900th Soldier Killed in Gaza
When the words “hutar l’pirsum” (Hebrew for “it has been cleared for publication”) are heard in the Israeli media, everyone takes a deep breath. We all know the meaning of this phrase: The media is about to report the death of a soldier in Gaza. It happened again this motzoei Shabbos, when the IDF spokesman announced that Ariel Lubliner, a soldier in the reserves, was killed on Shabbos in Khan Yunis. This announcement was especially painful, for several reasons. First, the victim this time was a married man in his thirties and the father of a nine-month-old child. Second, he was killed by friendly fire; another Israeli soldier mistakenly fired the bullet that took his life. Third, he was the 900th soldier to be killed since Simchas Torah 5784 (including the soldiers who were killed on Simchas Torah itself). The total death toll in this war, including civilians and other security personnel killed in all the theaters of warfare, has now reached 1,974.
Last week saw the 899th IDF fatality—20-year-old Uri Gerlitz of the Shimshon Battalion, part of the Kfir Brigade. Gerlitz was killed by the detonation of an IDF explosive in the vicinity of Khan Yunis. An initial IDF inquiry determined that the explosion occurred while the Israeli forces were preparing to demolish a building and one of the explosives detonated prematurely, apparently because it was mishandled.
Ariel Lubliner, the soldier who was killed on Shabbos, immigrated to Israel about ten years ago, leaving most of his family behind in Brazil. He lived in Kibbutz Naan in central Israel, where he learned Hebrew and met his wife, Barbara, an immigrant from Spain. They married seven years ago and moved to the Neot Afek neighborhood of Kiryat Bialik about four years ago, after winning a subsidized housing lottery. Lubliner was called up for reserve service after the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023, and has done several rounds of reserve duty since that time. He was due to complete his current stint, which began in June, in just a few days. His son, Lior, was scheduled to begin attending a day care program this Monday.
Meanwhile, the IDF spokesman announced that seven IDF soldiers were wounded when their vehicle drove over an explosive device in the neighborhood of Zeitoun in Gaza City. The soldiers were transported to the hospital for medical treatment and their families were notified; five of the soldiers were discharged later that night. This was a very sad incident, and equally unfortunate is the fact that such tragedies tend to increase the hatred directed at the chareidi community as well.
Cabinet Meeting Moved to Secret Location
The strike on Yemen eliminated the Houthi prime minister, Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi, along with other top officials in the Houthi military and political leadership. The strike appeared to be a major accomplishment for Israel, which was made possible by invaluable intelligence that enabled the IDF to bomb a building precisely when the top brass of the Houthi army was gathering for a secret meeting. Of course, the Houthis threatened to retaliate and launched a missile, which landed in Saudi Arabia. A previous missile had been intercepted and prompted the Israeli operation in the first place.
On Sunday, minutes before the cabinet began its weekly meeting, the ministers received an unusual message informing them that the cabinet session was being transferred to a secure location where previous meetings had been held during periods of warfare. The decision was made due to new security assessments, and the ministers were given no advance warning about the change. The ministers were also told that they were prohibited to bring advisors along with them due to space limitations and the need to preserve maximum secrecy. The secure compound, which is located in Yerushalayim, has previously been used in response to direct threats to senior government officials, especially after missile strikes or other targeted attacks. This time, the decision was made after the Houthis publicly threatened to retaliate for the deaths of their leaders, and intelligence assessments indicated the possibility of a reprisal with missiles or drones. The transfer of the cabinet session to a secret location was one of a number of recent steps taken to increase the security of government officials. Sources in the security establishment indicate that this was a natural response to a substantive threat and that they are working to ensure that the government continues functioning without interruption while maintaining the security of the elected officials.
On a related note, a Palestinian was arrested in Tel Aviv while planning to commit a terror attack, in yet another of the many miracles that are a regular part of our lives. For this, we must give thanks to Hashem.
