World Zionist Congress Elections Coverage - Part 1 (Behind the Bima #176)

From Boca Raton, Florida, this is behind the Bima. On this episode, Rabbi Goldberg navigates the intricate landscape of the 39th World Zionist Congress. Rabbi Goldberg is joined by five influential voices in the Jewish world. Rabbi Moshe Hauer, representing the OIC-Mizrachi Slate. Rabbi Pesach Lerner of Eretz Hakodesh. Rabbi Steve Berg from Aish HaTorah. Morton Klein of ZOA. And Dianne Haskel leading Herut. As the election for this global congress unfolds, Rabbi Goldberg unpacks the implications of billions of dollars at stake, influencing policy and direction for the Jewish state and communities worldwide. The guests discuss their unique vision and agenda for their slates, aiming to direct the funds in ways that align with their core values and strategic goals. All this and more behind the Bima. Good evening and welcome back to Behind the Bima, a special edition election coverage of the World Zionist Organization election. The World Zionist Organization was founded by Theodor Herzl 128 years ago. And the 39th election is taking place now. Voting has begun. If you're like me, you've gotten a bunch of emails, you've gotten a bunch of texts, you're being inundated by the different slates, the different organizations who are vying for your vote. And they're doing so not only to participate in a congress and have a seat at a table, but they're doing so because there's more than five billion with a B dollars at stake. Every five years these elections take place. And money that comes in because KKL owns a significant amount of land in Israel. And the tax that's paid whenever there's an exchange or purchase of property, that money goes into an account coffers. And it totals more than a billion dollars a year. So, there are more than five billion dollars at stake. Where will it go? How will it be invested? What policies will it support? What difference will it make? And the answer to that is determined by a body, by a group, much like the Knesset in Israel. 21 different slates. 21 organizations are vying for the 152 seats that are allocated to American Jewry. A significant increase over 15 slates that participated in the last election. Now there are 21 that are vying for the 152 seats. And whoever wins will serve alongside 173 representatives from Jewish communities along the rest of the diaspora. And 200 representatives from Israel chosen from Israel's political parties. And according to the amount of seats that they have in parliament. So, the congress is made up of three groups. Israel, 200 representatives. The rest of the diaspora, 173. And American Jewry will determine 152 seats. And for many years, for most of these years, most of American Jewry was asleep at the wheel. They didn't know. They weren't involved. They weren't aware. They didn't register and they didn't vote. But over the last couple of elections, that has changed because there is so much money at stake. And therefore, there are now 21 slates of US Jews that you can vote for in this World Zionist Congress election to determine who will win, which slate will have representatives, what coalition will be formed, and who ultimately will have a lot enormous influence over policies and allocating these five billion dollars. And so, we did this special election special election episode in order to speak to the leaders of for now five of the slates. Maybe we'll continue and do a part two of it. But five of the slates. And I want to tell you why, my thinking. I was reached out to by several of the slates to consider to be on their slate. Several of the organizations to be on their slate. And to be a sort of non need, depending on how many people would be voted, how far down the slate you'd actually have a seat at the table and be part of the of the congress. And investigating, researching, looking into it, ultimately I came to the conclusion I'm not a I'm not on any slate. I didn't agree. And it's not because this is election isn't important to me. It's not because I don't care and it's not because I don't believe in what any particular or many of these slates stand for. In fact, it's quite the opposite. If you know me, and if you know Boca Raton Synagogue or Shul, you know that we are enormous believers in diversity and unity. We recognize and we respect that there's not one answer. There's not one answer to how to be a Zionist. There's not one answer to how to love Israel. There's not one answer to how to influence Israel. To me, the most important thing about this election is don't sit back and watch. Don't be a spectator to our destiny. Don't complain and kvetch about policies or where money is going or what kinds of things are unfolding and happening when you could have had a say, when you could have had a stake, and you sat it out. Register. The only thing American Jewry adults American Jewish adults can all vote. You know what the cost of entry is? Literally $5. To register is $5. To have a voice and a say in determining five billion dollars costs $5. I'm not sure I know a return on investment that is better than that. So, what matters to me and what I'm pushing and encouraging and urging strongly is spend the $5, register, and vote. Who you vote for, I hope you'll vote for one of the parties that we're sharing and featuring. I hope you vote for who's important and matters you know, to me, shares the same common ideas and values that I believe in, that we believe in. I think there's two parts to this election. One is keeping the money out of the wrong hands. Because to be very clear, we love all Jews and we want to practice Jewish