Bnei Brak – A furious Shas is demanding the Finance Ministry draw-up guidelines for their inspections in yeshivot, after a reportedly unsavory visit of two inspectors at a Bnei Brak institution.
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According to the rabbis and students of the Beit Shmaya yeshiva, two inspectors showed up at the school on Wednesday around noon, in the middle of the “general lesson” to the entire student body, taught by the venerable Rabbi Shlomo Englander.
According to what Shas chairman Avraham Michaeli relayed on Thursday, the men wouldn’t agree to wait until the end of the session, and one of them entered the study hall and stood next to Englander, who observed the intrusion, but chose to ignore it and continue teaching.
The visitor then apparently chose to leave on his own volition, without conducting the inspection.
Following the incident, Englander sent an angry letter to the Education Ministry, with copies to Shas and United Torah Judaism Knesset members.
Though headed by an Ashkenazi rabbi, Beit Shma’ya is a yeshiva composed largely of Sephardi students.
The financial support yeshivot receives from the state is determined based on the number of students registered at the institution. The past year has seen a tightening of the supervision over the yeshivot, after a few largescale swindles were exposed.
“Shas will not rest until an investigation of the incident, and the formation of procedures to determine general attendance at yeshivot,” a message from the movement read.
Late on Thursday, a spokesman for head of the Knesset’s Finance Committee UTJ MK Moshe Gafni said that the accountant-general told Gafni they would apologize to Englander.
I’m not sure what the big deal is. The article says the inspector did not interrupt Englander but merely stood by him until he realized the lecture would not be ending soon and left of his own volition. He obviously did not use common sense but there was no harm and no interruption of what is referred to as a “general lesson” (which sounds like a lecture to the yeshiva students who were in the study hall at the time.
Just rude..
Trusting the Yeshivas to properly and correctly and honestly report their enrollment on their own, without government oversight, has already proven to be a failed policy. There needs to be inspections to keep the yeshiva rabbis honest (just as there needs to be tax audits by the IRS to keep the taxpayers honest). And the inspections need to be unannounced (though they can be a bit more quiet and unobtrusive).
dont see what the big deal is…the state pays the bills or allocates money,,,they have the right to inspect and their leisure to be certain proper attendance ect…they werent disrespectful….what are supposed to announce their arrival. when frum people act arrogant or cry wolf its a chilul hashem…
it is well known in Israel that the Yeshivot swindle & cheat money from the State. This is the reason for tightening up the controls & checks, so you can get off your high horses & stop being so “offended”
“General lesson”= Shiur Klali
even though my comments are rarely posted, ill still post for I’m truly hurt! all above comments sound ready to pounce and badmouth even when undeserved.
now my point.
nobody claimed they cnt inspect! just don’t disturb a lesson. read, it was in middle a shiur! the only motive for distorting to slander I can fathom is hate. please brothers, sinas chinum is not our goal after leibys saga.
besides for this point, for inst. mir. they don’t have dorm ranchers rounding up students getting this money, enrolled ppl do learn in surrounding shuls too. sure well only hear 1 side and use it as a stick. not that I deny it happened, just the hatefull voice statements implying that all frum yeshivas do it is just not right.
Imagine if our food establishments set up guideline on when Mashgichim could & couldn’t show up? Or where they can & can’t go? They would not be considered Glatt Kosher. This demand from the Yeshiva is not “Yosher”
This is an outrage!
Basing funding on how many talmidim are in the Beis Midrash for shiur klali?
Funding should be based on how many bochurim can be recruited off the streets to sit there when the inspector comes, not based on who actually participates in the program.
The rosh Yeshiva was not taking issue with the inspection. His issue was did they have to come in and interrupt a shiur. The inspectors can do what they have to while minimizing the disruption they cause. No different than any hashgocha being careful to minimize the disruption of production. Just basic common sense and decency is all that is asked for. Something many of the commenters here apparently cannot fathom.
#11 , you talk about what other posters cant fathom, get real. I’ve worked in a school for years & while a stranger walking into a class lesson might pique kids interest it doesn’t disturb the lesson & these are older kids yet. I’m quite sure if it was a Choshuv Rov who walked in to “peek” at the class there would be no call for new rules on when they can drop by. In the yeshiva’s own words he just stood there…….
theese freeloaders are spoiled beyond words
Its almost as if they want to keep getting free $$ for doing nothing.
Its a good thing Frum jews never harp on about welfare queens.
Maybe the inspector wanted to hear the shiur klali.
Sounds to me that the inspector chose to go to the Shiur Clali in order to count up how many talmidim there are actually in the yeshiva, since during the Rosh Yeshivas shiur everyone is supposed to be present. Where is a better place to count up the talmidim than standing in the front of the room with everyone facing forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if the inspector was a former Ben Yeshivah.
Reminds me of those inspections that the russian government conducted in russian yeshivas, Volozhin comes to mind. B”H, unlike russian Duma, there are chareidi parties in the current regime’s knesset on whom the one can rely to attempt to restrain such intrusions.
But we are coming the full circle, my friends.