Weather: 49° Sunny to partly cloudy
- A letter is in formation by the moetzes of agudah against joining in the WZO elections.
- Tehillim: A woman is in critical condition after she was struck while crossing rt 9 in front of evergreen at about 9:00 pm tonight. Name is
Gittel Zlata bas Yehudis.
- Giyus update: United Torah Judaism party will leave the coalition and topple the government if a solution to the draft issue is not reached by Shavuos. This was in agreement with the Gerer rebbe who was pushing to topple the government now if no law is passed.
- BDE: Petirah of Rebbetzin Leah Strulovitz A"H twife of Rav Chaim Moshe zt”l, founder of B"M Daas Kedoshim in Lakewood she was 78. Levaya today 2 pm at the Strulovitz Shul, 402 8th Street, kevura in kiryas Yoel.
- Bingo Yom Tov special sale today thru Tuesday the 25th
- Pre Yom Tov sale up to 70% off women's and children's clothing at Bnos Devorah gym today until 7pm
- Giyus law updates: Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch had a 20 minute conversation with PM Netanyahu in English. There are some new developments as the Gerer rebbe is met today with Rav Dov Landau regarding the giyus law.
- Hachnosas Sefer Torah today at khal anshei Tallymawr Ashkenaz in Tom River Mara Dasra Rav Gershon Ribner shlita procession leaving with dancing at 2:45pm from 191 Benjamin street.
- Chasdei Lev Lakewood pesach distribution for rebbeim will take place today at Blue claws stadium parking lot
- A Toms River Community wide atzeres tefilah will take place today at yeshiva Orchos Chaim 410 Oberlin Lakewood, for several cholim in need of a refuah and yeshuah. Mincha 6:30 pm followed by divrei hisoirerus from Rav Uren Reich shlita
- Eretz Hakodesh ads for WZO on the billboards in Lakewood will be pulled as of 12pm this afternoon. Last week Rav Aaron Feldman shlita spoke in Lakewood mentioning the ads on the billboards are sponsored and paid for by the WZO. The billboard owners said they were defiant and did not cede to any pressure, it's just that the contract expires today. There was a campaign to have the ads removed. Some people said they were called by the Lakewood police on caller ID for harassment complaints after they called to have the ads taken down.
-A lawsuit has been filed against the Jackson Township Board of Education by Bais Yaakov of Jackson (Bais Faiga) alleging that the township breached a binding agreement for the sale of the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School, FAA News has learned. The complaint, filed in Ocean County Superior Court, claims that Bais Yaakov was awarded the sale of the school property in December 2024 after submitting a $13.1 million bid. However, the lawsuit alleges that after months of negotiations, the Board of Education attempted to impose new and unexpected terms, including higher deposits and a shortened mortgage contingency period, before ultimately backing out of the deal. Faanews
-More than a dozen bridges in New York and New Jersey are among 68 US crossings that need to be checked for risk of collapse if struck by a vessel, the National Transit Safety Board said.
The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge and George Washington Bridge — the most heavily trafficked bridge in the world — were named in NTSB’s new report as in need of assessment and risk-reduction plans following the stunning Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse last year. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing — which link Brooklyn and New Jersey to Staten Island, respectively — also made the list.
Gedolim meet in Bnei Brak to discuss Giyus law
Whether someone supports or opposes the WZO privately is one thing. But to openly defy the Lakewood Roshei HaYeshiva with bold billboards across town is a much greater chillul Hashem and warrants a permanent boycott.
ReplyDeleteWhy dont some of the other Lakewood publications / magazines spread the information on who is behind those billboards and who should be boycotted?
DeleteIf it is Lakewood Scoop, everyone should add that website to their block list of websites on their filter. I have that website blocked already for at least two years now, due to their defiance to BMG and disrespect for Kovod HaTorah.
Whether someone drinks יין נסך or not is a private thing.
DeleteWether one deems wine יין נסך is not a private issue.
DeleteA מסית ומדיח is מנסך, same to anyone with דעות כוזבות.
The extremism and fanaticism beggars belief.
DeleteReb Eliyahu Levin's wine is nesech?! Are we that far down the rabbit hole?!
Are people even aware of the respect granted to Rav Kook by his detractors? How did this machlokes become יין נסך?
People need to take their meds on time.
WZO is kefira mamosh anyone associated with them will get cherem
ReplyDeleteStop the hyperbole.
DeleteRav Dovid Feinstein, Rav Hilllel David, Rav Elya Brudny, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Rav Avrohom Gurwitz and supposedly Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch all thought it is a good thing.
See from today
https://matzav.com/rav-chaim-aryeh-zev-ginzberg-rav-dovid-feinstein-asked-me-to-get-involved-in-eretz-hakodesh/
Lies. Rav Hillel David signed against it.
DeleteAll others you quote besides Rav Gurwitz have NOT signed any public letter in support.
Rqv Shmuel Kamentzky is not supportive as arav Aaeon Feldman called him.
Rav Brudny has not publicly signed his name.
As Rav Aaron Feldman said no Adam gadol is supporting eretz hakodesh.
If the above mentioned gedolim feel the time has come to overturn 140 years of Mesorah from the Chofetz Chaim to Rav Dov Landau let them publicly say so and sign their names.
