Students to meet chief rabbi over yeshiva stipends

“We cherish and respect the honorable rabbi and thank him for the initiative," student union head says.

By BEN HARTMAN
Representatives from the National Student Union will meet with Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar on Wednesday, amid an ongoing student protest over plans to renew stipends for married full-time yeshiva students.
In a statement on Tuesday night, union head Itzik Shmuli said, “We cherish and respect the honorable rabbi and thank him for the initiative. The union positively accepts this invitation to bring a message of reconciliation and brotherhood between the secular and religious publics.”
The meeting takes place two days after nearly 10,000 university students from across the country marched in Jerusalem Monday under the banner “We’re not suckers!” to show their opposition to the plan to renew the stipends.
On Monday, as the march was taking place, the prime minister’s spokesman issued a statement defending its policy on stipends for yeshiva students.
“The government is dealing with the issue of supplements for yeshiva students in the exact same way the government has for the past 30 years, and the supplements in question total the same sum approved by former governments,” the statement read.
Melanie Lidman contributed to this report.


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