Yeshiva Bochurim Afraid to Return Home for Shabbos
As the old saying has it, the train has left the station. Or, in our case, the Knesset has disbanded. There was no great drama involved; the Knesset was supposed to disband soon in any event, in preparation for the upcoming election, which was originally scheduled for October, Cheshvan 5787. That means that even if the Knesset dissolves early, the election will be no more than a month earlier than originally planned. The opposition, of course, has been trying to frame this as a dramatic occurrence and a victory on their part. But the coalition’s bill to disband the Knesset is the one that has been approved, and all that the Knesset has left to do is to set a date for the election that will satisfy as many parties as possible.
If you are wondering exactly when the election will be held, I can tell you that it will definitely be a Tuesday (every election in Israel is held on a Tuesday, as required by law) and the only question is whether it will be held in late Elul, at the beginning of Tishrei, or in Cheshvan. At first, there was a rumor that Netanyahu didn’t want the election in the month of October since he didn’t want the 7th of October to be repeatedly invoked during the campaign. A subsequent rumor had it that Netanyahu took the opposite position and actually wanted the election in October, so that the country would see that the Knesset had completed its full term. For the chareidi parties, there are other important considerations. The beginning of the winter zman isn’t an ideal time for an election, whereas the period before Rosh Hashanah would ostensibly be a good time for the chareidi parties to drum up support, since it tends to be a time of spiritual inspiration for all Jews, even those who are not religious. Then again, thousands of chareidi voters will be out of the country at the time, visiting Uman. In any event, we will have to wait for the final decision to be made and then deal with the timing once it is determined.
On another note, this past Shabbos was a stressful time for much of the country. The Shabbos after Shavuos is typically a brief break for yeshiva bochurim, after over a month of intensive learning since the beginning of the zman. This week, the bochurim were warned to avoid the police, since any encounter with a police officer is liable to lead to an arrest. Most of the bochurim in Israel are currently classified as draft evaders, and the police have begun detaining every draft evader they encounter and transferring them to the custody of the military police. I watched yeshiva bochurim who were heading home with their suitcases fleeing in panic at the sight of a police car. It is a terrible situation and a disgrace to the State of Israel.
The fact that the civilian police have been arresting yeshiva bochurim on behalf of the military police was the subject of much controversy last week, when Police Commissioner Dani Levi caved to the demands of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Other high-ranking police officials, meanwhile, were furious with him for the move. In response, Moshe Gafni sent a notice to Degel HaTorah representatives in all local governments ordering them to cease all collaboration with the local police. Levi was apparently frightened by the harsh reactions against him and announced that he would reconsider the policy and perhaps order the police to release draft evaders immediately with a summons to appear at the draft office, rather than detaining them for arrest by the military police. At the same time, he instructed the chaplain of the police force to open a dialogue with leaders of the chareidi community, although it is very unclear what, exactly, they could possibly discuss. But let’s set this sad situation aside and move on to other subjects.
Passions Flare Over the Kosel Law
Even as the 25th Knesset disbands, there are still some members of the Knesset who are trying to squeeze some final accomplishments out of its waning days. For instance, a new law concerning subsidized day care passed its first reading on Wednesday, albeit only after the chareidim threatened to support the opposition’s bill calling for a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7 if the coalition did not support the measure. The new bill, whose purpose is to override the sanctions on subsidized day care, stipulates that the subsidies are to be dependent only on the mother’s occupation and that a father’s legal status with regard to the draft will have no bearing on the family’s eligibility. The bill does not stand a chance of passing into law, but the chareidi representatives were visibly jubilant over its initial success.
I presume that you have heard of MK Avi Maoz. In fact, I have written about him in the past, including one particular article about his longstanding friendship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, which began when Netanyahu was the Israeli ambassador to the UN while Maoz was leading the campaign to free Natan Sharansky from Soviet prison. Netanyahu was the one who advised Maoz to ask President Reagan to include Sharansky’s release in the talks between Washington and Moscow. Maoz is an impressive person and a talmid of Rav Tzvi Tau; he succeeded in being elected to the Knesset by joining the list headed by Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. The other two politicians believed that even if Maoz wasn’t worth a full mandate, he would certainly bring in enough votes to justify his inclusion on the list. After the election, Maoz became a one-man party of sorts, under the name Noam. I have been following his actions in the Knesset, and I can identify a distinct quality in the man: He always makes sure to daven with a minyan in the Knesset. You may take this for granted, but I can tell you that I do not see all the religious Knesset members at the minyanim, certainly not as consistently as Maoz.
