Much has been written on YWN about the three Bochrim sitting in a Japan jail facing harsh sentences R”L. The following article appears in this weeks Jewish Press, and was reprinted with their permission:
The loneliness is overwhelming. Yoel G., Yaakov Yosef G., and Yossi B. have spent ten months in solitary confinement, sitting on a hard concrete floor, their mobility severely restricted. They have no contact with anyone they know, except for their lawyers. No visitors are permitted, with the exception of parents, whom they may only see briefly and infrequently. Even these visits are held through a glass partition, and monitored by guards and interpreters.
And the fear. How long will they have to remain in these forbidding jail cells, thousands of miles away from their homes and yeshivos? Will they be sentenced to a decade of forced labor by a judge who cannot comprehend the naiveté of innocent yeshiva bachurim cruelly exploited by ostensibly pious Jews? Will they ever again lead a normal, Jewish life after being “reformed” by the highly efficient Japanese corrections system?
Yossi was only 17 at the time of his arrest; Yaakov Yosef was 19. Lack of kosher food has caused one of the boys to lose 100 pounds, and another to lose 60.
It started out as an innocent favor for a friend. Yoel, Yaakov Yosef and Yossi were kindhearted yeshiva bachurim who spent their spare time doing chesed for sick people in Bnei Brak, and when someone they knew and trusted approached them with an assignment of a different nature, they had no reason to think anything was amiss.
“I have a friend who is an antique dealer,” the person told them, “and he needs to deliver some antiques to Japan for the Tokyo 2008 Art Fair that will be taking place in a few weeks. He is unable to go himself, due to family obligations, so he asked me to find three bachurim to each take one parcel containing valuable antiques. He is willing to pay $1,000 to each of you on your return for the effort.”
The boys recognized the name of the antique dealer, a prominent and respected member of the religious community in Eretz Yisrael. Nothing about the assignment sounded suspicious, and the promise of some bein hazmanim pocket money was inviting.
The boys were told their assignment was 100% legal and that the antiques they would be delivering did not have to be declared at Japanese customs. Instead of receiving a parcel, they were each given an empty suitcase and instructed to put their personal belongings inside. The antiques, they were told, had been placed in a sealed compartment inside the suitcases as a precaution against theft, damage or accidental loss.
They did not dream the sealed compartments of the three suitcases contained narcotics worth $3.6 million. They did not dream the favor they were being asked to do was a mask for a crime punishable by ten years of imprisonment and forced labor. And they did not dream that instead of the $1,000 in pocket money they had been promised for their effort, Jews the world over would have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to wage a massive legal battle on their behalf.
Upon arrival at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, the three unsuspecting boys placed their luggage onto the x-ray machine. Japanese customs officials spotted the hidden compartments, cut open the suitcases, and discovered a total of over 50 pounds of narcotics cleverly concealed inside. The boys were immediately arrested and placed in solitary confinement.
For the next 21 days, the three were subjected to grueling interrogation. The 2,500-page record of this interrogation, as well as the results of polygraph tests, showed clearly that none of the boys had any knowledge of the hidden contents of their luggage. But the law is the law, especially in Japan, where there is a zero-tolerance attitude to crime. The Japanese stance on illegal substances is one of the toughest in the world, and 99.9% of people caught smuggling drugs into Japan are convicted. Sentences can range between 10 and 15 years of prison and forced labor.
By the time Japanese prisoners are released, they are fully “reformed,” usually with drastically diminished physical and mental capabilities. The Japanese corrections system is designed to act as a powerful deterrent to crime, and indeed, the crime rate in Japan is infinitesimal compared to other westernized countries.
Ten months in jail have taken their toll on the boys physically and emotionally, and they and their families tremble at the thought of what ten years of imprisonment and forced labor will do to them. Experts estimate that young, sheltered yeshiva bachurim like Yoel, Yaakov Yosef and Yossi would not survive even one year of prison without permanent damage.
