Bein Hazemanim Filled with Chessed
Tisha b’Av is now behind us. For some reason, the fast was very difficult for me personally this year, perhaps because of the intense heat. I did not visit the Kosel this year, but over 100,000 people did visit the site, and Rav Shmuel Rabinovich made sure to provide Havdolah, pastries, and beverages for all visitors to the Kosel to break their fasts.
There were a couple of high-profile non-fasting visitors to the Kosel during the fast. One was Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States. “We are so grateful for being here in Israel, particularly on this day, recognizing the destruction of the Temple—twice in history,” Johnson said. “This is an emotional time for us to be at the Western Wall. My prayer is that America will always stand with Israel, and for the preservation and peace of Jerusalem.”
Another visitor was the governor of Arkansas, who arrived with her father, Ambassador Mike Huckabee, and said, “It is an honor to be here. I’m grateful to join my parents in prayer for Israel, the United States, and especially the people of Arkansas. This is a sacred and special place, and I’m proud to express solidarity and support here and to remember that Arkansas will always stand with Israel.”
Another event on Tisha b’Av is no pride to us: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir chose to go to the Har Habayis, a step that was both utterly superfluous and forbidden by halacha. It was an unfortunate move indeed.
I have much more to write about. There is an abundance of chessed during these weeks. If I made an attempt to list all the chessed projects taking place during the three weeks between Tisha b’Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul, you would probably find it hard to believe. Rebbetzin Rottenberg’s organization, Zeh Lazeh, is organizing events and getaways for thousands of orphans and widows. Ezer Mizion is running a series of camp programs for sick children. Mesugalim is arranging vacation programs for children with autism. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. The religious community in Israel has produced a veritable world of chessed. Every year, I try to attend the one-day program organized by B’Lev Echad for sick children and their families; this has a special emotional impact on the children, who are elated to discover that their families are treated to an extraordinary day of fun solely on their account. Every program is the product of enormous investment on the organization’s part, both in quantity and in quality. This year, the program was held on the day after Tisha b’Av, featuring a day filled with attractions that ended with a performance from Shulem Lemmer accompanied by Ari Hill and Benny Laufer’s orchestra. It was extraordinary, and I was moved to tears by the sight of children with special needs singing and dancing with great joy.
Let us daven that we all make it through bein hazemanim in peace and arrive at Rosh Chodesh Elul ready for the beginning of the new zman. There were some painful moments this past week, such as the tragic incident at the Biblical Zoo in Yerushalayim when a leopard killed the zoo worker who was preparing its food. There was also a car accident in which a young bochur from Givat Shaul was killed; virtually the entire neighborhood turned out for the levayah. And then there were the videos of the two hostages in Gaza, which left the entire country deeply shaken.
Horrific Images of Evyatar and Ram
This past Shabbos (and it is always done on Shabbos) Hamas released new videos of two of the hostages languishing in Gaza: Evyatar David and Ram Braslavski. The families were uncertain at first if they should allow the videos to be published, which would indirectly help Hamas terrorize the entire country; however, they ultimately decided to release the videos. Indeed, the images were horrific. The two hostages look like mere skeletons, shadows of the human beings they once were. They are emaciated, reduced to nothing more than skin and bones. Evyatar is seen holding a can, which he identifies as a two-day ration of drinking water. “Time is running out!” he exclaims. He can also be seen holding a shovel, and he explains to the camera that his captors instructed him to dig his own grave. In the second video, Ram reveals that he was given only three crumbs of falafel that day. “Stop this Gehinnom!” he begs.
Netanyahu reacted to the videos with visible pain. “Dear citizens of Israel,” he began, and then paused to regain his composure before continuing. “Like you, I was horrified yesterday when I saw the images of our precious sons, Ram and Evyatar. I called the families and embraced them, on my behalf and on your behalf as well. We are seeing the hostages wasting away in their cells, while the Hamas monsters who are murdering them remain fat; they have everything they need for themselves, and they are starving the hostages just as the Nazis starved the Jews. When I see this, I realize what Hamas wants. They don’t want a deal; they want to break us with these images of horrors and with the horrific false propaganda that they spread through the world. But we will not be broken. I am filled with even greater determination to liberate our captured sons, to liquidate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to the State of Israel.”
