Media Boycott: The Haredi Media is Attempting to Boycott Shuvu Banim and Rabbi

There is deep pain and frustration among large segments of Breslov and the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) public in general. "The media is doing to the holy community of Breslov Shuvu Banim what the international media does to Israel, and what the secular media does to the Haredi public," harsh claims are being heard. After reaching a breaking point with the discriminatory treatment and the boycott they are trying to create against Rabbi Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days), we joined Rabbi Yaakov Salama to show how things look from the other side of the fence.

Yesterday, Wednesday of Parshas Behaaloscha 5779 (2019), there was a press conference at Shaare Zedek (Hospital) with the Avreich (Torah student) Gavriel Lavi from the Shuvu Banim yeshiva of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, who was critically wounded at Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. At the press conference, the young man spoke about the great miracles that befell him, and how he recovered from forty stabbings by a cruel terrorist. However, although Gavriel Lavi mentions in his words how he managed to emerge from the critical state he was in—mentioning the name of Rabbi Berland at least seven times—the media that calls itself Haredi is boycotting him and does not mention Rabbi Berland's name even once.

It is a wonder of wonders; even the 'Kikar HaShabbat' website, which provided full coverage of the press conference where Lavi is heard mentioning the name of Rabbi Berland shlit"a several times, is boycotting and does not mention Shuvu Banim or Rabbi Berland even once. In contrast, when they covered a motorcycle accident where the rider was not at fault after a 49-year-old woman accidentally collided with him, 'Kikar HaShabbat' rushed to mention that he was a young man from the Shuvu Banim community. Even Rabbi Berland's name was not forgotten that time, as they included his name in the tags of the article. Thus, when people search for motorcycle accidents, they will find how "wild" the Shuvu Banim community supposedly is.

"I thank the Creator of the world and His faithful messenger, Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the Tzaddik (righteous person) of the generation," this is how Gavriel Lavi opened his remarks at the press conference. Later, Lavi says, "I was between life and death, and in the merit of the Pidyon (redemption of the soul) that my friends in the yeshiva gave [to Rabbi Berland], everything turned around for the good. We walk through Damascus Gate to our yeshiva, and we will continue to walk through Damascus Gate and not be afraid, according to the instruction of the Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland." And again later, Lavi says, "We will continue to walk through Damascus Gate; our yeshiva, Shuvu Banim, is there, the holy community of 'Shuvu Banim'." Kikar HaShabbat, listen to his words—"Shuvu Banim," he says. Kikar HaShabbat—"Return, O wayward children" (a play on the name Shuvu Banim) and return in Teshuvah (repentance).

"At that moment I was not afraid; I felt that Hashem was with me and the Rav (Rabbi Berland) was with me," Lavi continued. Shall we blame him for believing in the Tzaddik? After all, it is written, "And they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant" (Exodus 14:31). He believes that the Tzaddik is with him, that the Tzaddik watches over him and protects him. Kudos to Kikar HaShabbat for filtering out words that "must not be said," for boycotting Rabbi Berland and the Shuvu Banim community, because later Gavriel Lavi mentions the name of Rabbi Berland and the holy community of Shuvu Banim again and again, yet they do not mention it even once.

The difficult picture repeats itself on Arutz 7 and other supposedly Haredi websites that covered the event. For example, the Hidabroot website notes that Lavi is an Avreich (Torah student) who studies in a yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter, but for some reason does not mention its name. Did they not hear him say that he was healed in the merit of giving a Pidyon Nefesh (redemption of the soul) to Rabbi Berland and that he belongs to the holy community of Shuvu Banim?

When we came to check the situation in the secular media, we were very surprised. The "Israel Hayom" website, which is not defined as Haredi by any parameter, mentions that Lavi studied in the Chatzos (midnight prayer) Kollel at the Shuvu Banim yeshiva, and they mention Rabbi Berland several times, both in the headline and later in the article where it was written: "I want to thank the Creator of the world and His faithful messenger Rabbi Eliezer Berland." Similarly, on the Twitter page of "Kan News," a secular site brought a 54-second clip of the main parts of the interview in which Gavriel Lavi mentions the Tzaddik Rabbi Berland and also that everything was in the merit of the Pidyon they gave.

"When I was a child, they told me that in the newspaper, only the date is correct," Rabbi Salama notes an anecdote stemming from pain and frustration over the Haredi media's boycott of a significant portion of its own public, and continues. "Apparently, after much experience in the field, the secular media has learned that its words can be cross-referenced with various sources and is careful to be reliable. Haredi or religious journalists," Rabbi Salama addresses the writers themselves, "do not act in an amateurish way like beginners; learn from your secular colleagues and be a bit more reliable, otherwise, no one will believe any of your articles."