Meklev Visits Yeshiva to Review Health Initiative and Emergency Readiness
United Torah Judaism faction chairman MK Uri Meklev visited the Or Israel for Young Men yeshiva in Petah Tikva to examine a new health-promotion program for yeshiva students and possible cooperation with the Haredi Authority and the Health Ministry’s "HaRashut LeRofe" program. The initiative is designed to give rabbis, teachers and supervisors practical tools to raise health awareness among yeshiva students, as part of educational responsibility and the Torah commandment to safeguard life.
Or Israel for Young Men, led by Rabbi Mordechai Rabinovitz, is among the first institutions where the program is being tested. The goal is to bring health issues into the yeshiva world in a sensitive, professional way that fits the character of a Torah institution. During the visit, Meklev met the yeshiva head and rabbis, who described the school’s continued growth and the educational challenges involved in working with students today.
The visit also included a review of the yeshiva’s physical emergency preparedness. To avoid disrupting study, Meklev did not enter the study hall during the third study session and instead went with the rabbi and staff to the women’s gallery, where they watched hundreds of students studying. Meklev said that in a time of “intense wars against Torah learners and the yeshiva world,” the sound of Torah from the study hall is “our eternal answer,” adding, “They can try to harm, they can make things difficult and they can fight, but the voice of Torah cannot be stopped.”
The yeshiva’s classrooms also serve as protected spaces, allowing students to keep learning during war and air raid alerts while following Home Front Command instructions. The rabbis said the proposed cooperation with "HaRashut LeRofe" would provide professional support without harming the yeshiva’s learning rhythm. Meklev praised the veteran administration and said the combination of uninterrupted study, emergency readiness and concern for students’ health reflects the responsibility of Torah leadership.
