"We Are Living in the Times of the Romans": Yeshiva Dean's Anguished Cry After Star Student Arrested at Night
The dean of a Givat Ze'ev yeshiva erupted in anguish after his top student was arrested overnight and handed to military police, comparing the draft enforcement campaign to the darkest periods of Roman persecution of Torah study.
The head of a prominent yeshiva woke up Wednesday morning to devastating news, one of his best students had been arrested overnight and handed to military police. What followed was one of the most raw and emotional responses yet to Israel's escalating yeshiva draft crisis.
Rabbi David Buaron, dean of the Kibbutz Givat Ze'ev Yeshiva, had parted from his student Reuven Lamnatzach at the end of the third study session, around 11 PM Tuesday night. By morning, activists from the "Chayei Olam" organization were calling to inform him that Lamnatzach had been arrested on Route 1, detained at the Beit Shemesh police station, and transferred to military police. A military court hearing is underway, with the expectation that the young man will receive five days in military detention.
Two additional yeshiva students, Yaakov Asban and Yaakov Elyasaf of the Mishkan David Yeshivam were simultaneously transferred to military authorities after being detained by the Benjamin Gate police station.
The Dean Speaks
In an impassioned address delivered at his yeshiva, Rabbi Buaron did not hold back:
"I saw him last night at the third session. He is a very serious and high-quality student, a diligent scholar who toils in Torah day and night, night and day. He is meticulous about all yeshiva schedules, arrives at 7 AM for morning prayers and doesn't leave the study hall until 11 at night. He comes from a good family in Bnei Brak and is considered one of our finest students."
On the arrest itself, the rabbi's voice filled with anguish: "Taking such a precious and special Torah scholar, this is exactly like the times of the Romans. The darkest of periods."
He described the fear now gripping the yeshiva world: "What is happening today is that excellent students won't even go to the dentist out of fear. A student has an earache and is afraid to go outside for treatment in case he encounters a police officer. Students are afraid to walk in the street, he is sick, so he stays home."
"They take students from the study halls without any wrongdoing on their part. They don't understand the gravity of their actions. Without Torah, we have nothing."
The rabbi concluded with a moment that captured both his despair and his faith: "How do they take Torah scholars, uproot them from their learning, shut their Gemara, and take them to prison? This is a surreal situation we have never known. We are working to calm the mother down. But the main thing, at least he has a Gemara there. He will be able to sit and learn."
The military court hearing for Reuven Lamnatzach is ongoing. The broader wave of yeshiva student arrests and transfers to military authorities continues to intensify across Israel.