Ministry of Education inspectors visited the Paamei Yaakov Kollel in Bnei Brak on Tuesday afternoon, 6 Tammuz 5772. The kollel is under the auspices of the mora d’asra of the city, HaGaon HaRav Yehuda Leib Landau Shlita. There are about 25 avreichim learning in the kollel, most present when the inspection was conducted. Inspectors detected four avreichim were missing.
One was missing because he had a son today. The second was abroad after receiving permission for the trip from the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Avreichim who were present report the inspector marked him “missing” despite the fact they were told he received permission for the trip abroad. The third was in the kollel but he was not carrying his identity card, only a photocopy, and the inspectors refused to accept it. The fourth was absent.
According to a Kikar Shabbat report, the inspectors were the same who conducted a recent inspection in Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael in Petach Tikvah. The outcome there was not a good one. Many avreichim did not have an original identification card and the inspectors do not accept photocopies unless the latter is signed and stamped by an attorney attesting to its authenticity.
Avreichim were given 20 minutes to come up with the original document, but most were unsuccessful. As a result, 16% of the avreichim were listed as absent and the yeshiva failed the inspection.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
they should send a delegation over to the education ministry and try to count how many people are absent there
What a crazy country they’ve got there!
Are these types of “inspections” the norm? It sounds like somthing out of a police state.
Does someone know what happens if a yeshiva fails inspection? Will the yeshiva lose money because of this?
If there are 100 talmidim registered at a yeshiva, shouldnt they be in attendance or at least have called in sick, vacation leave, or paternity break.
One shouldn’t be too critical of the Israelis for being insance. They are in the Middle East, and they have to try to fit in.
The State of Israel is the biggest supporter of Torah study in history. Unfortunately, some crooks seek to take advantage of this by forming fake kollels in which the “avreichim” do not actually learn or even exist. (Not only are they crooks, they are using the Torah as their tool for stealing.)
Because of this abuse, the State must send inspectors around to determine which kollels are legitimate. Once government inspectors are involved, they will make mistakes, they will often not use common sense, and legitimate Torah institutions will suffer.
However, it is clear who is at fault: the crooks that abuse the State’s generosity, and the wider public who allow such crooks to abuse Torah for financial gain.
Coffee addict — I’ll save you the time. My wife works for a government office. She punches a time clock, accounts for every moment, and isn’t even allowed to invite me in for a visit when I’m in the neighborhood.
#8 – I haven’t had to deal with “taking attendance” at an educational institution since high school – these are the equivalent of graduate students, not kindergardeners.
Akuperma — in the past, some of us in Israel landed government jobs, paid cameo visits to our offices, and worked elsewhere off the books for the rest of the day. This is why my wife (who doesn’t work in a school but in a welfare office) has an attendance inspector (the time clock) with whom she has to check in twice a day, every working day, even though she isn’t the “equivalent” of a graduate student but a real graduate.