Hatred for Jews and Israelis Gains Steam
The hatred of the nations of the world for the eternal people has been mounting. As I write these lines, I am holding a newspaper published this Sunday. The front-page stories deal with Hamas, the hostages, and Iran, and on the second page, I found four stories about anti-Semitism. One was a report about a chossid in Canada who found his tefillin discarded in a construction site. Another headline reported that an olive tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered several years ago, was cut down in France by vandals. A third story reported that a Shiite summer camp in Great Britain with ties to Iran had been canceled. And the fourth headline reported that a Massachusetts resident who had threatened to blow up a shul was sentenced to over two years in prison. Of course, everyone is aware of what is taking place in Australia, Denmark, and Germany. It is widely believed that the spike in anti-Semitism is largely due to the major influx of Muslim supporters of Hamas in the countries of Europe; however, the hatred for the Jewish people is probably always simmering beneath the surface, and the allegations that children are starving in Gaza are a pretext for further hatred.
An Israeli citizen who had booked a room in a hotel in Italy received a message asking if she or her companions supported Netanyahu’s policies and if any of them had served in Gaza. In another case, three Israelis were kicked out of a restaurant in Vienna, Austria, after they were heard speaking Hebrew. Another Israeli was denied entry to a parking lot in Austria when he was identified as Israeli, and an Israeli tourist was attacked in Greece. Meanwhile, Jews were assaulted in Switzerland, and the passengers on an Israeli ship were not permitted to disembark in Greece. Four Israelis who were heard speaking Hebrew were lynched in Sri Lanka, and a doctor in Belgium wrote in the medical records of a patient, in the column designated for allergies, that she was Jewish.
The incidents of anti-Semitism are not limited to those involving isolated individuals; the scourge of hatred has affected governments as well. The prime minister of Denmark is trying to drum up support in the European Union for economic sanctions against Israel. Denmark currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and the prime minister intends to use that advantage to promote steps against Israel. Meanwhile, Turkey announced last weekend that it was severing ties with Israel, which is a problematic move for the Israeli economy. The Turkish government also announced a ban on flying through the country’s airspace, which, if it is true, will cause many flights to be extended by two hours. For now, Turkey claims that the ban pertains only to arms shipments. Why is Turkey doing this? First of all, like the rest of the world, they despise Israel. Second, they are taking revenge for Netanyahu’s recognition of the Armenian genocide (which Israel previously refrained from recognizing, at Turkey’s request). Finally, they are trying to solidify their position in the Arab world as leaders of the battle against Israel.
In any event, it is hard to escape the eerie equation: The eirev rav, as Rav Binyomin Finkel of the Mir yeshiva put it this week, has always despised everyone who learns Torah. The fighting in Gaza is merely a pretext for the hatred that Chazal teach us entered the world at the time of Maamad Har Sinai and even earlier. As we know, Eisov has always despised Yaakov, and this hatred is being leveraged against the Jewish people midah k’neged midah (measure for measure). The persecution of the Torah community in Israel is mirrored by the treatment of Jewish people throughout the world.
Two Hostages’ Bodies Recovered
The hostages in Gaza, of course, are still on everyone’s minds. The number of hostages seems to be constantly changing, which seems to suggest the concern that yet another hostage may have died of sickness or starvation, or perhaps may have been killed by his captors. The families and the Israeli public are finding the tension intolerable. Everyone is davening for the hostages to be released already, although everyone also realizes that Hamas has no interest in freeing them. In fact, the terror group may well be reluctant to let go of the hostages, whom they may consider their last means of ensuring that the surviving Hamas leaders are not killed.
At the beginning of this week, the IDF announced that the bodies of two hostages, Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, had been recovered from the Gaza Strip in a complex operation involving soldiers from the Southern Command and the Military Intelligence Directorate. The operation was made possible by the collection of precise intelligence indicating the bodies’ locations. Idan Shtivi, who was 28 years old, was kidnapped and brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists after he helped others escape from the Nova massacre on October 7. Ilan Weiss, who was 55 years old and a member of Kibbutz Beeri, was brutally murdered on October 7, and his body was abducted from his home. His wife, Shiri, and his daughter Noga were abducted as well and were released in a prisoner exchange deal in November 2023. The IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel police force announced that they shared the families’ sorrow and would continue to make every possible effort to recover the remaining hostages.