"asked me to get involved in eretz hakodesh" is a far away from voting in the wzo election. Let's not....
Delete10:27
DeleteWatch the video yourself
https://youtu.be/ppQnuJHep6Y
Reb Chaim said yes
The video makes a total mockery of reb chaim
DeleteRAV Feldman disputed it
Rav Chaim is not alive anymore
Why do you ignore Rav Dov Landau the leading gadol of today who said unequivocally its assur to vote or join
12:40 Rav Chaim zatzal said YES is correct. He told multiple people and his son Rav Yitzchok Shaul shlita confirms it.
Delete10:27 Rav Hilled David shltia (my rebbi) told me to VOTE
Delete@1:18pm שקרן
DeleteRabbi David didn't tell anyone to vote. Not you, not anyone else. You are full of BS.
"Rav Chaim is not alive anymore"
DeleteRav Chaim approved that Rav Gurowitz could say it in his name and Rav Gurowitz is still alive
"Why do you ignore Rav Dov Landau the leading gadol of today who said unequivocally its assur to vote or join"
DeleteI'm not ignoring. But don't accuse those who follow Rav Chaim & Rav Gurowitz that they are Eirav Rav and Amaleik.
And when Rav Chaim was alive and was the leading Gadol, did the RY's of bmg shut down the freezer knowing that Rav Chaim was against it????
"The video makes a total mockery of reb chaim"
DeletePlease elaborate
No need to elaborate it's speaks for itself how they are mevazeh him while he sits there screaming into his ear for a photo op.
DeleteBut even worse Rav Chaim said the internet is yehoreg Val yaavor do any of the eretz hakodeshniks heed that or any of Reb Chaims rulings??
No they mock him to use for their narrative while ignoring today's Gadol Rav Dov Landa
Just sick.
Reb Shmuel clearly said to vote for Eretz Hakodesh
DeleteListen to recording on link below
https://vinnews.com/2020/02/26/drama-rabbi-aharon-feldman-and-rabbi-malkiel-kotler-threaten-to-quit-moetzes-over-wzo-controversy/
3:09 you are sick puppy . THERE WAS ZERO MOCKERY WHATSOEVER AND SHAME ON YOU FOR ACCUSING ERLICHE YIDDEN OF DOING SUCH. Everyone knows about Yanki shouting in Sabba's ear. This was common and happened all the time
Delete3:35 Yes. Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky shlit"a was tragically misled—deceived by Pesach Lerner, who claimed to have a psak from Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt"l. But let’s speak plainly: manipulation of the elderly is not new. For decades, scammers in India have been calling unsuspecting seniors in America, sweet-talking and pressuring them until they give away everything—sometimes their entire life savings. We know it. We’ve seen it. And still, it continues.
DeleteTo think that a gadol b’Yisroel, a giant of spirit in his nineties, could not be vulnerable to manipulation—especially by someone presenting himself as a trusted insider—is not just naïve, it's dangerous. The tragedy is not just that it happened. The tragedy is that some still refuse to acknowledge that it could.
I just had a few mizrachi friends to listen just to the audio in the video without seeing it, 😂 seems like R' Chaim ztl answered an ambiguous answer, you can hear yes AND no 😂
DeleteEach person can extract their own wishful answer😁
But the subtitles clearly write Yes!
Anon 3:35
DeleteDisgusting of you to bring a link from that filthy sewer website
Regardless, Rav Shmuel was chozer as he personally said so to Rav Feldman back thenbif you would only read what he wrote.
And than again Rav Feldman reached out last week to Rav Shmuel and was told that he's not supporting it.
April 8 is the big day. Lakewood floats for 100 years or sinks this year. Oral argument is scheduled. The Court moved up the date after we filed the motion in aid of litigant's right. One of the judges from the 2023 win will be on the panel.
ReplyDeleteI see in Paterson, an Abbott district, that the kids are so much more advanced. Streets are filled with trash worse than Lakewood but the kids are smart. And the driving in town, constantly blocking the box and double parking, is a whole magnitude worse than Lakewood. Still, I want out of Lakewood. Texas. Drill, baby, drill. Going back, at least for the summers. Corrupt town. How can bnei Torah, such emesdik people, allow the kind of government where people don't independently make their own decision at the polls? A corrupt polity is worse than a corrupt government because there is no cure. I think it is not the yeshiva people, that follow the marching orders to the polls. Well, Trump is not the only person that is smashing the deep state.
Maybe they should move to Paterson, and the Arabs in Paterson will move here. They don't like the Israeli government just like our NKs who always comment on HV.
DeleteMy school, Eastside High School, the one in the famous movie, is almost 80% Hispanic and about 10 or 20 percent African American. Basically the same as Lakewood. Still, Paterson was an Abbott district and as such, it has been well funded. Lakewood will soon be the same. Too bad I will not be teaching in Lakewood then. Paterson is a better place. The BOE believes in its teachers and seems to promote based on merit.
