Following the tragedy in the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood of Yerushalayim earlier in the week that resulted in the death of an infant, by the hands of her father R”L, Zaka founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav spoke with Kikar.net, expressing his pain over harsh realities in the chareidi neighborhood.
After having to deal with the infant, even people like Meshi-Zahav find it difficult, overcome with strong emotions and hopefully, a “cheshbon nefesh” as he puts it, the need for the chareidi community to finally come to terms with some harsh realities, realities that we prefer not to admit to ourselves.
Meshi-Zahav, a former ‘operations officer’ of the Eida Chareidis, explained that he lectures in chiloni forums frequently, and discusses difficult issues. He explained that anyone who engages in this type of askanus of Zaka and similar organizations understands these concepts more than the average person.
Meshi-Zahav intervened between police and chareidim present at Bikur Cholim Hospital, and he transferred the body of the infant to Shamgar, to the Chevra Kadisha, explaining the emotions that accompanied him during the trip, a most difficult one, even for someone who has been at the scene of many terrorist attacks, among the most heinous known.
He explained others involved in this kind of work are aware that in the chareidi community, some of the urgent issues, the problems that no one wishes to discuss, are not addressed appropriately – the issues that are ignored in the hope they may disappear, or at the very least, escape the scrutiny of the public eye.
When asked what one can do, he explained a good start would be to prioritize, explaining that while the battle for kedushas shabbos must maintain prominent significance, there are things more important than Intel.
“We of Zaka are the ones who deal with the consequences of such horrific incidents, and we mustn’t close our eyes. Action must be taken, appropriate action, such as in this case as the community becomes aware of a father’s deteriorating mental state”.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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16 Responses
Mental illness and all forms of abuse must be confronted by the frum community.
Shidduchim as a whole must be addressed. This mushchas of a father was divorced once before caused by abusing others. Was his new wife so desperate to ignore such obvious problems? Was she so utterly clueless not to realize that if he had a four year old, he was obviously married before, and it’s imperative to find the information?
This story has zero, zip, zilch to do with desperation from the lack of money. He was a crazed abusive man. Period.
“There are things more important then Intel.”
Very sadly so.
My understanding is, that this anti Intel kind of kano’us does not necessarily breed good middos either.
So when it’s said to follow “Das Torah”, does that mean Meshi-Zahav?
i happend to be there at bikur cholim hospital and i saw meshi zhav. sorri i did not see any of the above emotions; he looked more calm then i did, so please stop selling this stuff. we have gedolim and they decide; and sorry, meshi zhav may be a big askan but he is not a godol.
Sorry Meshi-Zhav, we emunim of Klal Yisroel believe b’kol lev that if we ignore problems then they magically disappear! Unless those problems happen to be ones of Chilul Shabbos, chalila chalila, in which case we must protest strongly and violently against our fellow Jew until either they do teshuva or hate us so much they abandon Yiddishkeit, which taka they’ve basically done anyway!
to artchill:
It’s amazing how you interpret the news in your mind via a wild imagination and then in your comment
present is as fact. Even the prosecution stated that he is not known to be a violent person. It’s also interesting to note how intelligent you are that you figured out that he was married before and no one else did…???…???
All the mitzvos of the Torah are important.
We have to take responsibility as a community by improving ourselves so that our children the continuation of Klal Yisrael have role models to emulate. Prevention is extremely powerful.
Mah hakesher between intel to this horrible story?
veChai Bahem. The chiyuv to even be mechallel Shabbas to try to save life is absolute. Perhaps if more people would take this tzaddik’s advice we might be zoche to geula.
Who put this mechutzaf, Mr. Meshi-Zahav, in ANY position to expound opinions on daas torah? We b”h have gedolei yisrael, who are to be consulted on each and every issue, and not a word is to be uttered that has not received full cleaerance and backing from our gedolim! If the great gaonei hador – Harav Tuvia Weiss,The Toldot Aharon Rebbe, The Belzer Rebbe, Harav Moshe Sterenbuch, Harav M.Y. Lifkowitz, Harav Tzadkah, Harav Shlesinger Shlit’a – were the partcipants in a protest against Intel, who is this peanut-brained shababnik (who is not known for his great hatmadah or bekiut) to say, especially to an anti-chareidi media outlet (hungry for any little bit of venom against the chareidi tzibur), that “we do not need Intel (protests)”?
