Defending tradition and Torah study

(JNS) — Hundreds of thousands gathered in Jerusalem for what some called “Prayer for Shalom HaMedina” (Prayer for the Peace/Welfare of the State of Israel), representing a broad, unified front of the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi), traditional and Religious Zionist communities.

The massive demonstration, characterized by prayer only with no speeches, is a powerful expression of concern over recent arrests of Torah students and, more broadly, a perceived assault by progressive, left-wing forces on the nation’s traditional values and the role of the Torah in Israeli life.

​The primary catalyst for this...