As the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee prepares to open formal deliberations on the new draft-law proposal, we retrace the dramatic weeks of intensive consultation inside the homes of the gedolim of Degel HaTorah and Shas, meetings that ultimately led the gedolim to instruct their MKs to advance the bill. What follows is a step-by-step account of the long discussions, the halachic weighing of details, and the final ruling to allow the legislative process to proceed.
Last week, after months of uncertainty, the Gedolei Yisroel of both Degel HaTorah and Shas delivered a joint directive to their Knesset representatives permitting the draft-law proposal to move forward to committee debate. The decision was the result of coordinated, methodical examination among the leaders, who had reviewed the law extensively before issuing authorization.
According to political estimates, the draft legislation is expected to reach the committee table within days, allowing official deliberations to begin. Rabbonim involved in the process concluded that the current situation—where no law exists, funding for Torah institutions has been slashed, and thousands of yeshiva families face severe financial harm—poses immediate and serious danger. From their perspective, advancing the bill became a necessary step to stabilize the yeshivah world and prevent mass legal exposure for bochurim in the coming months.
The crisis is acute: Within about 90 days, thousands of yeshiva students would face automatic prosecution, as if they were common criminals, due to the legal vacuum. Simultaneously, mosdos haTorah are struggling to absorb both steep cuts to government funding and a troubling decline in donations. Rabbinic leaders believe that once the law passes, the legal status of the bochurim and the financial stability of the Torah world will, at least temporarily, be protected. Even if the law is eventually struck down by the High Court, the breathing room gained could help prevent catastrophic damage.
The decisive process began inside the home of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, where Degel HaTorah MKs—Moshe Gafni, Uri Maklev, Yaakov Asher, and former MK Yitzchok Pindrus—presented him with the draft text. Rav Dov Landau had given his approval for Rav Hirsch to analyze the proposal in depth and issue a ruling. For roughly two hours, Rav Hirsch reviewed the law line-by-line, raising questions, correcting formulations, and outlining the conditions that would be required before moving forward. At the end of the meeting, he informed the MKs that he would continue reviewing the draft overnight before giving a final answer.
Throughout the night, Rav Hirsch studied the document repeatedly, placing the draft beside his bed to review again and again. By the next day, he reached the conclusion that the bill could proceed, provided certain amendments were negotiated with Committee Chairman Boaz Bismuth and the committee’s legal advisors. Associates say the Rosh Yeshivah “studied every detail with precision.”
Rav Hirsch then consulted with a group of senior roshei yeshivah, including Rav Dov Landau, Rav Berel Povarsky, and Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman, along with additional gedolim across both the Litvishe and Sephardic Torah communities. He also made several visits to Rav Landau’s home to hear his perspective. Rav Landau, after hearing Rav Hirsch’s analysis and considering the broader situation, told him that MKs could indeed vote in favor of the law.
With the mutual agreement of Rav Landau and Rav Hirsch, Degel HaTorah issued a formal statement on Wednesday morning announcing that the Gedolim had granted “green light” approval to advance the bill.
Later that week, Rav Povarsky hosted a gathering attended by Rav Landau and Rav Hirsch. Addressing the matter of the yeshiva students’ status, Rav Povarsky spoke emotionally about the need to ensure that those who dedicate themselves to learning be allowed to continue without harassment or fear. “How can one harm bnei Torah who immerse themselves from morning to night in Torah learning and even call them evaders?” he asked painfully. Rav Landau added that “there is enormous ignorance in the general public about this subject. They don’t understand that the Torah—and only the Torah—protects Am Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel.” Rav Hirsch explained that the current draft preserves the ability of sincere yeshiva bochurim to learn as in previous generations.
In parallel, Shas also conducted its own extended review. Ariel Atias and MK Yinon Azoulay presented the full details of the law to the Shas committee established by the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah and headed by Rav Shmuel Betzalel. About three weeks ago, the committee spent a long session studying every clause, then deliberated internally. With authority granted to them by the Moetzet, the committee instructed Atias and Azoulay that Shas may proceed with committee discussions—while continuing to refine the bill through further consultation with the rabbinic committee.
Thus, Shas too adopted the same position as Degel HaTorah: to move forward out of necessity to protect lomdei Torah under present conditions. The united approach was maintained throughout the process until both parties received their Gedolim’s authorization.
The Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah released its own letter last week stating, “Together with the sages and leaders of the generation, we must enter into the depths of this matter and devote our strength to it, for this concerns us directly. There is real danger to the continued existence of the glorious Torah world established by Maran zt”l, whether from arrests—carried out disgracefully, especially against Sephardic bnei Torah—or from the ongoing crisis that threatens to break bochurim and their families. We cannot remain silent while the holy is being destroyed.”
A source close to the Moetzet noted that while some activists prefer to target MKs through protests and pashkvilim, they avoid directing anger toward the Gedolim themselves and therefore seek easier political targets. But in reality, he said, “on this issue, which is so essential to the chareidi community, the decision rests solely with the Gedolei Yisroel, and they guide the members of Knesset. The demonstrations are pointless—they carry no weight with those who actually decide: the Gedolim.”
Regarding complaints from bochurim about possible restrictions in the proposed law—such as limits on traveling abroad or future conditions on holding a driver’s license—one senior mechanech pointed out that such limitations existed even during the Tal Law years. “For many years, a yeshiva bochur who received a draft deferment was not permitted to leave the country. That was always understood. Deferment is meant only for those who truly sit and learn. So it’s unclear why some young people are upset today over similar restrictions.”
He added, “If someone is genuinely learning and seeking to be included in the deferment framework, these things should not trouble him. A serious bochur isn’t focused on traveling abroad or constantly going on trips. And if someone is bothered by that and wants to fly around and enjoy himself, perhaps he shouldn’t be the one deciding the fate of the Torah world.”
This long, multi-layered process—spanning meetings, consultations, halachic evaluations, and cross-party coordination—ultimately produced a unified verdict from the leading Torah authorities: despite imperfections and the fear that the High Court may eventually strike it down, the draft law must advance now to protect the yeshiva world from far greater harm.
{Matzav.com}