It’s all too unfortunate that often these top dogs in otherwise commendable organizations, such as Zaka, let the media attention get to their heads. They seem to think that their klal work positions them to become “deah-zoggers” on everything from abuse to zero-tolerance in the Orthodox community. What a great kiddush Hashem it would have been if when querried by reporters from the non-religious world for his input on what-not he would instinctively retort: I have nothing to say, since we will only follow what are torah leaders say. Instead, they unfortunately fall into the trap of kavod and gaavah, offering terribly skewed opinions and advice.
We must know that there was never a time in Jewish history when there weren’t trouble-makers and troubled individuals. Even when Moshe Rabbeinu was our leader we had korach, datan and aviram, the erev-rav who caused great trouble and chilul Hashem. And it was the same during the reign of Yehoshua, and Kings Shaul, David and Shlomo, and the list goes on, through the biryonim at the time of the churban, zedokim-baitusim, etc. So it’s not any different today. We don’t have any apparatus for blocking out all deranged and abusive individuals from our midst. But, as the result of our being made a better people through the study and implemetation of the Holy Torah, our record is lightyears ahead (better) than any other group.
It’s sad to see the slanderous and venemous way in which many responders (comments) jump on any little tragic story that happens in our community that has any connection to abuse or criminal activity. Right away these poisonous snakes attack the entire chareidi community, and issue all kinds of pearls of wisdom for changing around the whole stucture of leadership within it. And this YWN wbsite will have a great accounting to give in shamayim for giving these corrupt comments their forum for discussion.
To #10: He’s not against demonstrating he said to prioritize. Human life takes precedence over chillul Shabbas.
“We don’t have any apparatus for blocking out all deranged and abusive individuals from our midst”
If we all suffered for Achan’s theft from Yericho even though nobody knew anything about it, it doesn’t bode well for us that this rasha was able to kill a little innocent neshama.
DaasTorahWtchdg, you say very well, although a bit too harsh.
Any time something happens with an individual you have all these people yelling, “ya see! the chareidim… they have all these problems in their midst…”
While of course, all problems should be dealt with, not everything is an alarm. The chance of every single person in our community being perfect, is impossible. We never claimed to have the antidote to free will. We do claim to have the best approach for anyone interested in perfecting himself. This can be judged by looking at those who actually follow the Derech, and see if it perfects them and if they can stand by it.
Anyhow, it happened and it is tragic. Sure you can learn a lesson from here, to be very careful and so on. But, to make this into a whole problem that we have is absurd.
In response to Daas Torah Wtchdg:
The Gemara Sanhedrin states that in the end of the days the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog. Perhaps the title watch DOG is appropriate. The author calls the head of ZAKA whom most Jews would consider an ADAM GADOL a mchutzav.
This is a man who saves lives daily through his work and the work of those he trained. to me Mr. Meshi Zahav is a tzadik.
He who saves a life in Israel is if he saved the whole world. Pirke Avoth
Additionaly, in the context of this precious little girl killed by her father referred to by the Watch DOG as” It’s sad to see the slanderous and venomous way in which many responders (comments) jump on any little tragic story that happens in our community that has any connection to abuse or criminal activity.” Perhaps like the Mishna in Avos infers the generation in the end of the days has lost its humanness, it we feel no empathy no sadness. Some feel like Dogs. Hashem Yerachaym
A well-trained shomeris (my wife has been one for 20 years) learns that abuse problems exist in the community – they are trained to look for signs of abuse in women. But for whatever the reason, the community seems unable to deal with the issues openly and honestly. We either are in denial or confuse the issues involved with questions of tznius.
Possible case in point:
In my community this coming motzoi Shabbos there will be a community wide event to address certain abuse issues that have been in the news over the past year, and flyers were posted in all shuls – in my shul, one of two that might be considered chareidi, they were taken down by persons unknown.
Out of sight – out of mind. Reminds me of advertisements that were on NJ Transit buses some 20 years ago, sponsored by the state’s Dental Association. “Ignore your teeth and they’ll go away.”
Watchdog: Before you wrote your bile driven post, did you perhaps consider the man was speaking truth, or a valid musar. Can you accept ideas based on their own merit, or must everything be filtered through your “daas Torah” If the latter, then I would have tell Halevi that we indeed do have an antidote to bechira choshis. We call it daas Torah. Now regarding this daas Torah, does it not raise any questions when there are clearly more than “just a couple of maladjusted youngsters that don’t represent us” creating riot and mayhem at most hafganot? Or that thousands if not tens of thousands are inconvenienced, or suffer monetary damage given the street closings and bus detours? Somebody at your daas Torah community is clearly asleep at the switch, and MeshiZahav is reflecting the voice of the tzibbur, a voice you apparently have no use for. Moderater: go ahead and edit.