"THIS IS NOT ELECTIONS

In about twenty minutes the polling stations open. The Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days) instructed yesterday in the daily lesson to go immediately upon the opening of the polls to vote for the Agudat Yisrael party - Gimmel. Before you is the full daily lesson as delivered by our teacher the Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a - yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Monday, Parshas Ki Tisa, the night of the 18th of Adar I:

"Ten more hours – 06:10 sunrise, everyone will stand for the Shemoneh Esrei (the standing prayer) without exception—women, men, boys, girls. Everyone needs to pray Shemoneh Esrei; there are ten hours to sleep. Everyone run to bed now, sleep exactly ten hours, and after ten hours you must stand for Shemoneh Esrei. And immediately after Shemoneh Esrei, go to the polls; at seven the polls open. Because putting in a ballot is not 'elections'—that's nonsense! Whoever invented the word 'elections' is mistaken; this is the War of Amalek. 'Every man with his sword upon his thigh' (Exodus 32:27) we read in the Torah portion; they want to make a golden calf. They make calves in the kibbutzim and dance around the calf. They want to go without clothes; they want to hold parades of abomination (pride parades). They want to open non-kosher shops; they want to uproot religion from the whole world, not just in the Land of Israel. We are now in the War of Amalek.

And this was just said by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky zt"l (of blessed memory), whose neighbor I was for twenty years. He always went to the elections first; he said this is the first mitzvah (commandment) that precedes all other mitzvos, it is pikuach nefesh (saving a life). It is written in 'Tzaddik Yesod Olam' (Righteous Foundation of the World) from the Zvhiller Rebbe—Rabbi Shlomke of Zvhill zt"l: Not going to the elections is like eating on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is even more severe, because he is to blame for the non-kosher shops, and he is to blame for the parades of abomination, and he is to blame for all the immodesty, and he is to blame for all the desecration of Hashem's (God's) name and the desecrations of Shabbos (the Sabbath).

Therefore, the Chazon Ish (Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz zt"l) said—and Rabbi Dov Lando shlit"a, the Rosh Yeshiva (head) of Slabodka, just read this, that he heard from the Chazon Ish word for word—that one must go to the elections. He says this is the War of Amalek; it is a war of life and death! Either they will eliminate us all. What they want now is to draft all the yeshiva students; whoever doesn't go to the army, they will put him in prison for a hundred years, two hundred years. And in the army, one becomes secular immediately. 'The best army...' he says, we will establish yeshivas for you, we will make yeshivas for you, you will study day and night—because the army is the greatest impurity. On the spot, a boy cuts off his peyos (sidelocks), cuts his beard, and on the spot, he changes his clothes to patterned clothes, to immodest clothes. And going to the army is 'yehareg v'al ya'avor' (one must let himself be killed rather than transgress); the Chazon Ish ruled this is 'yehareg v'al ya'avor' for both boys and girls. Because it is literally to apostatize in a single second, worse than Christianity. Because even in Christianity they maintain modesty and separation. They broke—on Yom Kippur—they gave murderous beatings, they broke the separation, they broke the mechitza (partition), just like at the Kotel (Western Wall) [before the establishment of the State, when the British] broke the mechitza.

Therefore, one must know that at seven in the morning everyone is at the polls, putting in the 'Gimmel' ballot, without any questions. And anyone who does not vote, it is as if he eats pig, and even more severe than that!

And let everyone know there is only one party, and that is 'Gimmel' (Agudat Yisrael), which is for the keeping of Shabbos, for holy shops. And through this, the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come speedily in our days, Amen!"‏.