Editor’s Note: Yeshiva World News (YWN) takes no official position in the ongoing debate regarding participation in the World Zionist Organization (WZO) elections. As always, YWN follows the guidance of its Rabbanim in determining what content to publish and which advertisements to accept. We urge our readers to do the same—seek the counsel of your Rav or Manhig and follow their direction regarding this, and any other hashkafic matter.
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In a powerful and impassioned address at Beth Medrash Govoha’s 2025 Purim Mesiba, HaRav Malkiel Kotler, Rosh Yeshiva of BMG, strongly condemned any notion of joining the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
“How could an ehrliche Yid think about joining the WZO?” he asked forcefully.
Rav Malkiel lamented the influence of Zionist ideology in frum circles, questioning the long-term impact of such affiliations, declaring: “Who knows what this does to your neshama?!”
His words echoed the longstanding stance of BMG’s roshei yeshiva, who have historically opposed involvement in organizations that intertwine Yiddishkeit with secular nationalism, seeing them as treif.
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31 Responses
So, in essence, there’s a מחלוקת! We’ve heard of such things before! I say חזרת הש”ץ and he does a הויכע קדושה and eliminates חזרת הש”ץ. There are many גדולים and פוסקים and מנהיגים who hold otherwise! Rav Malkiel is not Rav Aharon. He’s entitled to his position. I just wish he also agreed to sign on because we need as loud a voice as we can possibly get.
Was this recorded in Tisha Bav? Why does the head table look like they’re all about to jump off a cliff?
Nationalism? sounds like he’s talking about Africa
loving the holy land, fighting for the holy land, living in the holy land, voting for things that affect the holy land …. : we are all Besimcha and are loving every second of it.
We certainly don’t look like this “head” table besmirching the holy land
sources:
עבדו את ה בשמחה
כתובות קי:
“כל הדר בארץ ישראל דומה כמי שיש לו אלוה, וכל הדר בחוץ לארץ דומה כמי שאין לו אלוה.”
there is absolutely no heter for ANY frum yid to be involved with this treife 100% WZO.
I’ll follow Rechnitz and Scheiner’s opinion. They’re gedolim too!
Please
When the ultra chareidi yeshivas and kolelim
Stop taking the hundreds of millions from
“the Zionist entity” then I will begin to have respect for him and his position……
Until then….if you take money at least have a say
Who knows what this does to your neshama?!
Who said it does? And why should it?
“How could an ehrliche Yid think about joining the WZO?”
Its my understanding that Reb Chaim, Rav Gurowitz, Rav Shmuel Fuerst, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, etc were all Erliche Yidden
This is pashut aleph-beis. I’m surprised some people even needed to heat this.
To the “Editor’s Note” :
You said in the above “YWN follows the guidance of its Rabbanim in determining what content to publish and which advertisements to accept”
earlier this year you published advertisements of for women’s clothing (with inappropriate pictures of course). You flip flop between presenting regular Hashkafos and then fliping to zionist propoganda – not to mention juust last week you posted videos of some rowdy behavior with the very clear intention of making machlokes amonngst the Yidden, chas vshalom.
Now you clearly dress up your disagreeing with Echad mi Gedloi HaDor, HaRav Malkiel Shlita by saying We’re not taking a stand , we just publish things , ” We urge our readers to do the same—seek the counsel of your Rav or Manhig and follow their direction regarding this, and any other hashkafic matter.”
When it was election season for trump a pruste goy lhavdil you weren’t so careful , but when a Gadol B’Yisrael , and a VERY LOCAL ONE at that now the YWN editors and rabinic board feel the need to tell people to be careful and ask you cute local rabbi becuase maybe a Gadol’s words don’t apply to you ….
How dare you !!!!!! Who do you think you are ?!?!
I think we should find proper Rabbonim who will prevent all the contradictions and brainwashing incited YWN’s poor choices, prevent sinas chinam , and certianly spread the words of Gedolei Yisrael instead of Chas Vshalom l’heipech .
There’s a reason why drudge quotes YWN now , Druge sees that YWN also works for Klipa and Tuma
I voted 5 years ago and haven’t received one email, phone call or letter from WZO since. It effected me in no way other than it allowed me to express my desire that money invested by the WZO went to support Torah observant organizations and yeshivas instead of treifa organizations fighting against Torah values in E’Y. $5 well spent.
Does this mean that R. Chaim Kanievsky was not an ehrliche yid or that he didn’t think about it?
I signed it. The only line there that was problematic was where it says that that zionism is important for Jewish survival, but when someone highjacks your house and will only give it back if you sine that he’s a nice guy, everyone knows you don’t mean it (עיין עבודה זרה יג ע”א).
And how about signing on to the Democratic party platform? that’s okay?! – that’s much worse, because they don’t hold anything that belongs to you.
