Despite Sirens, Parents Keep Boys in Eretz Yisrael Yeshivos

NEW YORK

As more of central Eretz Yisrael is faced with the daily threat of rocket attacks, a number of parents contacted by Hamodia said they have no plans to bring children studying there back home, at least for now.

“I feel that he is in a great place,” said Gittel Bald, whose son learns in YeshivasMir.  “I told my son that he is on the front lines, that he is the one that is protecting the county and that he just has to learn shtark.

Even though there have been sirens in Yerushalayim, the fact that few rockets have been fired toward the city and, moreover that none have hit it, is a key factor in the feelings of parents whose sons learn there. “I don’t know how we would feel if it got more serious, but now Yerushalyim is quiet,” Mrs. Reich, whose son is in Yeshivas Kochav MiYaakov, Tchebin told Hamodia.

Understandably, many parents have made greater efforts to keep track of their children’s whereabouts and limit their travel. “My son calls me every time he gets back from someplace,” one mother who whose son is in Yeshivas Meor Einayim in Yerushalayim, told Hamodia.

“He had to go to a dentist in Rechavia, I told him to call as soon as he got back to yeshivah, even though it was three in the morning here,” the mother, who resides in Boro Park and asked not to be named, related.

Another Brooklyn mother with a son in Yeshivas Mir, was particularly concerned about her son’s safety over the approaching bein hazmanim.  The lack of precautions taken by bachurim away from home in Eretz Yisrael was a particular cause of concern; “There is a certain atmosphere over there of not caring and going along with the flow, which is especially dangerous when there is no structure.”  When asked about the possibility of bringing her son home for the break, she responded, “Hopefully it will be over by then, but if not, we would seriously consider bringing him home.”

Despite increasing dangers and the approaching bein hazmanim, there has been little movement on the part of parents to bring bachurim home early. “No one that I know took kids out of yeshivos in Yerushalyim,” said Mrs. Reich.  “Torah and mitzvos are our shemirah, these are the rockets that we are sending back to Hamas.”

The mother of the student at MeorEinayim admitted, “He is supposed to come home the first day of Selichos and I am counting the days.  It would be the normal thing to bring him back now, I guess, but for now no one else is doing it.”

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!