
Thousands of youths from the national religious community participated Sunday morning in the "Yeshivot March" to call for the strengthening of Jewish identity in the State of Israel and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
At the beginning of the march, the youth received the blessing of the Chief Rabbis, Rabbi David Lau and Rishon LeZion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef. They will march towards the Knesset and demonstrate during the weekly cabinet meeting.
The demonstration was held with the blessing of Rabbis Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Zvi Tao, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira and more.
The marchers, high school yeshiva students, called on Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana to end his reforms of the kashrut and conversion systems and to preserve the status quo at the Western Wall.
A proclamation published ahead of the march reads: "We, the national religious youth, students of the late Rabbi Kook, were born here in the Land of Israel in the generation of redemption. We have prayed and longed for the complete redemption in the building of the Temple and for the realization of the vision of the prophets soon in our day. We call on you Knesset members and the government to strengthen the Jewish character of the State of Israel and strengthen the place of the Chief Rabbinate which is the foundation and essence of our holy state. We call on you to be with those who work to strengthen Judaism and not G-d forbid to be partners with those who want to harm and weaken the Jewish character of the state."
Liba Center Director Oren Henig called the march "living testimony that the national religious community is united and united against Minister Kahana's anti-religious reforms. On Sunday, thousands of students of the holy and high school yeshivas will shout against the attempts to destroy the Jewish character of the State of Israel. It is time for unity in the people and not for division. It is time for Kahana to stop lying when he says that he has rabbinical and public backing."