In any event, Maoz speaks in the Knesset very often; he is entitled to speak in almost every debate, since he is considered a separate party, albeit with only one member. And his speeches are always on target, although I can’t say for sure whether he has managed to sway anyone, despite his cogent arguments. Maoz has also introduced some very important bills, which he has worked diligently and tenaciously to promote. He doesn’t usually succeed in passing new laws, but there are times when he manages to solicit the coalition’s support. (Maoz is technically a member of the coalition, although he resigned from his position as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.) Maoz introduced the Kosel Law, which passed its preliminary reading in February 2026, and he managed to have the law discussed in the Knesset Interior Committee in advance of its first reading.
The Kosel Law is technically an amendment to the Law of Preservation of Holy Sites passed in 1967. Maoz’s bill states that the Chief Rabbinate has exclusive authority over the manner of worship at the Kosel. Of course, the Reform movement is opposed to this bill; they fear that the Chief Rabbinate will take away the Ezras Yisroel plaza on the side of the Kosel, which was already promised to them. They are not interested in the Ezras Yisroel plaza at all; they claim that it is an insult to them and insist on being allowed to hold their own services in the regular women’s section or the Kosel plaza. At the same time, they aren’t willing to give up the plaza that they have already received. Maoz’s law was previously reviewed by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation before its vote, and Netanyahu asked them not to discuss it. Nevertheless, Maoz was insistent and ultimately won.
The existing law already prohibits “desecrating” the Kosel and holding services that are not in accordance with the established practice at the site. Nevertheless, Maoz’s law adds a definition of desecration of the Kosel as “behavior that violates the instructions and rulings of the Chief Rabbinate.” Maoz explained to me, “As a result of various interpretations given by certain bodies, including the Supreme Court, over the years, I would like to clarify that the Chief Rabbinate has exclusive authority over the rules that apply at the Kosel.” The bill does not state explicitly that the mixed prayer groups of men and women in the Ezras Yisroel section should be abolished. However, it states very clearly that the Chief Rabbinate holds the exclusive authority to determine the rules of conduct at the Kosel (and not just to make recommendations). The law is very likely to overturn the Ezras Yisroel compromise, which is the reason for the Reform movement’s outrage. In addition, the law will make it possible to press criminal charges against the Women of the Wall, the group of provocateurs who have repeatedly smuggled sifrei Torah into the women’s section at the Kosel. It may even make it possible to forcibly prevent the group of women from continuing these stunts.
Blocking the Court’s Interference
This brings us to the debate in the Constitution Committee, which is headed by MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism party, who is more or less in favor of Maoz’s bill. Some representatives of Women of the Wall showed up for the committee session as well, and they were extremely vocal. MK Tally Gottliv, the Likud party’s fiercely outspoken Knesset member, clashed with one of those women, who made the appalling statement that Orthodoxy harms women. Gottliv shot back, “The Jewish religion from which I come exalts women and makes it possible for every woman to do what she believes is right. Unlike you, I do not dictate anyone else’s behavior. The Kosel Law wouldn’t have been necessary if not for your group’s deliberate provocations. And the Reform movement has adopted the Women of the Wall as their agents and provocateurs.”
Another speaker added, “The Reform movement is spearheading the liquidation sale of Judaism.”
The opposition accused Avi Maoz in particular, and the coalition in general, of trying to rush the law’s passage at the last moment before the election. That accusation, in turn, sparked an uproar. After all, why should that be considered improper? Why should an attempt to pass legislation before the Knesset dissolves be grounds for condemnation? Avichai Boaron of the Likud party joined the chorus of condemnation against the Reform movement. “We do not need to give up on values that are sacred to the majority of the Israeli public,” he said. “Not everything needs to be forced and used to poke a finger in the eye of the traditional and religious communities in Israel. It would have been better if we hadn’t needed the law at all, but since we need it, it is good that it is happening.”
Avi Maoz decried the coalition’s failure to properly strengthen the Jewish identity of the State of Israel, arguing that the government had failed to advance any significant measures in that area. “This coalition was elected by a public that wanted a Jewish state with a strong Jewish identity, but it failed to advance almost anything in that area in practice,” he said. Maoz also remarked, “One of the main reasons that this critical bill is in the headlines is the flagrant interference of the Supreme Court, which has the goal of changing the Jewish character of the Kosel. I will tell you clearly that the bill was designed to eliminate the ambiguity in the wording of the existing law, which has enabled the judges to twist the law and reinterpret it in accordance with their wishes and in violation of the clear intentions of the legislative body and the broader public. This bill clarifies the meaning of the term ‘desecration’ and will thus prevent any interpretation by anyone other than Israel’s Chief Rabbis.”