This brings us back to the ongoing fierce debate as to whether the Israeli tactics are contributing to Hamas’s rigid stance. There are those who argue strenuously that the strident calls for an immediate deal at any price are impeding the hostages’ release, while others blame certain government ministers and parents of hostages who call for the warfare to continue. In short, is it the Kaplan protests against Netanyahu that are emboldening Hamas, or the anti-Hamas protests in Yerushalayim? Whatever the truth may be, we are all davening fervently for Hashem to put an end to the hostages’ suffering by releasing them very soon.
Rising Tension Between the Government and the Judges
A thousand articles could easily be written about the tensions between the Israeli government and the Supreme Court. In fact, I would say that a thousand such articles have already been written. It all began with the self-appointed dictator Professor Aharon Barak, who decided during his tenure as chief justice of the Supreme Court to introduce a doctrine that he called “hakol shafit” (everything is subject to judicial review). Barak went on to nibble away at the power of the executive branch, usurping some of its authority for the court; many books have been written about this subject. Since that time, the tension between the two branches of government has been steadily mounting.
The subsequent chief justices of the Supreme Court, disciples of Aharon Barak, have largely followed in his footsteps. They have also trampled on the authority of the legislative branch, taking it upon themselves to interpret the laws as they saw fit and even to strike down laws. These judges decided that their views are the determining factor, regardless of anyone else’s opinion on the matter. So it was, for instance, that they decided to strike down a law passed by the Knesset eliminating the reasonability clause; the judges argued that the law was illegal and declared it null and void. The purpose of the law was to prevent the judges from using the standard of “reasonability” to strike down a law—that is, to decide based on their own particular views that a given law is “unreasonable” and therefore deserves to be annulled. Of course, the judges have caused great suffering to the chareidi community as a whole and to Torah learners in particular.
The current government, which billed itself as a full-fledged right-wing government, decided at its inception to fight back and to put the judges back in their place, restoring their power to its original limits. This “judicial revolution” was announced by the minister of justice, and the left immediately launched an all-out war to combat the reforms. Even President Biden “advised” Netanyahu to show restraint. Today, President Trump has adopted the exact opposite view; he has made no secret of his feeling that the court’s power must be curbed. And while the Israeli left embraced Biden’s intervention, they have now begun arguing that it isn’t appropriate for a United States president to meddle in Israeli domestic affairs.
The power struggle between the government and the Supreme Court also led to a conflict over the appointment of a successor to former Chief Justice Esther Chayut. The chief justice has always been chosen based on seniority, which would have led Yitzchok Amit to take the position, but Justice Minister Levin was opposed to appointing him. This led to another veritable world war, and the judges ultimately appointed Amit to the position while completely ignoring the minister of justice, despite the fact that he is the chairman of the committee tasked with appointing judges. Today, Levin does not recognize Amit as the chief justice of the Supreme Court. It should be noted that Amit is a member of the more dangerous breed of judges who tend to call themselves liberals and progressives, as opposed to the more moderate conservative judges. The difference between the two categories of judges is so stark and obvious that whenever the chief justice picks several judges for a panel to preside over a case, one can predict the ruling in advance based on the panel’s composition. Amit typically tries to put together panels with a progressive majority, ensuring that his approach will be dominant and that the court will always take the side of the petitioners who oppose the government.
A Shouting Match
The tensions between the Supreme Court justices and the elected branches of the government recently reached a boiling point, when a television station reported on an unprecedented shouting match between Justice David Mintz, who is known as a conservative, and Yitzchok Amit. The situation developed following a ruling issued by Amit together with Justice Dafna Barak-Erez about two months ago, when they ruled that the appointment of a civil service commissioner must take place through a “competitive” process. This decision contradicted previous rulings of the court, including a ruling issued by Amit himself a decade ago. Justice Noam Sohlberg, who is relatively conservative, penned a dissenting opinion and warned against blurring the line between “existing law and desired law.” Sohlberg added, “If we stretch the rope too far, it will ultimately snap.”
