01x05 - Episode 5

[bunniefuu]

If the whole world has
"the public's right to know,"

with us it's "the public's right
not to know."

The Ministry of Education
encourages discrimination.

When I spoke of regional enrollment
I was pressured, even threatened.

By whom? That's what I want to know.

Maybe a girl who writes for a paper
under her own name

projects something provocative
that isn't me at all.

You don't belong here!
Beat it!

They don't want me around anywhere.

Stay on the path! Don't stray!

complying is the foundation
of the Ultra-Orthodox faith.

Commenting? Complying.

When a fog surrounds
very important issues

there's more room for Shady people
to squeeze into the picture.

We're only answerable to our audience

and you can't threaten us
because it's public broadcasting.

The websites won't attack the rabbis'
leadership, they'll honor it.

I'm just as ultra-Orthodox as Gafni.
Our goals are identical.

Everyone regrets things he's done.

When you do something in public, you hurt
the one who sent you, who created you.

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God,
the Lord is one."

Sometimes when I need to be alone,
when I need peace and quiet,

I come to the forest,
lay Tefillin and pray.

It's a place where you can
get to know yourself's inner self.

There are times when you need
that quiet.

Shlomi!

Bless your soul.

Hey, good morning, buddy.

You rule.

What's up? -How's it going?
-What's in there? -Good to see you.

I brought tea and stuff.

You rule.
-So we'll enjoy our study session.

Water...
-My producer, my man.

Coffee...

Isaac is a very, very good friend.

I take the pictures and
he produces the events.

Isaac looks more Orthodox than me,

more of the yeshiva type.

What are we studying today?
-Let's continue with Rabbi Pinkus.

It's written: "A Mitzvah is a candle
and the Torah is light.

"All the Mitzvahs and the whole world,
with all its holiness, beauty and wonders,

"including the holidays and prayers,
are no greater than a candle

"compared to the Torah,
which is like light.

"Eternity is found only in the Torah,
nowhere else."

By the way, I'm going through
an internal process, becoming more Orthodox.

I realized that if we take every
yeshiva student's dream, to get married,

to have a wife and kids,
you have to toe the line,

so the change has to come
from within,

you have to be good to yourself,
at once with yourself.

I'm studying with Rabbi Raanan...
-You're advancing?

Yeah, I want to celebrate completing
a whole tractate. -Wow, nice.

I want to do it in Kislev,
around my birthday, and make an event.

Leave it to me.
I'll give you the event of your life.

Like you've never seen before.

You'll produce it,

but I want it to be big-budget,

really "wow."

Music, a bonfire,
and instead of being just a party

I want...
-Shlomi.

Something holy.

So people will see that
Torah study comes first.

It'll be a winner.

Can I count on you? -Shlomi,
you'll just need to bring your bowtie,

a new suit...

Ay-ay, I'm gonna be...
-Looking like a king.

Let me surprise you.

This article on discrimination
against Sephardi girls in high schools

was the hardest one
for me to publish.

If I sometime wonder how should I write,

this was the first time I wondered
if I should do it at all.

I'm recording you, if you don't mind.

Every word you say is important.
-Gladly.

I can record you, right?

I'm doing a report on discrimination
against Sephardi girls in the seminaries.

The very fact that seminary headmasters
even discuss the fact that a girl is Sephardi

is racism.

Do you know how many girls have deteriorated
health-wise, psychologically, spiritually,

because they were made to feel useless?

Why should I publish it?
Because it's a social injustice

and if we journalists don't talk about it,
nobody will.

The problem isn't
Sephardis vs. Ashkenazis,

the problem is power and control.

Why shouldn't I publish it?

First of all, who am I to say it?

This hub of power
has seminaries and yeshivas

and rabbis he controls.

They can destroy someone if they want.

Where does a seminary headmaster derive his power?
The Ministry of Education. Budgets.

As long as United Torah Judaism
is in the coalition, it won't work.

I was pressured, even threatened.

What do they gain from it?
-Power.

What do you know about all those
power-merchants in their ivory towers

who run schools and municipality departments
and the Ministry of Education?

A father who reports to the Ministry of Education
is marked as a snitch.

He'll be ostracized in his neighborhood,
he'll have trouble marrying off his kids.

I expect ultra-Orthodox journalists

to be brave and
reveal the painful truth.

What if I don't do a good job?

This is such a profound issue

on so many levels.