The Constitution Committee has not yet completed its deliberations. If Avi Maoz succeeds, the bill will proceed to the Knesset plenum for its first reading. That will make it possible for the bill to be brought to the next Knesset and passed into law—or, perhaps, for a miracle to happen and for the law to be passed in the current Knesset.
A Worm’s Eye View
Let’s return for a moment to the day care subsidy law, which was approved last Wednesday. A certain MK from the Likud party, an obscure politician named Dan Illouz, voted against the bill, and the entire Religious Zionism party did not enter the room for the vote. That should be an indication of which Knesset members can be expected to align themselves against the chareidim….
When Dan Illouz announced his vote (it was a roll call, with each member of the Knesset called by name) there was an explosion of outrage from the chareidi Knesset members. Illouz, who wears a yarmulke and received his seat in the Knesset under the Norwegian Law, recently penned an article titled, “Yes, Dismantle It.” He was referring to the Likud party’s political alliance with the chareidim, which he advised the party to terminate. “The alliance,” he wrote, “has become an existential threat to Israel.” I find it hard to believe that a sane person could write such words, but upon giving the matter some more thought, I understand him. Illouz sits on the rear benches of the Likud party; he has no real power, and as far as he is concerned, the Likud might as well be in the opposition. After all, it will make no difference to him; he will be just as powerless and inconsequential, regardless of who is prime minister. He will have the same lack of influence from the benches of the opposition as he does when the Likud is in the coalition.
Two weeks ago, we marked Rav Uri Zohar’s fourth yahrtzeit. Rav Uri often illustrated certain ideas with the analogy of a worm in an apple. The worm, he explained, is completely unaware of the world outside the apple; it knows nothing other than the interior of the fruit. Rav Uri had a different point to make with this analogy, but I would like to borrow it for my own purposes. Dan Illouz, a junior member of the Knesset, is akin to the worm in the apple. He has no idea that there is an entire world, a state, and a government outside his tiny bubble; he does not know that there are policies that must be advanced and issues that must be tackled. He knows nothing other than his own petty political maneuverings; nothing else matters to him.
The Persecution of Yonasan Urich
It is widely understood in Israel that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is shamelessly exploiting her position as the head of the Israeli prosecution to do everything in her power to stymie the government in every way. She is the one who is behind all the sanctions and arrests of lomdei Torah, she is responsible for disqualifying every candidate nominated by Netanyahu to head the Mossad, and she is the one who has repeatedly notified the Supreme Court that she supports the petitions against the government. The Knesset is currently discussing a law that would split her position into two: a legal advisor to the government and the head of the prosecution system. The presumption is that the attorney general has too many spheres of authority, and this excess of power has given her the ability to topple the government.
At the beginning of this month, one of the attorney general’s most bizarre and politically charged legal machinations came to an end. She had advised the court that since a certain witness named Einhorn hadn’t come to Israel, the proceedings against two of the prime minister’s advisors, Ofer Golan and Yonasan Urich, should be terminated. The two had been indicted on charges of harassing a witness in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trial— Shlomo Filber, former director-general of the Communications Ministry, who had agreed to turn state witness against Netanyahu but later backtracked, claiming that he was threatened and coerced into taking that step. Filber has since become an opponent of the state’s position in the cases against Netanyahu.
The allegation that two close associates of the prime minister had harassed Filber sounded implausible from the outset. But there turned out to be a more insidious reason for the accusations: The police took advantage of the investigation to gain access to the suspects’ cell phones, hoping to thereby amass more evidence against Netanyahu, since they had no access to the Prime Minister’s Office itself. Filber repeatedly insisted that he hadn’t been harassed and he did not feel threatened by the two suspects, but the attorney general stubbornly insisted on pursuing the case. Everyone understood that it was nothing but a politically charged campaign of harassment. Senior figures in the prosecution opposed the indictment, but the state prosecutor and the attorney general were obstinate. And the story has now ended in total defeat for the two. The official reason for the closure of the case is a technicality, but everyone understands the real reason the charges were dropped: They realized that they were going to suffer a defeat in court. Incidentally, Urich and Golan filed a request with the court three months ago to drop the case on the grounds that they would not receive a fair trial. This was most likely part of the reason that the attorney general hurried to close the case, fearing the backlash if their claims were accepted.
