A long-standing quarrel in Bnei Brak's flagship Lithuanian-haredi Ponevezh Yeshiva exploded Saturday night, as a mass brawl erupted between rival factions in the dining room. Students threw chairs at each other, and sprayed each other with tear gas, causing tens of thousands of shekels worth of damage.
Police arrested eight for their role in the violence.
The fight was between the the supporters of Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz on the one hand, nicknamed the "haters," and Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman's rival camp, called the "terrorists." The flagship Yeshiva of Lithuanian hareidi Judaism has been roiled by the power struggle between the two for over twenty years, and both sides observe an uneasy status quo, in which campus space in Bnei Brak is evenly divided between the two factions.
The current tensions started after one faction appropriated a new classroom for themselves, upsetting the delicate status quo. Students from the other faction subsequently defaced the classroom with derogatory graffiti.
The brawl broke out in the Yeshiva dining hall soon after, when a student from the "haters" faction shoved a supporter of the "terrorist" faction. The fight quickly spread to other parts of the campus, as students hurled furniture, deployed tear gas, and set off fire extinguishers.
Ponovezh is one of the top institutions in the haredi world, and the ongoing internal strife has been a black eye for the community. In 2015, a supporter of the "terrorist" camp brutally assaulted rival faction leader Rabbi Shmuel Markowitz, setting off a mass brawl between students that deteriorated into a full fledged riot which only ended after police arrested 30.
6 comments:
In today's 'day & age' the Frum world exsists on Machloikes.
Machloikes makes one successful.
More Machloikes equals more Success.
Stonger Machloikes means stronger success.
Look at the Bnai Brak Bais Din.
Look at the Aida.
Look at 'HaShem's Country" Eretz Yisroel.
Look at Satmat.
Look at Bobov.
Its all L'Shaim Shamayim. Otherwise they would be real terrorists or Frum Gangs
There areis many many more Machloikes out there
This conflict between these two factions could serve as the backdrop for a Shakespearean love story. However in place of the Capulets and Montagues we have Raanan and Jessie , the two star-crossed lovers from the "haters" and "terrorists" factions of the feuding Ponovezh aristocracy.
Although Raanan and Jessie have met only twice on shidduch dates their love for each other burns so strongly that they choose from a halachicaly authorized , but discarded, form of marriage ( kesef, shtar, biyah)
. Well they choose biyah and you know the rest of the story....
Soon as the progression shows they will cannibalize each other,and so we see how all that toireh learning lead to self destruction,just like with the molesters who commit the ultimate evil.
My dear jancsi, Torah learning does not, Chas V'Shalom, lead to things like this. But if, C"V, people do not learn good Middos, things like this CAN happen.
Torah without good Middos is not that good, as some explain the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos.
Jancsibasci, you UPGERISENER HUNGARIAN MARMAROSHER FERD,why don't you learn how to write a coherent sentence in English so we can understand what the hell you have just vomited out of your mouth.
The Chareidim - Keeping it Classy and shining their light on the world.
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