The machlokes here is not if we should vote with zionist or not everybody knows that is only gehenom the machlokes is if an American can understand what zionist are or not, it’s like voting for the communist everybody knows not to do that but the question is if an American knows what zionist and communist are, so some gedolim might have said that American don’t know what zionism is so let them vote but other and most the large majority of the living gedolim say to warn them
why is there no coverage of the various asifos that have taken place over the past two weeks. Ther was one in BMG and another (at least one that I know of in Brooklyn) How come all we get is a hard to hear speech given on Purim?
Response to Rocky, commenter #10!
Neither Rav Chaim nor the Chazon Ish, seemingly, were ehricher yidin since they were opposed to the freezer restriction.
wackyway, rocky-If you do some research you’ll see that Rav Aharon Feldman Shlita basically takes down the reason that everyone says why Rav Chaim Kanievsky Zatzal said to vote. He dissects the video and the letter and comes out that Rav Chaim was not given the full picture.
Rav Aharon Feldman said that he called Rav Shmuel Kametzky’s home and the gabbai told him that Rav Shmuel is not with the side of voting. Rav Aharon Feldman then said that anyone can call Rav Shmuel’s home to ask him and that his phone number is easy to get.
wackyway:
Is it also your understanding of what was presented to them and what they responded? Like how Rabbi Fuerst read off the EH script that you don’t need to join the WZO in order to vote?
amazing every 5-10 years some inyan comes up that throws all the various shevatim of klal yisroel to the corners of the ring,( washington rally, rallys, eruv, wzo…) really on the ground there is more cooperation & less machlokes than ever before
I do not take issue with Rav Malkiel’s position against signing. In fact, I have no position on this at all. But his statement is in question. How can he say, with implied reference to the many Gedolei Yisroel in E”Y and America, that they cannot be considered ehrliche Yidden? For all I care, he can consider himself qualified to disagree with all those gedolim. But to make such pronouncement on them, is quite rash. I am surprised that he spoke that way.
I voted for Eretz Hakodesh last time around. Unfortunately, due to the tremendous amount of bizuy Talmidei Chachamim directed at the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva from those aligned with the Eretz Hakodesh camp, I will not be voting this time around, regardless of the possible merits of voting.
One may have a difference of opinion, but there is no excuse for denigrating Talmidei Chachamim.
May klal yisroel merit to see the day when all those with good intentions carry them out in a way that makes Hashem proud.
How about taking 25 Million to BMG from that Brazilian man whos a Zionist?? Ah? Eh? Ooh? Eeeh? If you hold that then don’t associate with Zionist even for money.
Its a mitzvah to vote!
@Rocky
yes, if chalila such a thing is true, it would put into question the halachos of zuken mamre.
more likely it didn’t happen, and this whole story is just anothe egel hazahav with an image of a dead, chv”sh, Moshe.
If voting makes one not an “ehrliche yid”, well sign me up.
Judging by some comments I think that the pro voting group is divided. I suspect the motivations of the askanim and much of the laymen are all in on Zionism but the few roshei Yeshivah that are endorsing really do mean chizuk hatorah
What disgusts me about some of you is that you talk about a very learned Rabbi disparagingly like he’s one of your ex-wives or coffee companions. Everyone has a right to disagree respectfully but I don’t see anything remotely respectful coming out of many of these comments. Can you really call yourself a religious person when you have zero respect for someone who spent 50 Years Learning constantly at a minimum? Is that how you feel about someone who learns Torah? So don’t listen to him but at least shut your mouth
“In a powerful and impassioned address”. I love Rav Malkiel and he is certainly entitled to his opinion
1- Other Gedolim who hold otherwise are not “powerful”?
2- Before the Holocaust, it was politically correct to call us dirty Jews in the streets of Europe. After the Holocaust, no longer it was politically correct. Instead, the Great Britain coined a new terminology, called Zionists. it is politically correct to be anti Zionist, but not anti-Jewish. Guess what? No thanks my enemies, I know who I am. My ONLY name is a Yid ( Yehudi) . Why do you let this Amalek called Great Britain, break us apart? I refuse to call myself or anyone else Zionist. This is all while in my prayers I mention sion 3 x a day.
3- Shevet Reuen wated to help the Shevet Binyamin in their internal problems. Chazal criticized them: Binyamin people are big boys. They can take care of themselves. who are we to mingle with the Israeli affairs? They literally have their own giants and Daas Torah!
