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Psak 5768 Iyyar 29


Informal translation from Hebrew of the 29 Iyyar, 5768 (3 June 2008) statement:

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Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State
Secretary: Rabbi Amnon Hever Tel: 054-9400909 b.d.hartzion@gmail.com

Court ruling on the case of Rivka Meirchik

The Court convened regarding the matter of Ms. Rivka Meirchik, who is incarcerated in Neveh Tirtza prison, under lock and key, now for 62 days. Ms. Rivka Meirchik was arrested at Shevut Ami, to which she arrived as a settler from her Jewish obligation to settle the Land of Israel, as it is written in the Torah "and you shall inherit it, and you shall settle in it" (Deuteronomy 11:31), a commandment which obligates every person in Israel. Ms. Rivka Meirchik was arrested and indicted with false charges, and her continued imprisonment is in order to force her to give guarantees for her false arrest, whose purpose is to bring her, against her will, to violate her religion. This matter is an outrageous injustice, and against the Torah of Israel. As a Jew fulfilling commandments, she refuses to stand before secular courts, that indeed, discussion and decisions on the matter of fulfilling the commands of Torah are not in the jurisdiction of a scular court. And thus, she acted per halacha.

The commandment of settling the Land of Israel has a special status when the land is under threat of being handed over to the enemy by those who violate the covenant. Whomever arrested Ms. Rivka Meirchik harmed a Jewish woman at the height of fulfilling a commandment, and fulfilling the Jewish religion in the state of the Jews. In light of the progression of the discussion on the matter of Ms. Rivka Meirchik in front of six state courts, every one in its time, there is no escaping the conclusion, that there seems to be some sort of conspiracy of the Judicial System to oppress a Jew wishing to fulfill a commandment among the foundational commands of the Torah of Israel. The Court finds proper to strengthen the hands of Ms. Rivka Meirchik on her standing according to halacha, preserving the honor of our Torah, our Nation, and our Land.

Rabbi Yisrael Ariel - Head of the Court
Rabbi Hillel Weiss
Rabbi Dov Stein

Click here to see the Hebrew version

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