The Pras Yisrael award of 5748 was awarded to Reb Adin Even Yisroel, on the accomplishment of the Steinzaltz Talmud, for making Gemara study accessible to the masses for the first time in history.
This honorary, as well as monetary, prize, is bestowed by the State of Israel on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Knesset and the Supreme Court President, and is considered the state's highest cultural honor.
Being a loyal chossid, Reb Adin asked the Rebbe whether he should accept the award.
Upon the Rebbe's guidance, when the ceremony began Reb Adin was nowhere to be found. He had left the country and could not be reached.
The organizers fumed, and the media erupted, but the Rebbe’s approach was made plain for all to see. As the Maariv newspaper reported at the time, the reason the honorary winner did not appear was because he is a Chabadnik, “which as a movement opposes the state, and considers the state to be established illegitimately...”
