Massive Welcome in Ofakim for Haredi Prisoner Released from Military Jail
Ofakim staged a large public celebration on Friday afternoon for Rabbi Tzuriel Tzadok, a Haredi yeshiva student described in the report as an “prisoner of the Torah world,” after his release from a military prison. He had been arrested on the eve of Shavuot and jailed for his refusal to comply with military draft orders. The event began at Givat Gate junction, where a luxury limousine was waiting for him and where he was greeted with singing and dancing to the words, “Happy is the one who is great in Torah and brings pleasure to his Creator.”
From there, the limousine led a huge motorcade into Ofakim, with large signs reading, “Welcome, prisoner of the Torah world.” Thousands of people, including rabbis, yeshiva students and kollel students, gathered at Lion’s Square to receive him. A special parade vehicle with loudspeakers led the procession, and hundreds of schoolchildren were brought by their parents with flags to watch the arrival of someone they saw as having stood firm at personal cost.
The crowd danced in the streets until around 4 p.m., shortly before Shabbat began, despite the heavy heat. Ofakim’s Sephardic community rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Avital, climbed into the limousine, embraced Tzadok, encouraged him, and then danced with him before the assembled crowd. He also spoke about continuing without fear or hesitation in the face of hardship, and referred to the chain of Jewish history and to Rabbi Akiva’s teachings on self-sacrifice for Torah.
Other prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Moshe Schulzinger and Rabbi Simcha Abrahamsen, took part in the ceremony. Rabbi Israel Yaakov Pincus, the community rabbi, could not attend in person and instead visited Tzadok and his wife at home before Shabbat to strengthen them. The celebration ended with the crowd accompanying the family home, and the public welcome resumed on Sunday morning when Tzadok returned to the “Rav Pealim” kollel, where fellow scholars greeted him with song and dance. Kollel head Rabbi Hida Abergel praised his devotion and presented a gift, a handsome set of Talmud volumes, from the students. The report also said that Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi, gave Tzadok a personally inscribed set of his “Yalkut Yosef” books, calling him “prisoner of the Torah world” and adding the saying, “There is no free man except one who engages in Torah.”
