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Maran Rav Dov Landau, Slabodka rosh yeshiva, sharply condemned remarks attributed to former Israeli journalist Rina Matzliach, who reportedly said that when she arrives somewhere and sees chareidim, she moves away, declaring that “a civilized person doesn’t talk like that.”

The exchange took place during Sukkos, when members of Degel HaTorah, led by United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher, visited Rav Landau in his sukkah. During the lengthy meeting, the group discussed the approaching elections and received the Rosh Yeshiva’s bracha.

Rav Landau also warmly blessed Dudi Zaltz, who is overseeing the party’s information campaign and is expected to become a member of the Knesset.

In newly released footage from the meeting, Asher raised remarks attributed to Matzliach and described them to Rav Landau.

“There is a former journalist — today she just has opinions,” Asher said, identifying Matzliach. “She said that when she arrives somewhere and sees chareidim there, she runs to the side.”

Asher told Rav Landau that he believed similar language directed at another sector of Israeli society would have generated outrage.

“If I would say such a thing, chalilah, about the Arab sector, they would accuse me of antisemitism,” Asher said.

Rav Landau appeared puzzled by the remark and asked Asher what supposedly prompted Matzliach’s reaction.

“Why did she say that? Why does she run away?” the Rosh Yeshiva asked.

“She apparently can’t be with chareidim,” Asher responded.

Rav Landau immediately replied: “She should go to a doctor.”

Asher responded that Matzliach’s decision to avoid chareidim was not what concerned him.

“I’m not worried that she runs away,” Asher said.

Rav Landau then remarked: “She’s also a liar — she doesn’t run away.”

“Imagine if someone chareidi would say such a thing,” Asher added.

Rav Landau then delivered his strongest response to the comments.

“A hateful person — not just hateful, a primitive hater — talks like that. A civilized person doesn’t talk like that. These are uncivilized people,” Rav Landau said.

The meeting was one of several political gatherings held at Rav Landau’s home over Sukkos, as senior Degel HaTorah figures consulted with the Rosh Yeshiva ahead of the upcoming elections.

During the meetings, Rav Landau reportedly stressed that the Olam HaTorah is approaching what he described as a “fateful and existential campaign.”

Among those who came to receive detailed guidance from Rav Landau were the new UTJ chairman, Yaakov Asher, and veteran MK Yitzchok Pindrus.

They were joined by Dudi Zaltz, who heads the party’s information campaign; Yehuda Weissfish, director of its communities campaign; prospective MKs Moshe Rosenthal and David Ohana; and former MK Eliyahu Baruchi.

Following their meeting with Rav Landau, the Degel HaTorah representatives visited fellow Slabodka rosh yeshiva Maran Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

{Matzav.com}

Ninety-six yeshiva bochurim and avreichim who were recently imprisoned in Israeli military prisons after refusing to enlist in the IDF each received a $500 grant Monday in a special event honoring what organizers described as their mesirus nefesh for limud haTorah.

The initiative was funded by American philanthropist Ari Schwartz, who has close ties to members of the IDF’s chareidi Chashmonean Brigade. Altogether, Schwartz distributed $48,000 to the 96 recipients, who have become known in the chareidi community as the “Prisoners of the Torah World.”

The grants were presented as a gesture of both financial assistance and recognition for the bochurim and avreichim who served time in military prison after declining to enlist.

Those behind the initiative said Schwartz wanted to demonstrate publicly the importance he places on limud haTorah and to express his opposition to what they described as “the great injustice of throwing those who toil in Torah into prison.”

Schwartz has recently attracted attention for his involvement with members of the Hasmonean Brigade. During Chol Hamoed Sukkos, he sponsored an elaborate Simchas Bais Hashoeivah for members of the unit at the Vista halls in Yerushalayim.

Monday’s event, however, focused on those from the chareidi community who followed the instructions of their rabbonim and refused military service. Organizers said the $500 grants were reserved specifically for individuals who had been imprisoned over their refusal to enlist and who had acted in accordance with the direction of Gedolei Yisroel.

At the height of the gathering, envelopes containing $500 were handed to each of the 96 former military prisoners.

Participants thanked Schwartz for what they described as both material and moral support, saying the grants provided significant chizuk to those who had endured imprisonment rather than depart from the path laid out for them by their rabbonim.

The event comes amid the continuing confrontation over the military status of chareidi yeshiva bochurim in Israel, with arrests and prison sentences becoming increasingly prominent following the expiration of the previous legal framework governing yeshiva deferments.

{Matzav.com}