unity, but the reality is there are parties and there are slates in this election who fundamentally are against Torah values, what we believe in. Who are trying to influence policies that go against what we think is best for the Jewish people and for Israel. Religiously and politically. And we want to try to keep the money out of their hands. And the best way to do that is to have more people voting. And we want to put the money in the right hands. And what you decide is the right hands, I'll leave to you. Listen to these five conversations. Listen to these five representatives. And there are others. We couldn't squeeze them all into this episode. I don't mean to say that if you're not included, then you're not worthy of our consideration. There are others as well. But those who are steeped in Torah. Those who believe in our value system. Those who, and this is my personal opinion, are right of center politically on Israel and its safety and on its security and on its welfare and on the right of Jews to live in all the parts of Israel and in the future of Israel. So, I'm not telling you which one. I'm not endorsing a specific party. And I don't appear on any slate. But I do want to encourage you as strongly as I can to spend the $5, register, and vote. Don't sit it out. Don't be a spectator. But listen. Listen to what they stand for. See which one speaks more to you. And all are different units in an army. As we've seen for the last year and a half, more than 500 days, our heroic soldiers are serving in different units, but they're united by an army with a common cause and a common mission. And the parties I'm bringing to you in this conversation, I believe are different units. And I think that they overlap and coalesce. They complement each other in an army that has many of the same things in mind. And so, maybe I have my own preference. And maybe you'll find out in these conversations which one I personally am voting for. But I'm not here to endorse or tell you what to do. I simply want to educate myself and educate others to learn more about why this matters, to register and to vote, to listen to different options, and to encourage the people around you. Let's flood. Let's absolutely flood the election to make our voice, the Torah community, the broad, diverse spectrum of the Torah community, to make our voices not only heard, but felt by being able to influence ultimately the election, the coalition of the seats, and to be able to determine where five billion dollars will be spent for the future of our beloved Israel. So, sit back, listen, and enjoy. Hopefully you'll learn as much as I did from these conversations. And they'll help impact you in deciding who to vote for. It's a great honor to be joined by someone who's not only a dear friend and colleague, but really a mentor of mine for many, many years, Rabbi Hauer. I have learned and continue to learn so much from you for many years. And I'm I'm deeply appreciative of that in general. And we'll have to have a a longer, more elaborate conversation on so many things in your capacity as the executive vice president, leader of the OU, and mentor to so many like me. Uh but today I'm grateful that you're with us as a representative of the slate of the Orthodox Israel Coalition, representing this coalition of Mizrachi, OU, RCA, Young Israel, WYU, Torah. I don't know if I left anybody out. But who are collectively coming together for this slate of the OIC. So, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. And uh the feelings are very strongly mutual, both the warmth of friendship. And uh we all I learn from you along with the rest of the rest the rest of Klal Yisrael. You you are a remarkable voice, a remarkable leader, a remarkable Thank you. Thank you. So, let's dive right in. This uh World Zionist Congress, the election is upon us again. Um there's more than a billion dollars at stake that will have a real, meaningful influence. Um as I've entered this, it almost feels like the Jewish people are in some kind of a color war where the prize is a billion dollars. And there's teams and logos and sides. And people are rallying the troops get involved. And we want to so-called we want to so-called win. Although, if we work together, then we're all winning. But there's a lot at stake. People sit around and they have a lot of opinions about about policies and about institutions and organizations and the direction of where this money goes. And we're talking real money, an enormously significant amount of money. So, the Orthodox Israel Coalition, how how did these organizations come together to serve on one slate? They have a lot in common. But there's also differences between them. And I don't know that there's another area where there is such a explicit uh partnership in in working together. What what brought all the members of this coalition to be working together under one slate? The history of this of this coalition really goes back way before the formal coalition of the OIC. Uh before that existed. Uh even under different names. Uh the history, I believe, really goes back to when the Netziv of Volozhin joined Rabbi Leon Pinsker in in the leadership of the Hovevei Zion. And the idea was Leon Pinsker was a secular Jew. Uh we would call that loosely, excuse me if it's a any any kind of a mischaracterization. And then the Netziv was the Russia Shiva of Volozhin, the Avi Hayeshivos, the father of the Yeshivos. The Netziv felt and he wrote this in a famous Tshuvas, not referencing this specific activity, that when it comes to those issues which are necessary for maintaining the body of the Jewish people, we must work