A historic meeting took place Tuesday at the Jerusalem home of the Gerrer Rebbe, where noted philanthropist Reb Yoeli Landau met privately with the Rebbe to discuss the growing challenges facing Bnei Torah in Eretz Yisroel.

Also participating in the meeting was the Rebbe’s son, Harav Nechemiah.

During the wide-ranging discussion, they focused on the ongoing gezeiras hagiyus and the increasing arrests of yeshiva bochurim who refuse to enlist in the IDF.

Reb Yoel proposed the creation of a new organization dedicated to coordinating the fight against the sanctions and arrests affecting bnei Torah. The initiative will provide legal assistance to bochurim and yungeleit facing prosecution while working on multiple fronts to oppose what participants described as the persecution of Chareidi Jewry in Eretz Yisroel and to strengthen the continued growth of the Torah world.

To launch the effort, Reb Yoel pledged $1 million, to be contributed together with his colleagues and partners, to establish and support the new fund.

The Gerrer Rebbe expressed his appreciation for the initiative and blessed Reb Yoel with hatzlachah, wishing that his efforts on behalf of the Torah world should meet with great success.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)