In an unusual meeting at his home in Bnei Brak, Rav Dov Landau, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka, met with dozens of working chareidi men and businessmen, listened to their concerns about the challenges facing their families, and assured them that they remain an integral part of the Torah community.

The gathering, held Wednesday evening, came amid growing dissatisfaction among some working members of the Litvishe yeshiva community who feel that their educational and communal needs have not received sufficient attention from the established chareidi political parties.

During the meeting, Rav Landau pledged to personally approach Degel HaTorah’s Knesset representatives and party leadership to address those concerns, particularly difficulties involving their children’s education and the need for additional Torah learning opportunities.

“You are part of the Torah world,” Rav Landau told the participants, emphasizing that working chareidim share the same religious outlook and belong fully within the broader Torah community.

The gathering was arranged by a group known as Mateh Amelim, an unofficial Degel HaTorah initiative working with chareidim who earn a livelihood outside the traditional full-time Torah study framework.

Among those present were businessmen, community activists, and other prominent members of the working chareidi community, including Yisroel Reisner, Chaim Goloventzitz, Shuki Feldstein, Rav Rafael Manat, Yedidya Meir, Dovi Weinroth, and others.

The meeting followed an earlier conversation between Rav Landau and Rav Rafael Manat, who brought to the Rosh Yeshiva’s attention the frustrations being expressed by numerous working chareidi families.

According to reports, Manat described complaints from individuals who believe that their representatives have failed to adequately address their particular circumstances, including educational arrangements and other communal concerns.

Some of those individuals have consequently been considering supporting newly established political parties in the upcoming Israeli elections.

Rav Landau agreed to receive a delegation representing this segment of the community and spent considerable time listening to their concerns.

Addressing the gathering, the Rosh Yeshiva explained that he had carefully considered the issues raised and had decided to prepare a written response.

“After listening attentively to their complaints and their pain, I felt it appropriate to put my position on this matter in writing,” he said.

He welcomed the participants as Jews devoted to Torah observance who seek to understand their responsibilities at the present time.

Rav Landau then read aloud a letter he had prepared addressing the upcoming elections and the importance he attaches to maintaining the community’s established political representation.

In the letter, he urged those concerned about their children’s continued adherence to Torah and mitzvos to support United Torah Judaism, whose ballot symbol is Gimmel, rather than newly established political lists.

He warned that abstaining from voting or supporting alternative parties could, in his view, undermine the long-term interests of the Torah community.

The Rosh Yeshiva described the matter as one that caused him considerable anguish, saying that he was writing out of deep concern for the future of Jewish families and their children.

At the same time, Rav Landau acknowledged that the complaints brought before him required serious attention.

In a significant undertaking to the participants, he declared:

“Without making a formal vow, I will approach the Knesset members of Degel HaTorah and the party leadership so that they find a way to assist and address educational matters and other issues requiring solutions for chareidim and G-d-fearing Jews who work to support their families, and to establish Torah classes for them.”

The undertaking addressed one of the central concerns expressed by the delegation: that working chareidi families sometimes encounter difficulties obtaining appropriate educational arrangements and other services within their communities.

Rav Landau made clear that earning a livelihood does not place a person outside the Torah community.

“You are part of the Torah world,” he told the gathering.

He further emphasized that the community shares a common religious outlook and that working chareidim are an inseparable part of the constituency represented by Degel HaTorah.

{Matzav.com}