Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch Calls on Torah Learners to Answer Draft Pressure With Study and Prayer

Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, one of the leading halachic authorities in the Haredi world, issued two public letters last week in response to what he described as severe persecution of Torah learners in Israel. One letter was sent ahead of a mass prayer rally held on Friday night in the Zupnik complex in Jerusalem, and the second was directed to thousands of kollel students in Israel and abroad.

In his message for the rally, Sternbuch said the situation was worsening day by day and accused the authorities of acting with cruelty against the religious public. He wrote that the “ruling authorities of evil” were harming the yeshiva world, imprisoning “the beloved children of Zion,” and even beating those who came out to protest. He called on participants to pray with tears, quoting the verse, “With weeping they shall come, and with supplications I will lead them,” and said the gathering should also declare resolve to withstand the decrees.

In his letter to kollel students, Sternbuch framed the campaign against Torah study as part of the struggle with Amalek. He wrote that the way to weaken the persecutors was not through physical means but through increased, uninterrupted Torah learning, especially at the start of the study session. He said the people pursuing Torah are “from the mixed multitude and from the side of Amalek,” citing the Zohar and other works, and urged students in Israel and the diaspora to join the effort because the decree affects the entire Torah world.

The letters have stirred wide discussion across yeshivas and kollelim, where, according to the report, there is growing determination to begin each study session with stronger, continuous learning in line with Sternbuch’s instructions.