They don't hesitate to control and threaten
and harass and frighten.

Write it, give it to the editor,
and you know what they can do to you?

Don't waste your time, It's futile.
You'll only cause blasphemy.

I knew before I started
that I'd catch hell.

There's no way I'll come out
likable.

No way.

And you like to be likable?

I don't like to annoy.

Let's get together, the whole committee,
on behalf of the parents.

Please don't pass the entire education budget
until this matter is dealt with.

The Finance Committee is going to pass
a 2 billion shekel budget

for the municipalities, for defense,
for a million other things,

but for autistic ultra-Orthodox children?
Not a shekel.

And if they're denied the education
and treatments they need

it's an unforgivable crime.

We want to get a majority of the committee
to vote against the budget

and convince the Treasury
to give us the money.

Find 40 million shekels for this, no more,

and kudos to committee chairman
Rabbi Gafni for fighting for this.

Committee chairman
Rabbi Gafni sets the tone here,

he decides what's what.

I've interviewed him several times and he
said he was for it and that he'd do his best.

I met with Treasury representatives yesterday
about special education.

They say "it got stuck here,
it got stuck there..." -It didn't get stuck,

I was at the Treasury yesterday. They refused.
-Then it's time to force their hand.

I go to the Treasury, sometimes...

There's funding that should
go to those kids,

to their parents...

While the MKs took a break
I met with Rabbi Gafni in the cafeteria

and tried to persuade him: "Rabbi Gafni,
everyone's voting against the budget."

Rabbi Gafni said: "Then you know what?
I'm shutting down the committee.

"I'm not bringing it up for a vote."

He took it off the agenda, shut down the committee
and won't bring it up for a vote.

I'm so disappointed with him.

I can't look my son in the eye.

I can't look his classmates in the eye.

What are you worth?

I've got a serious dilemma.

Because on the one hand, Rabbi Gafni's voters
listen to me every night,

and if I tell them about this
it will affect them.

Good evening. The end of the fight for a budget
for special education for Orthodox children...

I wish I could go on the air and say:
"Good evening, listeners.

"I speak on behalf of
40.000 ultra-Orthodox children

"with various disabilities and special needs.
Most of them can't speak

"so I'm speaking on their behalf.

"Rabbi Gafni, you let us down.

"Now - commercial break."

I just can't do that.

We hope and pray we can continue the fight,

and may God help us,
and may the Orthodox representatives

led by Budget Committee Chairman
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni

continue to support this struggle,

and bring resaults.

In a sense, since the station
is very conservative,

you have to follow a lot of rules,
including religious laws.

We can't launch personal attacks

against ultra-Orthodox politicians,
everything has to be handled subtly.

And that's frustrating.

I have to find another
media platform

where I have the freedom to tell
the Jewish people what happened here.

You got a majority to stop the Budget Committee
from passing certain budgets,

you got the Arab parties, the opposition
and Likud to join forces,

and Rabbi Moshe Gafni is standing in the way?
-I don't know if that's the right phrasing,

he isn't bringing it up for a vote.
-He told you that categorically.

He's watching from the sidelines.

Does he have something against those kids?
-No, God forbid.

Then what's going on?
-I can't understand it. I'm speechless.

You'll have to ask him.

Kikar HaShabbat, which is a website,
not a radio station,

doesn't reach every Haredi home,
it doesn't undermine anyone's outlook,

so I can express myself freely there

and tell the whole story
and attack whomever I must

and call a spade a spade,
which I can't do on my Radio station.

The schools are collapsing
as we speak.

We'll continue to follow
this absurd story in 2020.

Thank you for bringing the subject up,
on behalf of thousands of parents,

hundreds of teachers
and dozens of schools.

Avi Mimran, thank you very much.

Another medium I write for
is Front Line,

a medium that reaches the ultra-Orthodox
who don't use the internet,

so we reach them by email.

Even those who have the most kosher,
highly censured internet

have email.

There's a newsletter on a different topic
every day: news, health, economics...

women, of course.

It's a newsletter for women only

where I can talk to them about things

I supposedly can't talk about in the printed press.

They'll accept it because
it goes straight to their email

and only the women see it.

Okay, let's start the meeting of
the Front Line editorial staff.

How would you sum up
the first months?

I discovered I have a massive,
diverse audience,

from extra-ultra-Orthodox,
hardcore, mainstream women

to the most modern women
and I can only thank God for that.

