The Charedi Community · הציבור החרדי
A Time to Act.
The Charedi community stands at a fateful crossroads. We are in an existential struggle: for the honor of Torah, for our children, for our livelihood, for the right to live in the Land of Israel as Charedim.
Only a young leadership, attuned to the real needs of the Charedi community, will bring about the turning point, with G-d’s help.
Join the Charedi community’s call to renew the ranks of the Charedi parties.
In this hour of danger, standing aside is a privilege we do not have.
Eighty years in two and a half minutes.
Sit down for a moment. Listen.
Watch the short vertical version · 70 seconds
Full transcript (English)
Whoever looked at our grandfathers and grandmothers seventy or eighty years ago, in the Jerusalem of those days; whoever met the few Charedi survivors who arrived from Europe, from Yemen or from Morocco — was certain this was their final act. Ben-Gurion and his Mapai men saw them as a living museum of a cultural world that was and is no more.
They never dreamed that seventy or eighty years would pass, and the starving skeletons in their exile garb would fill entire cities to overflowing. Chassidic courts that could barely gather a minyan became empires of thousands of families.
Yet alongside this tremendous miracle, problems grew as well. There’s a joke that today the Charedim give birth to more secular Jews than the secular do. When we look at the alarming dropout rates — nearly one in five leaving, hardly a home without a struggling child, whole families coming apart — we understand that it is a time to act.
When we see our neighbors, our nephews, our children — how they became the poorest in Israel: standing aside is a privilege we do not have.
When we see parents lying awake at night, piling up debts and rolling over free-loan funds until they suffer a heart attack — or worse — we understand that the time to act has come.
When we see our children — the holy, pure yeshiva boys — turned within a few years into enemies of the state; when we see our children beaten savagely out of burning hatred for everything they represent — we understand that the time to act has come. Standing aside is a privilege we do not have.
A time to write. A time to speak. And a time to act. There is no Charedi party without the Charedi community!
«הַקָּטֹן יִהְיֶה לָאֶלֶף וְהַצָּעִיר לְגוֹי עָצוּם»
Isaiah 60:22 — “The smallest shall become a thousand, and the least a mighty nation.”
The Charedi world is a miracle! In the days of the State’s founding, many were certain that faithful Jewry would never rise again. Eighty years later, the world of Torah is flourishing: more yeshiva and kollel students than ever before, and entire cities filled with Charedi life.
An entire world has risen anew.
The standing of bnei Torah
Those who toil in Torah, treasured beyond gold, have been branded, against their will, as criminals and deserters; and the measures taken to resolve the situation have only made it worse. The Charedi community demands representation that will act with resolve and wisdom to find the solutions that allow anyone whose soul longs for Torah to learn without any disturbance.
Because standing aside is a privilege we do not have!
A dignified livelihood
The Charedi child is the poorest child in Israel. The Charedi community demands representation that will put forward detailed plans to ease the economic burden and bring a dignified livelihood to every home.
Because standing aside is a privilege we do not have!
Our struggling youth
Dropout rates are breaking records, and there is no systemic answer. The Charedi community demands representation that will put suitable frameworks for struggling youth at the very top of its priorities, to keep them close to us.
Because standing aside is a privilege we do not have!
The first step: an outstretched hand.
We come neither to quarrel nor to divide. The problems are on the table, and the solution begins with partnership.
The Charedi community needs young talent, closely attuned to the real hardships on the ground.
The Charedi community needs determined people of vision, with proven, real-world ability to get things done.
The Charedi community needs public representatives who speak for broad audiences and varied communities whose voice today goes unheard.
Moti Leitner, chairman of the Charedi Community faction and Deputy Mayor of Beit Shemesh for the ‘Derech’ faction, is the finest example of such a public representative. He is 33, married, a father of four. He grew up in the Rachmastrivka chassidus in Jerusalem, excelled in high-tech, and in recent years has faithfully devoted himself to the needs of the community. Dozens of communities and thousands of Charedi voters in Beit Shemesh saw him as their most authentic voice in the last municipal elections. Ever since, he has been working night and day to expand the bounds of kedushah in the city, to build real solutions for livelihood, housing, and education, to bring shalom between different communities, and to give voice to the new generation of the Charedi community.
Moti embodies a fresh, different model of a Charedi public representative. The time has come to place him on the United Torah Judaism list for the coming Knesset.
That is why today, openly and respectfully, we turn to the political leadership of the Charedi community and say something simple:
The text of the petition
Place Moti Leitner in the ranks of Gimmel. A man whose entire agenda is a dignified livelihood, our children, and the honor of bnei Torah. Give these problems a voice from within, and we will stand behind you with all our strength.
The petition is open for signatures.
On our side, the door is open, wholeheartedly and without conditions. And if it stays closed? We have already said it: standing aside is simply a privilege we do not have.
The weight of this petition depends on you: every signature adds to its strength.
There is no Charedi party without the Charedi community!
Sign the petition
A name and a mobile number. That’s all. Email and town or city only if you wish. Your signature joins the public call.