together. And really that was the foundation for what happened later with the religious Zionist movement being at the movement of the at the table of the Zionist movement. And the matara, the goal of that was to positively influence and shape, to bring towards Torah values and Talmud Torah, a group of people who at times were neutral and at times were oppositional to that idea. But they were there as Jews building something for the body of the Jewish people, and we can't abdicate. We have to be there in order to be able to provide something for the soul of the Jewish people going forward. That's the foundation. You know, Rav Kook, although one cannot connect all dots between the Netziv and Rav Kook, the Rav Netziv the the Rav Kook was a student of the Netziv. And and Rav Kook is perhaps the image of religious Zionism in that sense. And that was his goal. He was uneasy about so many things if you read his letters about things around what was happening in the Zionist movement. There was much which was really oppositional to Torah and and mitzvahs and Torah values, but he doubled down, sometimes he bit his tongue, and he also then let his tongue wax eloquent to be able to influence and uplift the movement and shape it. And it's a long process which requires a ton of patience, and sometimes you could sit at that table and and just say, "Okay, you know, we're just here to be the religious voice at the table and we're going to smile and let things go." And that is an obstacle or a failure which happens at times, but fundamentally the mission is to be at that table, to be influential in a way which is firm and pleasant, which is which is she has shame shamayim to be able to enhance and to uplift. A lot of that has happened. You know, there has been a remarkable transition in the religious relationship with the general state over the years. I'm sure Rav Efraim that you have, like me, visited Yeshuvim which once upon a time did not allow a Beit Knesset, did not even allow a bris to take place in the except maybe at the outer house of the of the Yeshuv with the with the doctor coming in. And now they have now they have a shul. And if they haven't all been transformed into religious Jews, but the the relationship and the respect and the value and that's part of the religious Zionist project. And I think that the the the coalition that we have here, which is a beautiful coalition, it is you're you're right, it's it's it's unfortunately rare that we're able to do such a thing like that formally is a group of people and organizations that have been committed to that vision. So, what are some of the the policies that the OIC the more the more that their slate is is voted for, the more they have elected, the more representatives that they have in the Congress making decisions about the money, where would they like to see that influence? What are their policies? Are there are there programs? Are there institutions? Are there directions? Essentially, what is the platform of the OIC when people are choosing? First of all, hopefully they're making the choice to register and vote. That's the most important thing. Don't be a passive spectator to the destiny of the Jewish people. Don't be complacent. Don't have complaints and sit it out. Everybody needs to register and vote. And the OIC, you know, for me, I connect incredibly with. These are my rebbeim, and including you, my mentors, and I certainly endorse and support and would encourage the OIC. I relate so much to its leadership. My rebbe, Morei v'Rabbi Rav Schechter, is is one of the people on the slate coming as Rosh Yeshiva of YU. So, certainly me I personally feel incredibly connected and comfortable. But to educate people, as opposed to some of the other slates that also might identify as representative of the Orthodox community or representative of more right-wing politics, and not extreme right, but right of center politics in Israel, how does the OIE stand out? Why should people vote for it? Okay. So, I I want to try to clarify. It one of the difficult things about an election campaign, as you know, conducted by a lot of, so to speak, campaign ads, is that it's very hard to be clear. You you have to have a lot of spectacular numbers and red ink and declare crisis and world-changing and billions of dollars and everything else. So, if I can, in this in the in the comfort of this conversation, I I I I will perhaps make four categories. Category number one has nothing to do with money. It has to do with the fact that these are tables and places where Jews are sitting around together trying to think about things, trying to build something. It's not really a hard power institution in the sense. No decisions will be make made here that are going to be binding about the Kotel, about the draft law, about LGBTQ or anything else. It's not government. It's not government. They run programs. They run programs. They fund programs. So, but they do express opinions. There's some way of reflecting, so to speak, da'at haklal, you know, what what does world Jewry think? And being at that table just to shape and to influence and to be part of that discussion is in itself important, valuable, impactful, even if there wasn't a dollar in place. That's number one. Number two, in terms of the dollars, so a a billion dollars are not in place to assign to Yeshivos and seminaries and and mikvahs or things like that. That's not the case. When we there is more than a billion dollars, and by the way, Rabbi Goldberg, that's annually, which means like this election is about well more than a billion dollars, maybe seven billion dollars, who knows. However, billion