A source told World Israel News that Angel Bakery, the largest bread chain in the country, is shutting down branches in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, where it is no longer worthwhile to remain open. 

By World Israel News Staff

A boycott by the Haredi community against Angel Bakery, Israel’s largest bakery chain, is taking its toll.

Angel Bakery, which is headquartered in Jerusalem but provides baked goods to restaurants, supermarkets, and stores throughout the country, sells price-controlled and government-subsidized products that are a staple in millions of homes in Israel. But sales plummetted tremendously since the start of the boycott a month ago.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers called for the boycott at the beginning of May after its chairman, former public security minister Omer Bar-Lev, protested outside the home of 100-year-old Ashkenazi scion Rabbi Gershon Edelstein in Bnei Brak.

Bar-Lev had posted a photo of himself with the “Brothers in Arms” protest group on Twitter, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin of bribing the Haredi parties to “vote in favor of the coup d’état,” referring to the government’s plans for judicial reform, in exchange for the the Draft Law, exempting young ultra-Orthodox men from the army.

Several lawmakers and religious community leaders slammed Bar-Lev. MK Limor Son Har-Melech (Religious Zionism), for example, told Kan News, “It cannot be that the chair of Angel’s Board of Directors goes to protest at the home of one of the greatest [rabbis] of this generation. Bar-Lev’s remarks are very problematic, hostile, deeply hateful, and ignorant of this world.”

“The boycott will end when Omer Bar-Lev faces judgment. The boycott needs to continue until he is fired,” she added.

The Haredi community demanded that Bar-Lev be fired for disrespecting the Torah and the revered spiritual leader.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Edelstein – head of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Israel and head of the renowned Ponovezh yeshiva – passed away last week after a sudden deterioration in health. Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life attended the funeral.

A source who requested anonymity told World Israel News that Angel is suffering tremendously due to the boycott, despite the fact that the company tried ignoring it.

“Every day,” the source said, “they have tons of unsold goods. Their business is seriously impacted, to the point where they are shutting down branches in Haredi neighborhoods because it’s not profitable for them.”

Perhaps due to the company’s profound losses, Bar-Lev paid a condolence call to the family during the shiva mourning period and offered his “sincere apologies” for the insult. In a letter, he wrote:

“I view the existence of the Torah and its students as an important value in Jewish tradition, that is not what I protested against.

“If I had been made aware of the situation we found ourselves in, and the perceived offense, I surely would have refrained from this action. For this, I am sorry and apologize sincerely.”

He was accompanied by the company’s CEO Yaron Angel, who also wrote a letter of apology.

“We should have said this immediately after the protest and expressed our sorrow. In real time, we thought such a reaction would involve the firm in political matters in which, for decades, we have not wanted to get involved,” he said, although the demonstration in front of the rabbi’s home was purely political.

“But this silence was interpreted as a further insult. We are sorry for this and apologize wholeheartedly,” he concluded.

Before the rabbi’s passing, none other than Yoel Speigel, a grandson of the bakery’s late founder, defended Bar-Lev in a now-deleted Facebook post that added insult to injury.

“There is no limit to the chutzpah on the part of the ultra-Orthodox public in Israel,” he said. “They eat for free … evade army service, have dark opinions and, above all, are hypocrites!”

Spiegel’s comments triggered additional calls for yeshivas and grocery stores owned by community members to avoid stocking Angel Bakery products.

“Rabbi Edelstein is one of the spiritual giants of the people of Israel. One of the greatest righteous men of our generation. Hurting him is hurting me. It is an insult to all who love God. I’m not able to eat one bun from Angel after all of this,” said Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of Israel’s most prominent Religious Zionist rabbis.

“This is not revenge. This is a public campaign regarding the character of the State of Israel. Those who care about the State of Israel will not buy Angel products until they mend their ways,” he stated.

“There are enough other bakeries that know how to bake delicious challah for Shabbat. And if you don’t find it, it’s better to eat rye bread and not eat [Angel’s] challah.”

President Isaac Herzog reportedly helped coordinate Bar-Lev’s shiva visit.

Begging forgiveness, Bar-Lev concluded his letter with the words “mode ve’ozev yerucham,” a biblical verse generally translated as “mercy will be shown to those who admit a mistake and desist from it,” Times of Israel reported.

Ultra-Orthodox Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri responded that the apology demonstrates the purchasing power of the large Haredi population. He also used the phrase, indicating that the boycott could be over.

The post POWER OF BOYCOTT: Israel’s largest bread chain suffers huge losses, begs forgiveness from rabbi’s family appeared first on World Israel News.

Rabbi Baruch Dov Povarsky, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein’s successor as head of the world famous Ponevezh Yeshiva, compared the late Lithuanian Charedi leader to Moses in his eulogy during Tuesday’s funeral.

Below is a video of the late rabbi’s modest home.

The post WATCH: Small and modest home belonging to late rabbi ‘on par with Moses’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Tens of thousands of mourners gathered at the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak for the funeral of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.

The post WATCH: Tens of thousands gather in Bnei Brak to mourn passing of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein appeared first on World Israel News.

The funeral of the 100-year-old rabbi in Bnei Brak, respected by people from all walks of life, is expected to draw tens of thousands of mourners.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, leader of ultra-Orthodox Lithuanian Jewry in Israel, passed away Tuesday morning at the age age 100.

The venerable rabbi had been hospitalized since Friday, when he fell ill during the Shavuot holiday.

A rabbinic leader for many years and head of the famed Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak for the last two decades, Rabbi Edelstein took charge of the political decisions made by the Council of Torah Sages after his esteemed colleague, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, died just over a year ago.

The Council guides the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party in the Knesset

Although Rabbi Edelstein ruled that the Belzer Rebbe should withdraw from a plan whereby the Hasidic network of schools would incorporate basic secular studies in exchange for more government funding, he was more accepting of non-religious people than many other ultra-Orthodox leaders.

In his rulings, he related their non-observance to ignorance of Torah rather than any inherent evil.  Statements included, for example, “If they give their souls to save others out of love for others, they have a place in the afterlife,” just like those who have given up their lives to sanctify God’s name. Some saw this as cracking the door open for haredi enlistment in the IDF.

Israeli political and religious leaders mourned his death.

“Today the world of Torah along with the entire Jewish People has lost a wise and renowned leader…whose entire life was holiness,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “I mourn his passing and send my most heartfelt condolences to the members of his family.”

Netanyahu added that he had met the rabbi several months ago, “and the light that shone in his eyes was full of understanding.”

He also noted that the rabbi had begun his Torah path under very trying conditions. “Rabbi Edelstein always remembered the days of his youth in Soviet Russia in which he was obliged to study Torah in secret,” which led to his “never tak[ing] anything for granted. On the contrary, the responsibility for shaping the spiritual image of masses of Jews guided him day and night.”

Edelstein immigrated to Israel with his family in 1934. He and his brother studied Torah intensively with their father before becoming members in 1943 of the first class of the Ponevezh Yeshiva that he would one day lead.

Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi, David Lau, said that Edelstein “strongly and decidedly led the Jewish People even at his ripe age,” and that the rabbi had given him “guidance and wise advice in all religious matters until very recently.”

On behalf of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, Gush Etzion Mayor and Yesha Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman mourned the loss of “a righteous giant” who was “a Torah genius, minister, and true leader of Israel.”

“The world of Torah is the important foundation for our lives, and for our existence in this country,” he said. “We will continue to learn, build, and teach with all our might, even at this difficult moment. May his memory be a blessing.”

Noted Orthodox women’s educator and public speaker Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi wrote of the particular cost of losing a leader who exemplified warmth to everyone, no matter their background.

“It’s never a good time for such a righteous man to be taken, but if there was ever a time when we needed a figure like Rabbi Edelstein, if there were ever a time when we could not afford such a loss, then that time is now,” she wrote.

“During a time of terrible divisions, when many view people who are merely different to them as evil, Rabbi Edelstein shone with his love of fellow man, his attention to every student, every issue presented to him and everyone he saw.”

The rabbi’s funeral Tuesday afternoon in his hometown of Bnei Brak is expected to draw tens of thousands of mourners; police have shut down the major roads within the city and routes leading to it to accommodate the crowds. Many more buses and trains have been added to their Bnei Brak routes to encourage people to use public transportation, as private vehicles will not be allowed to enter or exit the city.