DeleteI have always held that a shteller is one thing, but the Rashba says m'forash that there are places where minhag is to have elections for rabbi and that cannot be change without the majority vote. Like all things in Chosen Mishpat, majority rule. Elections are dinei mamanos. Kol shekain in America where a system of checks and balances operates. The republic form can be the best kind of government or the worse. I came here in 1985 and was so disillusioned when PG Waxman and others told people who to vote for. Then, we were not a majority, but even then, it was anti-American, anti--good government, and super low class. At any rate, your government is not as powerful as the NJ Supreme Court. And the next governor is going to take y'all down if we don't win. The matter will be settled one way or another, either the closure of the district and bussing and everything else, or the formula will be fixed. One thing is for sure, MI, Balsam, and alll the rest of the Igud will be out of their jobs.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience all i have to say the Igud and their great middos Hu’emes, and their loving way of making sure that every child in lakewood get the chinuch they need.
DeleteEspecially how they guide & explain to the gedolim the right way for chinuch
My parleyeds go out to them all to hashem to protect them from any loss be it monetary or in stature.
Umein kein yehi rutzon
Amain,
DeleteSo why can't you help? I never wanted to do this alone. I even wanted the BOE in it the first few years. For sure not now. I am no longer an employee of the district. I and I don't need them.
DeleteThey got suckered into the state's game, playing the district since 1997. Their game is so simple that it repeats itself in every school case.
Why don't you get the other mosdos to demand an answer to whom they back in elections. Mosdos are entitled to it all under federal law and it does not look like that will change. The mosdos leaders do not have a right to control a $400 million publicly owned corporation without answering to the shareholders.
I am actually voting for WZO as I am relying on the gedolim that said to do it. That said I actually agree that it is a chutzpah and a bizayon for there to be public ads on billboards that contradict what the gedolim of this town have said. There is a machlokes lesheim shomayim but in this town the accepted days torah has said no. I would think to have a public ad the other way in the town of Gateshead would be just as long when their gadol has said to vote
ReplyDeleteShame on you to publicize your wrongdoings, you can cancel your membership.
DeleteWhich gedolim did you dream support it?
DeleteGateshead Rosh Hayeshiva did not sign on to vote, rather to become members in some sort of organization, perhaps fighting reform.
DeleteHe signed kiyehuda veod likra on the gedolei yisroel said. Never to become part of wzo or any other zionist organization or vote Ona slate in the wzo.
The liars at the headquarters missed his signature.
IT'S TOTAL LIE!
Deleteno gateshead godol said to vote!
read the letter he only allowed to REGISTER with EH not to join WZO
GO READ IT AGAIN
2:25
DeleteI'll take the bait, Smartypants. Where and how do you REGISTER with EH without voting for them?
IN THE UK THAT IS HOW IT WORKS!
DeleteTHERE IS NO VOTING, AND YOU DON'T EVER SIGN UP OR JOIN WZO
THE JOKES ON YOU FOR READING DIRTY NEWSITES/PAPERS AND THEN THINKING YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING MORE THAN CHACHMIE YISROEL
I'M FROM THE UK SO I KNOW HOW IT WORKS HERE
I'll take the bait, 3:05
DeleteShow us the link where and how the UK Jews can register with Eretz Hakodesh without voting and signing up for the wzo
342
DeleteYou're asking what info he was told or what he wrote?
3:42 here. 3:05 stated that in UK you register for Eretz Hakodesh without signing up for wzo. I challenged him to show us a link to the website where they are to do such
DeleteYou keep taking about an Igud when it does not exist. Ask 99 % of the mosdos who tue Igud us or who is in charge ir who makes the decisions and they will say they have no idea. There has not been an Igud meeting called in over 10 years .
ReplyDeleteWhy do I have to give names over and over. There are three or something and Inzelbuch. Balsam is always there. Also Weisberg, and Michael. Weisberg is a good man but can't go against three or whatever the number of other people.
DeleteThe object of the meetings was a simple job for me, you know, parnasa. It could have been in the high school and have nothing to do with the interest of these bosses. Weisberg is the only person with brains and he learned with R. Elyahu. The R"Y can't go against them. I really don't know the center of power but I bet there is none. Lakewood will not have great public works with no center of power, and I might add, responsive to the rabbim.
Lakewood is the deep state.
The Chutzpah of TLS bragging about not caving to pressure has reached new heights. It’s one thing to defy our Gedolim and allow the ads, but to go out of your way to brag about it, wow. That’s low.
ReplyDelete(“Despite some harassing phone calls and terroristic threats in response to the ads posted for Eretz Hakodesh - approved by many Gedolim - the two-week ad campaign, which began at 12:00 PM on March 9, will remain up exactly until the campaign expires, which is at 12:00 PM on Sunday, March 23”)
If you believe a word the accident chaser writes......
DeleteSurprise, on exactly one site - TLS - did the ad campaign end at 12pm, all other sites are still running the all the ads. He doesn't even have the backbone to admit he caved.
Blame the vaad for empowering and having them sit in the meetings
DeleteAnd the politicians and PD for giving full access to the police station and the car crash camera by Chai care at New Hampshire and Cedarbridge to catch the accidents
It was only a week and the rest is free ads
DeleteThe ads posted were approved by many gedolim,,,,, any names?? Theodore Herzl and talmidim ,,,, are they trying to save the monies from moshe mendelson ymsh ' talmidim??