dollars includes the the KKL monies, which which are building infrastructure fundamentally, mostly about building infrastructure, rebuilding the communities of the Gaza envelope. Now, that's not that's that's not part of, so to speak, like what we can use for this for for that or for the other. The Jewish Agency monies are used and are given to a significant degree to to to impact aliyah and to fund efforts of aliyah and to save Jews from this place or that place that's in trouble that are in trouble. And many of a lot of that work is inspiring. It's it's there. It's not per se like part of some kind of pot that we're going to be able to, you know, to to to use or to or to redirect. Nevertheless, of course, those things will still be important when you're when you're when you're helping Jewish communities and when you're bringing people to Israel. There are a lot of issues which impact Judaism. Uh you know, the the complicated deeply sensitive issues about Jewish identity and and and and so on and so forth. So, it's not like there are issues which don't concern us, but they're not dollar issues per se. They are again more policy issues. A step a step down from that, so to speak, in terms of immediate impact on my pocketbook and yours, are issues which can shape the Jewish communities in a certain sense. Again, shape may be overstated, but for example, one of the core projects which I'm sure you you are familiar with and have seen many times are shlichim. Shlichim come from Israel, agents, emissaries of the Israeli government, of the World Zionist Organization, of various organizations within Torah MiTzion, you know, you know, places like that, who come people from Israel who come to for a couple of years, a few years, whether they're coming to a day school, whether they're coming to a community kollel, whether they're coming to a university campus. And they're sent What's their mission? What's their mission? So, again, you might have encountered in your community fine religious people who clearly part of their mission is not just Avat Eretz Yisrael, but also Torah and the and Judaism. Many of the of the shlichim don't necessarily have that as part of their mission. It's about Israel and Zionism, which is very very important and very very valuable. But our involvement is able in a certain sense to help broaden the mandate to include Yiddishkeit, to put Judaism, to to to to help steer and guide more people with a strong religious orientation to be representing. And those are that's not something which might affect you and me or your community and my community immediately, but it's part of our achrayus, part of our responsibility for the Jewish world. Last but not least, there is a bucket, of course, of being able to actually bring funds to things which will affect directly. So, for example, Mizrachi OIC Mizrachi was instrumental in being able to maintain Masa scholarships for Yeshivos and seminaries for many Yeshivos and seminaries. They were cut. They were at risk. They worked hard to rebuild it. That brings real scholar scholarships money to people. We have on our agenda to bring more support for that. We would like to see things like hopefully, again, we don't put it in advertisements, but What's the greatest feeder of aliyah? It's the year in Israel. You get a you get a free flight to Israel when you when you make aliyah. Should you get some subsidy towards your year in Israel? Should you get some subsidy towards your summer program in Israel which so feed the Avat Eretz of our people? And it's part of the mission of KKL funds, of Jewish Agency, to spur and to stimulate love of Israel. So, so those are there there have been a lot of accomplishments in those areas, and there's a lot of work to be done in those areas. Yeah, those are all certainly very important. I think we'd all rally around them and and it'd be amazing to make progress in them. I want to ask you I don't think it's an uncomfortable question because I think it's really important for me personally and others who are listening to hear specifically from you because of how I've always admired how you are comfortable in multiple communities in the total world. Part of the Yeshiva world and and a part of a greater Torah world with its diversity in it. And yet this World Zionist Congress this election the different parties in it is not spread widely. If somehow we could wake up the communities of Lakewood, Monsey, Passaic, Brooklyn, I think the numbers there alone could sway this election and the the money and its direction and its use in enormous ways. But the the Yeshiva world, I use that term however you want to take it more broadly has not embraced or is not really involved in maybe maybe even is is pushing people away or discouraging them from participating. How do you make sense of that being a member of of a total Torah world and seeing a segment of the Torah world of the Yeshiva world not participating? Does that give you pause? Does does it not? Are are you frustrated and you wish you could have more influence? How does that play into into your role in the OIC? It's an age-old argument and it's an argument upon which again the way everybody expresses themselves about this may not be included in Ailu v'Ailu Divrei Elohim Chaim, but the fundamentals of the argument are old and long-standing. And that is what I described before as the Netziv's approach. You know, when the Netziv wrote that Teshuvah, he was responding to to a journal called Machsikei Hadas which which had its roots in in in in the Chasam Sofer and in Belz and and in those who who in principle would would not sit at this kind of a Jewish