A chareidi solidarity initiative called "Prison 1000" handed out grants totaling NIS 147,000 to 15 yeshiva students and kollel men who had been held in military prison. The money was distributed at a large gathering in Bnei Brak on Saturday night, November 14, attended by leading rabbis, yeshiva heads and rabbinical judges.
Bnei Brak Solidarity Event
NIS 147,000 for 15 Jailed Yeshiva Students
The "Prison 1000" initiative, which pays NIS 1,000 for every day a yeshiva student spends in military prison, handed out its grants at a Bnei Brak gathering on Saturday night addressed by Rabbi Chaim Feinstein.
The event, titled "The Honor of Torah," took place at the Armonot Chen event halls after the end of Shabbat. Kikar HaShabbat reported that tens of thousands of people attended, among them yeshiva students and kollel men, and described the evening as a show of support for students detained over what it called their firm stand in guarding Torah study. The full name of the initiative is "Prison 1000: Guarantors for Torah."
The central moment of the evening was the formal presentation of the grants. Each of the 15 recipients was called to the stage to singing and applause. The organizers described the men as having refused to compromise "on the smallest detail" of their Torah study. Rabbis on the dais handed out the checks, and the funds are to be transferred to the recipients' accounts within 24 hours.
The initiative launched about two months ago on a simple premise. It pays NIS 1,000 for each day a yeshiva student is held in military prison over his commitment to Torah study. Members pay up to one shekel per day of detention through a monthly charge. According to the report, the scheme quickly grew into a mass movement with tens of thousands of participants from across chareidi communities and streams.
Kikar HaShabbat said the grants show in practice the initiative's promise that no yeshiva student or his family will carry the financial burden of detention alone. Israeli media covered the initiative widely in recent weeks, focusing on the NIS 1,000-per-day payments.
The keynote address was given by Rabbi Chaim Feinstein, a yeshiva head who has closely followed the issue of detained yeshiva students since it began. He is remembered for standing in tears at the gates of Military Prison 10 on behalf of his yeshiva's students who had been arrested. The crowd rose and sang for several minutes as he entered the hall.
Feinstein opened with words of encouragement for the detainees. He said their stand against pressure was living proof of the strength of the Jewish spirit. "The reality in which a Torah scholar sits behind bars solely because his whole desire is to study God's Torah is a badge of honor with nothing greater, for those precious ones who have merited to sanctify God's name in public," he said. "Let no one think they are alone. The entire Torah world, and the entire Jewish people, stand behind them as one man with one heart."
He went on to describe Torah study as the foundation of the world's existence. "Whoever thinks that prison and threats can weaken the voice of Torah does not understand what Torah is or the strength of those who study it," Feinstein said. "On the contrary, every day of such self-sacrifice adds another layer of merit and protection for the whole Jewish people. The tremendous participation of thousands of Jews in this event proves that Torah learners are as dear to the Jewish people as the apple of their eye."
Several other rabbis who support the initiative and oversee its religious and public conduct also addressed the crowd. Rabbi Shlomo Machpud, a member of the Council of Torah Sages, praised the students' steadfastness and encouraged those working to support the detainees. Rabbi Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, head of the Ateret Shlomo yeshiva, spoke of the privilege that had fallen to the detained students and of the duty to stand by them.
Rabbi Zvi Braverman and Rabbi Tofik, judges on the initiative's presidium, head its special rabbinical court. That court reviews each case under the initiative's rules and in keeping with Jewish law. Rabbi Eliyahu Pozen, another member of the presidium, also attended.
Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, head of the Vizhnitz rabbinical court and eldest son of the Vizhnitz Rebbe, brought greetings on behalf of the Vizhnitz court. During the evening the crowd recited a chapter of Psalms, verse by verse, for the recovery of the Vizhnitz Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael ben Leah Esther.
Rabbi Lior Glazer, head of the Petach HaDvir institutions, also delivered an address on the power of Torah and mutual responsibility.
The evening was hosted by Rabbi Yosef Fishman and Rabbi Itche Dzalovsky of the "Kav HaMeida" information line, who are among the initiative's founders and backers. The Achim Anachnu organization provided support for the event. Plinker Communications and Public Relations handled production, logistics and media. Music was performed by the Malchus choir, singer Yossi Leifer and keyboardist Shloimy Buchner, and the event was broadcast live by C-Live.
The gathering ended late at night with dancing. The management of Prison 1000 thanked the activists, volunteers and members of the public who helped organize the event.