The judges had issued their ruling in response to a petition filed against the government following the appointment of a civil service commissioner. When the panel of three judges ruled in favor of the petitioners’ demand to cancel the appointment, the government quickly submitted a request for another court session with an expanded panel. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tried to prevent the next hearing or at least to postpone it as long as possible, but Mintz quickly realized the reason for the delays: Yosef Elron, a conservative judge, was due to retire on September 20. Elron is one of Amit’s most ardent opponents and is due to retire on September 20, and Baharav-Miara hoped to delay the hearing to prevent him from being on the panel. On July 13, 2025, Mintz wrote, “By the authority vested in me, I order an additional hearing to be held before a panel of five justices, who will be selected by the chief justice. In light of the urgency of the matter, the hearing will be held no later than the end of the year 5785.” This date was not selected by chance; Elron is due to retire two days before Rosh Hashanah, and Mintz understood that if the hearing takes place before his retirement, Elron will be part of the panel and there will be a majority against Amit’s militant approach and in favor of the government. Amit, however, couldn’t permit that, but he took a step that was too transparent: He scheduled the discussion for the day before Rosh Hashanah, immediately after Elron’s planned retirement. This ploy infuriated Justice Mintz, who lost his temper with Amit.
At one point, Mintz and Amit were heard trading scathing accusations. “You backed me into a corner while showing no authority or responsibility,” Amit fumed.
Mintz responded, “You always do as you please for the purpose of determining the outcome in advance.”
This round was won by Amit, who took advantage of his authority to finalize the date of the hearing as September 21, after Elron’s retirement. The conservative judge, who was widely seen as likely to change the balance on the panel, will not be included, thus ensuring the success of the plans hatched in the office of the chief justice. When the argument between the two judges came to light, the country was rocked by outrage. Someone had pulled back the curtain to reveal the ugly politics behind the scenes in the Supreme Court.
The Public Is Shocked
Professor Yuval Elbashan is a prominent figure in the legal world who recently crossed the divide from the left to the right. In an article that made waves throughout the country, he wrote, “Anyone who is familiar with the law knows that this [the public conflict within the Supreme Court] is highly unusual. It began when a fierce argument between Deputy Chief Justice Sohlberg and Chief Justice Amit was leaked, revealing that Sohlberg wanted to vary the compositions of judicial panels and to put an end to the seniority method, which gives Amit an automatic majority. It is now continuing with the public reporting of the shouting match between the chief justice and Justice David Mintz after the latter decided to schedule an additional hearing regarding the appointment of a civil service commissioner. Mintz argued that the chief justice was acting inappropriately and engineering the outcome of the hearing in advance. This followed a sharply worded speech delivered by Elron against the proceedings in the Supreme Court, and the visible tensions revealed between Justices Stein and Steinitz and Chief Justice Amit during the hearing over the appointment of a director for the Shin Bet.
“The only time something remotely similar happened was twenty years ago, when copies of the book The Supremes: Inside the Supreme Court by Naomi Levitzky reached the Supreme Court. The book, which sought to explore the behind-the-scenes workings of the court, exposed its internal politics, intrigues, gossip, and power struggles. There was enormous shock. Many of the justices felt betrayed by their colleagues and were worried about the future of the institution, which must preserve its dignity and purity in order to maintain public trust. ‘To be mentioned in a piece of gossip, they sold out the court,’ one of the judges said in a pained tone. ‘What was will no longer be,’ he added. ‘The wall has been breached, and everything has been exposed.’
“But the latest leaks are far more severe. This doesn’t have to do with gossip about the past; it exposes the fact that some of the judges are bucking the chief justice’s authority today. Justice Mintz found that it was possible to hold the hearing about the civil service commissioner on September 17, when the five most senior judges on the court were all available, but he was told that the chief justice was not available because he was planning to attend a public singalong and guest lectures at a seminar for family court judges. It isn’t surprising that the shouting match with the chief justice ended with Mintz proclaiming in despair, ‘What you are doing is very wrong, but you are the chief justice and it’s within your authority. If you are going to insist on this, then I give up. You will bear the responsibility.’ The personal conversations with Mintz and Sohlberg that were leaked to the media are a sign of the worry and despair that hold them in their grip. A red flag has been raised over the Supreme Court, against the chief justice. Amit would be well-advised to listen to them carefully, and instead of seeking the advice of an external strategist [as the media recently reported], making a personal reckoning with himself over his behavior. In the end, it is his responsibility alone.”
