Yeshiva President Rabbi Avraham Kahneman zt"l, father of Rabbi Eliezer, and father-in-law of Rabbi Shmuel, who owned the properties and the yeshiva, wrote in his will that 60% of his assets would be transferred to his son Rabbi Eliezer Kahneman and 40% to his daughter Rebbetzin Tzipora Markowitz. Rabbi Eliezer Kahneman is interested in realizing his assets and selling some of them.
The parties signed an arbitration agreement with Rabbi Avraham Baruch Rosenberger of Monsey, who came to Israel as an agreed arbitrator. The parties met to discuss the case before him at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan. The Gra"a Kahneman is represented by the rabbinical advocate Rabbi Binyamin Cooperman, a judge of the Chabad Rabbinical Court and rabbi of the Great Synagogue in Ramat Gan. The Gra"sh Markowitz is represented by the rabbinical advocate Rabbi Mordechai Stern, secretary of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudat Israel.
Will the arbitrator disqualify himself?
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Another drama is unfolding again around Torah law, which is being conducted by the Garach Zimbalist over control of the yeshiva.
The arbitration award was already given in 2000, but Rabbi Kahneman appealed to the courts with two lawsuits. His brother-in-law, Rabbi Markowitz, requested to continue the discussions based on the arbitration agreement - and his request was granted. Rabbi Schreiber, one of the arbitrators, resigned from his position as arbitrator in June 2000 and passed away in 2009. As a result, the panel of arbitrators was reduced to only two arbitrators - Rabbis Zibelist and Heisler.
Some clarifications to the arbitration ruling were given by the two of them alone, and sometimes by Rabbi Zimbalist alone.
Following this, Rabbi Kahneman turned to the district court and asked to remove the arbitrators from their positions. According to him, Rabbi Zimbalist met privately with Rabbi Markowitz at the home of the late Rabbi Elyashiv on Hanan Street - and Rabbi Elyashiv was known for his support of the Rabbi. Rabbi Kahneman also claimed that Rabbi Zimbalist provided clarifications at the time in a one-sided manner.
But about six months ago, the District Court dismissed the lawsuit, and a while later, the Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal against this decision. "Rabbi Kahneman knew about the existence of a meeting between Markowitz and Rabbi Zimbalist at the home of the late Rabbi Elyashiv after it was reported in the media," Judge Danziger wrote in his decision. "Given these data, I cannot accept his explanations regarding the delay in submitting a request to adduce the evidence that he now wishes to submit. It is possible that these clarifications were indeed given without authority, but this alone does not establish that Rabbi Zimbalist can no longer be trusted in a manner that justifies his removal from his position. At most, it could be argued "in real time" that these clarifications are invalid, but since these clarifications were given nine years ago or more, it seems that there is no longer any room for them now.".
The meaning of Judge Danziger's ruling is that the proceedings for the distribution of the yeshiva's material and spiritual assets, estimated at tens of millions of shekels, will be returned to the hands of the arbitrators.
Following the ruling of the district court and the High Court of Justice, Chief Justice Zimbalist continued hearings in the presence of the parties - starting last month of Shevat, in his courtroom in Tel Aviv, with the participation of the parties.
The appeal against the arbitration
The court of the Grand Rabbi of Carlitz decided to disqualify Rabbi Zimbalist from continuing to discuss the case, because the order for arbitration was made by the courts. The letter (according to an unofficial publication) of the court was signed by the Rabbi Silman, the Rabbi Runberg, the Rabbi Rubin, and the signatures of the Rabbi Steinman and the Rabbi Kanievsky were added - it was sent in the month of Shevat to the Rabbi Zimbalist, by the Rosh Yeshiva of Or Yisrael, the Rabbi Rosen, and the Rabbi Garbuz. It should be noted that Rabbi Zimbalist signed a letter at the time stating that the arbitration was subject to the opinion of the Rabbi.
The Grand Rabbi Zimbalist did not respond to the letter, claiming that according to the poskim he is forbidden to be influenced by outsiders. He added that the Grand Rabbi Elyashiv zt"l commanded him to complete the Torah law to its completion - and continued the discussions in the presence of the parties.
This is why the letter has not been made public until now, nor has its contents been published. It was only recently that the text was published online.
A student of the Gra Kahneman's Ponevezh Yeshiva says: "We expect Rabbi Zimbalist to disqualify himself from judging, as instructed by the Torah gurus, and to appoint a new, agreed-upon arbitrator.".
A student from the Ponevezh Yeshiva of Rabbi Markowitz responds: "Already a decade ago Rabbi Elyashiv testified that those who did not like the ruling began writing slanderous letters and threats against Rabbi Zimbalist. The letter was given unilaterally, and therefore has no real meaning. The rabbis who signed it are known for their support of Rabbi Kahaneman. So there is nothing new here either.".