Both Yossi and Yaakov Yosef are considered minors by Japanese law, but they are nevertheless being tried in adult court in light of the severity with which the Japanese authorities view their alleged crime. Yossi’s trial was held at the beginning of February; he is now awaiting sentencing. The trials of Yoel and Yaakov Yosef are due to begin shortly, but it will be several months before all of the verdicts are delivered.
Yoel and Yaakov Yosef are managing to learn Torah and have completed a number of masechtos in the detention center as they await trial. The three boys struggle valiantly to adhere to halacha, despite their circumstances, and have sought rabbinic guidance in how to cope with the unique halachic challenges they face.
Askanim in Eretz Yisrael, the U.S., England and Belgium have worked tirelessly to provide them with kosher food, religious articles and medical attention. More importantly, they have invested tremendous efforts into putting together top-notch defense teams for each of the boys. These teams are composed of both Japanese lawyers and experts in international law such as Mordechai Tzivin, an Israeli and international lawyer; the well-known Dayan Chaim Yosef Dovid Weiss of Antwerp; Rabbi Jacob Bleich, chief rabbi of Ukraine; Rabbi Aaron Nezri of London; and Rabbi Elimelech Bindiger.
Yoel, Yaakov Yosef and Yossi are not just three boys sitting in jail in Japan. They are our brothers, they are our children. If you or your child were in their situation, you would desperately want kind Jews to come to your aid. That’s how these boys feel. They are totally dependent on the mercy of the Ribbono Shel Olam, the mercy of the Japanese judges, and the mercy of Klal Yisrael.
The full Hebrew names of the boys are: Yoel Zev ben Mirel Reesa Chava; Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel; and Yosef ben Ita Rivka. Please be Mispallel for them.
(LINK to Jewish Press article)
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26 Responses
Nebach on these innocent good Bochrim who were tricked into such a crime…
Hazeet (nebch), may thier sentences be very minimal.
please release the true identity of this so called “friend” aka antique dealer. this guy must be publicized, and be put in cheirim! Unfortunately, these innocent karbonos teach us all a lesson.. never to take any “packages” from anyone – ever!
They are lucky they weren’t arrested in New York.
Conditions in our prisons are worse, and our drug laws are even more severe, and no New York jury would believe they could have been so naive ($1000 plus to transport a suitcase with a hidden compartment in it, and told to keep it secret from the authorities??)
I think that we should all go to japan,thousands of us and demonstrate there,maybe even bomb the building carefully some how, sho them that we mean buissiness,but let’s do it, why aren’t we all there? let’s start packing and go asap…..
If you read the article carefully, 08701lakewood aka #3, you will see it was not the antique dealer who tricked them, it was someone who claimed to be a friend of this chareidi antique dealer.
The name of Rabbi Bleich, chief rabbi of Ukraine, is not Jacob, but Yaakov Dov. Please make corrections. Thank you
This article hit me hard! I did not grasp the whole parsha until now! Oy gevalt! HaShem yeracheim
Isn’t he m’shaleiach a rodeif?
as #3 said cant we get the antique dealer and hand him over to the japs as the real criminal and have the boys released? i dont think theres any halachic problem with that. Has it been tried? i think its a chance they (the japs) might be placated with that. that they can have someone to hang for this
cherem is a joke. if the guy sent them on this suicide mission to make money for himself, he is clearly a rodef and needs to be dealt with as such. no need to be more explicit
Agree with#8 I never realized either. As for #5 you are watching too many movies.
# 3 & # 9
There is no one to hand the guy over to, since Israel ahs already try to make a deal with Japan and give them the REAL criminal and Japan said NO. They want to teach these guys (and all other college students) a lesson not to try to bring in drugs.
By they way, the lawyer they are dealing with is Mordche’ Tzivin a Lubavitcher yungerman who happens to be the top international lawyer in Israel.
May we hear besurois toivois.
# 7 You see, that is VERY important info.
On a serious note, we all know who Rabbi Bleich is and how is a true askan who gets things done & yaroich yomim al mamlachtoi, but who cares if the J.P called him Yaakov or Jacob??
