Restrictions on leaving Israel for young men labeled draft evaders are creating a deep crisis in the Hasidic marriage market, according to Rabbi Shlomo Weiss, spokesperson for the central Vizhnitz Hasidic court. In an interview on Kikar HaShabbat, he said the issue is not being discussed enough publicly, even though it is now disrupting weddings, engagements, and family life across the community.
Weiss explained that Hasidic matchmaking often spans communities abroad, including large groups in Boro Park, Williamsburg, London, Antwerp, and Montreal. In a typical case, a man from Israel must travel to meet his bride overseas, then return for the wedding, which usually takes place where the bride lives. But now, he said, such grooms cannot leave Israel, and even their brothers, who are also yeshiva students, cannot fly to attend the wedding.
He described two recent incidents at Ben Gurion Airport. In one, an unmarried young man was detained about a week and a half ago while traveling with his one-year-old son. In another, an avreich was arrested early Thursday morning roughly two months ago and faced the risk of remaining in custody through Shabbat during his brother’s opferuf in Bnei Brak. He was finally released only minutes before candle lighting.
Weiss said families are also afraid to visit Israel, because an avreich who lands at Ben Gurion can be arrested as soon as he arrives. He said there is no effective channel to resolve individual cases, calling the situation “total chaos” and saying, “There is no one to talk to.” He added that community activists and lawyers, including Vizhnitz political committee chairman Rabbi Shloimi Grinberger and attorney Menachem Stauber, are handling urgent cases, but he warned the wave is only beginning.
He also cautioned that the coming three-week Bein HaZmanim break could bring broader disruption if police or roadblocks stop Hasidic men traveling around the country. Weiss said Vizhnitz’s Rebbe is deeply pained by the situation, insists Torah study protects the Jewish people, and believes the army is not suited to ultra-Orthodox life. He argued that unlike budget or housing issues, this crisis strikes at the foundations of Jewish family life and will continue because of political instability and the lack of an “adult in the room” to stop it.