Thank you, God.
-Really. Thank you, God.

We haven't mentioned
the big subject, VOD.

VOD.

What's that?
YouTube for women only?

I mean, it's a women's channel...
-It's called The Women's Front. For women.

But how can it relate to women, too?

What are you getting at?

Current events. -What do you
consider current events? -Okay,

tomorrow morning we start with current events.
Now what? -I want to tackle problems.

Women who don't know their rights
when they get fired,

special education teachers, kindergarten
and schoolteachers, women in high tech,

they don't even know...
-Medical rights.

To sit in on a committee meeting
and then interview...

She wants to mold public opinion.

Exactly. Thank you. -She wants to be
a mouthpiece for women. -Thank you.

And what she's entitled to
if she works from home.

You know how vast this is?
-If there's a medical mishap...

Nobody hears about women's issues.

Imagine you have half a million subscribers
to this YouTube channel

who want you, with your subtlety,
your modesty, your beauty, your mind.

It's a dream come true.
Let me finally do video,

I love it, it's me.

When we wrote the script
for the series on vehicles

the idea came up to have Shifi
do a test drive...

Classic.
-An item with a woman who drives,

that's a dream come true.
-And not just that,

it's from a female point of view.
A test drive with a women driver.

-I'm stunned.
But not necessarily as a woman driver.

What's that?

It could be as a woman
who doesn't drive.

Take my wife, what does she need
to know about my car?

Where to put a bottle?
Where to put the diapers

once all the luggage is packed in?

The trunk...
-Here we go again,

instead of test-driving a car,
I have to find out

where the diapers go...

But that's daily life.
-It's something you do every day...

But for God's sake,
I have more to offer.

You want to hear my prediction?

Yes?
-You won't get a single negative comment.

I'm going to visit Grandpa and Grandma.

Grandpa was the chief rabbi
of Givatayim for many years

and served on the Chief Rabbinate.

Wow, how cute!

And Grandma,
who's also very intelligent,

was the first ultra-Orthodox woman
in academia, I think.

I think I'll wear this shirt
on my next date.

We'll see what he says.

She's also good for gossiping
about boys.

The ultra-Orthodox seminaries
don't want to accept Sephardi girls

and I'm doing a report on it

and I'm trying to figure out...

I'm sure there are many in our community

who won't be thrilled with my report...

Maybe that's what's keeping me
from getting married.

You know what?
I can answer that.

You know I had a column
in a newspaper for six years.

I had a weekly column,
I could write about whatever I wanted,

and by then I was married with kids,

and I was very careful

not to be provocative

and this is your loving grandma's
recommendation, don't be provocative.

It's not your job to fix the world.

So you're saying I should...
-Hold back.

Know when to put on the brakes

and try not to annoy people.

Take my advice.
-Because I'm dating?

Yes.

The first priority,
in my opinion and in Judaism,

is starting a family.
That comes first.

Then you can take on
other tasks.

So if I chose a particular career

does it mean I'm undermining
my chances of finding

the best match for me?

No, but when I decided
I wanted to marry a Torah scholar

I knew I'd have to
push other things aside.

I live a Torah life.

We're talking about your choice

of husband,
and he'll be from a particular sector.

You can't say, "I'll be as I am
and whoever wants me can come get me."

It doesn't work that way.
Every group has its rules

and you have to give up
some of your desires and abilities

for the sake of the group
you need to belong to.

Yes, it's a conservative approach,
but I get it.

Excuse me, we're conservative.

Who's "we"?
-Religious people. Sorry to tell you.

And if you have the energy to fix things,
fix yourself first.

Avoid it like the plague.

First start a family. Period.

I've waited for this moment for so long
I prayed for next year

I cried tear after tear
Begging that my bride would come

Most of my friends have left yeshiva
They're here with their wife and baby

And I dance and get all five (voices)
All my bones scream "Come, already, bride"

We all ask his blessing that the preparations
for the wedding and the wedding itself

go smoothly,

may you build an everlasting home,
blessed with everything good,

material and spiritual, with service
of God and a long and good life.

Thank God, you won't be able to say
"soon by you" any more.

I'm as we say
"matched with intent to wed" with Dina.

I'm satisfied.

Do you like that suit?

Should I button it?
-Yes, it'll look better.

A friend of my sister's introduced us
and we "held meetings" for a month and a half.

We clicked and I'm happy to announce
that at the age of 31 I'm engaged.