table and hope for influence. They would feel that sitting at the table would in itself be a compromise of what they stand for. And therefore you hear many voices today from from the Chareidi community, from the Chassidisha community saying, "You can't touch this." You know, if Eretz HaKodesh is trying to include the Chareidi community in it, there are many voices within the Chareidi community who are pushing back and saying that goes against goes against our our tradition. Eretz HaKodesh has stepped in, they've certainly been impactful in meaningful ways. But there again, there's here's the difference. In other words, if you want to know if we want to speak straightforwardly about the difference, again we're on the same team. We all want we all want good things. Our fundamental mission there is colored by She'as Shem Shamayim M'tzaveh Al Yedecha. We want to make Torah Judaism and Orthodoxy beloved to everybody around that table. The general approach of uh even those who sat at the table, who've joined the table whether in the Knesset or with or in this has been less focused on that and more on securing and protecting the things that that that that we hold dear and not so much trying to shape attitudes. And you know, so the messaging around this campaign is different in that way. And the goals around the campaign is different and the way we both sit at that table is is therefore is therefore different. And we we're we push forward in this direction. I I just want to to if if I can to wrap up with circling back to something you mentioned at the difference uniqueness of the coalition. We the Orthodox Union, you know, we've been very involved at this table as part of the Mizrachi coalition and many times over the past few years we have been approached and encouraged from different forces, "Why don't you create your own slate?" Why don't you create create your own slate? Why don't you create your own slate? And we we made a very specific choice and the choice was that it is a unique and it is a beautiful coalition that has maintained itself for a long time. A lot of the Orthodox community, not all, but a lot of the Orthodox community standing together. And whatever we might have stood to gain by separating we would have given up and we would have created a further fractiousness within the community. Why should someone in Boca or someone in Teaneck or someone in the Five Towns, someone who votes who voted in the last World Zionist Congress, why should they look and say, "Should we vote for this one or should we vote for that one?" Let them see us still together. And we don't want people to make choices when we have people which of course we're different. We're not the same as as any of our partners. But we're we're we are together on this and so much more I know it sounds trite so much more unites us than divides us. I can't we say that all the time, but it actually is true. Right. And and in a time when there's so much argument in the Jewish people, we did not want to add even one drop to that. So we hope as Hashem that everybody will vote. Whether they vote for the OIC, we would love that they would vote for the OIC to to to strengthen our voice and our presence there and our and our goals. But you know, I know that your goal, Rabbi Goldberg, is that everybody should be engaged and we we share that goal. And and also to echo what you said which is an army's made up of different units and we have different slates who are aligned in a coalition and the goal here is everyone should vote. And it may be there's a slight difference or a different slate or group within it, but the key is to so to say keep the resources out of the wrong hands and I don't mean that to divide Klal Yisrael, but just in terms of our agenda and interest to keep it in the right hands that are mostly overlapping and aligned even if there are differences between them. So whichever slate you vote for, register and vote. And Rabbi Hauer, thank you for joining us for this conversation. Thank you for all you do for Klal Yisrael on a regular basis. We are so so grateful for it. Thank you. Thank you very much for the opportunity. We are grateful to be joined by Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the chairman of Eretz HaKodesh. We've known Rabbi Lerner for many years and worked together through Young Israel and and more recently the tremendous work of Eretz HaKodesh I benefited from during Corona and otherwise being able to visit Israel and our students be able to get into Israel. But now we're focused a lot more to talk about in that area, but we're here to talk about the World Zionist Congress, this election, the billions of dollars that are at stake not only one year, but each of these years and therefore why people's votes matter. So Rabbi Lerner, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. So Rabbi Lerner, tell us about Eretz HaKodesh. There is I'll jump right into it with I don't think it's controversial because we are friends and and we are working together and please God a big coalition on the bigger Congress as a whole, but there is an Orthodox Israel coalition and Eretz HaKodesh is separate and apart from it. Why do we need multiple Orthodox slates and groups? Couldn't there be one Orthodox group be at the table and be able to get all the Orthodox community across the spectrum to vote for it, direct the money and the policies in one direction? Why do we need multiple Orthodox groups? Okay, we have I you asked the question, so let's back-check a little bit. Eretz HaKodesh began 5 6 years ago. Gentleman I don't want to say his name, Yaakov Haguel, who today is the chairman