Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Motzei Shabbos about the partial shutdown being imposed on Israel, the Health Ministry issued a new order on Sunday morning requiring all educational facilities including yeshivos gedolos and ketanos and kollelim to close down.
Many yeshivohs, kollelim and Talmidei Torah opened on Sunday as usual after but Israel Police came to the yeshivohs and chadarim that opened and blocked the entrances.
A Jerusalem municipality security officer prevented students from entering the Achiezer Talmud Torah in Bayit Vegan. Officers also arrived at the Chachmas Shlomo Talmud Torah and the Ateres HaTorah yeshivah ketana in Ramot Daled to prevent learning sessions from taking place.
In Petach Tikvah, police arrived at several chadarim in the city that opened and agreed to allow the children to learn in small groups on Sunday but told the schools that beginning on Monday, any learning sessions in schools will be considered a criminal violation.
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Police also arrived at the Ohr Yisrael yeshivah in Petach Tikvah. Later on Sunday, Rosh Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael Harav Yigal Rosen, after consulting with Hagaon Harav Gershon Edelstein, announced that he is closing the yeshivah.
Hagaon Rosh Yeshiva Harav Gershon Edelstein, who usually delivers his shiur to hundreds of bochurim and avreichim at Ponevezh, delivered his shiur on Sunday to a minyan of students in his home. The rest of the avreichim and bochurim listened to the shiur by telephone hookup. Learning in the beis medrash of Ponevezh continued as usual.
In Santz, every young kollel avreich is learning with a group of nine children.
The daily shiur of the gaon Harav Itamar Garbuz was held under the open sky on the roof of the beis medrash of Yeshivah Orchos Torah in Bnei Brak.
The Eidah Chareidis held a meeting on Sunday morning regarding the government’s restrictions and decided that the ganim and girls’ schools will be closed but the cheder boys will learn in small groups.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
Israel Police came to the yeshivohs and chadarim that opened and blocked the entrances. May anyone who Heaven Forbid blocks even 1 student from studying words of תורה just when we are most in need of רחמי-שמים מרובים merit severe swift Divine retribution!!
Oh so this is like Rabban Gamliels Beis Medrash now
Very similar to the story of Chanukah. The secular Israeli government are the current day misyavnim. Will the Torah velt go down like helpless sheep or will they take a stand?
אין עוד מלבדו, they’re not doing it, Hashem is doing it, like He’s doing everything else in this world, עשה ועושה ויעשה לכל המעשים, and we have to try to figure out what He’s trying to tell us through these shlichim. I read that police in Antwerp raided shuls on Shabbos and theatened next time to fine each mispalel 350 Euros. Whenever I hear of shuls having problems I wonder if they need to be more careful about talking during davening. We all could do to work on this.
Hey, if they do not like the new rules they can leave. Not sure what country will take them though
The Zionists are proud of themselves. A bad case of flu, and they feel they can finally ban Torah and Mitsvos. This is similar to the annual flu, and in no way resembles infamous epidemics in the past.
Any society that is taking precautions is one that cares about human life. The German government is not doing anything and is letting the virus take its course. That is cruel. Kudos to the Israeli government for putting this in place to protect the elderly and frail.
If we know that close proximity is 100 percent certain to increase communal spread, it would be reckless to keep yeshivas open for t next few weeks until the infection curve starts trending downward. The talmidim should learn online through virtual shiurim using one of several easily accessed software packages. Those without computers can listen in by phone. Anyone who tries to violate the closing rule, whoever they are, should be immediately arrested and charged with endanger public health. This is not the time for the police to show restraint or worry about offending the sensibilities of either the frum or secular tzibur. Hopefully, this will all recede within several months, but for now this is an existential crisis for EY and other countries.