After promising to leave the country if the draft exemption law was not enacted, and after instructing to throw the draft orders into the toilet ["if you have a toilet at home"], Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef turned his attak to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yuli Edelstein, and rebuked him: "You dare to harm Torah scholars? What business do you have with those who study Torah? Take off your shoes from your feet."
And the honorable rabbi went on: "There’s someone whose father converted to Christianity and became a priest, and that person grew up in the home of a priest."
I don’t know when the father converted, nor do I know whether Edelstein grew up in a priest’s home, but is the respected rabbi ignoring the biblical provision that "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers"?
On the contrary, one would expect a leading rabbinic figure to praise and honor a person who grew up in the home of a priest yet still observes the Torah and its commandments. Such a person deserves even more praise than someone raised in the home of a leading rabbi.
Apparently, the rabbi also overlooked the commandment that, before passing judgment, a judge must "investigate and inquire thoroughly."
So let me tell you, Rabbi Yosef, who Yuli Edelstein really is.
While you were virtually "killing yourself" in the tents of Torah, Edelstein physically risked his life for the observance of Torah and mitzvot.
Yuli Edelstein's fight for Judaism
He was expelled from university, and his request to immigrate to Israel was denied. He moved to Moscow and taught Hebrew underground, leading an organization that aimed to spread Hebrew education to the remote parts of the Soviet Union.
Among other places, he conducted his activities in a small hall at the Archipova Synagogue, where refuseniks gathered, and where ritual items smuggled in by Chabad and Satmar emissaries were secretly distributed.
Because of his activities, he was arrested by the KGB and sentenced to three years of hard labor in one of the worst gulags in Siberia, where he was badly injured and nearly lost his life.
Let me tell you, Rabbi Yosef, about the circumstances of his arrest.
Just hours before Shabbat, KGB agents raided his apartment and found Hebrew books and other "forbidden" materials. During the search, his wife Tanya didn’t hesitate to light Shabbat candles.
A few days after the search, Edelstein was arrested. Perhaps it will surprise you, Rabbi Yosef, to learn what was foremost on his mind during the arrest. He was asked to sign a statement consenting to be interrogated in Russian, but he declared: "I am a Jew, and therefore I am willing to answer questions only in the language of the Jews."
When the investigator couldn’t find a non-Jewish Hebrew-speaking translator, Edelstein struck a deal: he would agree to be interrogated in Russian in exchange for allowing his wife to deliver his tefillin to him. Yes — that’s what concerned Edelstein at the most difficult moment of his life.
But the story of the tefillin didn’t end there. Immediately after the interrogation, prison guards were sent to confiscate his tefillin. Edelstein resisted and was violently attacked, and the tefillin were taken from him. In response, he launched a hunger strike.
When he refused the prison commander’s order to end the strike, he was sentenced to ten days in solitary confinement under inhumane conditions. Yet upon returning to his cell, he was glad to discover that the guards had failed to find the prayer book he had hidden.
Before sentencing, Edelstein was given the chance to speak. He said:
"I hope the court will reach the right decision. And if not, I hope my people and my God will help me arrive to the Land of Israel."
Edelstein knew his trial was held during Hanukkah but didn’t know which night. As the sentence was announced, he leaned between two officers and shouted in Russian: "Which candle is it today?"
"It’s the second candle!" his wife shouted back.
Upon returning to the cell, he was lucky to find two matches and fulfilled the mitzvah of the holiday.
Now tell me, Rabbi Yosef — how many Jews do you know who would risk their lives to such an extent to fulfill religious commandments?
The author is Chairperson of the Committee for International Academic Relations at the Peres Academic Center and Honorary Vice President of the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty (AIDLR).