DeleteDon't think chai care owns the video camera but it's in a tree facing the intersection and getting electricity from the building
DeletePlease stop denying that there are no Gedolim (or atleast was, until they were harassed) Supporting the voting in the WZO elections - You comments are very foolish
DeletePlease bring the gedolim's words
DeleteDoes this mean Lakewood has to forever be the voice of Etz instead of Degel or Agudah?
ReplyDeleteIs Rav Dov Landau Degel or Eitz??
DeleteRav Feldman is explicitly Etz.
DeleteThe Kotler family does not deny Etz leaning.
(BTW, that's why Agudah of America can't get involved.)
Degel
Delete@5:32 Why are you writing that Rav Feldman is “explicitly” Etz? Any proof?
DeleteNext you'll claim Rav Dov Landa and Rav Yerucham Olshin are eitz too.
DeleteBeware Bingo sells hand matzos with hechsher from R Gross BB, which are NOT 100% hand made in the traditional sence
ReplyDeleteI buy them every year and love them. Perfect for my kids. We don't use machine matzoh, but for them this is perfect.
Deleteawareness notice
DeleteI voted for Eretz Hakodosh and agree that there not have billboards in the center of Lakewood . On the flip side the vehemence of the opposition to them is why I ultimately voted for them. At first I was unsure and felt uncomfortable voting for them due to their lack of major rabbinic support. But things have reached a point where there is no plausible deniability that a Rav or Rosh Yeshiva who supports Eretz Hakadosh is not free to say so . As such there failure to garner more support doesn’t bother me so much anymore
ReplyDeleteYou didn't vote. You're a paid troll, nothing more.
DeleteDo you also write fake reviews on amazon.com?
DeleteAnon 12:10
DeleteHope you don't get a kibud for עדי קידושין
Because you are a שקרן and will stop and nothing to peddle your silly lie in a sad attempt of gneivas daas to fool people with your fake trolling
Wow. Three people all being Chosed B'Keserim me. I wasn't expecting a positive response but this is overboard. Let me tell you all a yesod in life. A very common way groups practice mind control is that make their followers think that there is no way anyone can think differently unless they are deficient in some area. That is what all your comments boil down to. But somehow I'm the paid troll...
DeleteEretz HaKodesh has the backing of numerous rabbanim, including Rav Elya Brudny, who explained the position of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America at the recent Agudah national convention. Rav Asher Weiss of Jerusalem expressed in a video how important he felt it was for every Torah Jew to vote in this election. Both videos can be seen on their websites.
DeleteScrubbed due to Harassment?
חזור בך חזור בך
DeleteYou can do yeshiva and recind your vote. Even if you already watched the boring video.
Wow, the anti-Eretz Hakodesh Mafia & bullies are out in full force today
DeleteWow the bully playing victim
DeleteHow is WZO any different than all those who join to take from the UJA
ReplyDeleteMeir Lichtenstein and Menashe have full control they suddenly remain quiet why is a private citizen unelected allowed access to the police station or to sit in vaad meetings isbit all about good PR for the boys
ReplyDeleteWell one of them tried to help. I never met the other. He talks too much. A
ReplyDeletell these Vaad people me with the governor in 2023, my case was brought up, no one thought of telling me. The only of the group who acted like a ben Torah, I mentioned him before, was in E"Y.
Isn't in the public interest to tell the man that the governor mentioned during whatever deal they made. Could be the governor said they won't compromise. I just don't know. But that was the time to tell me, not two weeks later. That election year they had more leverage and they got played as chumps by the state.
The gedolim are big people they are not bullied or harrased if they truly believe to vote let them publicly sign a letter of support
ReplyDeleteThe gedolim are big people they are not bullied or harrased - I assume you are completely out of touch or just a plain liar
DeleteThe gedolim explain themselves and are open to discussion.
DeleteBeauty of Torah and daas torah
Rav Yitzchok Berkowitz shlita urged the oilam to vote. Listen to daas Torah and vote before it's too late. Unless of course you support the Reform movement effort to destroy yiddishkeit in Eretz Yisroel.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the heter written—black on white—in the actual psak? Or are we now expected to believe without seeing, to silence our minds and smother our questions? Is this called emunah, or is it blind faith—no different than what every Christian tells me when they plead, “Just open your heart and believe in Yoshke”?
DeleteAre we meant to forsake the holy path of Torah sheba’al peh, where every ruling is rooted in sources, clarity, and mesorah, and instead accept anonymous proclamations that cannot be traced, examined, or challenged?
And Aish HaTorah—yes, they give semicha—but what does it mean if they throw away the very credibility they worked so hard to build? What is all their outreach, all their teaching, worth if at the moment of truth they side with ambiguity over emes, with populism over psak? Are we watching a makom Torah undermine itself from within?
Is this what we’ve come to—that in the name of unity, fear, or social acceptance, we abandon daas Torah and accept rulings with no teshuva, no source, no name—only the echo of “trust us,” the same voice Herzl used when he asked us to trade Sinai for a flag, the Shechinah for a state?
Tell me—do we follow the words of the gedolim, or do we follow the shadow of Herzl dressed in religious language, selling Zionism behind a curtain of frumkeit?
