See also here.
Substack
Change is in the air in charedi politics.
There is a lot of disappointment among the charedi public with the established charedi parties — Shas, Agudas Yisroel and Degel HaTorah. They are seen by some as outdated, out-of-touch, and having failed to adapt to a post-Oct.7 Israel. Others are disappointed in their failure to even achieve their own goals — a draft law and budgets for charedi institutions. So it perhaps seems that the time is ripe for a challenger.
Three new parties have registered for the election under a charedi banner. Hakahal offers broadly similar policies to the existing parties, but with representatives chosen through primaries. Tzeva Shachor is single-mindedly focused on stopping the arrests of yeshiva bachurim, and achieving the army arrangement that eluded the established parties in the last government. And Motti Leitner’s Hatzibur Haharedi, which has had the most publicity, aims to radically redefine the entire relationship between charedim and the State of Israel. All three are running alone, and as of the final polls, all three are polling at or below 0.3%, a long way off the 3.25% electoral threshold.
Since Hatzibur Haharedi has the most attention and offers the biggest change from the status quo, let’s take a closer look at them. Is it “the party we’ve been waiting for”?
Platform
Their full platform is available on their website, in Hebrew and English.
The theme is “Taking responsibility”. They see it as high time the charedi community became a full, integrated part of the State of Israel, pulling its weight. This is reflected in their positions on army service, education, yeshivos, and the workforce. They are clearly driven by a strong sense of Zionism, that today’s State of Israel is a miracle that needs to be supported, and they want to be a part of it1.
On army service, for instance, they say that everyone who is not “really” learning will need to enlist, and the “real” learners will be protected. On education, they favour creating more ממ”ח schools2 and cutting funding to the מוכש”ר schools3.
And they purport to speak for all charedim (it’s in the name). In interviews they often claim that there’s a silent majority of charedim who agree with their ideas, including many charedi rabbonim and gedolim who are afraid to speak out. In interviews and advertisements, they seem to see the existing charedi parties as the real enemy.
The platform is very strong on what charedim need to give the State, and much less strong on what the State needs to give charedim4, and therein lie two of the problems.
Firstly, why do parties run for the Knesset? Israel, unlike the US or UK, has proportional representation, which means many small parties each looking out for the interests of their voter group. They work together to form coalitions, but each party is quite explicitly fighting for the interests of their group. This can take the form of legislation, budgets, and control of government offices.
Hatzibur Haharedi does not need those things to advance their goals for their voters. If anyone wants to join the Chashmoniam brigade, they can do so today. If anyone wants to send their child to a ממ”ח school, they can do so today. The inescapable conclusion is that they are trying to force their worldview and ideas on the wider charedi community, using the all-too-willing arm of the State. They are not fighting for their voters, they are fighting against other parties’ voters — those who follow gedolei yisrael. They apparently feel they know better for everybody. This is pretty disgusting.
Which brings us to the second issue. The reason the charedi system is the way it is is that there is a war against Torah in the State of Israel. Who would have believed a few years ago that innocent 18-year-old yeshiva bochurim would be snatched from their beds by 10 armed army police officers and thrown into jail for the crime of learning Torah? And that is the tip of the iceberg compared to what the accursed legal system is planning.
And what is Hatzibur Haharedi’s response? “Here’s what we are giving you, korbanos from the charedi community; in return please be nice to us and throw us some crumbs.”
If it sounds reminiscent of Jews abroad denouncing Israel in the hope that the non-Jews will like and accept them — that’s because it is.
The first perek of Bava Metzia talks about a case of two people holding a tallis, arguing over its ownership. If both claim 100% ownership, they get 50% each. If one claims 100% and one claims 50%, the split is 75%/25%. If the enemies of Torah want to wipe out 100% of Torah, and the response is “here, take the boys who are not really learning” — do you really think the other side will roll over and say “ok, sure, the ‘real’ learners can stay learning”?
In a war, you don’t make compromises. After the war is won, we can start to talk about these issues.
