Aish announced on Thursday that Binyamin (Ben Limor) Chasin, who was recently released after spending more than a decade imprisoned in Iraqi Kurdistan, is expected to arrive at its Jerusalem yeshiva before the weekend.
Chasin, a Kurdish Jew with Israeli and Canadian citizenship, had been imprisoned since 2015 following an incident in which a local taxi driver was killed.
Chasin was born in Iraqi Kurdistan and returned to the region in 2014 to visit his grandparents. At the time, ISIS was attacking the area and local order had broken down.
He joined local Kurdish forces defending villages from ISIS terrorists. In 2015, according to the previous report, a taxi driver noticed that Chasin spoke Hebrew and threatened to turn him over to ISIS.
A struggle broke out between the two, during which the driver was injured. The driver later died of his wounds, and Chasin was arrested.
In 2020, a Kurdish court sentenced Chasin to death by hanging.
The sentence remained in place until November 2025, when a Kurdish judge revoked it following a reconciliation agreement between Chasin's family and the family of the driver.
The agreement included a payment of $250,000 raised by a Jewish community fund. Following the agreement, Chasin's sentence was reduced, though he remained imprisoned for approximately another ten months while efforts continued to secure his release and permission to leave Iraq.
Those efforts have now concluded with Chasin's release. He is expected to travel to Israel and begin studying in Jerusalem.
"We're very excited. Aish was built as a place for every single Jew in the world to connect with their Judaism," Aish CEO Steven Burg said.
Burg noted that Chasin had expressed a strong desire to pursue Jewish studies following his imprisonment.
He said Jewish tradition places great importance on redeeming people who have been held captive, particularly someone persecuted because of his religion and connection to Israel.
"Aish will be throwing our doors wide open for Binyamin, and we intend to give him a chance to really grow in his Judaism," Burg said.
Dovid Rosman, Dean of the Aish Educational Institute, said the yeshiva is preparing to receive Chasin and assist him following his years of incarceration.
"We're extremely excited for Binyamin to be joining us in the coming days," Rosman said. "Under the care of our expert staff, we will be taking very special care of him."
"After everything that he has gone through, Aish is a logical choice for Binyamin to come and study," he added. "He is inspired to study, to learn, and we will be welcoming him with open arms."