Your crowd 'forsook' that path a long while ago.This is normal in the world. Now deal with the natural positive development
DeleteAISH HA’AM advertisement from their Rosh Yeshiva - Whose psak is the Rosh Yeshiva relying on? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkJ6b3YQUF0
Delete"urged to olam to vote"? He was talking to his Aish talmidim, I'm glad you consider them the "olam"
DeleteWhere's the Chafetz Chaim's teshuva?
DeleteIf he doesn't need one, obviously these matters do not belong in teshuvos.
Notice how all the Chasdidim didn't mix in to the dumb argument to vote for tzionim
ReplyDeleteBecause Eretz Hakodesh is not target them
DeleteThe litvisha are fighting back because of the heavy marketing campaign launched by eretz hakodesh targeting that crowd through the media platforms
Actually, the stoliner rebbe has told all his chassidim to vote.
DeleteIf your rebbe told you today that halacha demands you become a Jew for Yoshke, would you nod your head and obey? If he told you to jump off a bridge l’shem mitzvah, would you march off the edge, thinking this is what Hashem wants from you? Are we really expected to shut off our minds and souls and call that emunah? Is this the Torah we received at Har Sinai, or a terrifying distortion of emunah stripped of seichel, stripped of integrity, stripped of emes?
DeleteWhen something that was called kefira yesterday is suddenly declared a mitzvah today, we are obligated—by the Torah itself—to ask why. Where is the teshuva? Where is the halachic process? Where are the mareh mekomos, the lomdus, the mesorah, the responsibility to truth? How can something that for a hundred years our gedolim stood against with fire and tears now be rebranded as a mitzvah—overnight, without explanation? This isn’t just a question—it’s the cry of a soul trying to stay faithful to Torah while the ground shakes beneath its feet.
Gedolei Olam gave their lives in opposition to these very things. They were mocked, slandered, imprisoned, exiled. And they stood firm because Torah mattered more than politics, more than image, more than comfort. They stood because truth is not up for sale. Suddenly, we’re told their battle is irrelevant, their warnings outdated, and we’re expected to smile, nod, and obey? Without even a shayla? Without even a discussion?
This is not rebellion. This is not chutzpah. This is yiras Shamayim. This is fear for our souls, for our children, for the very soul of Torah itself. Because if we don’t ask why—if we don’t demand clarity in the face of contradiction—then we’re not following Torah. We’re following men. And Torah was never meant to be replaced with blind obedience. Torah is not a cult. It is the living emes of the Borei Olam, and emes can handle questions. Emes demands questions. Emes screams in the face of silence.
To follow Torah means to walk with eyes open, heart burning, brain engaged, and soul trembling before the Ribbono Shel Olam. Not to be a puppet dancing to the tune of shifting alliances. We are not cattle. We are not cultists. We are Bnei Torah. If we abandon our right to think, to ask, to demand integrity, then we’ve already jumped off the bridge. Not because a rebbe said so—but because we forgot what Torah even is.
Anonymous 1:57 Many years ago my blood boiled just like yours seeing the shift of opinion on major issues. My conclusion however was to stop believing rhetoric about how terrible something is because Daas Torah said so. Now I take the oppisite view. You want to scream Avodah Zorah! Kefira! or even Daas Baaley Batim! explain it to me in a way that makes sense to me that it actually is what you are saying it is. Based on clear maareh mokomos. Otherwise I'm not taking this talk seriously unless there is a consensus that spans the entire frum Rabbinic world
DeleteThe Chassidim didn't mix in because 21 Adar is a holiday in their culture. Eating, drinking, piously rolling eyes, and travelling to exotic locations without the wives, are some of the defining details of these celebrations.
DeleteWell genius, if you don't use machine made matzos , then you should NOT be using Gross's matzos which are half machine made
ReplyDeleteWhen the letter from Rav Avrohom Gurwicz shlit”a was first written and signed, Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l was no longer with us. Eretz HaKodesh / Pesach Lerner withheld it from the public for years, for a long time, it remained hidden in quiet corners—until just weeks ago, when YWN finally brought it into the light for all to see.
ReplyDeleteif only they would atleast highlight the words in his letter
DeleteMatzav writes an article complaining that charedey standards, following gedolims opinions, lead to cancel culture, following gedolim's opinions, lakewoodscoop canceling the תָקִ֤יא הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם בְּטַֽמַּאֲכֶ֖ם party advertisments, and then promptly cancels the article.
ReplyDeleteMatzav.com ...are chazer feet.
Matzav Inbox: We Are the Kings of Cancel Culture— While we express outrage over cancel culture in the wider world, we fail to see that our own frum community practices it on a daily basis. In ...
DeleteMatzav does not even publish comments on this: https://matzav.com/rav-chaim-aryeh-zev-ginzberg-rav-dovid-feinstein-asked-me-to-get-involved-in-eretz-hakodesh/
DeleteThis letter—undated, without halachic grounding or context—does not read like a psak. It reads like a PR campaign/marketing brochure. No mekoros, no teshuva, no halachic analysis, no signatures of recognized gedolim. Just vague claims of “daas Torah” and a glowing endorsement of Pesach Lerner’s “Eretz Hakodesh”—an organization openly aligned with the secular Zionist institutions that Gedolei Yisrael fought against with fire and tears.
