Jerusalem Rabbi Describes ‘Humiliating’ Conditions Of Yeshiva Students In Military Prisons

JERUSALEM (VINnews) —  The ongoing arrests and incarcerations of yeshiva students  are continuing to generate public discussion. In an interview on the “Arrest Warrant” program on Kol Hai Radio, Rabbi Asher Abramovitz, one of the senior rabbis of Jerusalem’s yeshiva community, shared a personal account after accompanying a yeshiva student who was arrested, visiting him in military prison, and attending his military court hearings.

The rabbi said that although he generally avoids media interviews, he chose to speak publicly because, in his words, “the public simply does not realize what is happening around them.”

He explained that the detainee is an older yeshiva student whose peers have largely married and started families, while he has continued devoting himself to Torah study every day. The moment that affected him most, he said, was seeing his student seated behind a glass partition in the courtroom.

“Instead of sitting in the study hall learning Torah, he was sitting there like a criminal,” the rabbi said.

According to Rabbi Abramovitz, the greatest hardship is not the physical conditions of detention but the ongoing sense of humiliation, including restrictions on speaking with family members, degrading treatment by prison staff, and what he described as a loss of dignity for yeshiva students.

He also described the inmates’ daily routine, which he said includes early wake-up calls, lengthy roll calls, prolonged periods standing before commanding officers, extended confinement in rooms, and various other restrictions.

The rabbi recounted that his student was disciplined after remaining in the synagogue for several extra minutes to continue studying following prayers. As punishment, he said, the student lost his telephone privileges for three days.

He added that the detainees also encountered religious challenges, including issues related to kosher food and the ability to study Torah quietly.

Concluding the interview, Rabbi Abramovitz said the image that will stay with him is seeing his student devastated on the first day of his detention.

“He told me, ‘Rabbi, it’s impossible to survive here,'” he recalled.

The rabbi said that the only way to cope is to remember the spiritual value of a Torah scholar, while also urging the public to empathize with the detainees and recognize that, as he put it, “here is a young man who, instead of sitting in the study hall, was taken away in handcuffs and humiliated.”