Rabbi Aryeh Stern, the dati leumi community’s candidate for chief rabbi of Yerushalayim and head of the Machon Halacha Brurah is calling for achdus.

Quoted by Arutz-7 Hebrew news, the rav states “I am aware that the chareidi campaign is not against me personally, but rather against what I stand for and represent. The election race has gone way out of proportion. I think that particularly now, we must maintain achdus”.

The rav is calling on the chareidi community not to be afraid of his candidacy, adding they have nothing to fear from him. The rav states he maintains a policy of dialogue with all communities, including the chareidim – stressing he seeks to build a bridge between those studying Torah in the dati leumi and chareidi worlds.

The rav states that the fact that the committee of 24 representatives that was established now contains 19 chareidim is absurd. Rabbi Stern emphasizes that together with the traditional and secular residents, the dati leumi community in the capital indeed represents the majority, but this is not reflected in the committee’s make up.

In addition, the chareidi community does not rely on the city’s chief rabbi so in essence, the position is not as relevant as it is for the other residents of the capital.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)