Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney s
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sRueters

As Americans go to the polls, Kabbalists in Jerusalem are doing their part to help Mitt Romney pull through and win the presidency. Rabbis and students at Yeshivat Hatzot in Jerusalem were reading psalms and conducting special prayers to influence the election, and “turn the hearts of voters to Romney,” one student present at the prayer session told reporters.

Along with the prayers, participants were asked to give charity to the poor, and the Holy Ark in the yeshiva was opened, emphasizing the importance of the prayers, the student said.

Why Romney? “The current President, Barack H. Obama, has proven that he is not a friend of Israel,” the student said. A rabbi responsible for organizing the prayer session said that the yeshiva had been contacted “by people from abroad asking us to pray for Romney's victory.”

Several weeks ago, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Rav of the town of Har Bracha and the Rosh Yeshiva of the Har Bracha Yeshiva, called on American olim (immigrants) and visitors with the right to vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections to cast their votes for the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.

“All American citizens who believe in G-d and his prophets should vote for Romney,” not incumbent President Barack H. Obama, “who is one of the most hostile presidents ever to Israel,” he wrote. “Instead of helping the Nation of Israel to build the Land of Israel, Obama pressures us to stop building in Judea and Samaria and in Jerusalem. It is worthy for American citizens who believe in G-d and his prophets to vote for Mitt Romney for president,” he added.