Shomer Mitzvot, yeshivah-educated, army service, working man, 30 years government experience, cares about the Am, never a hint of scandal, paid back all the debts from the previous failed (stolen) election campaign, proven submissiveness to Da'at Torah - that's Eli Yishai. (Complete Bio here.)
Following are some excerpts (auto-translated) from the party's website...
Eli Yishai, during all the years of public service, was faithful to Da'at Torah, in total obedience to the spiritual leadership, headed by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of blessed memory, but he did not speak about it, but Maran, in his many books, engraved it with a gold pen. Book after book, until his last days, openly as well as secretly.
After the departure of Maran, a"h, Eli Yishai was called by the Gaon of Israel, Maran Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Meir Mazuz, shlit"a, to lead the Yahad movement to establish a movement that would unite all strata of the public in complete obedience to the Torah.
...Eli Yishai continues in his noble ways, and with discipline to know Torah, with genuine respect and unequivocal obedience to the Rosh Yeshiva, he will continue leading the Yahad movement in order to unify the entire Jewish people under the leadership of the great sages of Israel.
Yishai was prominent in his energetic work, on the mission of the greatest of Israel, out of concern for the weaker sectors of the population, the preservation of the Jewish character of the people of Israel and the perfection of our Holy Land.
In the struggle for the people of Israel, Eli Yishai, under the media radar, directed the energies of media publicity, Eli Yishai devoted more to his work, and saved the unnecessary struggles stemming from publicity and patronizing friction.
In addition to modesty, Eli Yishai also displayed a bold stand against all the media and legal systems, while on the other hand stood the welfare of the citizens of the State of Israel. The issue of infiltrators is just an example of something that everyone now understands. (See more here.)
The Yahad movement derives its vision from the treasures of the Torah and the leaders, Gedolei Yisrael.
The movement was established in order to fulfill the wishes of many of our Beit Yisrael brothers who wish to raise the banner of Torah while strengthening the Jewish character of the State of Israel.
The love of Israel is deep; it is the foundation to unite together. For the first time, they all came together in a covenant, national religious, chareidi and traditional. This is our message to the people living in Zion.
Our Mission
Our aspiration is to unite Israel into its tribes, national religious, chareidi, traditional and secular, around the absolute loyalty to our holy Torah and concern for the people of Israel in its own land and in the Diaspora.
To ensure that our state will provide protection and security to the people living in Zion, while ensuring that all these values will be founded and come from our holy Torah, all of whose ways are pleasant ways and all its paths are peace.
The Principles of the Movement
Life Theory
The Torah is the soul of the people of Israel, the existential basis of the state and the future of the nation. As stated by Rabbeinu Saadiah Gaon: "We have no nation except one based on Torah."
Therefore, the movement champions the task of strengthening the connection to the Torah and the multiplicity of Torah study as a central national mission.
Unity of the people
Together, we strive to realize the Torah through pleasant ways, while consolidating the identification of groups and communities in their own way. Our concern is devoted to all, in detail, and to listen to all parts of the people.
The People to the Torah
We believe in our people wherever they are and in the lofty task of elevating them to the Torah, so we will not spare resources for bringing them near to the Torah.
Land of Israel
We were privileged to return to the Land of the Fathers after two thousand years of exile. The eternal connection between the people and their land is not the subject of negotiations, and we will strive to bring the entire nation of Israel to the realization of the importance and practical ability to apply Israeli sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel.
Jewish Education
The desire of the lovers of the people and the land is the education of heritage values according to the Torah of Israel, as a factor that shapes the identity of society. We believe in providing equal educational opportunities for every child in Israel.
The Family Unit
The Jewish family has always been the true strength of the Jewish people. We will work to strengthen the values of the Jewish family and to encourage birth.
Social Justice
In accordance with the obligations of the Jewish people throughout the generations to stand on the right hand of the poor and assist the faltering and the weak, we will work to strengthen the weak, to empower charitable institutions and social benefits for the weak.
Adhering to Maimonides' instructions regarding the laws of the gifts of the poor, we will act to correct distortions in an egalitarian manner to all citizens of Israel, regardless of religion or race.
We will go back to educating for simplicity and solidarity and striving to strengthen the economy from a national and moral perspective. We aim to rebuild the Israeli welfare state in a way that will ensure more than minimum subsistence. Social policy must ensure a dignified existence, and reduce the socio-economic gaps that all of Israel hold for each other.
National-Military Service
The Yahad Party is active in the issue of recruitment under the direction of Maran Ziva and Rabbi Mazuz, who believe that Torah scholars should not be recruited, but if this is the case, we are grateful to the IDF soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the benefit of the State of Israel and its citizens. In youth who do not study and can not return it to the benches of the beit midrash, they must apply for military / civil / occupational service. According to the degree of suitability.
Religion and state
The interface between the Torah and the state, which was pushed aside by the founding generation, will now serve as a complement to the establishment of a Jewish state. We will work to deepen the connection between the Torah and the state and society as a whole and against any trend that weakens this connection.
Integrity
The Torah, as the creator of Divine morality, obliges the representatives of the next public from Torah education, purity, and cleanliness. We strive for cleanliness and purity. Our goal is to set quality standards for the cleanliness of hands and moral purity in national systems.
Over two thousand years of exile have passed since the arms of the fire licked our temple for the sake of sinat chinam. This is the hatred that separated a man from a man from a family and a tribe, which has covered us for thousands of years of blood and grief.
