Outrage in Haifa After Bereaved Brother is Arrested at Memorial Tefillin Stand
A Chabad Hasid honoring his fallen brother in Haifa was detained and his tefillin stand confiscated. Now, the Ministry of National Security is stepping in with a harsh warning to city officials.
The Director-General of the Ministry of National Security, Raphael Engel, has issued a sharp demand for an immediate investigation following the controversial arrest of a bereaved brother who set up a tefillin stand in memory of his fallen sibling.
The incident, which occurred approximately one month ago in Haifa, involved Menachem Cohen, a Chabad Hasid and the brother of Sgt. Shneur Zalman Cohen, a religious soldier who fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip. Menachem had set up a small stand to help passersby put on tefillin as a tribute to his brother’s memory, displaying a sign with Shneur’s photograph.
According to eyewitness reports and social media footage, a Haifa municipal enforcement vehicle arrived at the scene near a local school. Inspectors reportedly confiscated the stand and the memorial sign before detaining Cohen in the vehicle.
In a letter sent to Haifa Municipality Director-General David Luria, Raphael Engel characterized the event as a "grave grievance" and a "desecration of the memory" of a fallen IDF soldier.
“It appears, on the surface, that this was an enforcement action that is not within the authority of the local enforcement system,” Engel wrote. He has summoned municipal representatives to a mandatory hearing in Jerusalem to clarify the city’s policies regarding religious stands and memorial activities.
The arrest sparked widespread anger across the political and religious spectrum, particularly given Cohen’s status as a bereaved family member. Rabbi Yehuda Ginzburg, a Chabad emissary in Haifa, expressed shock at the city's conduct.
“For over 50 years, Chabad has operated in Haifa with a positive atmosphere,” Ginzburg stated. “We expect the Haifa Municipality to apologize and work in coordination with this important activity. We trust this was a one-time error and not a permanent policy.”
Israel Police previously responded to the backlash by claiming the detention was not related to the tefillin stand itself, but rather a result of a "confrontation" and "noise violation" complaints from municipal inspectors. However, the National Security Ministry's intervention suggests that the central government views the local inspectors' conduct as a potential overreach of power.
The Haifa Municipality has been ordered to provide a comprehensive review of the incident and its enforcement protocols to ensure such an event does not recur.