I recently had occasion to talk with a very senior figure in Hatzibur Haharedi. I asked him if he believed there was a war against Torah. He said “of course there is, what’s the question?” So I asked why their platform has no mention of the arrests of yeshiva bochurim, or of the Supreme Court, or of Gali Baharav-Miara, the virulently anti-religious Attorney General. Do they not see any of those as issues that need to be dealt with?
The reply was “we’ll add it”. They did not.
If I send someone to the Knesset, I need them to fight against the threatened destruction of the Torah world. I do not have faith that Hatzibur Haharedi are going to fight that fight.
Definition of charedi
Here’s the #3 on their list, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe:
She says: “I don't think what the rabbanim say is true, I have Netflix, but I'm charedi because I like kugel rather than sushi.”
On the Ask Haviv Anything podcast, Rabbi Pfeffer describes being charedi as, “this more wholesome way of life with more stress on family values, and no smartphones for kids.”
Where does the word charedi actually come from? A passuk in Yeshaya 66:5: שִׁמְעוּ דְּבַר־ה’ הַחֲרֵדִים אֶל־דְּבָרוֹ אָמְרוּ אֲחֵיכֶם שֹׂנְאֵיכֶם מְנַדֵּיכֶם לְמַעַן שְׁמִי יִכְבַּד ה’ וְנִרְאֶה בְשִׂמְחַתְכֶם וְהֵם יֵבֹשׁוּ — Listen to the word of G-d, those who tremble (charedim) for His word.
Any definition of charediism that has nothing to do with G-d, Torah and Mitzvos is a complete non-starter, and betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what we are trying to achieve here as a charedi community.
Who calls the shots?
One of the hallmarks of being charedi is fealty to rabbonim, and charedi political parties are no exception. Hatzibur Haharedi finally released their list of rabbonim after many weeks of stonewalling. Their rabbinical council is led by Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, a former talmid of R’ Osher Weiss שליט”א.5
But who is actually making the decisions? In the letter introducing themselves, the rabbinical council called on the public to vote for the party, but did not give any indication that they are guiding the party’s decisions. In a long-form interview, Rabbi Pfeffer clarified that Motti Leitner has the final say, not the rabbonim.
But is it even him? In an eye-opening interview6, Yisrael Schwebel, who is close to figures in the party, claims that the party donors are really the ones calling the shots. Who are these donors?
This is a matter of public record. The two biggest donors (of loan guarantees) are Shlomo Dovrat (two million shekels) and Daniel Jusidman (one million). Dovrat is a left-wing Kaplanist who was one of the most prominent business voices against the judicial reform. He is not charedi. Jusidman grew up in Hashomer Hatzair, the extremely anti-religious Zionist movement. He has donated to Hillel and to Yotzim Beshinui, organisations that help people going off the derech. He once described visiting one of their centres and feeling repulsed at the sight of the boys wearing kippot, and he has characterized charedim as being “Israel’s number one problem, not Iran”. He supports Avigdor Liberman for Prime Minister, because “he will be strong with the Haredim, and for me that's the number one consideration.”
That’s who the party is funded by, and according to reports, are also calling the shots.
Political alignment
The party claims to be in Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, and this is what most of their voters want, but are they really?
They have not passed the election threshold in a single poll, ever. They are currently polling at around a tenth of what they would need to get any representation at all. Other parties such as אח”י have recognised the damage they may do to the bloc by wasting votes, and have pulled out. Hatzibur Haharedi have not. It seems the damage to the bloc’s chances, in an election where the other side has said they will ravage Torah life in Eretz Yisrael beyond recognition, simply doesn’t bother them.
As noted above, their main backers are people of the Left.
And their #3, Dr. Yaffe, has repeatedly expressed left-wing sentiments in the past. The party claim that she changed her mind after October 7, but read this interview from a year later and decide for yourselves. Some excerpts:
Sruli Fruchter: Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
Nechumi Yaffe: Well, it’s a very good question. I don’t know how to answer it.
Sruli Fruchter: Should Israel be a religious state?
Nechumi Yaffe: Is there any democracy which is religious? […] I think Jewish law just never attended to questions of modern world, so it’s not right.