What a handsome groom.

How did my family say it?
If Mendy can... the road is clear.

It's different for a single 31-year-old
if he's ultra-Orthodox.

L'chaim, l'chaim.

Mazel tov.

Thank you.

Most of your peers
are already married

and if the years pass
and you're still not married, it's not good.

Now I believe you're a grownup.

Until now you were Grade B.

See?
-Now you're Grade A.

Don't you have something better to do?

You haven't introduced me
to the bride.

Where is she? Just a sec.

Where's the bride?

Where's Dina?

I was looking for the right girl
and, thank God, she has the right traits

and interests and it's a good match.

You look stunning.
How's it going?

You look good, I look good...

I have to spend all day with...
-That's all that counts.

What'll you have? Whiskey?

I'll pour myself a little.

L'chaim.
L'chaim, l'chaim.

Do I have to give you a breathalyzer test?

This is just the engagement?
It's like a wedding.

The families waited a long time,
so they made this a big thing.

The Chabad engagement ceremony
is called a Vort.

Vort means "word" in Yiddish. Vort.

Mom.

The ceremony's starting.

It means that the groom and bride
give their word

that they'll get married
withing a certain number of months.

First of all, mazel tov.

The groom and bride and their parents
give their word to each other

that the wedding will be on time.

It's your kerchief, right?
Raise it.

Give it to the groom.

What am I purchasing?
-You're promising.

According to Jewish law,
a purchase is made by raising a kerchief,

the rabbi, the groom and the bride
raise a piece of cloth...

The bride's father will give it
to the bride.

The groom's parents and the bride's parents,
and they give their word.

And then break a plate.

Mazel tov.
-Mazel tov.

"And these are the statutes
that you will place before them,

"should you purchase
a Hebrew sl*ve..."

Then the groom gives over
a Hassidic teaching.

It's a very special moment.

Mendy was raised on a certain philosophy,

on certain values,

and he sees it as his role
to pass them on,

even if it means going against his camp

or sector or...

Maybe that's why
so many people

of all kinds, from all different places,
love him,

they simply love him.

This isn't a funeral, Eli!
-People he criticizes,

people he fights against...

This is how Lithuanians speak.
-Still, they love him, they love this man.

And I love him too, Mendy,

and I wish you lots more joy and fun
and a happy wedding

with all your friends.

Thank you.

Very nice.
-Was it?

Great job.

So far I've had the freedom

in the media

to say what I want,

but now I'm starting a new era.

It'll affect my wife
and my kids, God willing,

and also affect my work in the media,
of course,

because family isn't a sideline, it's...

You measure everything by
what's good for your wife and family

and it'll affect things, but for the better.

Hold on, are you single?
I've got a real beauty for you.

No? -He's been seeing someone for four years,
he's going to propose. -Who?

Radio Kol BaRama just made me
an amazing offer,

to run a program,
a women's panel, on camera, in the studio.

Have a seat. How's it going?
-I like the lion.

Yeah? That's Minister Aryeh ("Lion") Deri.

It's a dream I never mentioned
because I thought it was unattainable.

Ultra-Orthodox women deserve
exactly the same as ultra-Orthodox men.

A TV show with a woman moderator
and only women panelists

and it's on TV...
It's unprecedented.

It just has to toe the ultra-Orthodox line,
pure, holy, according to Jewish law,

soon, God willing.
-I'm here to make sure it happens.

Let's do it. -God willing.
-Good luck.

See? You wanted changes
and they're happening.

Wow. The truth is...

So we're the premiere?

Whoa, nice.

A call from home.

Hey, honey.

Mommy?
-What?

She was sleeping, she woke up
and now she's crying.

A friend's daughter is at my house
and she isn't feeling well.

Aw...

Hadassie, I'll finish up as fast as I can
and come home.

Bye.

What a trip.

I have to climb up.

Yes, sweetie.

Tell them to put on the AC
before I die.

Ayal'ush?

I'm counting on you, okay?

Hurry, I have to get back on the phone.

I'll be home soon, okay?

And then they ask
why I have a headache.

Hello?

What's up, Tova'le?

I need a few teaspoons of formula.

Okay, I'll send someone.

Wow, thanks, you're a saint.

Haddasit?

What? -Tovale's sending
one of her girls over

with the formula.

Ask a neighbor to make it,

a 7-year-old can't give formula...
-No, she's 12. -Oh.

Who else is coming?
-Let's start already.

