A video of a left-wing activist harassing a Chabadnik as he was assisting two teens to don tefillin at Kikar HaBima in Tel Aviv drew widespread outrage from the public, both left and right, as well as praise for the Chabadnik for remaining calm and polite.
The woman first addressed the teens, talking as if the Chabadnik offering them a chance to don tefillin next to a stand in the middle of a densely populated public space is a suspected predator. “Did he promise you something? Candies? You don’t have to do it – you know?”
The Chabadnik said: “They don’t have to but they want to.” The woman responded: “I’m not talking to you right now.” Then turning to the boys again, she said: “Did he ask you? It’s forbidden according to the law, you’re a minor. The fact that he asked you something while you’re alone – where are your parents?”
The Chabadnik then said: “I’m watching my brothers. Every Jew is a dear brother.” She nastily responded: “I wasn’t talking to you. Be quiet.”
Turning to the boys again, she said: “The fact that an adult is requesting that you do things is against the law. You’re minors, it’s forbidden for you. It’s forbidden for him to ask you do these things.” The Chabadnik tried speaking up again and she said: “I wasn’t talking to you, shut up. Don’t engage in religionization with these children. It’s forbidden, you can go to jail.”
Following the spread of the video on social media, secular TV presenter Guy Lerer called on leftists to stop fighting against Chabad tefillin stands, stating: “My fellow secularists and liberals, people of truth and freedom, there are so many important struggles to wage, so many threats to public life – leave the polite Chabadniks and their stands alone.”
Secular comedian Guy Hochman wrote in response to the video: “This is horrifying. I’m not religious but I’m in love with Chabad.”
He continued by writing about all the good experiences and acts of kindness he received over the years from Chabad shluchim in various locations around the world.
“So thank you tzaddikim, don’t pay attention to this nonsense, you’re doing avodas kodesh. You’re the real ‘Foreign Ministry’ and you’re an example of a loving Yahadus. And remember what I say: in my next incarnation, I’m a Chabad shliach – at Kikar HaBima.”
But the best response by far was the message that right-wing journalist Yinon Magal received from someone who wrote that “in wake of the horrifying video, I took it upon myself to support the Chabad tefillin stand in the Florentine neighborhood [of Tel Aviv] for a year.”
שלום ינון
בעקבות הסרטון המזעזע לקחתי על עצמי להחזיק את דוכן הנחת התפילין של חב"ד בפלורנטין למשך שנה.
אחזקת הדוכן עולה 1000 שח בחודש. (סה"כ 12000 ש"ח)
מה שלא יגוייס- אני אשלים.https://t.co/cw6BrwZQMi
פרטי חשבון להעברה:
עמותת "יהדות וחסידות לכולנו". בנק פועלים 12 סניף 772 חשבון… pic.twitter.com/3oUxS78Ray— ינון מגל (@YinonMagal) July 4, 2023
The story follows an incident last month in which a Tel Aviv mayoral candidate waged a hate campaign against Chabad chassidim manning tefillin stands, calling them “missionaries” and inciting against their “religionization” of the city.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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21 Responses
The woman in this story sounds like the woman in the story who was ranting at a Chasiddic IDF officer for not serving in the IDF.
I am saddened by the fact that this young lad doesn’t own a pair of Tefillin
Shlomo Gerber (the Lubavitcher) shows an excellent example of Geon Yaakov, completely unwavering and unimpressed by the woman’s rants.
I think the most important line is what he says at the end (partly cut off at the end of this clip):
כל יהודי רוצה לעשות כל המצוות
Echoing the Rambam at the end of hilchos geirushin (oft quoted by the Rebbe) that every Jew wants to fulfill the mitzvos, yet sometimes his yetzer harah prevents him.
He also made an important point when he addressed the woman in a TV interview last night, that the true reason why she’s so disturbed is because she has a neshama that doesn’t give her comfort.
Hopefully this will inspire more Yidden to put on tefillin, and those who oppose it ח”ו will do complete teshuva, thus ushering in the geula.