Attorneys Chadad and Milstein attacked the attorney general and the prosecution: “This case should never have begun, and once it was opened, it should have been closed years ago. In three different judicial forums, we demonstrated the serious flaws in the case and the criminal offenses committed within its framework against Ofer Golan and Yonasan Urich. These were allegations of harassment against a witness who declared that he was not harassed. The failures and misconduct in this case cry out to the heavens. No one can ever return to our client the seven years of legal torment and persecution that he suffered, but it is time for someone in the law enforcement system to be brought to justice for one of the most embarrassing, negligent, and improper cases conducted in Israel in recent years.”
Urich, who is fairly sharp-witted, wrote, “Almost eight years of legal torment and unbridled persecution ended this morning with a single phone call and a piece of paper sent to me digitally. No one can ever make amends to me and my family for what we have gone through. No one will be brought to justice, and no one will learn lessons from it. I want to thank Hashem; my wife, Talia, who has stood beside me through a world war; my family, who always embrace and support me; Prime Minister Netanyahu, whom I have the sacred privilege of assisting; my lawyers, Amit Chadad and Noa Milstein, who fought like lions in this case; and all of you, who gave me the sunlight of faith during the dark days, even at times when I had no faith.”
This case will now be closed, but Baharav-Miara has already announced her intention to prosecute Urich in the Bild case on the extremely serious charge of treason. Many people reacted by declaring that she is insane. And I tend to agree with them.
The Witch Hunt Continues
Now that you have observed the corruption, politicization, and outright bias infesting the Israeli prosecution, you will surely be able to put the following story in perspective: A year and a half after the scandal erupted, the state prosecution informed Tzachi Braverman, the former chief of staff of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office who has been tapped to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United Kingdom, that he will be facing an indictment on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and obstruction of justice. Braverman will be summoned for a hearing, which is officially a process in which a person has the opportunity to convince the court of his innocence before he is formally indicted. However, no one in Israel truly believes in the integrity of this process.
In case you have forgotten about this story, let me refresh your memories: As part of the judicial witch hunt against Netanyahu, his spokesman and close associate, Eli Feldstein, was arrested and investigated. Feldstein became a central defendant in what was known as the Bild affair, based on the allegations that he had leaked a document to the German newspaper Bild that supported Netanyahu’s interpretation of the involvement of Qatar and Egypt in the issue of the hostages in Gaza. Urich was involved in that affair as well. One night during that time, Braverman asked Feldstein to meet with him in the parking lot outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Tel Aviv. It isn’t clear what they discussed there, but Feldstein claimed that Braverman revealed that he was under investigation and coached him on how to respond to the interrogators. That, of course, would be a violation of the law. Braverman, however, denied these claims and gave a completely different account of their conversation. Last week, in a statement to the public, the prosecution wrote, “It is suspected that due to his position, Braverman discovered in October 2024 that a covert investigation was taking place regarding the transfer of raw intelligence information, which was classified as top secret and was obtained through classified means, to the German newspaper Bild, where a significant portion of the information was published and partial quotations were released.”
The news of the charges alarmed many people, as it created the sense once again that the attorney general is waging a campaign of politically motivated harassment against anyone associated with Netanyahu. Braverman’s lawyers wrote, “This was a wrong decision that continues the terrible injustice that has already been done to Braverman. The written allegations make it clear that the basis of this decision was the testimony of Mr. Feldstein, a false witness driven by ulterior motives. It is very peculiar that the prosecution, which itself submitted an indictment against [Feldstein] while completely rejecting his various implausible versions of events and false claims, is basing its current decision on an unreliable witness who has given an assortment of false and contradictory versions of this story as well.”
Braverman has been barred from the Prime Minister’s Office since his arrest in January, and his departure for London has also been postponed indefinitely. In other words, the judicial system is destroying his life, just as it has destroyed the lives of many others in Netanyahu’s inner circle, such as Yonasan Urich. Urich was viciously slandered for months when he was accused of serving as a public relations agent for Qatar, to explain why he leaked the document casting Egypt in a negative light. He has been cast as a traitor and a spy, and Netanyahu was likewise excoriated for having people on his staff who allegedly worked for enemy states. However, the head of the Mossad recently claimed that the leaked document did not harm Israel’s national security in any way, and that Urich acted for the benefit of the country.
