One time, in the middle of a "normal" election campaign, one
of the rabbonim who was quite close to HaRav Shach zt"l
wanted to set up a separate political party, because he felt
that he could thereby attract many voters who would otherwise
not vote for a chareidi party. Because of his special
relationship with HaRav Shach, all the politicians who were
against that move appealed to the Rosh Yeshiva, fearing that
the overall effect would not be good.
After one such meeting, eyewitnesses reported that the Rosh
Yeshiva commented: "Some politicians just came to see me,
asking me to forbid (asser) Rav [Ploni] to set up an
independent Knesset list. I do not understand them. Are
issur and heter in my pocket so that I can pull
out an issur on him? If the thing is not osur how
can they ask me to forbid him?"
How much clarity and objectivity resides in these words! An
issur or a mitzvah are not just words of disapproval or
approval that a rov uses, but rather the terms of Torah that
follow from the rules of Torah.
Whatever he did and whenever he did it, the Rosh Yeshiva
considered only the eternal measures of Torah and not the
temporary, fleeting needs of the moment. This was as true in
the peace of a Shabbos afternoon as in the heat of an
election campaign.
The pundits used to assess his moves in political terms, and
even spoke of "tactical errors" that drove supporters into
voting for opposing parties.
Anyone who saw his deep grasp of the political situation knew
that he was not unaware of the political consequences of his
actions. However he clearly chose to ignore them. What did he
care about elections, what did he care about votes or about
Knesset representatives -- if the voice of truth was not
heard?
Rabbenu knew well that the election campaigns afforded him
media attention that he did not otherwise get, and he took
full advantage of it to discuss issues of pure
hashkofoh without regard to their political utility.
After all, the true goal is spreading daas Torah and
not strengthening a political party.
When HaRav Shach founded the organizations that serve the
Torah community today -- Yated Ne'eman (Hebrew and
English), Degel Hatorah, Shearis Yisroel -- he was already in
his late eighties and nineties after a long life of toil in
Torah which showed no signs of stopping. He already had
enough laurels to rest on and the tasks he set for himself
were not easy. There was opposition within and without at
each step of the way. He was criticized and vilified at every
step.
What did he need it for? He certainly did it all only because
he felt that it was necessary for Klal Yisroel and for
kvod Shomayim. And they were decisions clearly made on
the basis of an unbiased assessment of the situation and an
objective determination that there was no better alternative.
Rabbenu described his approach in his introduction to the
fourth edition of his Avi Ezri: " . . . therefore our
task is but to do what we have to do: to increase Torah and
yirah, Torah in its purity, its wholeness and its true
image, and Hashem will do His part, so that Torah is not
forgotten among people, as He promised us . . . "