As the Rambam writes:
כבר הבטיחה תורה שסוף ישראל לעשות תשובה בסוף גלותן ומיד הן נגאלין
Typicel in the so called jewish state,chillonim worser then gojim. A non Jedwish understands and has more respect then a woman that has zero idea over Yiddiskeit. Probably she has even a Chritmas tree at home for Christmas and a kruxifix instad a mesusah
But her faulty logic it should be illegal for any adult shopkeeper to sell anything including candy or ice cream (cart vendor) to a minor. Stupid hateful idiot. She’s the “katin” as in ktaine daas.
Kol HaKavod to the Chabad yid. Just comes to show that if you look at every yid with love, then you don’t respond with hate. He was prepared with every answer with a smile without getting flustered.
What the Chabadniks are doing is a kidush Hashem!
The left are the party of civility.
im a cold hearted litvak and i dislike the missionary vibes of chabad including the yichi song, BUT this video highlights our need for chabad. they reach out to yiddin that no one else even knows exist.
this shliach is a real tzadik and a gibor for keeping calm… its unbelivable that a lady in the so called jewish state speaks like a roman from 2000 years ago. Hashem yirachem
Surely a descendant of the original eirev rav.
So impressed at the Chabad guy’s composure!
And that woman: what a nut job…..
Just thinking – if this lady’s son will be stuck somewhere in India, I’m wondering who does she think will come rescue him and care for him!!??
Yankel
When I read what you wrote
It becomes clear that your education was subpar.
Isn’t it obvious that it’s too bad Yankeles
Yeshiva didn’t do a better job at teaching him English.
Bail set a pair of tephilon for the kids
Any school that can’t agree to have a pair of tephilon for the kids to use can’t have a picture of the Rebbe no school hates religion
Nasty woman.
@Nowayjose,
she’s not just nasty.
she’s stupid, ignorant, a rashanta but more than anything a perfect product of zionism.
Nebach, can you imagine? Her father, or grandfather- somewhere in the line not to long ago probably not only would wear tefillin, but a proper religious Jew/ess.
What disturbed her so much that she had to the whole time repeat lo dibarti lecha ( i didn’t speak to you), it seems it was more her fear and hatred than “worry” and “concern”.
@Yashar,
I know, he really did keep his cool.
These chabad’kers have real hearts (i don’t agree with a lot they do but you can’t mach avek what they do good).
I sat next to a Lubavitcher recently on the way back from Eretz Yisrael, and the same, he kept himself with such purity, humbleness and politeness!
This is nothing new. R’ Akiva himself said that before he learned Torah, when he was an am ho’oretz, he would have bitten a ben torah like a donkey (ie – a bite that breaks bones)
תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף מט עמוד ב
אמר רבי עקיבא כשהייתי עם הארץ אמרתי מי יתן לי תלמיד חכם ואנשכנו כחמור
This unfortunate lady (she was probably born chiloni – her parents or grandparents left the fold) has a very natural hatred for Torah – true Jews. As do all the Left.
Well done for the way he reacted – and we all have to daven for them;
השיבנו אבינו לתורתך, וקרבנו מלכנו לעבודתיך
we are not only davening that we should grow and shteig in our Avodas Hashem, we have to have the chilonim in mind too (and all the kids OTD and at risk), them and us, should ALL come closer to Hashem, we should ALL improve in our Torah, our Bein Odom l’Chavero, in the Mitzvos Bein Odom laMokom….
I am waiting to hear from the “regulars” that start foaming from their mouth whenever they see “chabad”.
I wait to hear them howling at the moon about “Chabad propoganda”, and “inappropriate to leig tefillin in the streets”, and “messianics” etc…
Because, such howling harmonizes well with the howling of these leftist haters, a symphony of hatred against fellow yidden.
@GotAGoodPoint,
this has nothing to do with Rebi Akiva.
It is shocking and disgraceful that you make such a comparison.
We are talking her, not about an ignoramus who hates due to an inner jealousy which he hides as hatred.
We are talking about a lowlife, trained from birth to hate the very essence of the yid that she bumped into, her leftist, terrorist loving warped beliefs all come back to the same twisted diabolical hatred her parents diligently instilled in her.
The fact that she answered with such hatred when he was willing to make polite conversation shows you we are not talking about the regular “nebach apikores”. we are talking about someone with deep seated hatred.