Nahum Mikler, a married yeshiva scholar from Modi'in Illit who was arrested about a month ago at the airport on his way to Uman and was held for 13 days in the military prison, described the detention conditions this morning (Thursday), calling them a "spiritual danger."
"Eight people in one room - seculars, Druze, front-line soldiers. A very difficult atmosphere, especially for someone who comes from the world of Torah," he described the initial cultural shock in an interview with Kol Chai.
"Everything in prison is restricted by times-even prayer. You get an hour for Shacharit, half an hour for Mincha and Maariv. You cannot just sit in the synagogue whenever you want. The day begins at six in the morning and ends at nine-thirty in the evening. Everything is scheduled-roll calls, meals, lockdowns," he added.
The spiritual difficulty, he said, was among the hardest challenges: "It's a tremendous ordeal. You're in a room with a television screen on all day; you can't always turn it off. Even if you don't watch - you are affected by the atmosphere. This is not an environment suitable for haredim."
Another difficulty, he said, stemmed from the fact that most of the commanding officers in the prison are women: "You have to ask them for basic things, it creates a very uncomfortable feeling. I don't recommend anyone think it's worth it to end up in prison. It's not an easy place, neither spiritually nor emotionally. But amid all the difficulty, I also felt a sense of mission."