Falling Dollar Drags Down Donation Values
In case you are not aware of the dramatic fall in the value of the dollar vis-à-vis the Israeli shekel, it is important for me to bring it to your attention. In the past, if you donated a thousand dollars to tzedokah in Israel or sent a thousand dollars to help your children in Israel with living expenses, then you were effectively donating 3500 shekels to those causes. Today, however, the value of one thousand dollars is less than 3000 shekels. This is a crushing hardship for people who live in Israel and earn salaries in dollars, or for young couples who receive monthly aid from their parents—to say nothing of yeshivos, kollelim, and other organizations that are sustained by donations from America.
Last week, I met with a gabbai tzedokah who distributes vouchers for food to yungeleit before Pesach. Every year, he raises a total of about six million dollars from philanthropists in America to support this project; he receives the funds from wealthy financiers who contribute approximately the same sums to him every year. Tens of thousands of yungeleit benefit from this financial aid, which helps them manage the daunting expenses of the holiday. Now, try to calculate the difference in the shekel value of six million dollars since the exchange rate began its drastic fall. Unfortunately, this has a dramatic impact on the sums that can reach the yungeleit who rely on his project and others like it.
My acquaintance added ruefully that he is facing an even greater financial hardship than you might imagine. The problem, he explained, is that he received pledges from his usual donors in America during the months of Shevat and Adar, and he based his budget for the distribution of tzedokah funds on those pledges, using the exchange rate that existed at the time. Shortly before Pesach, he handed out the vouchers based on the sums he had calculated, but many of the pledges are being paid only now, and it turns out that he has given away much more than he received. The math is simple: If he integrated two million dollars in future pledges into his total budget, then that means that he distributed about seven million shekels, based on the assumption that one million dollars would be worth about 3.5 million shekels. At this point, however, the same two million dollars is worth far less than the sum he projected, and he is now struggling with a deficit of about a million shekels. These aren’t merely theoretical sums; this is essentially what happened to him. And this is just one illustration of the impact of the falling dollar in Israel.
Rav Yitzchok Edelstein, Rov of Ramat Hasharon
It is no secret that, from a chareidi perspective, Israel’s current government has not been especially successful. The government began its term with considerable momentum; the chareidim received extremely influential government posts and had many grand plans. Chareidi ministers led the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for establishing new cities; the Ministry of Housing, which is responsible for building apartments, and everything in between. There were chareidi ministers in the Ministry of Labor, which oversees the National Insurance Institute; the Prime Minister’s Office, where Uri Maklev racked up tremendous accomplishments, and the Ministry of Welfare as well. You are probably aware that I work in the Knesset, and you will not be surprised if I tell you that I receive many requests for help from average citizens (and from Americans as well). As long as the chareidim were in the government, it was always easy for me to help them. If I received a call from Americans in Israel who were unable to receive health insurance, I would simply contact senior officials in the National Insurance Institute, which was under the aegis of the ministry headed by Yoav Ben-Tzur. The chareidi parties also had influence over the health funds, thanks to the fact that Uriel Bosso, another chareidi politician, headed the Ministry of Health. And if an American tourist needed help with the Ministry of the Interior, I was always able to assist him in his dealings with the Population Authority. In July 2025, however, the chareidi ministers stepped down from their positions due to the government’s failure to pass the draft law. While the chareidim who held positions of ministry directors-general have retained those posts, and many of the ministers’ offices are still staffed by chareidim, their influence has waned considerably. At this point, I often have little recourse when I am asked to help struggling citizens.
It turns out, however, out that there was one ministry that never stopped working: the Ministry of Religious Affairs (or, as it is now known, the Ministry of Religious Services). The previous minister who headed this ministry, Michoel Malchieli of the Shas party, was extremely efficient and effective, and the director-general who remained after his departure, Yehuda Avidan, is hardworking and diligent. (Avidan’s family name was originally Bosso; he is a grandson of the Baba Chaki, the brother of the Baba Sali.) One of the projects on which he worked for a long time and that recently came to fruition was the appointment of new municipal chief rabbis. Dozens of cities had gone decades without appointing new chief rabbis, and Avidan worked hard to spearhead a new wave of appointments. The first appointment was in Tel Aviv; I have already told you about the election of Rav Zevadiah Cohen as the city’s chief rabbi, which the media described as another accomplishment for the Shas party. But that wasn’t the end. Several other chief rabbis were recently appointed, including Rav Menachem Mendel Nachshon, who was elected as the new chief rabbi of the city of Nof Hagalil (formerly Nazareth Illit) by a vote of 29 members of the electoral body. In Eilat, Rav Yair Hadaya was appointed to serve as the new Sephardic chief rabbi of the city. Rav Hadaya is the son of Rav Moshe Hadaya, who served as the Sephardic chief rabbi of Eilat for over 60 years. Out of the 36 members of the electoral body, 32 voted for the new chief rabbi.
