A moving encounter took place last week in the Sharon prison,
when HaRav Aharon Leib Steinman and HaRav Chaim Kanievsky
visited Reb Aharon Kornblit. Reb Kornblit has been detained
in prison for more than six months under the false accusation
that he was one of the organizers of the torching of a
missionary apartment in Meah Shearim. This is a full report
of the visit which was mentioned briefly in our last
edition.
The gedolei haTorah were accompanied on their visit by
Rabbi Moshe Gafni, secretary general of Degel HaTorah.
HaRav Shmuel Auerbach asked Prime Minster Netanyahu to make
efforts to free Rabbi Kornblit, and told him that this was an
important mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim.
Rabbi Kornblit was moved to tears by the visit of the
gedolei Yisroel and HaRav Steinman related that this
was the first time he had visited the prison. However, he
said, he had been there many years beforehand, when he had
first arrived in Israel and had come to the prison's kitchen
to kasher the dishes.
In response to the question of whether he had been in the
special solitary confinement cell, which is very narrow and
lacks air vents or light, Rabbi Kornblit replied that he had
indeed been kept under such conditions for two days, during
which he been served only garlic and bread and a bit of
water. (Rabbi Kornblit's reply contradicted the statement of
the prison commander which had just been given to Rabbi
Gafni.) Rabbi Kornblit added that during the coming days he
might be transferred to the Ayalon prison, where the
conditions are much easier for shomrei mitzvos. This
possibility was achieved after many efforts.
At that point in the meeting, Rabbi Kornblit removed a list
of 30 questions from his pocket, most of which he had
prepared, but some which had been asked by a number of the
religious prisoners.
HaRav Steinman read the questions and HaRav Kanievsky replied
to them.
Q: Must I affix a mezuza to my prison cell?
A: No, because you are there against your will.
Q: Am I obligated to recite hagomel each time I
leave the prison?
A: Only when you are free for good.
Q: As a baal korei and baal tefilla for
the prisoners, which version should I use?
A: The one to which you have always been
accustomed.
Q: Does someone with a tattoo on the area of his arm
have to remove it where he lays tefillin?
A: It is forbidden to tattoo oneself. However if
removing the tattoo is very painful, there is no need to do
so.
Q: Is it permissible to store food under one's bed, or
must one fear "evil spirits?"
A: Under duress, it is permitted.
Q: May one shave before appearing before the judge,
during this period?
A: Yes, since it is already after Lag BaOmer (This
reply is for members of certain Sephardic groups.)
Q: Is it permissible to remove one's yarmulke
when appearing before a judge, so that the judge will
accord him the same attitude he accords non-religious
prisoners?
A: It is forbidden to remove one's yarmulke.
More halachic questions were asked, and Rabbi Kornblit
received clear and answers.
The gedolei Yisroel displayed much interest in Rabbi
Kornblit's family. They asked how he was treated in prison,
and about the kashrus of the food. At the end of the
moving visit, HaRav Steinman and HaRav Kanievsky blessed him
that with Hashem's help he be released very shortly, and that
his family not be adversely affected by his long
detention.
Rabbi Kornblit responded to the blessings of the
gedolim and said: "It was worthwhile for me to have
spent six months in prison in order to merit the visits of
the gedolei Yisroel." But the rabbonim negated his
words and said that it was preferable for him not to have
been imprisoned at all, and that they would rather not have
visited him in prison.
During their visit, the gedolei Yisroel asked to tour
the wing in which Rabbi Kornblit is imprisoned, but the
prison commanders, at the instructions of the Office of the
Prisons' Commissioner, refused to comply with their
request.
It should be noted that last Sunday, the roshei
yeshiva of Jerusalem convened an emergency meeting in
order to discuss the prolonged detention of Rabbi Aharon
Shmuel Kornblit.
At the meeting the gedolei haTorah expressed deep
shock at his difficult situation resulting from his lengthy
prison stay on charges which haven't even been proved. The
roshei yeshiva decided to announce that everyone who
is able to assist in the endeavor to free Rabbi Kornblit must
do so, and that this is a great mitzvah of pidyon
shevuyim. The meeting was attended by HaRav Mendel Atik,
HaRav Shmuel Borenstein, HaRav Chaim Brim, HaRav Meshulem
Dovid Soloveitchik, HaRav Arye Finkel, HaRav Yosef Chaim
Kopschitz, and the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee,
Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz.