We are being asked to abandon over a century of mesorah and mesirus nefesh—the cries, warnings, and leadership of the heilige Brisker Rav, the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Elchonon Wasserman, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Reuven Grozovsky, the Chazon Ish, the Steipler, Rav Elyashiv, and others—against Zionism and its institutions. Have their words been erased from memory? Has their blood been washed away with a new slogan?
We are told to trust. To follow. But where is the emes? Where is the halacha? Where is even a single page of analysis explaining how partnering with the WZO suddenly became permissible—let alone admirable?
You say “daas Torah” was consulted? Good. Prove it.
Release the recordings.
Show us the names.
Show us the deliberations, the shailos, the halachic justification.
Where is even one written teshuva?
Torah is not done in the shadows.
Torah is ohr—a light that cannot hide. It does not operate in the dark.
And what are we shown instead?
No date.
No mekoros.
No explanation.
A handwritten signature above typed words that carry no weight without truth behind them. Is this the new standard for Torah endorsement? A letter that could’ve been written last week, last year—or never—presented as if it speaks for daas Torah?
We’re told to “vote for Eretz Hakodesh” by joining the WZO—an organization that, for over a century, has led the campaign to secularize Jewish identity and sever Torah from Klal Yisrael. The very act of joining it was once called yehareg ve’al ya’avor by our leaders. Now it’s a mitzvah? Based on what?
This letter offers no clarity. No halachic weight. No legitimacy.
A vague typed document with a scribbled signature and no date does not and cannot overturn a century of fierce, unbroken opposition from our gedolim.
We will not trade the fire of Har Sinai for the cold fog of political maneuvering.
We will not dishonor the legacy and sacrifices of those who came before us.
And we will not be shamed into silence when the Torah itself demands that we cry out:
הֲלֹא דָבָר הוּא ?
“Is this not a matter that demands challenge?”
Show us the sources. Show us how yehareg ve’al ya’avor has become a mitzvah.
Otherwise—don’t ask us to vote.
Ask us to forget.
And that—we will never do.
Matzav cancelled their own article. Clowns.
DeleteHonestly. Where is the asifa for the real issues going on? Until then..
ReplyDeleteShut up. There are issues that need addressing because the public doesn't understand what the issues are. And there are issue that are well known and well understood.... You don't need an assifa to address the obvious.
DeleteCHOOSE YOUR ROSH YESHIVA IN THE YESHIVA SHEL MA'ALAH
ReplyDeleteA Cry from the Depths of Eternity
There are moments in life when everything becomes clear. When politics, debates, and slogans vanish, and only one truth remains:
Where will your soul sit for eternity?
The World Zionist Organization was not built upon Torah. It was not formed in holiness. It was established by Theodor Herzl—
A man who wrote explicitly in his diary that the solution to antisemitism was the mass conversion of all Jews to Christianity, stating coldly: "I believe I have found the solution to the Jewish Question: convert them all to Christianity."
A man who deliberately refused to give his own son, Hans, a bris milah—cutting his own child off from the eternal covenant of Avraham Avinu.
A man who scornfully mocked rabbanim as museum relics, declaring that Judaism was merely a nationality, and explicitly rejecting Torah, mitzvos, and avodas Hashem as outdated and unnecessary.
A man whose entire dream was to create a Judaism without Torah, without mitzvos, without kedusha, without Hashem Himself.
This man—Theodor Herzl—is the spiritual father and founder of the WZO.
Today, Herzl’s legacy is hidden beneath new labels. They have repackaged it, wrapped it in religious language, calling it Eretz HaKodesh, claiming Torah influence.
But you cannot kasher a mamzer or purify a pig simply by placing a hechsher on its wrapper.
You cannot pour kedusha into a vessel built explicitly to hold rebellion against Hashem.
We judge no Jew’s heart. We do not question the sincerity of those who joined WZO and voted for Eretz HaKodesh. Many did so purely, with holy intentions, hoping to strengthen Torah.
But good intentions cannot change the spiritual reality.
In the Yeshiva Shel Ma’alah, there are no excuses. No explanations. No slogans. Only pure, eternal truth.
If you choose—knowingly or unknowingly—to place your name under Herzl’s banner, then chas v’shalom, in the World of Truth, Herzl himself becomes your Rosh Yeshiva.
You sit in a beis medrash built not by the Chasam Sofer, not by the Vilna Gaon, not by Rav Akiva Eiger—but by a man whose mission was to erase Torah from Klal Yisrael.
Your soul—chas v’shalom—becomes spiritually aligned with the essence of Herzl’s rebellion.
But those who choose clearly, who stand with purity and courage alongside the Chazon Ish, who feared even the smallest hint of compromise, with the Brisker Rav, who ran from every association tainted by rebellion, with Rav Elchonon Wasserman, who warned that nationalism without Torah prepares the way for darkness, and with Rav Aharon Kotler, who wept for Torah in its uncompromised purity—
Those who choose this path will sit forever in the true Yeshiva Shel Ma’alah, where Moshe Rabbeinu gives the eternal shiur, where the Avos HaKedoshim embrace those who remained faithful, and where the Shechinah itself illuminates souls who never compromised.
