Rabbi Paysach Freedman cuts red tape and opens doors for Anglos in Israel
Photos: Eli Cobin
I
f there is a geographical center to Jerusalem’s sprawling English-speaking yeshivah and kollel life, it’s probably Givat Moshe, a neighborhood abustle with avreichim and yeshivos a short journey to Belz one way, up the road from the Mir empire another, and just over the junction from the American strongholds of Ramat Eshkol and Maalot Dafna. Better known by its municipal map allocation as Gush Shmonim (“Bloc 80”), a more fitting moniker would be Kollel Mile.
And that’s why crossing the threshold of Rabbi Paysach Freedman’s office from the heimish world beyond feels a bit like a disconnect. The mahogany desk, wall-mounted flat-screen, and Rabbi Freedman’s own monogrammed shirt-cuffs are not quite C-suite. But they’re definitely more boardroom than Bar Ilan, the main thoroughfare down the road.