Lithuanian (non-hassidic) haredi leader Rabbi Dov Landau sharply criticized the government's policy regarding the enlistment of yeshiva students and the status of the Torah world.
Rabbi Landau spoke at a special gathering marking the expansion of haredi education and the community in Rechasim in northern Israel. Hundreds of residents and rabbis attended the event, held in a large tent erected especially for the occasion.
"We are now standing at the threshold of the Days of Mercy and Forgiveness," Rabbi Landau said, referring to the difficult circumstances facing the Haredi public.
"All of us, all those devoted to Torah, feel the persecution of Torah and the schemes of the wicked among Israel to undermine the honor of the Torah and those who study it," he said. "We are all experiencing the hardships that continue to multiply as new decrees are imposed. We see the humiliation of Torah and the persecution of its students, and we are powerless."
Rabbi Landau also addressed the rapid growth of Rechasim, which is currently undergoing a major expansion, with hundreds of new housing units and institutions being built for yeshiva families.
However, he stressed that the spiritual and public challenges confronting the haredi community are greater than ever.
According to Rabbi Landau, the response to the crisis and what he described as the persecution of the Torah world cannot rely solely on conventional efforts. Above all, he said, it requires unwavering dedication to Torah study and prayer.
"Your role, your privilege, and your obligation is to increase more and more in Torah study, in its depth and in the effort you invest in it," he told the students and yeshiva scholars attending the event.
"Be strengthened and courageous in immersing yourselves completely in Torah study. Raise the banner of Torah, elevate the honor of Torah against those plotting to cast it into the dust, and grow ever stronger in the struggle for Torah, because the Torah is truth and the Torah is eternal," he said.