For donations Click Here

Registration for the World Zionist Congress

Question:

I know that this is a hot topic but because i was interesting in participating through at least sending out e-mails to friends and family in the US, (i myself cannot vote for the Zionist Congress because i vote in the Knesset elections and am ineligible to vote,) I wanted to ask on this platform the question that has been asked by many.
On the surface, the ability to be Hashpa’a for the good and to prevent bad seems like a big Mitzva. It costs almost no money and even less time. But after looking into it by checking out the requirements, i realized that the situation is not so simple.

For one, there is a $7.50/5.00 registration fee. This money is going to an organization that is contrary to our beliefs and actively pushes anti-Jewish activities (that’s the purpose of this campaign, to prevent this…). They say that this is for registration and election fees.

Secondly, is the requirements of voting:
To quote the website: To be eligible to vote in the US Election to the 38th World Zionist Congress you must:
Be Jewish
Be 18 years of age or above (as of June 30, 2020)
Be a permanent resident of the United States
Have not voted and will not vote in the March 2, 2020 Knesset election
Affirm your commitment to the Jerusalem Program

The “Jerusalem Program” is, as stated by the website:
“a set of ideals and principles that established the foundations of Zionism”. The Jerusalem Program states that:
“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.”

As a Chareidi Jew with, hopefully, proper Hashkofos, i understand that we do not believe that Zionism is essential ensure the future of Yiddishkeit. Just the opposite. Zionism has been, from it’s inception, a terrible force of anti-Torah and anti-Mesorah. Attacking the values that have really kept us going through Galus, the Zionists have tried to make the Jewish people the 71st nation, with no connection to Hashem and the Torah.

So the 2 questions are as follows:
1) Is it Mutar to give money to an organization that is actively trying to destroy Yiddishket in order to influence their expenditures to other venues?
2) Is it Mutar to affirm his belief in values far from Yiddishkeit in order to vote in an election where he will be able to influence certain monies to go to better places than programs and organizations that are trying to destroy Yiddishkeit?

Answer:

You are very right, there a numerous gedolim, including, R’ C. Kanievsky, R’ G. Eidelstein, R’ S. Kanminetzky, R’ E. Brudny, R’ A. Wiess, R’ Yitzchok Berkowitz shlit”a that strongly endorse doing this. They do know about the requirements for voting, and they still agree to this therefore the question is just why they say that it isn’t an issue. My understanding is this.

Regarding the money that is being paid for registration, at least according to what they say, the money is going for the cost of the registration, i.e. staff, upkeep of the office website etc. Besides even if there is some money left over, the amount of money that would be going for yeshivos and mosdos hatorah will by far exceed what is being given for the registration. According to the poskim ( R’ Y. Berkowitz etc.) if a person does give maaser for mitzvos, he may use maaser for this, as it is considered a mitzva. Even if it is $7.50, this is the price of a falafel in the States or the price of a local taxi… something that almost everyone can afford without making life too difficult on themselves.

Regarding the second question, the poskim say that we don’t have to be concerned with it, because the same way that everyone signs on agreements (when downloading software, using any computer program etc. without even looking at it. Even the company doesn’t really expect you to look at it. Tis also applies here. WZO obviously doesn’t really care about this program, because there are platforms that are also vying for delegates such as J street, who are outwardly anti Zionist. Therefore we don’t have to be frummer (no pun intended) then what they themselves require.

I hope this clarifies things

Best wishes:

 

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

  1. Thank you very much for your speedy response. It does clarify things and i appreciate your taking the time to address the issues.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *