The Rosh Yeshiva of the pre-military preparatory school in Eli, Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, and the CEO of the Rosh Yehudi organization, Israel Zeira, were brutally attacked Tuesday night by a leftist mob in Tel Aviv. The attackers ganged up on the two Jewish men outside the Rosh Yehudi building on Tsfat Street, shouted insults at them, and tried to kick them out, literally.
כעת בתל אביב מפגינים כ-300 מהפורום החילוני ובונות אלטרנטיבה נגד ארגון ראש יהודי שמקיים את תפילת נעילה בכיכר דיזינגוף.
יצויין כי כעת מתקיים שיעורו של הרב יגאל לוינשטיין במקום. pic.twitter.com/kgXrLgsyJJ— חנן גרינווד (@hanan_green) September 19, 2023
According to eyewitnesses, dozens of leftists attacked the rabbi and his companion in an attempt to attack them. One eyewitness who accompanied the rabbi said: “Dozens of protesters tried to attack us physically, with sticks and with their hands. If the policemen had not protected the rabbi with their bodies, it would have ended very badly.”
In videos that were posted on social networks, Zeira can be seen fleeing from the crowd that was shouting insults at him. Rabbi Levinstein was also rescued from the scene unharmed only with the help of the policemen who were there.
Rosh Yehudi is an association whose goal is to bridge the gaps between secular and religious Israelis in the spirit of religious Zionism. It was founded in 1994 when the public dispute over the Oslo Accords threatened the very fabric of Israeli society. Originally established in Hebron, the organization moved to Tel Aviv, where it has been offering classes and educational material. The organization holds a variety of Torah activities: classes, guidance to brides and grooms before their wedding, support for couples who are in the process of doing teshuva, preparations for Bar Mitzvahs, festive Shabbat receptions in the synagogue and Dizengoff Circle, Shabbat meals, study days, volunteer activities, events, a mass Ne’ila prayer at the end of Yom Kippur in Dizengoff circle, and seminars on a large variety of topics.
לא גרמניה ולא התשיעי בנובמבר 1938.
זה לב תל אביב ממש הערב.
ישראל זעירא, איש חסד עצום ויו”ר ארגון ראש יהודי, מחולץ על ידי כוחות משטרה לאחר נסיון לינץ בידי פורעים שבאו למחות על נסיונו לארגן תפילת נעילה בכיכר דיזינגוף.
עד לרגע זה לא הגיע שום גינוי מהמועמדים לראשות העיר.
בושה! pic.twitter.com/MNQasHzxin— igal_malka_5G (@igal_malka_5G) September 19, 2023
MK Simcha Rothman tweeted Tuesday night: “As expected, the thugs who harass, curse and threaten under the pretext of the freedom to demonstrate against elected officials, moved up to attacking religious people in the street, in a show of hatred to the other, under the banners of democracy and equality.
“The silent support that the attackers of Israel Zeira and Rosh Yehudi receive from law enforcement officials and members of the opposition is a disgrace.”
Likud MK Tali Gottlieb responded: “Kristallnacht Tel Aviv leftist activists style. Persecution of Jews for their Jewishness, for their faith, and their religion. Same as in Nazi Germany. This is left-wing activists’ auto antisemitism. Whoever does not condemn the videos of this humiliating horror, be he from the left or the right, is part of the destruction of Judaism. History always repeats itself.”
Needless to say, none of Israel’s mainstream media outlets even mentioned the event.
MK Orit Strock pointed out that on the same Tuesday night, some 1,700 Israelis paid good money to be part of a get-together between religious and secular Jews in a huge hangar at Tel Aviv port. “You won’t defeat our wonderful nation so easily,” she tweeted.
2/2 זה קורה ממש במקביל – קולם של אנשים שמחפשים אחדות בין ציבורים שונים: דתיים, חרדים, חילוניים
– 1,700 איש שהגיעו לאולם הגדול בארץ, האנגר 11 בנמל ת”א, לערב של “נפגשים”. שילמו במיטב כספם כדי להשתתף במעגלי-שיח מתוך כבוד ואהבה, דווקא עם השונים מהם.
לא תנצחו כ”כ מהר את העם הנפלא שלנו pic.twitter.com/ynM8vdBDDl— אורית סטרוק (@oritstrock) September 19, 2023
