The following moving story was told to 'Haredim 10' by Benjamin Lipkin, editor-in-chief of the newspaper 'HaMevasser':
More than three years ago, Benny Rabinowitz, a senior reporter at Betad Ne'eman and for a time also the spokesman for the house at 5 Hazon Ish Street, contacted me and told me that in his research he discovered that several Chabad institutions were the first to respond to Education Minister Shai Piron and join the Haredi state education network he established.
He asked me to try to talk to them and explain what it meant.
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I said I would check.
I spoke to two out of three of them. With polite firmness, they let me understand that just as they wouldn't preach to me how and what to write, I wouldn't presume to preach to them how to run their business.
A few days later, Benny Rabinowitz comes back to me - and I tell him: 'Listen, I have no influence over them.'.
He told me: 'Let me be clear, I'm going to publish this and attack them. It's impossible for them to break the Haredi taboo.'.
•
A few days pass.
The Tuesday edition of Yated Ne'eman - which is distributed free of charge in all Haredi centers - appears, and at its center is the investigation in question.
Before my surprised eyes, the headline is: "Institutions with gender identity were the only ones who agreed to be included in the royal education network that Piron is establishing.".
This terminology was repeated throughout the article, and the name Chabad did not appear.
Two hours pass. 9 am.
Razi Barkai opens his program on the Galei Tzahal radio station with a sensation brought by the reporter on Haredi affairs: "The racism of the Lithuanian newspaper Yated Ne'eman has reached a new peak - they are attacking Sephardic institutions. They can't write Sephardic, so they write about gender identity.".
An expert appears on the broadcast to explain the traditional abysmal hatred of Lithuanians for Spaniards.
And loyal stake? "The newspaper's editorial staff refuses to comment.".
•
I pick up the phone to Benny Rabinowitz and tell him: 'I've known you for many years. You don't come close to this level of righteousness. What's the story here?''
And he tells me: Today the landlord is in Yated and you can't write whatever you want. When the article was ready, I went up to Rabbi Steinman. He sat and read it carefully and then asked for a pen. He sat and erased every time the word Chabad appeared.
'"I see this and my eyes widen - and I shout: Yeshiva head! There is no article! And he answers me with peace of mind: Then there will be no article and there will be no controversy either.".
I asked again: And what about the obligation to protest? And the Rosh Yeshiva answered: Then you will find a different definition. But without naming names. Only the administrators of the institutions you are writing about will understand without anyone realizing that it is Chabad.
As commanded and as done, so I did.
At 8 am, when I was approached by IDF scouts who were going to accuse us of being racists, I ran to the house of the head of the yeshiva who ordered me: 'Schweig. Zag gar nicht' (-be quiet). I said: But they are slandering us in vain. And he replied: Let them slander. It is better that they slander us and we will not be slandered.
