Inside the Room

In a remarkable encounter last week, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the modest homes of Slabodka roshei yeshivah Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch to discuss the Iran war, the draft controversy, and the rise of evangelical anti-Semitism. No clips and quotes do justice to the impression from an exclusive vantage point inside the room that this was an encounter for the ages

When an American ambassador comes to town — especially a densely populated, politically savvy town like Bnei Brak — everybody knows about it. The panoply of an official visit from Uncle Sam draws a crowd: streets blocked off by black SUVs with diplomatic plates; burly bodyguards with earpieces; advisors and other outriders.

Last Wednesday, much to the intrigue of a crowd of bystanders, the motorcade of US Ambassador Mike Huckabee swept into Givat Rokach, the gentle knoll on which Yeshivas Slabodka sits. Destination: the exceedingly humble apartments of two roshei yeshivah who now jointly head much of Israel’s Torah world.

Adding to the unusual optics of the event was the presence of Dirshu founder Rav Dovid Hofstedter, a longtime friend of the former Arkansas governor, and the one who had facilitated the encounter.

Outside the yeshivah, a group of sharp-witted American bochurim puzzled over the unusual pairing. Did Rav Hofstedter bring Ambassador Huckabee or vice versa? Was it to mark the launch of a new Dirshu program? one wit wondered.