Attorneys representing Ponevezh Yeshiva have moved swiftly following the court ruling in the long-running dispute over the yeshiva campus, sending a formal demand letter calling on the opposing side to fully comply with the decision.
The letter, sent Monday by attorneys Ehud Artzi, Rivka Ariel, Ran Feldman and S. Horowitz, was addressed to attorney Eyal Rozovsky, who represents Rav Shmuel Markowitz and the Mesores HaTorah association. It came just one day after Judge Yehudit Shevach issued her ruling upholding the arbitration decision governing the future of the Ponevezh campus.
The brief and pointed letter demands that the ruling be implemented in full, beginning with the requirement to “vacate the Ponevezh Yeshiva property” by the deadline established by the court.
Under Judge Shevach’s ruling, the buildings occupied by Rav Markowitz’s yeshiva are to be vacated during Chol Hamoed Sukkos 5787, two days before Simchas Torah.
Ponevezh’s attorneys also demanded that the buildings be returned in proper condition and that all financial penalties imposed in the arbitration ruling by retired Judge David Cheshin be paid in full, together with applicable linkage adjustments.
The letter further calls for Mesores HaTorah and “Eim HaYeshivos” to immediately stop using the Ponevezh Yeshiva name and trademarks in any form. That demand applies to the yeshiva’s logos, official documents, advertisements, fundraising websites and other platforms.
In addition, the attorneys demanded that Rav Shmuel Markowitz immediately cease using the title “Rosh Yeshivas Ponevezh.”
The letter followed Sunday’s sweeping District Court decision in favor of Ponevezh Yeshiva and its president, Rav Eliezer Kahaneman. Judge Shevach essentially upheld the full arbitration ruling issued by retired Judge David Cheshin, who was appointed to adjudicate the bitter dispute in 2021.
The ruling represents a potentially decisive turning point in a decades-long conflict that resulted in two rival yeshivos operating on the same Ponevezh campus and was repeatedly accompanied by bitter confrontations and, at times, violence.
In her decision, Judge Shevach leveled particularly severe criticism at Rav Markowitz, placing responsibility on his side for the violence and turmoil that plagued the campus during the dispute.
Attention is now turning to Simchas Torah, which is expected to mark the first Yom Tov after the deadline by which the entire Ponevezh campus is supposed to be under the exclusive control of Ponevezh Yeshiva.
Officials at the yeshiva are reportedly awaiting that date with considerable anticipation, although Rav Markowitz’s side has indicated that it intends to pursue an appeal of the ruling.
