Meeting with members of Yahadut Hatorah in his home on Monday night 17 Shevat 5773, the Belzer Rebbe Shlita addressed the issue of ‘sharing the burden’ and the related issues that will face the chareidi community. The rebbe told the MKs that the Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah of the two factions, Agudas Yisrael and Degel Hatorah should be merged into one rabbinical body.

The rebbe explained that gaining the seventh seat was certainly a Kiddush Hashem, adding it would be a fitting move to combine the rabbinical bodies, admitting it would not be an easy task, but nonetheless a most significant one.

The rebbe stated that from his perspective the two bodies are equal and he does not view one being superior to the other. He feels the advantage of a combined body outweigh other considerations, adding “it has already been said ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר and therefore, now the next move must be achdus.”

Regarding efforts to draft Bnei Torah into the IDF or national service programs, the rebbe reflected back to the founding of the state and the Siyata Dishmaya when the decision was made to permit Bnei Torah to continue their limud. He explained that much has changed in Israel since that time, but the Siyata Dishmaya has not changed, stressing the importance of spreading the word to the public, to bring them to the understanding that those sitting in kollel or yeshiva constitutes sharing the burden by any definition of the word for through the merit of the Torah we exist.

Rav Eichler, the rebbe’s representative to Yahadut Hatorah asked the rebbe to give the faction members a bracha. The rebbe responded positively, stressing the inyan of achdus, placing an emphasis on the need of bringing the rabbonim together, which he feels will undoubtedly add to the achdus among the MKs and the tzibur at large.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)