Yuval Elbashan’s article was published on his behalf by former minister Yuval Steinitz. That fact might not have been all that interesting, except for the fact that Steinitz’s wife is a justice on the Supreme Court. Which seems to indicate that the outrage against Amit has begun to be shared by at least half the judges on the Supreme Court, a state of affairs that is totally unprecedented.
Knesset Breaks for Summer Recess Amid Harassment of Torah Learners
The Knesset has begun its long summer recess. Every year, the recess begins during the week of Tisha b’Av and continues until after Sukkos. As I have mentioned in the past, the Knesset is the only workplace in the world where people take leave of each other before Tisha b’Av by wishing each other a shanah tovah.
The parliamentary year of 5785, both the winter assembly and the summer assembly, was dominated by three themes: the war in Gaza, the plight of the hostages, and the persecution of Torah learners. As believing Jews, we know very well that these three things are closely intertwined. The Torah protects us, and the world exists only by virtue of the Torah learning of Jewish children. As we all know, the Gemara states (Makkos 10a) that Klal Yisroel is victorious in war only in the merit of the nation’s Torah learners.
Ten years ago, Rav Dovid Yosef said, “Let’s make a cheshbon hanefesh. It seems that we always need to apologize and explain ourselves when the chilonim demand answers as to why bnei Torah do not go to the army. But let’s think about this for our own benefit. When we say that they are ‘killing themselves in the tents of Torah’ and that is the reason that the soldiers are victorious in battle, we must remember that it isn’t just an excuse. This is the truth; we all believe in it with complete faith. If not for the Torah learners, the army could be ten times larger and it would still accomplish nothing. Physical strength and a strong army alone are not enough; we need siyata d’shmaya, and nothing else will help us. We need Hashem to fight for us. If we have no talmidei yeshivos, how can we win? They are the source of our merit. If we want Hashem to protect us, then we need Torah learning. There is no need to keep apologizing; we must be proud. We have the Torah, and the soldiers are victorious because of it. We must thank them.”
How sad that some people don’t understand this most basic equation!
The subject of the country’s bnei yeshivos is still front and center on the public agenda. Last week, two large gatherings of roshei yeshivos and admorim were held to deal with the issue, one on Wednesday near Yerushalayim and the other on Thursday in Bnei Brak. The event in Bnei Brak was attended by chassidishe rebbes and by members of the Shas party’s Moetzet Chachamim, and Rav Dov Landau spoke vehemently. “If the authorities harm the bnei yeshivos, chas v’sholom, we will shake the entire world with all our strength and all our hearts,” he declared. “The authorities will find themselves facing global chareidi Jewry united in a battle for our most precious assets.”
An event held in Maale Hachamishah, near Yerushalayim, on the previous day for the chassidishe community likewise attracted Litvish and Sephardic roshei yeshivos and resulted in a message of fierce determination. “It is forbidden to enter any military framework of any kind,” the rabbonim declared. “Every bochur and yungerman must do everything in his power to stand firm in his faith and to resist any temptation to join the army.” The rabbonim declared their firm opposition to any draft law that would include quotas and sanctions. This decision likely buried any possibility of passing a new draft law, since the Supreme Court will never accept a law that does not include sanctions and target numbers. Meanwhile, the attorney general announced that since Boaz Bismuth replaced Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Supreme Court will be able to overturn any law by virtue of that change alone. Edelstein published the text of the law that he had planned to bring to the Knesset, which was an extremely draconian bill, completely unacceptable to the chareidim.
Secular Israeli Press Has No Red Lines
It is saddening to witness the persecution of Torah learners, especially when the hypocrisy is so blatant. All the demonstrations, petitions to the Supreme Court, speeches, and editorials calling for the draft of yeshiva bochurim are cynical ploys with a single goal: toppling Netanyahu’s government. If someone were to tell them that all the yeshiva bochurim in the country will join the army, provided that Netanyahu remains prime minister for another decade, they would reject the idea immediately. And if they were told the opposite—that Netanyahu will step down immediately, but not a single yeshiva bochur will enlist—they would accept it without hesitation. Sadly, the country’s yeshiva bochurim have become pawns in a political game, and the financial siege on yeshivos and arrests of yeshiva bochurim have become tools to bring down the prime minister.
