The favorite of the non-chareidi tzibur in the Beit Shemesh elections, Eli Cohen, hired Akiva Weingarten as his chareidi affairs advisor,. This signals the Cohen election campaign feels not all eligible chareidi voters in Beit Shemesh wish to automatically support the reelection of Mayor Moshe Abutbul and Cohen is making a bid for those votes.
Weingarten is a resident of Bnei Brak, a newcomer to the chareidi blogging world. During recent months he worked to mediate between the sides in the hope of avoiding new elections.
Weingarten told Kikar Shabbos that he maintains good relations with both camps and he is of the opinion that he must serve as a bridge between them towards moving forward. “I am sorry over the allegations leveled against Eli Cohen who is a warm Jew that respects Yiddishkheit and its rabbonim” Weingarten added.
Weingarten is quoted by Kikar adding he feels Cohen is favored in the race and if elected, Beit Shemesh will be a better place as a result. He insists that Cohen is doing his utmost to prevent a religious war and he hopes the election will be held in an atmosphere of integrity.
When asked how he as a chareidi can run with Cohen, Weingarten explained he is sorry that it is viewed as “Chareidi against non-chareidi” for he believes it is about qualifications, and in his opinion, Cohen is the right man for the job. He is confident that the chareidi tzibur in the city will benefit under Cohen’s administration too.
“I would check carefully before declaring all of the chareidim want Abutbul” he adds, “for I have checked and this is simply not the case.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Akiva is right. Eli Cohen is a sincere guy who really wants to make this a city for everyone.
And nothing in life is universal. There are chareidim who prefer Eli Cohen. It’s a minority, but they do exist.
Chareidi means you follow what The Godal Hador says, and the godal hador said vote Abutbul. If you do not know who the godal hador is, just ask Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky next time you see him.
Eli is a good educated guy and does not play the tribal game. He is a mentch and will be good to ALL sides regardless if you voted for him or not
“If you do not know who the godal hador is, just ask Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky”
Can I ask Rav Shmuel Auerbach? Oh, wait, he’ll give a different answer. What if I ask one of the chassidishe rabbonim, or Sefardi?
Bottom line: Charedi most certainly does not recognize One Godol HaDor. And the notion does not have any halachic or traditional basis. Everyone follows their own Rav.
Yissacher – not everybody’s “go to” Rav can be called their “gadol hador”, there is a hierarchy of true daas torah even if there are different “gedolim”.
That people have different “gedolim” may be true to an extent, but something tells me Rav Auerbach would also say to vote Abutbul, and Rav Yitzchak Yosef for that matter as well. But please do feel free to ask and post.
If he is such a friendly guy and so interested in the charedi vote, why is his entire campaign based on the slogan “they stole the city from us” (גנבו לנו את העיר) referring to the fraudulent ballots in the first election. He must present a positive agenda for his candidacy rather than simply dwelling on the fraud as a reason to vote for him. I am very disgusted by his campaign posters and do not trust a word he says because of them.