The post ‘His entire life was holiness’: Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, leader of ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewry, dies appeared first on World Israel News.

“The guy was insane. He disgracefully screamed at the head of the yeshiva,” eyewitnesses said.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

Police in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly attempting to assault Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, over his support for the government’s coronavirus vaccination campaign.

“The guy was insane. He disgracefully screamed at the head of the yeshiva, and only by a miracle did we manage to overcome him,” eyewitnesses told Kikar HaShabbat.

“At the last moment, by the grace of heaven, physical injury to the head of the yeshiva was avoided. A large police force was called to the scene and arrived quickly,” the witnesses said.

The 97-year-old rabbi was walking home after teaching at the Ponevezh Yeshiva when a man in his 20s is said to have approached him shouting about coronavirus vaccines and military service for yeshiva students.

According to a police statement, “Officers arrived on scene and observed the suspect in a rage and shouting.”

The suspect was arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation. He will be brought to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court for a hearing on the extension of his detention.

“It should be noted that since the outbreak of the virus, Gaon Rabbi Gershon Edelstein had been the leader of those calling upon the public to comply with the Ministry of Health’s orders and to follow the guidance,” the Ministry of Health said in a December 2020 statement.

“Gaon Rabbi Gershon Edelstein’s departure from his home at Rabad Street in Bnei Brak to receive the vaccination delivers a clear and unequivocal message to the public. It deflects the false claims against the vaccines,” the statement said.

According to the Ministry of Health, Rabbi Edelstein, who serves as the president of the Degel HaTorah party’s Council of Torah Sages, called on the public to “Go get vaccinated with all due haste.”

For those who remain reluctant to receive the new mRNA vaccine even after Rabbi Edelstein’s endorsement, the city of Bnei Brak began offering free meals of cholent last month as an incentive.

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Rabbis’ representatives issue joint statement after haredi party’s newspaper refuses to print letter instructing the reopening of the sector’s schools.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The two most senior rabbis leading the ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, world issued a highly unusual joint statement Tuesday night assuring their followers that they were working together to deal with the coronavirus, in an effort to smooth over differences that came to light earlier in the day.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky had sent a letter to the haredi newspaper Yated Ne’eman right before press time on Monday calling for the reopening of all schools in the sector while obeying distancing regulations, due to the supreme importance of learning Torah.

According to the network, the management then went to consult with the second-most important leader, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, who said that they should not publish it.

Such a countermand is almost unprecedented in the haredi world, and when news of it broke, it immediately raised fears in the community that a split might be in the offing.

Within hours, however, representatives of the two rabbis rushed out a statement saying that the report was untrue. The real story was that Rabbi Edelstein had asked Rabbi Kanievsky that it not be printed until a few “side points” were clarified, and the latter had agreed to the request.

The statement also said that a joint team had been established “to find the right way to enable the new semester to begin” in all haredi seminaries “as soon as possible.” However, the statement threatened that if no real progress is made, the leaders will weigh taking unspecified “extremely severe steps” in response.

The supposed differences between the two pre-eminent Torah sages, who consult regularly on religious matters, can be attributed to their contrasting roles in the haredi world.

Rabbi Edelstein is the president of the Council of Torah Sages that sets policy for the Degel Hatorah party in the Knesset. As such, he is much more involved in worldly matters than Rabbi Kanievsky, who is known for his total involvement in Torah study and dependence on others for news on any kind of secular issue.

When Rabbi Kanievsky was first told of the school ban, for example, it was reported that he was not given the context that it was due to a deadly virus, so he instructed that they should stay open. Once advised of the pandemic, he ordered them closed.

Rabbi Edelstein, on the other hand, knew what was happening and had taken the Ministry of Health regulations seriously from the start. When the government called to close all educational institutions after the Purim holiday, he immediately shut the doors of his Ponovezh Yeshiva, which is one of the largest and most prominent study halls of Lithuanian, ultra-Orthodox Jewry.

Due to the health risks involved, he stopped praying in a synagogue and called for others to do so as well, even before the ministry banned praying in a quorum. And before Passover, he forbade any family to have guests for the Seder night because it would simply be too dangerous.

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