At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “In recent days, the bodies of two of our heroes who were abducted to Gaza, Idan Shtivi and Ilan Weiss, were brought back to Israel. This is part of our commitment to bring home all the hostages, living and deceased alike. At the same time, we eliminated the Hamas spokesman, Abu Obaida, a symbol of the murderous terror movement. In a different theater, the IDF delivered a deadly blow to the terrorist Houthi government in Sanaa as well. Most of the regime’s senior figures were eliminated, and this is only the beginning. Anyone who attacks Israel will pay a heavy price. Together, with Hashem’s help, we will continue to triumph.”
More Hurdles for Uman Visitors
The obstacles facing people who wish to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah this year are likewise associated with the world’s implacable hatred for the Jewish people. One can presume that Moldova wouldn’t have made its demands if the tourists were Japanese or Turkish. Indeed, why should they make it difficult for tourists to visit their country? Any tourist who enters Moldova or even passes through the country is a source of revenue for the state coffers. If tens of thousands of tourists are slated to travel through Moldova to Ukraine, one would expect the government to welcome their presence. But their attitude is precisely the opposite: The Moldovans have asked Israel to finance the construction of a designated airport for Israeli—read: Breslov—travelers and to fund the security arrangements for that airport. And after the outcry and uproar over these demands, the Ukrainian government announced that they may not allow Israelis to visit Uman this year at all, on account of security considerations. Some believe that this is a vengeful step taken by President Zelensky, who is displeased by Israel’s stance on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky is reportedly also incensed because Netanyahu failed to convey his best wishes to Ukraine last week in honor of its Independence Day. The announcement was probably intended to influence Israel’s diplomatic policies and to extract some monetary benefits as well, as was the case during the year of the Covid pandemic.
But let’s backtrack to the beginning of this story. It all began when Rav Shalom Aroush, one of the most prominent and influential rabbonim in the Breslov community, met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in a meeting brokered by Aryeh Deri. The Shas party, and Deri in particular, considers itself obligated to assist the Breslovers and anyone else who wishes to spend Rosh Hashanah in Uman. For that reason, Michoel Malchieli recently visited Uman and held a series of meetings with officials there, including the mayor of Uman, who recently visited the Knesset as well.
Rabbi Aroush made two requests: for the government to permit young men subject to the draft to travel to Uman and return without being arrested for draft evasion, and to come up with funding to comply with the demand from Moldova. The request to permit travel for draft candidates triggered a massive uproar, even though the government similarly permits Arabs to travel to Mecca even when there are orders to prevent their departure from the country. The backlash was so fierce that Netanyahu reneged on his intentions to create an arrangement for travelers to Uman. Moreover, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara quickly published a legal opinion claiming that there is no legal basis at all to refrain from arresting draft deserters at the airport even if they are traveling to Uman. “An arrangement whose purpose is to refrain from using the authority of law enforcement against draft candidates who do not enlist and who violate their obligations under the Security Service Law, at the airport or at other border crossings, is unlawful,” she wrote.
This was essentially a tempest in a teapot, as the idea never fully came to fruition. Nevertheless, it gave us a very good idea of the scope of the hatred harbored by the eirev rav among us, and how a subject that seems so minor and insignificant can generate countless headlines in the media and trigger powerful reactions from politicians who specialize in hatemongering. The governments of Moldova and Ukraine, along with the Israeli pundits and politicians, do not realize that the more obstacles are encountered by the average Breslov chosid, the greater is his desire to be at the kever of Rebbe Nachman in Uman. And they certainly cannot understand that the experience of Rosh Hashanah in Uman fills these people with a sense of vigor and vitality that remains with them throughout the year—even though thousands of them are not even religious.