The participants in the election for a chief rabbi, incidentally, are representatives of the municipality, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the shuls in the relevant city.
In Kiryat Ono (a relatively small city near Bnei Brak), Rav Yitzchok Vardi was elected as the new chief rabbi. In Charish, a city near Chadera that is supposed to be a chareidi city, Rav Asher Zigdon was installed in the position. Rav Zigdon serves as the rov of a community in the city known as L’Ovdecha B’Emes and is a former talmid of Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim in Yerushalayim, where he was a talmid of Rav Reuven Elbaz. He studied halacha and prepared for a future in the rabbinate in Kollel Torah Vachaim in Bnei Brak, under the aegis of Rav Shimon Baadani, who was a member of the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah. All the chief rabbis are members of the chareidi community, and it is a great accomplishment that the community has managed to prevent the appointment of more progressive chief rabbis who would seek to lower their cities’ religious standards.
Finally, Ramat Hasharon has a new chief rabbi as well, after several years of unsuccessful attempts to fill the position. The new chief rabbi of Ramat Hasharon, who was appointed after the position was left vacant for nine years, is Rav Yitzchok Edelstein, the son of the city’s previous chief rabbi, the illustrious Rav Yaakov Edelstein. A native of Ramat HaSharon who has served as rov of the Golan Quarter community for more than twenty years, Rav Yitzchok has now stepped into the position held by his legendary father, Rav Yaakov Edelstein, for 66 years. Even though there were nine nominees for the position, Rav Yitzchok received 25 out of the 30 votes cast by the electoral body. He received the support of the Shas party in light of the fact that both his late father and his illustrious uncle, Rav Gershon, advocated with Aryeh Deri on his behalf years ago. At the very least, then, it can be said that the chareidi political leadership has made some significant accomplishments that will have a lasting impact for years to come.
Remembering Rebbetzin Mira Edelstein
Now that I have mentioned Rav Yaakov Edelstein, I should note that the Edelstein family is currently mourning the passing of Rebbetzin Mira (Meira), who was married to Rav Yaakov since the summer of 5772. One of the grandchildren said to me, “She was a great tzaddeikes; it would have been impossible for anyone to match her dedication to our grandfather.” Indeed, her devotion to her husband was outstanding.
Rebbetzin Mira passed away about a month ago and was buried on Har Hamenuchos. The Israeli Yated Neeman reported, “She was born in 1937 on Kibbutz Ganigar in the Yezreel Valley, far removed from the world of Torah and Judaism. As she matured, like many others, she sought fulfillment in the cultural world in which she lived. However, the teshuvah movement was beginning to develop at that time and was making waves in Eretz Yisroel, led by Rav Uri Zohar, and many followed him on his path of return. She, too, left behind the vanities of this world and chose the path of emunah, returning to her Jewish roots with all her strength.”
During the rebbetzin’s period of transformation, Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach served as a veritable father figure to her. There is a well-known story about an incident in which Rav Shach spent half an hour with a baalas teshuvah, discussing the pros and cons of various sewing machines until they finally settled on one particular model for her to buy. That baalas teshuvah was the future Rebbetzin Edelstein.
At the levayah, everyone noticed the presence of Rebbetzin Elia Zohar and her son Rav Isamar. Their presence was meaningful, although it was also to be expected in this case. The usually reticent Rebbetzin Zohar said, “We have known each other for many years.” Indeed, they were probably acquainted for fifty years. If I understood correctly, the late Rebbetzin Edelstein’s journey toward faith began while she gazed at the Mediterranean Sea from her home in Tel Aviv; as she watched the waves, she came to the recognition that the world must have a purpose. She quickly became a bas bayis at the home of Rav Uri Zohar and his wife. She knew Rav Uri Zohar from his days as part of the world of secular culture, and it was almost a foregone conclusion that she would make her way to the Zohar home. Isamar remarked, “When we were children, she was like an aunt to us. She babysat for us and fed us.”
Rebbetzin Zohar commented to her family, “She was an incredible baalas teshuvah who achieved everything possible on the path of teshuvah.” The rebbetzin recalled that Meira had once come to her to be taught how to daven. “She was purposeful and determined,” she said.
