Hgray"l Steinman opened the campaign of 'Degel': "There is a fire at home"

The election expedition of Degel Hatorah opened at a closed activist conference in Ohr Yehuda, with participation of Roshei Yeshiva, rabbis and headed by Hgray"l Steinman. The conference was attended, among others, by Hgr"d Cohen Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron Yeshiva, Hgr"sh Kanievsky, son of Reb Chaim Kanievsky and Roshei Yeshiva of Kiryat Melech, Hgr"b Pinchasi Rosh Yeshivas Birkat Ephraim, and Hgr"n Zochovsky.


The row of MKs of Degel HaTorah included MK Moshe Gafni, MK Uri Maklev and Yaakov Asher who is candidate to third place. The conference was instructed by the chairman Lev L'Achim, Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin.


Hgray"l opened the conference and read a letter of Rav Elyashiv that, those who abstain from voting give a hand to those who want to uproot all. Hgray"l went on to say: "There is a fire in the home – and one may not say it has nothing to do with me and be complacent. If we don’t allow the boys to learn, what will happen to all of Klal Yisrael?"

"Yisrael are responsible for each other," he said, "also in general terms and private things. Election time is time for us to work and save for the world of Torah, and to save what we can for the sake of Klal Yisrael. No one can say that it is not the time, because now is the time, whoever doesn’t vote - breaks "do not stand on the blood of your neighbor."


Hgray"l referred to the conflict within the Agudat Yisrael party - and said: "Do not give up, it was the demand of Maran Harav Shach that we should not be ignored, but for the battle of life we do not make accounts."



Member of the Council of Torah Sages of Degel HaTorah, Hgr"d Cohen, said: "The war is now on life. There is no one on our side. All parties have interests, but no one knows what the power of Torah is.


"It's no secret that there are disagreements with Agudat Yisrael, but we must all recruit for the system and must not take notice of such precipitation. We have a fateful battle on the world of Torah."


Gafni: One sheep amongst seventy wolves

MK Moshe Gafni also spoke and said: "I was elected to the Knesset in the year תשמ"ט with Rabbi Ravitz z"l. I do not remember a generation as the one we are in today. There was no such reality. Each year and each term we were fighting for the holiness in Israel, but I do not remember a time of fighting against Hashem. Recruitment; at the top of our war list, for which I and Rabbi Maklev are not sleeping at night. If we would compromise and go with the Plesner Committee, we could have reached a solution - and we did not go by the order of the Rosh Yeshiva.


"There was a proposal by Yisrael Beiteinu that every teenage boy of 18 would be mobilized, and the Prime Minister said: this law will not go through, it will reach the Knesset Committee and will remain there. There is a representative of the Likud and do not be afraid. We were at the Rosh Yeshiva and we said: on Wednesday it goes up. He said to us: on the same day that it passes, if it does not progress and surely nothing will come of it, basically the fact that the Knesset say that yeshiva students must recruit - it is not allowed. I prepared a letter that I am resigning from the Finance Committee. They told us: it will not progress and why retire.

We said the presumption is still from the days of Harav Shach zt"l of the Council of Torah Sages and Maran Rav Elyashiv zt"l and Maran Rosh Yeshiva and the Council for not having done one thing against the opinion of the Council. There has never been something else. We were told not to compromise and do nothing - that the mere announcement will make us quit.


"I remember when Minister Aitas came to me after he heard we had an order to quit, and he said that the world of Torah will be hurt, and we said that these are the orders we received. Later they preceded the elections and did not pass the law.

There was another roll, and Yisrael Beiteinu led the law to a vote, and we knew that if it goes through - we quit, and 74 were against. Hashem helped us. The one who brought this is a religious representative of the Yisrael Beiteinu, who we suffered many troubles from him. Rabbi Maklev and I stood at the forefront of recruiting girls – a law was passed that had it been advanced as they wanted, religious girls would be lapping at the edge of our camp. The Rosh Yeshiva spoke about the guarantee that we have, it would hurt traditional girls all over the country, in the neighborhoods and outlying areas.

"Do not deny. There was collaboration with Shas"

"We worked without publicity and there was no hit. This issue was never spoken about. Rabbi Maklev was supposed to sit at the Constitution Committee one morning; they wanted to pass a law on conversion that would put the reformers at the back door. We were sitting in the Prime Minister's office and there were ten ministers, who cooperated with me and I said that if this law passes, we will not stay with you.


"They said: There is consensus of religious rabbis, who actually went back on their words after that, and if this law would have passed, the reformers would have gotten in.

"The justice minister shouted at me: How do you not let it move? I told him: I do not work for you, and I'm not afraid of the High Court - and the law did not pass. Rabbi Maklev changed the law and it was clear that Reform Jews are out of the legislation, which we fought for many years, and then the Prime Minister did not let it pass.


"We were not able to pass laws for Judaism, but if we had a lot of power, and they were unable to hit a regulation law or Judaism law or procedure. The war is about Hashem, there was collaboration with Shas and I do not deny it, but there was also war on Zohar rabbis. There was a deal that they can administrate rabbis throughout the country, and we fought hard and it did not pass.



This is like being one sheep among seventy wolves. I do not remember a term as hard as this one was. We are in a situation where it is not a decree which will happen in the future. The day after the election there is a draft order and they did us a favor and rejected it for some more time until it becomes a law. There are those who say it will not help.

"The grandchildren will ask: What did you do during the תשע"ג elections?"

Income support for yeshiva students: There was the decision of the High Court to stop and they said – that it cannot be resumed, and there was a government decision to continue, despite the High Court's decision.


"It is in our souls' it is in the soul of the nation and people of Israel and soul of our existence against the terrible dangers and enemies that surround us around. Because through the Torah we survived and we are also in this country, and we cannot say, but the truth is that the strength of the Torah has gone down and problems are starting with bloodthirsty Arabs all around.

"When the Torah is stronger the situation gets better. We are a people who believe and the war on the Torah is on the existence on Am Yisrael. I am unworthy of talking before Maran Rosh Yeshiva, but I know the situation, if we grow, Yahadut Hatorah, so that Degel Hatorah can continue to fight for these things. If we increase our power we will be able to compete.

"In the coming years people will ask what happened during the תשע"ג elections. You knew there will be harsh actions, you know the war is on Hashem and the observance of Torah practice, you knew - our grandchildren will ask and what did you do in תשע"ג, it was in your hands. You had the ability to stop the process and prevent cuts. One will say I couldn’t be bothered, there was a dispute between Degel and Agudah and we were wrong. We will not allow this situation.

As a movement we are at our toughest test: Do we leave all the bills aside and go with Hashem, for the struggle for existence of Am Yisrael in the Land of Israel and the entire world.


May we merit led by Maran Rosh Yeshiva and council members to succeed in this difficult battle of one sheep among 70 wolves.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!