#3
There IS a VERY serious Halachic problem with that, even under these extreme circumstances.
i wonder how many one of you guys that read this article actually said a kapittle tihillim. stop “hocking” and do something constructive! hakol biyad hashem. we need to daven daven daven! Besuros tovos…
16, reread the story.
Yoel is one of the victims.
#16 The article said that the man who approached them was someone they knew well and trusted.
Both this man and the antique dealer should be brought to Japan as the real criminals. Why does Janpan not agree to this? THE BOYS ARE INNOCENT. At least Japan would have the real criminals to hold accountable for the crime.
By the way, who bought the tickets for the boys to go? Is there a way to check the records? I doubt their families would have incurred the expense. It must have been part of the “deal” that their tickets would be paid for by the 2 men. No?
We must all daven for these poor innocent boys!! May they be set free very soon and be able to live normal lives. Something like this can be so traumatic and Chas V’Shalom leave everlasting scars.
#17, Yoel is one of the three victims languishing in a faraway prison.
The fact that no one is looking fir the actual supplier, or the person who the “kids” were told to meet with fir the transfer, makes me wonder… Drugs and other crimes do exist in the Frum world, to pretend otherwise just opens the door for more.. If the kids did not know who gave them the stuff, or who they were to give it to, then are just plain stupid. If they are hiding this info, they are accomplices.
A suggestion: as well as praying and saying Tehillim, why not write to the Japanese Government? The more people who write to express their deep concerns about the boys’ health mentally as well as physically thanks to the conditions in which they are being held and their need to keep halacha and eat only kosher, their conviction of the boys’ innocence and explaining their religious background and atmosphere of trust in which they grew up, and to request that they be returned home to Israel as soon as possible, surely the better. The more people who write, the more they will have to take notice. The international outcry over the recent exclusion of a female Israeli tennis player from an international tournament in Dubai, although it is too late for her, has resulted in at least her male compatriot being allowed to go there to compete.
yes, i agree to go demonstrate,
i just got a phemplet in the mail about this whole matzev, they are tring to raise money to get them out faster.
Ruth, I think it’s a great idea. Do you have the address of the Japanese government. Who do I address it to. Tammy
Perhaps this is Meda Kaneged Meda for not working on freeing Jonathan Pollard. Let us Daven for them all.
shavua tov and chodesh tov,dear brethen
FIRST OF ALL,I BEG YOU
DO NOT DEMONSTRATE AT ALL
DO NOT WRITE ANY BUT ANY LETTERS TO JAPANESE OFFICIALS
I SPOKE MOTZE SHABOS TO MR YIDL FROM BNEI BRAK,ONE OF THE GENTLEMEN WHO IS DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE MATTER
AND WHO TRAVELS OFTEN TO JAPAN
HE TOLD ME THAT ANY LETTER SENT TO JAPANESE OFFCIALS ANNOYS THEM MORE AND AS A RESULT, THE BACHURIM ARE GONNA BE HARMED BY SUCH ACTIONS.
>
Concrete help is needed to afford the trial costs.
Hamodia
> wrote about additional $500,000.
> Please phone -if you are in Israel-
> 1-800-3947-47
> or make a deposit at Bank Pagi(52),branch 188,account 279
> 5156.Please specify that the contribution is for the
> bachurim in Japan,for pydion shvuyim fund no 1163.
> Or send a check to Kupat Hair,POB 49,Bnei Brak.
> chag shavuot sameach n tizku be mitzvot.Ben Moshe
i think the main thing we have to do, as their brothers and sisters, is daven!!!!! yes after that we obviously have to do what we can do…but we MUST recognize whos running the show and whi we have to be turning to in a time like this. Its not the japanise who can do anything!!!! its Hashem….DAVEN!!!!!!!! TEAR OPEN SHAMAYIM—-and surely we will see the geula. STAY FOCUSED!!!
please can someone keep me posted on what is happening with the bachrim in the japanese prison………may Hashem have mercy on them.