What a blouse, Sari,
you outdid me,

not nice.

I'd like to do a show
where women can express themselves,

talk about the things that interest them,
that bother them.

Tell me when we're on.

One, two, three. Ready?
You're on.

Hello, ladies, and welcome

to the televised program

"You Only Get One Mother"

and here are the fascinating topics
that await us today.

Breastfeeding, yes or no?

Breastfeeding is economical...

Economical? Nice, that's a new one.
-It's true.

When I gave birth I asked for pills
to dry up my milk.

So I got a show about,
what else but...

I want to talk about myths
about raising children.

Diapers, breastfeeding,

Roll the baby over every three hours
so its skull stays attractive.

Should you give your baby honey?
Eggs? How does it work?

But I think it's good and I like it

because it's another step
along my path.

Thanks for watching,

we're "You Only Get One Mother,"

and remember, be kind to yourselves,
relax, that's all that counts.

It's like opening a door
slowly and cautiously

to see who's behind it,

and here I'm pushing the door
a little further open.

Yay, we did it!

So what are you looking for

in a mate?

A Torah scholar.

That's...

To me, a husband
who studies all day

is like winning the lottery.

It's the highest...

achievement.
-I see.

Torah study should be his highest priority
and God willing my children will be Torah scholars.

Do you know what a Kollel student

and his wife's life is like?
-Yes, I know.

You don't know until
you experience it.

A monthly salary of 2.000 shekels...

Don't forget, only 2.000 shekels.

And Kollel students
aren't prepared for life

very well.

Besides remembering

to bring their clothes
to be laundered once a month

they don't really have to
deal with anything.

It's very impractical...

to put it mildly.

Why, when you were 20
and someone like that would be easier to find,

didn't it happen?

Because, to be honest,
my work

and developing my career
are very important to me.

I work like crazy
until 1 a.m. every night, and...

My time is my own,
and if I get married

I'll have to share it with other people

and that'll slow down

my personal development.

In addition, working in the media
is a very extroverted kind of job,

the fact that the wife is seen

and I go on TV panels

and talk on the radio and...

It's like...

The ultra-Orthodox world
doesn't like it at all.

They don't like to reveal
their personal lives

or the community's life, either.
-I understand that.

Would you marry someone
who isn't a Kollel student?

I'm starting to feel like
it's not an option.

And how do you feel about that?

I'm learning to accept it.

Come.

Here we are, the radio station.

Today is a special day for us.

17 years ago today, my life
and my wife Michal's life changed

because Itzik was born 17 years ago,
today's his birthday,

and I'm bringing him to work
for the first time,

trying to connect for him
what he hears on the radio

with what the place looks like.

See? In honor of your birthday
Daddy brought you to work

so you can see the studio. This is Kol Chai Music.
You know what they broadcast here?

What?
-Songs, music.

See him?

Yes.

When Itzik listens to music
or the radio or watches movies,

that's where he comes alive.

He can recite lines from movies
and songs endlessly,

but he can't speak.

This is where he expresses himself.

What's Kol Chai?

The News.

Exactly.

The News, featuring...?

Avi Mimran.

Bravo. I see you listen to
the radio, Itzik.

"Kol Chai is always
on my wavelength,

"any time, any place,

"Kol Chai is always with me."

Bravo!

Amazing, Itzik,
you sang our jingle.

Come, I'll show you where Daddy
broadcasts from every day.

See?
-Wow, listeners,

you won't believe this.

Happy birthday, Itzik!
How are you?

Fun.
-You're a righteous, holy boy,

Itzik.

Very nice.
-That's what you are.

Keep making your parents proud.
-Itzik...

See? He's wishing you a happy birthday.
-I tip my hat to your parents

for the way they treat you
and the whole family.

Say thank you to Yoav. -Thank you.
-Thank you to Yoav.

Thank you.

Excellent. -We're lucky to have
children like you.

Come.
-Thank you.

See? Everyone's glad
that it's your birthday.

By bringing Itzik to the studio
I'm achieving closure

because I talk about it so much,

for years I've been broadcasting...

Who loves you the most, Itzik?

Daddy.

Right. Who else?

Mommy.

Right.

What do you want to say to Mommy?
Speak on the radio,

what do you want to say to Mommy?

Mommy, listen here.

She hears you.
"Yes, I hear you."

What do you have to say?

Mommy,

I love you.

Very nice, Mommy's very happy
you said that.