Ten Million Shekels for Uman Travelers
This brings us to the issue of the Moldovan government’s financial demands. Last week, the Israeli government approved an allocation of up to 10 million shekels to accommodate their demands. The funds will likely come from several different ministries. Three million shekels will be designated for security, policing, and associated expenses; this is considered a paltry sum for two countries that maintain diplomatic relations with each other. The Moldovans claim that allowing Israelis to pass through their country won’t generate enough funds even to cover the security expenses associated with their presence, given the low fees that they pay. This may be true, but the Israeli government’s decision to foot the bill triggered a fierce backlash, with many protesting the notion that the Israeli government would finance flights to Uman.
In the case of the travelers to Uman, their claims are factually incorrect. The government is not funding flights for the chassidim; instead, the intent is to provide funding for security for Israeli citizens abroad, which is very different. Keep in mind that the government paid for Israelis who were stranded abroad during the war to return to Israel, just as any other country would ensure the well-being of its citizens elsewhere in the world; this is no different. Moreover, some of the money will remain in Israeli hands, while the remaining balance of up to 7 million shekels will be used to finance the construction of a separate hangar for flights to Uman, to avoid overburdening the small airport in Kishinev. The money will be used either to purchase equipment, which will remain the property of the Israeli government, or to rent the equipment at a lower price. In any event, the State of Israel will not fund and has not funded actual flights for Breslov chassidim.
An askan in the Breslov community pointed out in response to the uproar, “This is part of the relationship between Moldova and Israel, and it is a relatively small sum of money that is a worthwhile investment to improve relations between the two countries.” He added that the negotiations have been taking place for almost an entire year. Rav Pinchos Zaltzman, the chief rabbi of Moldova, liaised with government officials and was instrumental in bridging the gaps between the two countries, and then the Foreign Ministry entered the picture and reached an agreement with Moldova. At this point, a negotiating team consisting of officials from several ministries is working on a final agreement with Moldova.
But as I mentioned, the Ukrainian government joined the party in the interim and announced that permitting the annual influx of visitors to Uman would create security problems. Since public gatherings are prohibited in Ukraine, it would be problematic, they argued, to allow 100,000 people to congregate in Uman. This may sound like a reasonable contention, but in the end, the Ukrainian government will likely give in to an offer of financial incentives. In any event, the Breslov community has issued several announcements. Breslov rabbonim have warned anyone who has been barred from traveling to refrain from staging protests at the airport in Israel. “Violence and protests are not our way,” they asserted. Breslov askanim also advised travelers not to be disturbed by the news reports, assuring the public that everything would be worked out, even if it happens only at the last moment.
On Sunday, MK Eliyohu Revivo of the Likud, who was recruited for the cause by the Breslov community, announced that despite reports to the contrary, “As of now, there is no official rule prohibiting travelers from coming to Uman due to security considerations. Local officials in Uman are in constant contact with the representatives of Breslov who operate the tziyun.” Revivo added that he was in constant contact with the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy in Ukraine. “If an official decision is released, we will act accordingly and seek every possible way to make it possible for the tens of thousands of worshipers to come to Rebbe Nachman’s kever on Rosh Hashanah,” he asserted.
The Zechus of Torah
Elul is here, the zman has begun, and the botei medrash are pulsating with activity. Chadorim, yeshivos, and kollelim are filling the world with the “voice of Yaakov” that is the oldest and most basic weapon in our arsenal against our enemies. Two weeks ago, I discovered that even the bein hazemanim vacation saw thousands of people learning Torah, perhaps even more so since the government began its war on Torah learning. Last Thursday, on the last full day of bein hazemanim, I attended a series of siyumim at a guesthouse in Bayit Vegan, where I found hundreds of young bochurim who had completed masechtos. One after another, the names of the celebrants were called by the host, Rav Sebag; there were dozens of participants for each masechta. I counted sixty bochurim who completed Maseches Gittin and hundreds of names altogether. The event was attended by many local rabbonim and featured a lavish meal and music from an outstanding band. Most important, of course, was the atmosphere of dedication to Torah.