Many people still hold out the hope that an acceptable draft law will be brought to the Knesset and passed as quickly as possible, but there are two things that must be kept in mind. First, if the law is rigid and draconian, the rabbonim have already made it clear that they will reject it. On the other hand, if the law allows for flexibility and leniency, the Supreme Court (l’havdil) will strike it down. This makes for an extremely complex and challenging situation.
Meanwhile, the Israeli secular press seems to have no red lines when it comes to demeaning and inciting against chareidim. For instance, a certain economic newspaper recently ran a story under this headline: “On the way to legalizing draft evasion, chareidim take over the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.” What really happened is that Yuli Edelstein was replaced as chairman of the committee by Boaz Bismuth. Is there some reason to believe that Edelstein is an appropriate choice to head the committee but Bismuth should be disqualified? The writer makes a point of noting that Bismuth “has zero experience with defense,” but that begs the question of how he differs from Edelstein. What sort of experience in national security did the previous chairman possess? Besides, what good would the experience do? Israel has witnessed great generals nearly leading the country to the mouth of an abyss. Moreover, let’s keep in mind that the committee deals with two spheres of activity—defense and foreign affairs. And in the latter category, Boaz Bismuth, a former ambassador, can certainly boast of greater experience than Edelstein. But no one is interested in talking about that.
Then there was this cryptic statement: “Bismuth was selected with support from the chareidim, who may have left the government but made sure that MK Meir Porush would be included on the committee.” Once again, the writer is insinuating that some sort of misconduct was afoot, when there is no reason at all to believe that. Leaving the government has nothing to do with being a member of a parliamentary committee, so Meir Porush’s place on the committee should not draw any criticism. Besides, UTJ has always had one representative on the committee; now that the party’s government ministers stepped down from their positions and returned to the Knesset, the committee posts were simply redistributed. Porush has therefore taken over Yisroel Eichler’s position on the committee, while Tessler joined the Health Committee, Goldknopf was included on the House Committee, and Maklev was placed on the Finance Committee, leaving the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for Porush. But the writer was not troubled by the facts. When the goal is to blacken the chareidim’s reputation, it seems that anything goes!
A Win for an Israeli Company
An Israeli hi-tech firm from Petach Tikvah named CyberArk is about to be sold to the American cybersecurity giant Palo Alto for a sum of over 25 billion dollars, in spite of an international boycott and the Israeli tendency for negativity and grim predictions. This is the largest deal in the history of Israeli hi-tech with the exception of one other case: the sale of Waze to Google for the massive sum of 32 billion dollars. Israel is pleased, since the acquisition will bring in a huge sum of tax money, but some Israelis have expressed chagrin over the fact that the acquisitions of Waze and CyberArk have placed top-notch Israeli firms in American hands. The importance of this deal isn’t limited to the staggering price or the specific technology that was acquired; this has hit the cybersecurity world like an earthquake. The deal brings together two world-class giants in cybersecurity, whose connection will be greater than the sum of its parts. Thanks to this deal, Palo Alto will be crowned as the unchallenged leader of the field of cybersecurity in coming years. This is a massive market that grows rapidly due to the unending cyberattacks on the America economy and the Western world in particular, which cause many companies to spend huge sums of money on securing their data and computer systems.
A statement released by the two companies explained that the acquisition will make it possible for Palo Alto to enter a field known as identity security, which is CyberArk’s primary area of expertise. This form of cybersecurity involves managing user permissions, fending off cyberattacks, and granting permissions to applications and artificial intelligence tools. This technology has become critical as cyber attackers have ramped up the use of AI and have succeeded in using it to achieve their own ends. Over the years, Palo Alto has refrained from expanding operations into this field, based on the assumption that it would be difficult for it to attract customers of other companies. With the purchase of CyberArk, it is acquiring both the technology and the company’s customer base.