The light of redemption has already shimmered and the cards have already gathered, and we are here together again, Ashkenazim alongside Sephardim, Yemenites alongside Ethiopians, this is we are already here so hatred is not superfluous ?! The separation between a community or origin, between a black skullcap and a crochet, for what and why ?!
When the enemies from the outside stare at us, they do not distinguish between religious and secular, between traditional and ultra-Orthodox, they demand our blood because we are Jews who believe in one God and his beloved sons.
If we still thought that it was impossible, the Yachad movement is the good news of redemption, for the first time as one home for all of the Jewish people, regardless of ethnicity or community, black kippah and crochet, we all believe in the Creator, love the Torah, our wonderful people, Which was given to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, give us the opportunity to unify the Jewish people, let us be partners in breaking the barriers that separate us.
On April 9 this will be the test of the Jewish people, whether it chooses to keep the resentment and hatred, or to cleanse the heart and shout the good news, all of us a single, unique and united people against all our enemies.
If anyone thinks they have to compromise the truth for the sake of pragmatism, they are lacking in faith in HKB"H. If anyone thinks they have to compromise the demands of Torah in order to ensure a Netanyahu victory because if anyone else gets into office Israel is lost, then they have no faith in HKB"H because even if, God forbid, Yair Lapid would be the next PM, he would still have to conform to Hashem's will and any mischief he would be allowed to make would only be to serve HKB"H's goals.
As Yachad's mission statement is no different from what we are expecting from the Mashiach, in my opinion, a vote for Yachad is a vote for Mashiach. Let's show HKB"H that we trust Him enough to vote for Torah and Mashiach and leave the results to Him.
Amen!
ReplyDelete(We just have to make sure we know what the correct symbol looks like when we go to the polls, so that no more dirty tricks will be played on us, watch out for whatever other blocks might be attempted to be placed in front of us, and pray like mad.)
Last time there was also ballot tampering. So poll watchers are needed too esp where Shas is strong.
DeleteWishing Yachad much mazel tov! Eli Yishai has always been one of the most honest politicians (not like the typical politician) and is a G-D fearing Torah Jew. It's time for Torah's return to the people of Israel. Amen
ReplyDeleteyes Sir Winston Churchill: "NEVER give in, NEVER give in, NEVER, NEVER, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty – NEVER give in EXCEPT TO CONVICTIONS OF HONOUR AND GOOD SENSE. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy" https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1941-1945-war-leader/never-give-in/
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, but all this talk of elections and for whom to vote and Yachad is extraordinarily disappointing.
ReplyDeleteRav Binyamin Kahane, the hemshech and standard bearer of our Rav, Meir Kahane, Hashem yakom damam, made it clear that there is nothing to hope for from the current political system. He addresses the topic in various articles throughout Tal Binyamin (collected essays in Hebrew) and in The Writings of Rav Binyamin Kahane, H'YD (English translation, see esp.: "From Where Won't the Deliverance Come" and "Response to our Readers").
His argument there is as forceful as it is brief. He states that so long as we are psychologically attached to the present system, NO MEANINGFUL CHANGE CAN COME. Please see what he has written there in full.
What hurts most is that someone as thoughtful as you and with such enormous hashpa'ah is offering good Jews false hopes that it can -- that something lasting could potentially arise from voting for the "lesser of all evils" in the coming elections.
As Rav Binyamin writes: "The pre-condition for bringing change is letting go of the illusion...that salvation can sprout from the present system." Moreover, the psychological preparation necessary to move in a completely Jewish direction will not be complete until enough people have done precisely that -- cut the cord.
There has never been so direct or poignant a comment on Israeli elections made -- before or since.
Your encouragement to vote for tzaddik A,B or C in April simply throws a great obstacle in the path of many who genuinely long for redemption.
Please rethink this and offer some fresh thinking to your readers. We don't need the current reality perpetuated any longer.
You misunderstand. I do not claim that the government can be changed or that Mashiach could get elected in a "democracy." Quite the contrary. What we do is for the sake of Heaven. If a Torah party headed by a Torah-observant person runs, all Jews have an obligation to support it regardless of outcome. The only way we are excused from voting is if there is no Torah candidate to support.
DeleteI disagree with your conclusions and you are free to disagree with mine. I stand by what I have written previously.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Just to clarify further for anyone else who might misunderstand me, our salvation will never come through an election or through any government run by the Erev Rav. We can only hope that by siding with the representative of Torah which provides for a free will choice, without resorting to "choosing the lesser of two evils" for the sake of gaining a "realistic" seat among the "session of scorners," that Hashem will deem us worthy of receiving a Torah leadership in the form of the restored monarchy, Sanhedrin and Temple.
DeleteApologies again, but you're dissembling, and it's unworthy of someone of your stature. What we do is for the sake of heaven, indeed. Sometimes it's mitzvoth aseh and sometimes it's mitzvoth lo taaseh. 'Doing' is sometimes not doing.
ReplyDeleteThere's an Esav-spawned ta'avah to vote in democratic elections, and we all feel the pull to make our voices heard. But there is absolutely no 'obligation', as you say, Torah mandated or rabbinic, that would have us lend support to an apparatus whose very existence is inimical to the goals of Torah-true Jews. And whether or not there are Jews who lay tefillin or keep Shabbat running is a patently spurious contention. We don't go into a non-Kosher restaurants and search for a leaf of lettuce to justify our entrance or satisfy our hunger.
Consider it to its logical end. Your position is both inconsistent and harmful. Torah true Jews must believe that changing the regime -- not the party in power -- is what is desired. And they must have emunah that by opting out of the system, they are voting for kingship over democracy.
Involvement with a corrupt system, corrupts. Period.
Stay true.