When I asked who had organized this massive project, someone pointed me in the direction of Reb Emmanuel Meir Simon, a modest yungerman who told me humbly, “All I do is raise the money.”
“But that’s the most important part!” I replied. “Rav Ovadiah Yosef was once asked why the opposition to Moshe Rabbeinu was attributed to Korach, when the pesukim imply that Doson and Aviram were the chief combatants. He replied that Korach was the wealthiest member of the group and the one who financed the dispute, and it is therefore attributed to him. If you are the one who provides the financing for this Torah learning, then you deserve the credit for it!”
He laughed and replied, “Are you willing to donate?”
Indeed, I purchased a bottle of the “siyum wine” that was sold as a means of raising funds for the venture. I have since been informed that this project—in which bochurim are encouraged to complete masechtos and then celebrate their accomplishments at a major event—takes place in many other neighborhoods as well, which led me to the conclusion that thousands of siyumim have been made this summer.
Let us daven that the zechus of this Torah learning, as well as the thousands of tefillos poured out at the Kosel Hamaaravi every night during this month of Elul, will lead all of us to be inscribed in the book of tzaddikim, and even the enemies of the Torah world will be guided to teshuvah.
Measles Outbreak in Israel
Last week, I briefly referenced the outbreak of measles in Israel, which has unfortunately taken the lives of two babies in Yerushalayim. At this point, rabbonim are calling on the public to receive vaccinations against the disease. The situation seems to be worsening, and the three most prominent medical advisors in Israel—Rabbi Elimelech Firer, Rabbi Binyomin Fisher, and Rabbi Shimon Rogoway—have called on the public to take precautions and to vaccinate their children. The chareidi community in particular is not very quick to receive vaccinations, and the Health Ministry has taken out advertisements in the chareidi press urging readers to have their children receive the inoculations. The advertisements point out that the two children who died were completely healthy and hadn’t been vaccinated. The shots are being offered in all of Israel’s health funds. Perhaps most amazingly, the Ministry of Health includes a letter from the rabbonim of the Eidah Chareidis in its advertisements; collaboration between a government ministry and the badatz of the Eidah Chareidis is almost unheard of. But when it is a matter of life or death, these distinctions tend to be irrelevant.
This week, the Ministry of Health reported that a patient suffering from measles had traveled on a public bus from Emmanuel to Yerushalayim at 11:30 on a specific morning, and had taken the number 65 bus in Yerushalayim from Rechov Yirmiyohu to the Chords Bridge and then the number 39 bus to Shaare Zedek Medical Center at 2:00 p.m. The ministry apparently managed to determine the patient’s route based on the location of his cell phone. In light of the highly contagious nature of the disease, the ministry called on anyone who may have come in contact with the patient to make sure that they are properly vaccinated. A dedicated hotline has been established to provide information about the vaccinations. As of last weekend, since the outbreak of measles began in Israel three months ago, 770 people have been diagnosed with the virus, including 220 active patients. Most of the patients hospitalized with the virus are unvaccinated children. As of this writing, there are 24 patients hospitalized with measles, most of them children below the age of six, as well as one adult. Two of the patients are in intensive care, and one of those patients has been connected to an ECMO machine. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry claims that the wave of measles infections has been halted, despite a new outbreak in the city of Nof Hagalil.
On Friday, the ministry released another notice, this time about a patient diagnosed with measles who had taken a flight from Budapest to Tel Aviv on Monday. The ministry called on the other passengers on that flight to be tested for the virus. According to the epidemiological investigation, the patient took an Arkia flight from Budapest to Tel Aviv on Monday night, which landed in Israel early on Tuesday morning. Once again, the ministry relied on the patient’s cell phone for this information rather than merely taking his verbal account.
