An emergency meeting of members of the Council of Torah Sages of Degel HaTorah was held last night in Bnei Brak to unite ranks and combat growing disillusionment and voter apathy among various segments of the haredi public ahead of the elections.
The event was opened by United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher, who addressed the political campaign and asserted that the public stands united behind the leadership of the Torah sages.
The central speeches were delivered by leading yeshiva heads. Rabbi Dov Lando emphasized the obligation to make every effort to increase voter turnout for the United Torah Judaism list.
“We all know full well that the obligation to make every effort is clear. Indeed, in a situation like this, the obligation is multiplied many times over: to increase the number of representatives and voters for the Gimel list. This is the path shown to us by Maran the Chazon Ish, of righteous memory, and by all the great Torah sages who followed him, to preserve the Torah world and its scholars by sending representatives to the Knesset.
“When the number of voters increases, the name of Heaven is sanctified, and we proclaim that Moses is true and his Torah is true, and that we have no measure other than this Torah. God forbid, a desecration of God's name could result if people abstain from their duty to vote for various reasons or because of grievances against individuals."
He added: “Even more serious is the fact that Torah values are not the only values at stake. This is especially true when every vote can be decisive, and every vote counts and matters. Every vote in haredi areas cast for other parties gives our persecutors grounds to claim that, God forbid, the next generation is distancing itself from the heritage of its forefathers."
Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch subsequently addressed what he described as a troubling trend emerging within the yeshiva world. He stressed the need to explain to young people that achieving change and preserving the existing situation are possible only through unified political strength.
Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman, another leading yeshiva head, said the current campaign concerns the very survival of the Torah world. He stated that the purpose of the elections is to ensure that no yeshiva student is conscripted into the IDF.