My report.

"The Soul Merchants."

"Early enrollment, tricky interviews
and governmental disregard.

"Discrimination against Sephardi girls
in the seminaries,

"the parents' outcry
and the list of guilty parties."

There's discrimination against Sephardi girls
in the seminaries, it's a very painful phenomenon,

but what I learned from doing my report

is that there's a very problematic
societal approach

that creates these gaps in status,

it's systematic and not aimed
at specific figures.

I received some scathing responses.
Hundreds of criticisms.

The Ashkenazis gave me hell,
"How dare you publish such things?"

The Sephardis said I sided
with the Ashkenazis.

"Privileged Ashkenazi, how dare you
talk to seminary principals?"

In the end I realized
it's a rough battle

but if everyone involved
lets his opinion be heard,

that opinion will be heard,

and if the truth is ugly

they'll have to come up with some
very pretty answers to cover it up.

Ladies and gentlemen,

ladies and gentlemen,

are you ready? Are you ready?

Hey.

What's up, sis?

The kids want to talk to you.

Shlomi?

Yes, sweetie, what's your
birthday wish for me?

A Torah scholar.

A woman Torah scholar for a wife?

Yes. Get married already.

I'm looking, I'm looking.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Look at this. I'm in shock.

If I do an event
I do it all the way,

it's not some lame effort
with pastries and cookies,

no way.

Let's start with the show.

We have flowers,

a camera cake

with posts from Instagram,
with statuses,

a c*ck bar, a wine bar.

We wish Shlomi a happy birthday...

I hired a choir
and laid out a fortune.

I wanted to show everyone

that Torah and Talmud study
come first.

Am I a groom or what?
-A groom.

You just need a bride.

Give us a smile.

Knesset members came...

My man.

Prominent journalists...

Hello, hello!

The Rabbi of the Western
Wall. And Mayor Moshe Lion, he's a good friend.

We're like a married couple.

Are you married?

Married? I'm single, bless my soul.

You're the best.

But most importantly,
my parents came.

I wanted to show them
the results of all their efforts.

Sweetheart.
-A huge thank-you.

Such a good boy.

Good evening, everyone.

First and foremost
I want to thank my parents

for being here tonight.

I want to read you a WhatsApp message
I got a month ago

in response to a status I posted
which shows me studying

in yeshiva with my partner.

This is what my client,
a mother of a 20-year-old son, wrote:

"Did you always like studying
or is it an insight you acquired?"

I answered: "On the contrary.

"I always tried to avoid studying
as my parents can testify,

"because I'm hyperactive,"
as you can see,

"and I lack the peace of mind
to sit and study."

I want to take this opportunity
to thank you,

Mom and Dad, for all the help
you've given me.

Father, Father, Father, King of the world

King, King, King, father of all

You forgive again and again

Only to you can I run, Father

Daddy...

My parents were the people

who made me believe in myself

and know that my failures
are my successes.

I love you. Really.

You're so generous. I have to learn from you.
You're my inspiration.

You never say bad things,
never hate.

You never gossip.

I was a very difficult child.

Always changing schools,
four or five schools, like a ping-pong ball.

Junior high and high school yeshiva
and tutors...

Wow. Poor things.

This is the first time they're seeing
the fruits of their efforts.

I see myself married
with kids, God willing,

with a vibrant, classy, good,
God-fearing

ultra-Orthodox home.

The number of people with coronavirus
rose by 55 over the past day

and now stands at 250.

Our correspondent Vered Pelman reports that
five patients are hospitalized in critical condition.

Updates on the COVID-19 epidemic
are available on the Kan application.

That's it for the news.

Mendy-Bitan,

starting the morning

with Mendy Gruzman and Eli Bitan.

It's 9:05. Good morning, Bitan.

Good morning, Gruzman, how are you?

Despite the coronavirus,
thank God.

On Thursday,
after the Health Ministry gave instructions

to close the schools down entirely,

a video was publicized.

In the video,
the grandson of the great rabbi

and sage Chaim Kanievsky is seen

asking his grandfather:

"Rabbi, should yeshiva studies
be continued?"

They say that when kids
gather in the same building,

if someone is infected
it can spread

and that increases the danger.

Do you think the elementary schools
should be closed because of this?

God forbid.

School and yeshiva principals

were very surprised to hear this edict,

they said: We want to bring
a group of health experts

to the Rabbi to explain
the risks to him

and they were told that that had already
been done and this video was made after that.

