The right reason to vote is that we are bid to do so by the
gedolei ume'orei hador, whose advice and rulings we
follow in every important area of life.
Speaking before the elections of 5715, Maran HaRav Aharon
Kotler, zt'l, said, "These elections are also a
survey. Everyone is asked if he accepts upon himself
Ma'amad Har Sinai as well as kedusha and
taharo, or the opposite. . . . Whoever votes for the
Torah list is mekadesh sheim Shomayim in public . . .
one who does not participate allies himself with the
rosho and bears responsibility."
The Steipler Gaon, zt'l, wrote: "Voting for the
chareidi list is a declaration before the whole world that we
are faithful to Hashem yisborach and His holy Torah.
That is our main demand and our main purpose, and in doing so
we are mekadesh Sheim Shomayim in public. Those who
hate the holy Torah count all those who fail to vote as among
those who passively and tacitly accept the hefkeirus
that they promulgate, and not among those who protest the
hefkeirus, R'l. Thus, one who fails to vote minimizes,
chas vesholom, kevod Sheim Shomayim, yisborach Shemo"
(in Karaina De'igarta, 207).
These are good and ample reasons to vote, and by doing so on
this basis one fulfills a great mitzvah of kiddush Sheim
Shomayim.
However, it is often hard to do things for truly pure and
good reasons, and there are, Hashem yeracheim, many
other reasons to vote and to work hard in this election.
There is one party, known as Shinui and led by journalist
Tommy Lapid, whose message is exclusively hatred for
chareidim. Their free media time for election messages is
devoted to promulgating lies about our community, to try to
put us in the worst light possible. (The supervisor of the
elections said that he cannot prevent the use of lies in
party hype.) This party ignores everything else happening --
the economy, the Palestinians, social problems -- to focus on
us. They have not issued a position or opinion on anything,
including who they would like to see as Prime Minister. What
is worse is that the latest polls show them with 6 seats in
the upcoming Knesset!
Meretz, the familiar anti-religious party that at least has a
whole range of Leftist issues, is said to get 8-9 seats. This
would be about what they had in the past Knesset, except that
almost half of their list is new faces who will try to prove
themselves. Anti-religious legislation is a sure-fire
attention getter from the media, and they will certainly not
pass up opportunities, and even make some of their own.
One paragraph of the Meretz election platform says that it
will work to change the way government support for children
is given out in order to "stop the positive discrimination in
favor of chareidi families. . . . According to the current
criteria, a large portion of the secular public is
discriminated against, especially those with four children or
less." This is the same party that managed to do away with
discrimination against Arabs in the Bituach Leumi grants.
It is hard to understand the calm that prevails in parts of
the chareidi community. It seems as if some feel that what is
at stake is mainly a few jobs to be doled out, rather than
the little bit of Judaism that remains in the public sector
of Israel.
Now is the time to do something. After next Monday, it will
be too late.