Palo Alto Networks was established in 2005 in Santa Clara in the Silicon Valley by an Israeli named Nir Tzuk and a group of American developers. Tzuk was determined to demonstrate to the world that it is possible to develop better technology. Palo Alto’s current market value is close to 130 billion dollars, which makes it the largest cybersecurity company in the world (after Microsoft, which has a cybersecurity division). In Israel, Tzuk is viewed as the face of Palo Alto, but under the management of its CEO, Nikesh Arora, the company has invested almost five billion dollars in about twenty acquisitions since 2018. Those companies include quite a few Israeli firms, including Twistlock, Dig Security, Talon, Cyvera, Demisto, Cider Security, and others. Palo Alto has developed into the largest cybersecurity firm in the world, and with the acquisition of CyberArk, which was seventh in the global hierarchy, it has solidified its position.
Only the Torah Will Save Us
We will conclude this week’s column with a Torah thought. Rav Aryeh Finkel—whose yahrtzeit was marked last week, on the sixth of Menachem Av—had an exceptional ability to make midrashim come alive simply by quoting them verbatim. I had many opportunities to hear his drashos—at the Beer Avrohom shul in Givat Shaul every year on the night of Hoshana Rabbah, at Yeshivas Mir in Brachfeld, at the Bais Vaad events at the home of the late bochur Reb Tzvi Fligelman, and on many other occasions—and I always marveled at this capacity.
In one of his drashos, Rav Aryeh quoted the following midrash: “There is a moshol concerning a king who married a noblewoman and wrote a kesubah promising her a huge amount of money. ‘This is how many chuppos I will make you,’ the king said. The king left her and traveled overseas, and he was late in returning. Her neighbors came to visit her and began taunting her and saying, ‘The king has left you; he will not return to you,’ and she would weep and sigh. When she entered her home, she took out her kesubah and read it, and she observed that it said, ‘This is how many chuppos I will make you,’ and then she was reassured. One day, the king came home and said, ‘How did you wait for me all these years?’ She replied, ‘My master the king, if not for the significant kesubah that you wrote for me, my neighbors would have caused me to be lost.’ Similarly, the nations of the world taunt Israel and say, ‘Your G-d has hidden His face from you and removed His Shechinah from you; He will never return to you,’ and then they weep and moan. When they enter their shuls and botei medrash and read the Torah … they are comforted. When the final redemption arrives, Hashem will say to Israel, ‘My sons, I am puzzled by you! How did you wait for me throughout these years?’ And they will reply, ‘Master of the Universe, without Your Torah that you gave to us, the nations would have destroyed us.’ Therefore, the posuk states, ‘Zos ashiv el libi—I will be return this to my heart.’ ‘Zos’ can mean only the Torah.”
When Rav Aryeh quoted the midrash’s statement that the Jewish people would weep and moan, he began to shed tears as well, and the midrash seemed to become a vibrant reality within that bais medrash as we all wept along with him. He didn’t add a single word of commentary; the midrash itself simply seemed to come alive. And when he quoted the Jewish people’s response to Hashem about the pivotal role of the Torah in sustaining them, he radiated joy, as a sense of comfort settled over all of us.
Rav Aryeh drew a simple conclusion from this midrash: “The Torah is what will lead to our salvation from golus. The people who learn Torah are our greatest source of hope. Without them, we would be destroyed, but the zechus of the Torah will lead to our redemption!”
One last point: Rav Yissochor Fligelman, the father of Tzvi Fligelman (who passed away on the seventh of Av last year), sent me a copy of the kuntres Ligdol Mehagidul, which was published during his son’s final illness and contains extraordinary chiddushim. In memory of this pure soul, let me share something that was written two weeks before his passing: “We recited Avinu Malkeinu today, and I was troubled by the fact that the tefillah for Hashem to forgive our sins precedes the request for Hashem to impel us to do teshuvah, whereas the order of brachos in the Shemoneh Esrei is exactly the opposite: We recite Hashiveinu before Slach Lanu. When the mashgiach of Kol Torah, Rav Yitzchok Yeruchom Borodiansky, came to inquire about my well-being, I presented this question to him, and he explained that there is a fundamental difference between Shemoneh Esrei and the tefillah of Avinu Malkeinu. In Avinu Malkeinu, we are beseeching our Father in Heaven to grant our requests without making a calculation as to whether we are deserving, just as a father does for his son; therefore, it is possible for the request for forgiveness to precede the brocha about teshuvah. In the Shemoneh Esrei, however, where our requests are laid out systematically, they are organized in logical order, and we must therefore engage in teshuvah before we can pray for forgiveness.”
