Opinion & Comment
The Core of Yated is Ideology -- Not Business or Politics

In his report last week that covered the most recent election campaign, the State Comptroller generally gave United Torah Judaism (UTJ) -- and most of the political parties -- high marks for the campaign that they ran. One issue that he raised, however, was the that in some newspapers that are identified with political parties, in the period leading up to the elections, "there appeared a mixture of political advertising and newspaper stories whose content indicated that they were also election propaganda." He noted, in particular, the calls of gedolei Yisroel that stressed the importance of voting for UTJ.

This issue might seem parochially local and somewhat technical, and of limited interest to readers in chutz la'aretz. This is true; however the reply that we have to these charges is of interest to those who read our material anywhere in the world.

Yated Ne'eman is, first and foremost, an ideological newspaper. It is not a political newspaper and it is certainly not a business, though it functions in the political and business realms. Yated Ne'eman was founded to express the guidance of maranan verabonon gedolei Yisroel. They, and only they, chart our way, according to the changing circumstances of our tumultuous times. The Yated that is published in Bnei Brak is fully controlled by its Vaada Ruchanit which works together with gedolei Yisroel. That constitutes the Board of Directors of Yated, and it has control in the financial, (secular) legal and economic senses and not just in the ideological sense of that term. It is not a question of businessmen or journalists asking a shailoh when they want to, but of all the reins of power in the newspaper being in the hands of the rabbonim.

The guidance of maranan verabonon gedolei Yisroel is relevant, important and interesting to many people around the world, and not just in Israel. It expresses itself in many areas and not just in political guidance. And even the political guidance is interesting to many who have no right to vote in Israel, because it is also the opinion of gedolei Yisroel.

It is really a little strange to call Yated Ne'eman a party newspaper of Degel Hatorah. Yated was published for several years before Degel Hatorah was founded. It was not the party that told its faithful that it was founding a newspaper, but rather the newspaper informed its readers of the founding of Degel Hatorah (erev Succos, 5749- 1988) according to the decision of Rabbenu Hagodol Maran HaRav Shach, zt"l. Since then, the party and its politicians - - with all due respect -- have not interfered with the paper, which continues to take its orders only from gedolei Yisroel.

It should also be made clear that Yated Ne'eman is run as a business and does not get any subsidies from any outside body, and certainly not any political party. On the other hand, business considerations do not set the agenda of the paper.

It is run to make a profit, but it is not run to maximize profit, and the rabbonim who are at its head have other considerations foremost. When they decide that a particular topic must be dealt with, they make the decision from their perspective of daas Torah. Business considerations and popularity with readers are not allowed to outweigh the importance of expressing the Torah view.

This is the nature of Yated Ne'eman, and this is what makes it of interest to the Torah community around the world.

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