four minyanim for Mincha, and two or three minyanim for Maariv. This past Sunday, on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, we also had several minyanim for birkas ha’ilanos. I participated in one of those minyanim, walking along with the crowd to a spot that was too far away for a man of my age. As it turns out, there is a botanical garden on the grounds of the Knesset. There were some olive trees there, and perhaps a loquat tree as well. Most important of all, though, is the fact that someone discovered that it was an appropriate place to recite the brocha.
Birkas ha’ilanos is a beloved brocha that we recite every Nissan, and some make sure to recite immediately on Rosh Chodesh. I was given a copy of the Sephardic version of the tefillah, which turned out to be much longer than the brocha that I have been reciting every year. The Sephardic text contains many passages to recite before the brocha and additional tefillos that follow it, including a tefillah for the neshamos that are reincarnated in the fruits, with “sparks of kedusha mixed with the plant life.” The Sephardic version also includes components of our tefillos on the shalosh regolim, as well as the birkas hachodesh. It took quite a long time to recite it. Many of the Knesset employees were present with me in the botanical garden, and I was struck by the thought that it might be appropriate to write about them. Perhaps I will do so in the future.