The question you face today is eternal, stark, and urgent:
Who will be your Rosh Yeshiva forever?
Choose now. Choose wisely. Choose eternity. Choose Hashem. Choose Torah.
Because the choice you make today will echo throughout eternity.
This comment totally misunderstands the issue to begin with. It goes with the assumption that voting equals adopting the ideals of someone who has been dead for over one hundred and twenty years. While you can oppose voting nobody actually voting views it the way this comment makes it
DeletePoetic very poetic I don’t think not voting is your ticket to gain eden or gehoenom and the same could be said for voting. As the Brisker Rov said on voting for the kneset. Also your propaganda and disinformation distortion of facts on Herzl and the WZO is dumbfounding but I won’t bother you with the facts . Agav is the marcheshes not sitting in yeshiva shel malo is the dvar Avrhom also not there for disagreeing with Rav Elchonon is the maticher a member of Mizrochi and Rav Chaims price Talmud also not there . Oy leoznaim hashoimim es zois . Won’t ask you about Rav Herzog that lulei him nishtackcho hatoire meyisroel as he is responsible for saving whatever it could be saved of the Toire belt . If you are Hungarian I guess the for revi the oldest ur einikel of the chasms Soifer and the main Rabinic authority in Hungary and member and attendee of every Zionist congress while in Europe is also out of yeshiva shel malo . Surely won’t ask you about Chacham Ovadia that was matir 15 years ago and knew of the halachic problems of the Jerusalem declaration.
DeleteFor myself I won’t vote as I nave a Kabole fun my Tate zl voz hot geheret fun R Arele belzer az miner a chosid vet not zein kein Zionist . But my dear friend it’s time to graduate from Mesivta and don’t that excited and poetic you show your simplicity
Best regards
Just wondering
Archie Belzer
I understand that many who vote may not consciously associate their actions with the ideological roots of secular Zionism or Herzl’s personal vision. But with all due respect, halachic concerns aren't decided by subjective intent or how we feel about what we're doing. If something is אסור על פי הלכה, then even the purest motives in the heart cannot make it permitted. The fact that someone doesn’t identify with Herzl’s ideals doesn’t change the reality that participation in his institutional legacy — which was rejected and mourned by countless גדולי עולם — carries a weight far beyond personal interpretation.
DeleteWe are not talking about a neutral or technical structure. The WZO and the state Zionist enterprise were built — openly and deliberately — on a foundation of rebellion against Hashem, against Torah, and against the authority of Chazal and mesorah. Herzl and his followers envisioned a new Jewish identity — stripped of Torah and kedushah — empowered by human nationalism, political force, and military pride. It was a movement that replaced מלכות שמים with מלכות האדם, Torah with flag, prayer with anthem.
This is not just history. The WZO today continues to be animated by those same foundational kochos — spiritual forces rooted in tumah, secularism, and kefirah. To join such a system, or vote within it, is not only a political act. It is, whether one realizes it or not, an act of empowerment. It gives legitimacy, merit, and strength to forces that our Torah warns us to flee from — forces that our gedolim said we must stand against with our very lives, if necessary.
Let me offer an analogy: imagine someone entering a church for the purpose of protecting Jewish interests — perhaps to stop missionary activity or to advocate for Israel. His intentions might be noble. He may feel in his heart that he’s doing something good. But the halacha remains unchanged: entering such a place is assur, regardless of intent. Why? Because the act itself carries halachic and symbolic meaning — not just personal feeling.
Now take it further: what if in order to participate in that church event, you had to affirm a core doctrine of Christianity — even if just on paper or in principle? That would enter the category of יהרג ואל יעבור — not because of what you feel, but because of the objective spiritual reality of the act.
So too here: if participation in these elections requires affirmation — even indirectly — of principles rooted in כפירה, such as the belief that the Jewish People can achieve national redemption through secular nationalism without Torah, then the halachic issue is not symbolic — it’s existential. You are lending merit, influence, and spiritual validation to something founded in darkness.
And this is not just theory. The WZO’s platform includes:
Delete- Recognizing the secular state as the fulfillment of Jewish national destiny
- Promoting a unified Jewish identity inclusive of kefirah and reform movements
- Strengthening Zionist institutions and legacy
- Encouraging military and national service, including the conscription of women, which has been ruled by all major poskim to be יהרג ואל יעבור
To vote for such a system is not neutral. It is not simply “showing up.” It is giving chizuk to kochos that seek to uproot the soul of the Jewish people from Torah — and doing so in public, with religious garments and good intentions, makes the danger even greater.
You ask, “But Herzl has been dead for over 120 years. Why does this matter now?” But this ignores a fundamental principle in Torah: spiritual forces don’t disappear. A movement born in tumah, empowered by the pride of man and rejection of Torah, continues to carry that energy unless it is uprooted and rebuilt with kedushah.
To illustrate: consider the longstanding minhag of not learning Torah on Nitel Nacht — the night of December 24th. Yes, it is a minhag, not halacha. But it reflects a powerful spiritual truth. Torah learning, the holiest act we can do, is withheld on that night — not because the founder of Christianity is alive, but because we want to deny his soul any benefit, any light, any elevation. The danger of lending spiritual merit to a רשע — even symbolically — is taken so seriously that we refrain from learning Torah itself.
