Tension at Ponovezh Yeshiva: Secular Judge to rule on this Huge Chillul Hashem!

 In this "Milchemes Mitzvah" they dragged a retired secular Judge to arbitrate this dispute! These are the Lomdei Torah that we are supposed to look up to and respect! 

Retired judge David Cheshin is set to deliver a dramatic ruling in the decades-long Ponovezh Yeshiva dispute, addressing both financial ownership and spiritual authority. 

A dramatic ruling is expected within the next day from retired judge David Cheshin, who has been serving as arbitrator in the long-running dispute surrounding the Ponovezh (also spelled Ponovitz) Yeshiva in Bnei Brak - one of the oldest and most well-known internal conflicts in the Haredi world.

Haredi commentator Yisrael Cohen outlined the roots of the dispute in a conversation with Israel National News - Arutz Sheva, describing the historic stature of the institution. “This is the Oxford of the yeshiva world,” he said. 

Following the Holocaust, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman arrived in Israel with a vision to rebuild a great yeshiva bearing the name of the town in which he had once served as rabbi. “People pitied him and didn’t believe he could do it, but he purchased lands in Bnei Brak and built a massive Beit Midrash for that era.”

Rabbi Kahaneman also established dormitories for students, housing for Rabbis, teachers and lecturers, and founded orphanages for boys and girls from across the Jewish world - all funded through donations he raised abroad. What began with a small group of students grew rapidly, and over the years leading senior Rabbis were appointed, including Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky, Rabbi Dovid Kovarsky, and Rabbi Shach, who ultimately became the leading figure of the Lithuanian Torah world.

After Rabbi Kahaneman’s passing, the yeshiva was led by his son, Rabbi Avraham Kahaneman. Upon his own passing, a fierce conflict erupted between his son, Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman, and his son-in-law, Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz, over both financial ownership and authority within the yeshiva.

“The late rabbi left two children - Rabbi Eliezer, and Rebbetzin Tzipora, who married Rabbi Markovitz,” Cohen explained. Disagreements over inheritance soon escalated into a struggle over leadership. Rabbi Markovitz claimed that Rabbi Shach had intended for him to assume the role of rosh yeshiva, in addition to his familial standing. Rabbi Kahaneman, meanwhile, stated he was prepared to forgo material ownership but insisted that he retained the right to appoint the yeshiva’s leadership, as had other yeshiva leaders aligned with him in previous years.

Over time, the dispute drew in senior rabbinic leaders across the Haredi sector, dividing the yeshiva into two rival camps -

 the “Shonim” and the “Machablim.” 

Each faction now operates its own administrative structure, with separate rabbinic staff, student rosters, and even split dormitories and study areas. Prayers and public events are held separately, and any joint framework has long since collapsed.

According to Cohen, tensions at times spilled into physical confrontations, and for roughly two decades the institution has functioned as what he termed “two yeshivot under one roof.” 

tudents study the same Talmud tractate and share the dining hall, but the faculty, lecturers, supervisors, and dormitory divisions remain completely separate. Even on Shabbat and holidays, the split is seen clearly: the Shonim and their rabbis pray in the “Ohel Kedoshim” hall established by Rabbi Kahaneman, while the other camp maintains its own prayer groups.

Cohen noted that each new academic year often saw renewed clashes, as both sides accepted hundreds of new students and fought over beds, rooms, and seating in the Beit Midrash - “causing a great desecration of G-d's name,” he said.

Given the immense material and spiritual value of the property and in an attempt to prevent further deterioration, both sides eventually agreed to enter arbitration before Judge Cheshin. His forthcoming ruling is expected to determine how authority and ownership - both financial and spiritual - will be divided.

Addressing the question of how a community that generally avoids civil courts came to accept such a process, Cohen tried to circumvent the issue and stressed that this is arbitration, not a court proceeding.

With a straight face he said  “That makes it easier for the sides to accept the decision. There is also hope that someone from outside will see the full picture more clearly and deliver a better outcome.” Whoever believes this explanation also believes in the tooth fairy! 

The ruling is expected to outline the future distribution of responsibilities and assets in the yeshiva, much of which stands on land acquired decades ago by Rabbi Kahaneman. Whether the decision will be accepted by both camps remains uncertain.

Despite the split, Cohen emphasized that the yeshiva’s reputation remains untouched. (??)

“The Ponovezh name hasn’t suffered.(LOL)  One would expect such a dispute to weaken the yeshiva, but it didn’t happen - the best students still sought admission.”

Although the conflict generated headlines over the years, Cohen said the individuals involved never viewed their actions as deliberate provocation. 

“Each side believes it is fighting for truth, for a religious principle that cannot be compromised.”

In which dispute do the parties not believe that they are fighting for the truth?

Yet even after moments of public tension, he noted, it was common to see members of both camps continuing their routine calmly side-by-side in the Beit Midrash, just like the Arabs and the Jews!