Drama in Ponevezh: The Supreme Court stopped the yeshiva's evacuation at the last moment

The Supreme Court ordered a stay on the evacuation of the Ponevezh Yeshiva affiliated with Rabbi Shmuel Markowitz, which was set to take place by tomorrow. The decision came following a request for leave to appeal a district court ruling that upheld an arbitration award in the yeshiva dispute. The petitioners argue the evacuation affects 1,266 students and scholars, including hundreds of minors.

The Supreme Court ordered a stay on the evacuation of the Ponevezh Yeshiva affiliated with Rabbi Shmuel Markowitz, which was set to take place by tomorrow. The decision came following a request for leave to appeal filed by the petitioners against the district court's ruling, which upheld the arbitration award in the long-running yeshiva dispute. Alongside the request for leave to appeal, a motion was filed to stay the evacuation pending a decision on the proceedings. The petitioners argued that rights established in a final ruling from 2000 as substantive and independent rights were retroactively 'expropriated' through an 'implied condition' that, they claim, was never written in the original ruling. It was further argued that the ruling relied on a claim of estoppel that was not raised against them in a way that allowed them to respond. The petitioners demand that the Supreme Court overturn the arbitration award upheld by the district court. The petition emphasized the scale of the evacuation: 1,266 students and scholars, including hundreds of minors and boarding students. The yeshiva student association welcomed the decision: 'We welcome the Supreme Court's decision to stop a reckless and unprecedented evacuation of about 1,300 yeshiva students, including minors who would have found themselves on the street.' This development is another chapter in the long-standing dispute at the top of the Ponevezh Yeshiva over control of its institutions, buildings, and assets.