We're here to reveal
that no such meeting occurred.

It's a total lie.

We began our program
with the story

that they refused to let doctors in
and that they lied about having doctors in

and while we were on the air
a source

who spends a lot of time
with Rabbi Kanievsky

and other rabbis, too,

sent a letter from a yeshiva headmaster
addressing that very thing.

You say a dramatic twist has taken place.

Yes.

A very interesting letter from
the headmaster of Yeshivat Ayelet Hashachar,

he begins with an unequivocal order

to stay at home.

"It's obligatory to obey the community rabbis
and not heed others

"who have no real connection with them."

He's saying there are
too many go-betweens

between the yeshiva students
and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky

so they should obey
the community rabbis.

This wasn't just another incident.

If you look back on the series
of incidents, it was a significant incident.

People start to wonder

when the issue is close to home,
like life and death and health.

The biggest expression
of non-confidence in his edict

was in the newspaper Yated Ne'eman
which chose not to publish the edict,

the mouthpiece of the Degel HaTorah party
which obeys Rabbi Kanievsky.

In practice, the ultra-Orthodox sector
didn't obey the edict.

With all due respect

to the ultra-Orthodox media,

let's set that aside,

I got an amazing new job at Walla.

I'm resurrecting the Judaism channel.

It's a tremendous change for me.

I want an item on the seven
modest women of Hollywood,

it could be so cool.

The general agenda is to
provide a platform for Jewish voices.

I want to do an awesome column
on ways that religious people find love.

There are tons of super-nice
topics in Judaism

like Jewish celebrities

and Jewish inventions,

just presenting a cool, nice Jewish voice.

Roni.

Yes?
-We have a crisis.

I think it's going to turn into
a media crisis.

And who ends up doing the story on the
ultra-Orthodox disobeying COVID-19 regulations?

We have to face
the secular public

which never gives us a break.

They're attacking him in articles
and on Twitter and everywhere

and I don't know what to do about it...

I'm torn between my instincts
and my job

and my intended audience.

Save the soul-searching
we need to do

for some other time,

we have a crisis to manage.

Addressing Jewish topics today

is the hardest thing
to do in Israel.

With the amount of opposition and...

hate and loathing, you could say,

that these topics receive

from secular Israelis,

this is going to be
a very difficult challenge.

Okay man, I gotta go,

I have to post a response, and fast.

Cool. If you need...
-Okay, thanks,

I hope I don't have to bug you
too much. We'll talk. Thanks.

Thanks again. -Bye.

Bye.

I'm in a niche

that pretty much guarantees
that everyone will hate me,

because to the ultra-Orthodox
I'm not Orthodox enough,

and to the non-religious
I'm too Orthodox.

But if I wanted to be liked
I wouldn't have become a journalist,

you get criticized from every angle.
That's what I do for a living,

get criticized.

That's what I do.
And I'm fine with that.

As long as I can do
good, professional work

that makes positive impact...

what do I care?

When you publish something and secular websites
follow it up it's bad for the Orthodox, period.

Why didn't they let doctors in?
Why did they lie?

If I worked for a secular medium
aimed at the general public

I'd be less driven.

Much, much less driven.

On the contrary, I'd be driven
to cover issues like Orthodox-hatred,

things like that.

But actually, working for our own media
makes me driven

because if I risk my life
over a rabbi's decision

I want to know that the rabbi
knows the whole story

and I'll risk my life to the same extent,

but in that case I'll ask all the questions I need
to, to make sure it really was the rabbi's exact edict.

On tonight's news,

Bnei Brak in crisis.

The management of the COVID-19 crisis
in the city is a total failure.

The Health Ministry and other entities
woke up too late

in terms of ultra-Orthodox outreach.

We'll try to provide
precise information.

We teach that the internet
doesn't belong in an Orthodox home.

My sons don't read my articles online.

And I'm proud of that.

HaDerech will never be on the internet

because HaDerech's audience
doesn't use the internet

and never will.

The current situation

is that there is a danger.

That's the situation.

There's a lack of Torah.

Today's ultra-Orthodox society
is healthy enough

to cope with these changes,

and I think they'll eventually discover
the new media.

I'm sure that after all the changes

the ultra-Orthodox media
won't be like the general media,

it doesn't aspire to be.

It'll change in very interesting ways,

but it'll still be ultra-Orthodox.