A Warning to Chareidi Youths
Speaking of public notices, another official announcement of note was published by the Chareidi Authority, a division of the Prime Minister’s Office providing “government services adapted for the chareidi public.” This office was under the aegis of Uri Maklev until he resigned from his post as Deputy Minister and continues to function in his absence. The notice, which is overlaid on an image of a set Shabbos table on one side and prison food on the other, bears the slogan, “An end to imprisonment with advance thought.” The notice targets young chareidim who are being targeted by Iranians seeking to recruit innocent agents in Israel. “When you perform tasks for payment for strangers online, you are abetting the Iranian enemy, you are endangering lives, and you are likely to pay a high price for it,” the notice warns its readers. “Stay alert and do not fall into their trap.” This seems to indicate the broader spread of the phenomenon of Iranian recruitment, which has also been reported in the news, as well as the fact that the Iranians are deliberately targeting young chareidim, who tend to be more naïve and therefore more easily ensnared. The Iranians begin with small tasks such as photographing a particular building and then gradually increase the severity of their requests until they reach full-scale espionage, at which point their victims have already fallen into the trap.
Justice Minister Distances Himself from a Response
Last week, I mentioned that there is a major controversy in Israel concerning the non-enlistment of Arab youths, which goes unchallenged by any government officials. I argued that according to the Supreme Court ruling regarding bnei Torah, Arab youths should also be arrested for their failure to join the army. Moreover, the government should not have the right to refrain from drafting them without a law to that effect, and there is no such law on the books.
This brings me to a related story: MK Simon Moshiashvili (who is not currently a member of the Knesset, since he had to vacate his seat for a minister who resigned from his post and returned to the Knesset under the Norwegian Law) decided to embarrass the Ministry of Justice on this point by submitting two sharply worded and focused parliamentary queries. He quoted a letter written by Gil Limon, the legal adviser to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, which was addressed to the legal advisers of the Defense, Finance, and Education Ministries and called for all funding to be denied to any yeshiva bochur, even one who hasn’t received a draft order, since the bochurim are expected to voluntarily show up for conscription. “Why does the legal advisory system focus so heavily on the topic of yeshiva bochurim but ignore the non-Jewish and Arab citizens who do not enlist?” Moshiashvili wrote pointedly. “Why doesn’t the attorney general give instructions for all funding to be halted for those citizens if they haven’t received draft orders, since they, too, should appear for the draft on their own initiative?”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin relayed the response of the State Prosecution, which evaded directly answering the question and instead forwarded copies of two letters that had been sent to the lawyer of Minister David Amsalem when he demanded that the Arabs be drafted. There were several issues with this response. First, it was a show of blatant disrespect toward a member of Knesset; it is the height of contempt to respond to a Knesset member with a mere copy of a letter written to someone else. Moreover, the letters do not contain answers to the questions raised in his query. In fact, the letters do not contain any information at all; Limon simply wrote to Amsalem that he should raise the issue in the cabinet, where he served as a minister, but Moshiashvili was never a government minister and therefore did not have the same option. Moreover, the letters claim that this is the result of “longstanding government policy developed by successive Israeli governments,” but according to the Supreme Court ruling, a government policy isn’t sufficient to avoid drafting any sector of the populace. As I noted last week, a previous attorney general promised to have a law passed to regulate the lack of conscription of Arab youths; however, as of this time, that commitment hasn’t been fulfilled, and the state’s failure to draft Arabs should therefore be considered unlawful as well.
And that is not all. Justice Minister Levin is responsible for formally answering parliamentary queries, but he noted—in a way that I have never seen before, despite having reviewed thousands of such responses—that he did not personally accept the contents of the letters. “My position is that there is certainly room to promote the enlistment of Arab citizens of Israel, whether for military service or meaningful civilian service,” Levin wrote, stressing that he rejects the position of the Supreme Court and the legal advisory system, both of whom “completely ignore the obligation to draft the Arab public as well.”
To make a long story short, the government is merely deepening its troubles, as every response simply adds to the sense that there is no justice here at all, and the entire furor over the draft is merely a thinly veiled campaign of persecution targeting the country’s Torah learners.
