Last Friday in Haifa, Menachem Cohen, a Chabad Hasid, was arrested while setting up a tefilin stand in memory of his brother, fallen IDF soldier Shneur Zalman Cohen, who was killed in action in Gaza.
Tefilin stands are a common pursuit for many Chabad communities attempting to make the Torah's commandments more accessible to the public by allowing anyone to put on tefilin at any time. Rabbi Eli Schlanger, also a member of the Chabad community, was filmed operating one moments before the Bondi Beach attack.
Cohen, together with additional friends, set up a street tefilin booth and placed a sign with his brother's photograph as part of an initiative to commemorate him. At one point a municipal enforcement patrol arrived, followed by reinforcements of several additional municipal and police vehicles.
Cohen was arrested, the tefilin booth and the sign were confiscated, and he says he was even physically assaulted during the arrest. Only after public pressure was he released. The detention prompted angry reactions on social media given that he is a bereaved brother acting to memorialize an IDF fallen soldier.
The Chabad emissary to Haifa, Rabbi Yehuda Ginzburg, said, "For more than 50 years Chabad members have gone out across the city of Haifa to enable Jews to perform the mitzvah of tefilin. It has always been done in with good will. Unfortunately, there are those who try to stir up tensions."
He added, "We are sorry about what is happening here. We expect the Haifa municipality to apologize and to work in coordination with this important activity, and we are sure this is a one-time mistake by the municipality and not something permanent."
The police said, "Contrary to what has been claimed in publications that may mislead the public, this was the detention of a person after he confronted the city inspectors at the scene. To set the record straight, the police have no interest in harming tefilin stands and there is no connection to the tefilin stand he set up, but rather due to an offense of noise and agitation toward the inspectors who summoned the municipal enforcement unit to the site. The young man was released a few minutes after the police inquiry and this matter will be examined in coordination with the municipality."