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The Chareidim Lost 21,868 Votes; 4,920 Would Have Given Us Another Seat
Every vote counts. This is not merely an election slogan. It is a simple fact which can be duly verified now, after the election vote count has been completed.
Two independent chareidi lists established under the aegis of the Leftists and the organizations hostile to chareidi Judaism in a downright goal to glean votes from chareidi Judaism, chalked up together 21,868 votes: with 10,594 for the one and 11,274 for the other. Neither one even approached the minimal threshold [achuz chasima], and by law, these votes were nullified, as if they had never been cast. Like dispersing dust and like a vanishing dream!
What could have been accomplished with those 21,686 votes?
...
Administrator of the municipal department and coordinator of the election campaign, Rabbi Menachem Shapira, in an interview with Yated Ne'eman: "The One Hundred Thousand Rally of 'United like one body, with one heart,' assembled [like at Mattan Torah at the footsteps of Har Sinai], had repercussions throughout the country. In Bnei Brak alone, an amazing resurgence from a past 52,000 votes to 58,000 votes."
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"Either Bibi or Tibi," writes the veteran columnist, Nachum Barnea. In an extremely inciting and provoking article, he presents the two options facing Eisencott and his cohorts in an attempt to form a government.
The Shinui bloc gave three election promises: to oust Netanyahu, not to sit together with the chareidim and not to rely on the Arab vote. Even then, it was clear that they were transitory and illusory because realizing all three together would mean going to repeat elections. The question now is which promise to cast out.
To depose Bibi is the uppermost goal, writes Barnea. It is a promise which must be kept at all cost and under all circumstances, he writes glibly.
To join up with the chareidim is simply impossible. "The draft was the central issue in the election campaign, even more than the deficiency of the war, the police insurgence or the inflation. There was a joint identification: a pact between those who serve and those who dodge.
So what does that leave him?
...
Part IV
This was originally published in 1993.
A Discerning Heart
His powers of discernment made him one of the first rabbonim to detect the newly discovered Yerushalmi on Seder Kodshim as a forgery.
A visitor arrived one day in Galante, bearing a work containing his own chidushim on maseches Gittin as well as the "original" manuscript of the long lost Yerushalmi. The visitor displayed the four haskomos he had already received for the new Yerushalmi and he requested that Mahary'tz add his letter of approbation to the others.
At first, Mahary'tz merely evaded the man's request that he join the group which supported his claim to the manuscript's authenticity. Although the supplicant continued to visit him in the ensuing days, Mahary'tz refused his repeated entreaties.
Soon, the members of Mahary'tz's household began to notice something strange. Every time the man left the house, Mahary'tz would close himself away in his room. Eventually, the day came when the Mahary'tz could contain himself no longer and he announced to the visitor, "Your Yerushalmi is a forgery!"
"But I already have haskomos!" the man protested. "I have invested a lot of money in acquiring the manuscripts and now, because of a mere suspicion—which none of the other rabbonim agree with—does the Rav mean to withhold his haskomo?"
Mahary'tz thought for a moment then replied, "If you already have the audacity to challenge me like that, I'll tell you something else too. Your work on Maseches Gittin is composed of pieces of Torah which you have stolen from various places, such as little-known seforim. Although you have tried to rearrange their order and the original style, the thoughts are not your own.
...
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Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Hidden and Concealed: The Story of the Secret "Working Group" in WWII
By Yisroel Friedman
They never met again, at least not in an organized fashion. Some were unable to escape the transports; those surviving went their separate ways. Each one carried in his heart a scar that refused to heal. As each one began his life anew, the fine thread that bound them together in adversity was severed.
Only once, after many years, did a number of them meet again. HaRav Michoel Dov Weissmandel zt"l came on a visit to Eretz Yisroel and delivered a speech at the Yavneh shul in Tel Aviv. They too attended, and thus ensued the impromptu reunion between a few representatives of that incredible group and the man who guided their activities during those stormy days.
"Do you remember their names?" I asked Reb Yehuda Waltz.
"There's nobody left anymore to remind you of the names. As time goes by you tend to forget," he replied despondently. Suddenly he recalls. "There was a Grossberg from London."
R' Yehuda Waltz goes on to describe his impressions of Rav Weissmandel after the war: "He looked downcast. His mood was somber. The silence of the world in the face of his outcries, the failure and the powerlessness of the Hatzolah operations would not give him peace. He appeared to have aged all of a sudden and was embittered. The terrible pain that gripped his entire being since then clung to him like a shadow."
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Home and Family
This is the Child I Prayed For
A personal story as told to R. Chadshai
Chana beseeched Hashem, "Of all the millions of things You have created in Your world, could You not spare me one son?" We are told that on Rosh Hashona, Hashem remembers barren women. Sora Imeinu and Rochel Imeinu, and also Chana, mother of Shmuel Hanovi, were all remembered on Rosh Hashona.
This is the true story of Avigail, whose name we have changed to conceal her identity. She had been barren for several years and according to the best doctors, there was no chance of her having a child. These doctors are mystified by the number of children she now has, each one a miracle in its own right.
*
The sound of quiet weeping came from one of the corners in the ladies' shul. This was a few days before Rosh Hashona in one of the well known shuls in Bnei Brak. A young woman who had gotten up early for vosikin buried her face in her siddur and sobbed silently.
Rebbetzin K. noticed her crying. Obviously something serious was troubling this woman. This same woman had been davening here every single day for quite a while. She went up to her and beckoned her to one side, at the same time asking what was the matter.
"My name is Avigail. I have been married for over two years and there is no sign of a child," she answered, her voice choked with tears. The Rebbetzin looked at her in amazement. The woman continued, "If you are surprised at my despondence after such a short time, I will explain. Some doctor's negligence in my childhood brought about a situation where I will never conceive. This is what top specialists have told me. They say that there is absolutely no point in raising my hopes, as there is no chance of my bearing a child."
"They have no right," the Rebbetzin interrupted heatedly. "Doctors are meant to heal people, not to pronounce a sentence. Surely you know that Hashem holds the key to childbirth. You just keep on davening. I am convinced that only prayers work and there is nothing like tears to open sealed doors."
Tearfully, Avigail told the Rebbetzin that since the beginning of Elul, she had resolved to get up before dawn to say the entire Shir Hashirim and to join the vosikin minyon.
Patting her shoulder, the Rebbetzin said, "I will do what I can for you. My father-in-law, my husband and I will all pray for you on Rosh Hashona. This great day is well known as a time of `remembrance' for childless couples. Hashem will help you."
*
At that time -- continues Avigail -- we lived in a rented flat in Bnei Brak. One day, a person came up to my husband. He only knew him by sight but never had had anything to do with him. "I'm sorry to trouble you," he began agitatedly, "but I must tell you about a dream I just had. I don't usually go in for dreams, but this one was so vivid. In my dream, you suddenly turned into a very wealthy man. I have no idea why I dreamt about you since I hardly know you, and normally, one dreams about things which occupy the mind during the day. Nevertheless, I saw your face so clearly that I just felt I had to come and tell you about it."
He calmed down after having relayed the message and went on his way. But my husband could not concentrate on his daily routine.
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