In a strong Motzoei Shabbos address, former Sefardic chief rabbi Rav Yitzchak Yosef issued a stark warning about what he described as an escalating wave of incitement against bnei Torah, including from parts of the Religious Zionist community.
Speaking at his weekly shiur at the Yazdim shul in Yerushalayim , the Chief Rabbi said: “There is very sharp incitement today against bnei Torah. Some from the knitted kippah camp — not all, but some — are guilty of this. It’s terrible and frightening. Their outlooks are simply horrifying. Among them — and I stress, not all — are people who fit the description of ‘Who will give me a Torah scholar so I may bite him like a donkey?’ A donkey bites deep. That’s how intense their hatred is for yeshivah bochurim.”
He continued with a plea for spiritual change: “May HaKadosh Baruch Hu bring them to teshuvah. They are harder to bring back than others. May they return, and may everyone merit a proper hashkafah. There is nothing like Torah.”
Turning directly to yeshiva students, Rav Yosef offered encouragement and support: “You are protecting Am Yisrael. You are protecting the soldiers. That’s why I published a letter this week to strengthen the bochurim as we approach the end of zeman, so there won’t be any slackening — so they continue learning with hasmadah.”
This is not the first time the Chief Rabbi has weighed in on the issue. Last week, he commented on the proposed draft law currently being debated, saying: “Now the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah must deliberate over the draft law. If the heads of the government, the ministers, and the Knesset members knew how much bnei Torah protect the army and the entire world — they would reward them double, not impose sanctions or the like.”
{Matzav.com Israel}