How important is it to vote in the upcoming Beit Shemesh reelection one may ask. Well if you are counted among those who adhere to the words of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita, it is very important, so much so that if you are abroad, you are instructed to return home to vote.
This not just any election, but an election to determine future elections as the dati leumi community has set Beit Shemesh as their test case. When their candidate, Eli Cohen lost in the election, the legal process began, reaching the Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court upheld a decision of the Jerusalem District Court and new elections were ordered amid allegations of fraud in the first election.
The chareidi community today is somewhat concerned over the turnout of the second election, which may have a major impact on the future character of the growing chareidi city if the incumbent, Rabbi Moshe Abutbul is unseated by the Bayit Yehudi/Likud candidate.
One Beit Shemesh resident who heads Torah institutions and travels abroad to collect money was instructed by Rav Chaim to return home in time to vote. “This is a very important election towards determining the Kedusha of the city and its future spiritual character”, Kikar Shabbos quotes Rav Chaim saying.
The report concludes Rav Chaim asked to publicize the psak so those who are abroad get the message, to return home to vote.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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24 Responses
amid allegations of fraud in the first election.
There were not only allegations there was evidence and through investigation.
Can you vote by absentee ballot?
it is a shame that there is such tension between the dati leumi and charadi camps. they should be working together since both are there to advance the causes of their boss, the Master of the Universe and not their own personal causes.
Sorry, pressed enter too quickly:
1- New elections were ordered amid PROVEN fraud, not allegations. Many people in Abutbol’s campaign, including his right hand man, were arrested in connection with vast, organized fraud. Many chareidi shuls in RBS had collection boxes for Teudot Zehut to collect to vote with fraudulently. Why would anyone vote for a mayor who surrounds himself by such corruption? Either he knew about it himself and was lucky enough to get caught, or he was oblivious enough to not notice, in which case he’s really not competent enough to be mayor.
2- you wrote that this will impact the future of the “chareidi city”. Bet Shemesh is not a chareidi city, never was. It’s an extremely diverse city, that needs a mayor who will care about and cater to everyone, not just one segment of the population, as we’ve blatantly seen in the last 5 years since Abutbol has been mayor.
It absolutely is an obligation for everyone to vote. For Eli Cohen, the only candidate with integrity and Ahavat Yisrael.
Are they being force fed on what people should vote for without knowing what kind of people the candidates are?
this article worries me
by the first elections, he said that r’ moishe would for sure win (and we all know he as ruach hakoidesh)
now, he’s saying it’s gonna be close
oy vey, we may be in trouble 🙁
I as an american jew feel israels existence is in danger. The new low that zionism has fallen to with a rebellion against torah is unprecedented. The secular founding zionist would never dream of toeva parades,bringing in hundreds of thousands of non jews and the drafting of yeshiva boys. I think it would be wise for every frum yid to get a second passport to another country. Many people I know are getting English passports as they make you a citizen if your parents or grandparents are from anywhere in Europe.
I heat that when Abutbol wins again a large segment of the Daati community will be permanently leaving Beit Shemesh. Just wanted to wish them goodbye.
EZH, you’re right:
Vote Eli Cohen
your teenagers will thank you, when they go to the movies on Friday night
It is too bad that neither HaRav Kanievsky, Shlita nor HaRav Shteinman Shlita has met with Eli Cohen. I believe that a discussion with Eli Cohen directly (or perhaps with some of the local talmidei chachamim who support him) about Eli’s views regarding the Kedusha of the Beit Shemesh and its future spiritual character might help in calming all of the fear that has been created.
netas: AMEN !!!
iamsamiam: these tzadikim will not contaminate their own neshomos by looking face to face at this rosho, a mechalel shabbos who wants to have chilul shabbos b’farhesia in our city
Most of this article is putting words in Rav Chaim Kanievsky’s mouth. After much conjecturing in the article, there is only one sentence that is really attributed to the Rav:
“This is a very important election towards determining the Kedusha of the city and its future spiritual character”
And for even that one statement, one can doubt whether it was said. Many things are attributed to Gedolim falsely. Even if said, was it reported correctly, what was the context, how was it said, etc.
Do you know who is the single person most responsible for Yair Lapid’s rise to power?
Moshe Abutbul.
Incidentally, Rav Chaim Kanievsky also said that Rav Shmuel Auerbach is a Zaken Mamre. Are we following him on that too?
yissachar, please explain yourself on point #1
#4, there was no real proof of fraud other than 36 votes. Other “evidence” was proven unfounded..
chareidirbs: ירבו כמותך בישראל
Haha. Have you met with Eli or Moshe? I’ve met with both. Eli under no circumstances will allow Chillul Shabbat in Bet Shemesh. Halevai we should have a movie theater in Bet shemesh for during the week! You should see the chillul Shabbat that goes on every single week by teenagers of very frum families due to Abutbol’s lack of vision and capability in creating them a shomer shabbat youth club to safely spend time in.
That’s what Eli will create when he’s mayor. Shomer shabbat game room type places for teens to spend time, so they dont spend the entire friday night in the park getting trashed, smoking, playing loud music, and more inappropriate behavior.
Lapid’s electoral campaign was built upon Moshe Abutbul’s atrocious mishandling of the Orot Banot school situation.
To charedirbs – have you even read the court decision? There was widespread, systematic, coordinated efforts to falsify the voting process.
ezh: why do you want a movie theatre here – to promote znus and giluy arayos?
If he really said it, then let’s see his original signature on the kol koreh. Even a video of him saying this will suffice. Until then, this is a totally made up p’sak. It’s a pretty low level to sink to lie in the name of a tzaddik.
From what I have heard (from someone who claimed to have actually read the entire 60 page court ruling), the court decision calling for new elections noted that while there was no evidence of serious fraud (except for 36 votes – Cohen lost by almost 1,000 votes), there was “an atmosphere of fraud”.
An atmosphere of fraud?
Wow – how is this atmosphere measured? Were there documented cases of double voting. Were there more votes in a ‘precinct’ than registered voters? Please, let me know which voting areas had fraud, how many votes were fraudulent, etc.
In other words, give me some really, solid, statistically backed up evidence of wide-spread fraud of the nature that requires new elections.
All I have heard is about one apartment with a couple of hundred Teudat Zehuts with about 36 or so of them actually being used (the T.Zs belonged to people who don’t vote on principle, but agreed to have others vote on their behalf – a practice which I think was once actually legal in Israel). Now, this is illegal – but one needs something for more serious than this to call for new elections (unless, of course, the issue is not fair elections, but rather he results of the election).
All in all this reminds me of what Stalin once said:
It matters not who votes, but rather who counts the vote.
netas:
You better hope not – if Beit Shemesh ends up chareidi under a chareidi mayor, the city will end up as dysfunctional as Emanuel.
I’m not looking for anyone to move out of RBS or Beit Shemsh.
With that said, if you are going to look at Chareidi cities, why not look at Beitar – which has won numerous awards from the Israeli government for being well run and managed, beautiful, for water conservation and more.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beitar_Illit#Awards