Lehavdil — if we hold back Torah on a single night out of fear of empowering spiritual evil from centuries ago, how can we participate in and publicly endorse a living institution whose roots lie in kefirah, rebellion, and spiritual danger? And unlike Nitel Nacht, which is minhag, participation in organizations that promote כפירה, חילול השם, and acts of יהרג ואל יעבור is clearly and unequivocally assur. Here the danger is not symbolic — it is real, active, and halachically defined.
Let me offer a second analogy: joining the WZO “to influence from within” is like becoming a board member of a Reform temple because you hope to steer it toward halacha. Even if you never utter a word of Reform ideology, your presence alone says: this has legitimacy. This is a path worth strengthening. But the Torah tells us that some structures are so fundamentally rooted in tumah that even attempting to influence them gives strength to the wrong side.
This isn’t about judging others, חס ושלום. It’s about standing trembling before the daas Torah of generations — and about recognizing that halacha doesn’t bend to strategy, to emotion, or to good intentions. הרגש הלב can never override גדרי ההלכה.
We must ask ourselves: what kind of merit are we giving? To whom are we giving it? Are we empowering Torah — or are we empowering those who proudly built a world without it?
The Jewish people are not saved by votes, budgets, or committees. We are saved by tefillah, יראת שמים, by bitachon, by loyalty to Hashem’s Torah — even when the world says otherwise.
Nice but silly posts.The Knesset ain't any better. Neither is El Al
DeleteBasically, voting in the WZO is as bad as learning on Nittel.
DeleteI will keep that in mind.
it is practicing "nittel" the way its observers do
DeleteThe World Zionist Organization (WZO) has incorporated anti-discrimination clauses into its constitution, rejecting distinctions based on origin, nationality, race, gender, or ******* orientation. This presents a serious halachic issue for Orthodox Jews. Torah law mandates clear distinctions in many areas—such as the prohibition of Mishkav Zachar (ויקרא י״ח:כ״ב), the status of Mamzeirim (דברים כ״ג:ג׳), the differentiation between Jews by birth and converts, and the specific laws concerning kohanim.
ReplyDeleteAffiliating with an organization that formally upholds values in direct contradiction to these Torah distinctions compromises one's ability to remain faithful to halacha. More than that, such participation can be seen as an implicit endorsement of values fundamentally opposed to daas Torah, potentially resulting in a Chilul Hashem—a public desecration of Hashem’s name.
It is analogous to a Torah-observant Jew accepting a seat on the board of an institution whose charter promotes practices that violate halacha—such as a religious council that endorses forbidden marriages or non-halachic conversions. Even if the individual is not directly involved in implementing these policies, their public affiliation lends legitimacy to the institution and sends a misleading message that these values are compatible with Torah. The problem lies not only in action, but in association and perceived endorsement.
It is unequivocally assur—prohibited—for Orthodox Jews to align with institutions whose foundational principles contradict the Torah. To do so is a grave halachic and hashkafic error. One must never support or participate in initiatives that undermine the authority of the Torah HaKedosha or promote agendas incompatible with the ratzon Hashem. Every Jew who fears Heaven and cherishes the kedushas haTorah must understand the implications of such involvement, lest they transgress serious prohibitions and bring dishonor to the name of Hashem.
Ahhh..how about here?
DeleteSo UJA & other organizations that so many mosdos & camps get bushels from are forbidden.But when it affects your pocket
ReplyDeletehttps://www.timesofisrael.com/from-far-left-to-haredi-right-jews-question-ethics-of-voting-in-world-zionist-congress/
When even a Reform candidate refuses to vote — what are we doing at the table?
After running as a candidate last time, Abraham Silberstein will not even be voting in this year’s election for the World Zionist Congress.
In 2020, Silberstein — a vocal critic of Israel — joined the Reform movement’s slate for the World Zionist Congress. Despite deep reservations, he felt that “having a seat at the table” meant influence, engagement, representation. He ran. He served.
But not this time.
This time, he walked away — publicly and on principle.
“If I claimed to uphold the Jerusalem Program today, I would be lying,” he said.
“And that would be plainly unethical.”
Read that again.
A Reform Jew — from a movement that publicly discards halacha, celebrates to’eivah, and tears down the sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash in the name of pluralism — still had enough integrity to say:
“I cannot sign onto this lie. I will not participate.”
And us?
We, who bear the yoke of Torah and mitzvos?
We, who know what it means to say “Shema Yisrael” with trembling?
Can we look Hashem in the eye and say that accepting the Jerusalem Program — a Zionist manifesto that omits His Name, Torah, and kedushah — is “just a formality”?
Is this our version of ethics?
Are we so desperate for funding or influence that we are prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who openly fund Reform conversions, egalitarian prayer, and movements that erase the line between Jew and gentile?
If a Reform candidate can walk away because his conscience won’t allow him to lie — shouldn’t our yiras Shamayim stop us from ever registering and accepting the Jerusalem Program in the first place?
Can a congress founded on secular ideals ever take the place of Har Sinai?
Do we really need a seat at their table, when we already stood at Hashem’s?
What other ethical lessons do you take from random reform jews?
Delete