Thousands Rally in Bnei Brak Against Yeshiva Students' Arrests, Led by Top Rabbis

On Monday, thousands of Sephardic Torah scholars gathered in Bnei Brak for a massive protest titled "Honoring the Torah to Strengthen Yeshiva Students and the Torah World." The rally took place along Eshel Avraham and Rabbi Rabinov Streets, which were closed to traffic for the event. Leading rabbis, community leaders, and public figures united to condemn the ongoing imprisonment of yeshiva students for studying Torah.

The event opened with a lament by Rabbi Shabtai Levi, head of the Halichot Moshe institutions and the local rabbinic authority of Ramat Aharon, who mourned the arrests. Several prominent rabbis followed with speeches, including Rabbi Levi Pinchasi, Rabbi Shimshon Cohen, Rabbi Aryeh Yazdi, Rabbi Shlomo Machpud, Rabbi Nissim Ben Shimon, and Rabbi Zamir Cohen, all offering encouragement to the detainees and their families.

The central address was delivered by Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel and President of the Council of Torah Sages. He declared that Torah scholars are the chosen people and urged those imprisoned to hold their heads high with a book in hand. Rabbi Yosef criticized the state for what he called racial discrimination, noting that 95 percent of the detainees are Sephardic. Following him, Rabbi Lior Glazer also spoke.

Rabbi Levi Pinchasi then read the rally's resolutions, endorsed by leading Torah authorities. The gathering concluded with a powerful spiritual awakening, including the recitation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy and acceptance of divine sovereignty, led by the esteemed mystic Rabbi Yaakov Ades.