My friends we have no choice. We must all go out and vote for Yahadut HaTorah. But after the elections we will settle our accounts with the party’s leaders. We are going to the polls not because of the representatives and the parties chas v’chalilah but rather in spite of them. And although this does not give voice to our mistrust of them the obligation to vote is rooted in the directives of the Chazon Ish zt”l. I heard this directly from a person who heard it from the Chazon Ish himself and it has already become public knowledge that the obligation to vote is mainly in order to demonstrate publicly how many Jews in Eretz Yisrael truly desire for their lives to be run in accordance with the Torah. For that purpose every vote counts. Every ballot cast gives voice to this fundamental truth.

But the leaders of Yahadut HaTorah have expressed their fears that this time even the Chazon Ish’s instructions will not achieve the desired result. Suddenly they have begun listening to the voices of their constituents. They have noticed the anger that has built up within so many hearts and that is now spilling out in bursts from large chareidi communities expressing their wrath in every possible way by refusing to vote or by voting for parties that are far from the spirit of the Torah. And while we feel that this anger is justified it still does not warrant the failure to vote in spite of everything. What choice is there? Those people at the top of the political pyramid are busy with themselves with their own internal conflicts. They are interested in nothing other than making it through the elections in peace so that they can return to their daily routine. They are completely detached from the public whose struggles do not concern them. But we return to the point we made at the very beginning of this column: that this has no bearing whatsoever on the obligation of every individual to vote.

Those who are disgruntled and rightly so with the party’s leadership fall into two groups: the bnei Torah who work for a living and the baalei teshuvah. Degel HaTorah has been unwilling to come into conflict with the forces that have dictated the standards in chareidi society for many years and those forces have decreed that anyone who works must be removed from the camp. The result has been the neglect of the working class which has not been accorded the proper treatment and the embrace that it specifically needs at least in the realm of askanus which includes assistance in securing acceptance for its children in our educational institutions along with support in every area. The working people have felt forsaken and this itself has led to attrition and caused them to feel even further removed from the place where they want to be. As a result they are angry now as well when those politicians who want their votes pretend to display true interest in them. We know that it is insulting and painful. And as we promised we will have an accounting with them after the elections. But not now. Now is the time to vote.

The baalei teshuvah are also incensed by the cold shoulder they have been given by Degel HaTorah throughout the years. Perhaps here and there the party leaders have helped individuals on a private basis but not on a large-scale communal basis. These returnees to Yiddishkeit are the new blood coursing through the drying veins of the Israeli public and they should have been embraced even more by the party whose stated goal is to solve the problems of the Jewish people in accordance with the Torah. This party should have taken note of the winds of change that have begun to blow through the land and it should have taken the lead of the teshuvah movement. But instead of finding their place in the party of Agudas Yisrael the baalei teshuvah feel disconnected from the party and from the chareidi public.

The alienation that they sense is a very serious problem. True there are problems in the interface between the chareidi public and this incredible community which has turned its back on secularism and is slowly with great difficulty climbing the steep path that leads to Hashem. And both the chareidi public and the party that represents Hashem’s Word seem to treat them as strangers until … until two weeks before the elections. Then they call out to their brethren “You must stand with us! It is a kiddush Hashem!” It’s infuriating. It bespeaks insensitivity egotism and injustice. We are very familiar with this pattern and with Hashem’s help we will call them for a reckoning—but after the election.

Now however we have no choice. Now we must all vote. The Chazon Ish demands it of us. And everyone must take note: Those who overcome their natural impulse to abstain from voting who go to the polls in defiance of the whisperings of their heart are the ones who will truly create a kiddush Hashem. The chareidi public those who live in peace and tranquility in the embrace of their rabbanim and admorim will certainly perform a mitzvah by voting but they will not be displaying the mesiras nefesh that is demanded of these righteous outcasts. For them this is their great opportunity to overcome their embitterment and to bring glory to Hashem with their ballots. And after the elections we can launch a full-scale war against those public activists who pointedly ignore large and worthy communities within our people pushing them directly into the hands of those who are hostile to us. We will come to their aid.

Efrat for the Secularists

It is difficult to believe just how much the human mind can become corrupted by a vested interest and by dreams of false equality. Certain women’s organizations have now gone out to war against Efrat a life-saving organization that prevents women from ending the lives of “undesired” babies before they are born. Efrat has saved tens of thousands of children from being murdered by their own mothers and the organizations in question are crying foul against it for labeling abortion as “murder”-- the murder of innocent defenseless helpless infants. These arrogant women view Efrat’s position as a representation of the darkness of the Middle Ages pitted against their own enlightenment. This is the new name for the advancement of personal comfort without any sense of responsibility: “enlightenment.”

A huge outcry has now arisen because the chief rabbis have spoken up to defend this wonderful organization whose efforts are responsible for the very lives of thousands of Jewish children now playing happily in our streets.

And here can be found a fascinating absurdity. It was first pointed out at a convention arranged by Arachim over 20 years ago in Kibbutz Kfar Blum. The convention took place during the lifetime of the Lev Simcha of Ger zt”l who pushed Agudas Yisrael’s representatives in the Knesset to draft a strict anti-abortion law that would save lives. At that convention complaints were heard about the “religious coercion” of these chareidi Knesset members who wished to foist such draconian laws upon the people.

One of our lecturers took the challenge and responded as follows: “Let me ask you the following. You must agree with me that almost all of these abortions are carried out by secular women not by the religious or chareidim. Am I correct?”

The audience nodded in acknowledgment.

“In that case let me explain to you what this ‘religious coercion’ is that you are protesting. Statistics show that since the establishment of the state there have been close to a million such abortions carried out Hashem yishmor in the State of Israel. That means that one million fewer secular Jews are living in our state today than there could have been. Is that religious coercion? We simply want to help you preserve a secular majority in the land by making it the law. You are afraid of chareidi culture and we have set out to help you remain the majority. So what are you fighting against?”

At first there was absolute silence in the room. After a moment the audience burst into laughter followed by a booming ovation.

Efrat is helping them maintain a secular majority yet they are fighting its efforts. Isn’t that absurd?