Read the whole thing.
The Anglo Connection
Looking at the list of both the candidates and the rabbonim, one is struck by how many of them are American or British. On the candidate list #1-3 and #9 are Israeli, #5 is Argentinian, and all the rest are American or from American families. It’s a similar story in the rabbinical council.
There seems to be some kind of White Savior Complex going on here. The Israeli charedim are too backwards to save themselves; they need the Americans to import the American model and show them how it’s done properly.7
Aside from being highly insulting and disrespectful to the Israeli charedi community, which has both been around longer and produced more Torah luminaries and literature than the American one, it’s missing important context.
Chesterton’s Fence tells us that before knocking something down, we need to make sure we know why it was built in the first place, and that that reason no longer applies.
I was fortunate enough, 15 years ago, to attend a conference for chutznik charedim trying to make it in Israel. R’ Ahron Feldman שליט”א spelled out two major ways that Israeli charedim are different to American charedim, and how these two differences explain everything you see or find puzzling.
Number one: the American Torah world grew יש מאין, from nothing — from a country desolate of Torah. Hence, many of the old customs remained, such as summer camps and long vacations. The Israeli Torah world, by contrast, is and sees itself as a continuation of the Torah world in Europe, a long unbroken mesorah, where there is less room for foreign influence.
And number two, the American Torah world has never been under attack. The Israeli Torah world is, and in a war you behave differently. And if this was true 15 years ago, how much more so is it true today.
I would recommend the potential American Saviors take a long hard look at why the differences are the way they are, before attempting to import the American model here.
Interestingly, Rabbi Pfeffer’s own Tzarich Iyun website hosts an article by R’ Eli Spitzer from the days of COVID, describing exactly this phenomenon. He’s right; perhaps they should reread it.
Pulling it together
So this is my list of questions for them. If anyone from the party wants to respond, I will, bli neder, publish their response in full.
Is your main objective to make life better for the charedim who vote for you, or to change those who do not? Or neither, and it’s simply to send a message to the secular - “look, there are some ‘good’ charedim too”?
Elected officials are able to influence the country through legislation, budgets, and control of ministries. But for almost all of your platform, you can do that already, without those things. What can you do from the Knesset to further your objectives, that you can’t do from outside it?
Do you understand why the charedi world today is set up the way it is? Have those reasons gone away? (Chesterton’s fence)
Do you believe that there are elements of the Israeli state that are hostile to Torah? Rather than it being about fairness or army manpower needs?
If yes, do you believe that giving them some of what they want (the non-learners) will placate them, and they’ll let us have the learners stay in learning?
Your platform does not say anything about the current arrests of yeshiva bachurim. What is your position on that?
Your platform does not say anything about the judiciary or deep state. What is your position on them?
Who is a bigger problem for the charedi community in Israel - Yitzchak Goldknopf, or Itzhak Amit and Gali Baharav-Miara?
Will you only call for army service for all non-learners once the suitable tracks are confirmed to be to a satisfactory standard?
How many of your financial backers are people who would not self-identify as charedi? Why do you think that is?
Where does your policy on charedi service differ from that of Likud or Smotrich’s Hatzionut Hadatit?
Do you really believe that the definition of “charedi” has nothing to do with Torah and mitzvos?
If you were to pull out of the race due to low polling numbers, would you recommend people vote for the established charedi parties, on the grounds that at least they will fight for the learners to keep learning? Or instead for a party that is more focused on getting charedim to enlist?
Conclusion
The disappointment with the charedi parties is real. Many people want a change, perhaps a closer relationship with the State.
Obviously anyone considering voting for Hatzibur Haharedi isn’t going to be swayed by arguments along the lines of “the gedolim said not to vote for them”, and I’ve not used those here.
But while the questions may be valid, is the answer really a new party that isn’t bound by its rabbanim, that won’t fight the Deep State for the good of the learners, that is funded by leftists who also fund organisations taking people off the derech, that believes that being charedi means eating kugel, and that is not going to make it into the Knesset?
