Rabbi Grossman
Rabbi GrossmanMoshe Goldstein

Israel Prize laureate Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman, the rabbi of the northern town of Migdal Ha'emek, spoke today at the conference of the Hamodia newspaper and came out against the Israeli Hillel Association, which aids haredim who leave the haredi community for religious reasons.

"Gentlemen, a fire is burning, a terrible plague [is spreading]. There is a movement whose role is to distance [haredim] from God, Rabbi Grossman said. "The Hillel movement, they are investing a fortune to encourage our children to leave Yiddishkeit (Judaism), and no one speaks up [against this]."

"Our goal in this conference is to raise awareness so that there will be someone who will act to save our youth," he stated.

Rabbi Grossman said that "the Gedolei Yisrael (great rabbinical leaders) wanted this to be a spiritual conference, and that everything would serve the primary purpose - the educational institutions, the foundation of the people of Israel."

Rabbi Grossman is the famed founder of Migdal Ohr Educational Institutions, which took thousands of at-risk teenagers off the streets to give them a new chance at a successful life. He was fondly known as the "disco rabbi" for going into discotheques and gently convincing young people who had no direction to change their lifestyles and become productive adults.