4- No matter how bad these so called Zionist people are ( And yes, many of them are shomer Shabbos), we owe them a big sense of Hakaras Hatov. a) They have been supporting us for the past 70 plus year so that we can sit and learn. b) For the first time in a long time in history, they have enabled us, the benie Gola, to safely travel to the Eretz hakodesh and get a Shtikele dose of Ruchnius! c) Let’s be honest. they are getting killed for us so that the enemies of the Jewish people do not kill us over here. So we can live in a spoiled fashion in America! They are fighting our fight. THAY ARE FIGHTING THE MILCHEMES MITZVAH according to Rav SZ Oerbeach ZL, Rav Moshe, Rav eliyashiv, and the titzz Eliezer, just to name a very few. Look at the Haftah of Beshalch. In the 3rd part of the Devorah’s Shirah, she calls all those who battle in the wars as Ozrei Hashem. Because of the word “Ozrei”, the mefarshim are puzzled in whose Zechos we will win wars. In the zechos of the soldiers (since moshe rabenu’s time till TODAY) or lumdei Torah? I am serious: MY NAME is Yehudi. The word Yehudi comes from Hodaah. I like to humble myself and be Makir Tov to any Yid who sacrifices his life for me and my family!
4) Perhaps it would be more “powerful and impassionate” to encourage people to stay away from anything that causes rift. What’s is more important in the eyes of Hashem? unity and Hakaras Hatov or appearing more frum by mocking others? If we are afraid of getting influenced by the so called Zionist people, then we should seriously look at our Chinuch system. Perhaps we have failed to instill Yiraas Shamaim in our people, because we have spent all our energy and focus on Norishkait and devarim Betalim.
Again, I am not a so called Zionist person, nor I mean to be disrespectful to anyone. But we need to know that at this very difficult time of war, Hashem is telling us something: Wake up, love each other, and stay UNITED. As the Navi Yeshayaho says, it is not enough that I should be frum. The achrayos is on me to assure that everyone is also close to our creator.
& my response is:- How can an Ehrlich איש יהודי like me stand by idly, when possibly the כותל could become mixed-gender?
& my response is:- How can an Ehrlich איש יהודי like me stand by idly, when possibily there maybe buses 🚌 running thru ירושלים עיר הקודש on שבת קודש?
& my response is:- How can an Ehrlich איש יהודי not be מכיר טוב & & not be inspired to recite הלל on יום-העצמאות & יום-ירושלים?
& my response is:- How can an Ehrlich איש יהודי contribute even 1 penny to an institution instructing everyone to ignore the Pesaq of Moreinu Horav Chaim Kanievsky זצקללה”ה & of Moreinu Horav Shmuel Kamenetsky שליט”א & of the Gateshead ראש-ישיבה
“Rav Aharon Feldman said that he called Rav Shmuel Kametzky’s home and the gabbai told him that Rav Shmuel is not with the side of voting. ”
LOL!!!!!!!!!! The Gabbai said ! Now we know the truth !
Here is what the voters have to pledge to support:
(Shouldn’t each person ask their Moreh Hora’ah what they can or can’t support?)
The Jerusalem Program
Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the state of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, Democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future.
The foundations of Zionism are:
The unity of the Jewish people, its bond to its historic homeland Eretz Yisrael, and the centrality of the State of Israel and Jerusalem, its capital, in the life of the nation.
Aliyah to Israel from all countries and the effective integration of all immigrants into Israeli society.
Strengthening Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state and shaping it as an exemplary society with a unique moral and spiritual character, marked by mutual respect for the multi-faceted Jewish people, rooted in the vision of the prophets, striving for peace and contributing to the betterment of the world.
Ensuring the future and the distinctiveness of the Jewish people by furthering Jewish, Hebrew and Zionist education, fostering spiritual and cultural values and teaching Hebrew as the national language;
Nurturing mutual Jewish responsibility, defending the rights of Jews as individuals as a nation, representing the national Zionist interests of the Jewish people, and struggling against all manifestations of anti-Semitism;
Settling the country as an expression of practical Zionism
Encouraging recruitment and service in the Israel Defense Forces and the security forces and strengthening them as the protective force of the Jewish people living in Zion, as well as encouraging full National Service for anyone exempted in law from service in the IDF.
amicable33:
The word “domeh” in that quote is key. Your implication otherwise is offensive.
You’re in good company with Christian missionaries who throw around random verses from the bible in an attempt to convert Jews to their religion. In their case it’s Christianity, and (liHavdil) in your case, its Zionism. Hallalu ovdei A”Z vaHallalu ovdei A”Z.
147:
In your faith of “Religious Zionism”, the belief system and priorities are very different than in, liHavdil, Judaism. They pointed out in that KK that even if a third of the yeshivos were to close down then it would still be absolutely forbidden to join the WZO. As they also pointed out, G-d has unlimited money to give to His children and their Torah institutions.
The Chazon Ish told a “Religious Zionist” rabbi who wanted to permit making weddings on 5 Iyar that it is really considered like 9 Av.
The alleged “pesaq” of Rav Chaim Kanievsky did not happen, as Moreinu HaRav Aharon Feldman pointed out. How can an Ehrlich איש יהודי trample on the universal mesorah of Klal Yisrael going all the way back absolutely forbidding joining the WZO?