of the World Zionist Organization, a Shomer Shabbos member of Likud, came to America and he met with a group of us. There were four people at the meeting, myself, an Agudath Israel activist, an activist in the Chassidic community, an activist in the in the Lubavitch community. And talking about what was going on in the World Zionist Congress, what they were doing, more important, what the liberal movements and the reform movements were doing taking advantage of the situation. And for various reasons the other three members backed off and I said, "It sounds like something we should need to do." And I did it. and asked various Gedolei Yisrael in America. And for the moment I will leave the names out, not because they're embarrassed, but because unfortunately they're being they're they're being pressured to change their mind, to come out against. And they've asked me not to go public with it. Anybody everybody who listened to this knows who they are, but I won't go public. They guided me. One of them introduced me to my colleague and dear friend Rabbi Nachman Malinowitz. I went to Eretz Yisrael and we went into a Klein Kanievsky and Rav Gershon Edelstein Zechor Livracha. And they were already advised and prepped. And when we walked in and they asked if Klein Kanievsky should they join the Histadrut Tzionut Olamit to limit the Koach of the reform, I almost fell off my chair. You want to ask a Kanievsky a question, you hint. But to ask him directly the World Zionist Organization, he responded, "Yes." And that response and that direction was continuous till the end of his life. We were by him, he paskened the shailos, he directed. Rav Gershon Edelstein was for us. And then many many others. But I must say, Rabbi, the and Rabbi Rabbi Asher Weiss, Rav Yisrael Berkowitz are involved. We have videos with them, but this isn't the first question everybody asks or ever stated. This is normally not something the Chareidi community gets involved with. Okay? Not nothing we get involved with. Okay? Zionism is not there. And the answer the difference was that this is not a typical situation. This is where the liberal movements, the reform movements are using their power and authority and influence to harm Klal Yisrael. They are using their money to take Klal Yisrael, the Charedi community, the Torah community, it's bigger than Charedi, it's the Torah community, to to the world to the Israeli Supreme Court. There are dozens of cases that the Reform movement and their representatives took the Torah world to Supreme Court and there were major negative consequences from that. Could you give some examples? One second. Okay, let's go from the light to the from count the homer. There's something in Israel called the kosher phone. Okay, if you walk into Chevron Ponevezh they want to know what your cell phone number is because certain prefixes are a kosher phone, which means you cannot access the internet and some other stuff. Okay? Well, the Reform movement went to Supreme Court and said the kosher phone is racist. What do you mean? And I apologize, Rabbi, to your listeners because you cannot call the gay hotline from a kosher phone. And the end result was the Supreme Court forbade and said a kosher phone is illegal. It took 2 and 1/2 years a change in the law, a change in the government to change that rule. In Afula, they wanted a separate seating concert from community in Afula. The mayor said, "Wonderful." They announced it. The Reform movement went to court. You can't have separate seating, it's racist. The lower court sided with the Reform movement. The The mayor went to the appellate court and the appellate court sided with the mayor. The Reform movement went back to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said the concert is illegal. The mayor said, "I'm sorry. Supreme Court decision came down Tuesday at 6:00. The concert started at 7:00." The mayor said, "I'm sorry." Why anybody is bothered to bother us to have separate seating. But let's go a little more difficult. The law used to be that if a family, a two-parent working family doesn't make enough money and they're under a certain financial threshold, they're entitled to benefits. For lack of comparison, they're entitled to food stamps, they're entitled to welfare payments, they're entitled to daycare, etc. The Reform movement went to court and said it says two parents are working. Only one parent is working. I don't know what he's doing. And the Supreme Court cut those benefits. That's thousands of shekel to thousands of families affecting thousands of babies. Okay, this past summer, they went to Supreme Court and they held off funding for daycare and summer camps for Torah communities. Okay, it takes much time to change the law, to fight the case. Every time you researched the people who are bringing these cases, the money is from the Reform movement. And the money of the Reform movement Rabbi, then I just want to bring back to the to the to the Congress. I understand what you're saying. These are all examples where So, let's one second. One second. One second. Okay, so the our response was the only allowance that we were given was you have to fight the left. And we are the only party in the Congress that is fighting the left. There are a lot of good other parties I just want to clarify. So, there are other Orthodox parties and they're standing for advocating Torah principles, but Eretz Hakodesh's mandate is specifically in this direction to to combat or to um fight to limit the influence of the left. Everybody else can be doing nice things and they are. But the point is though that doing nice things without stopping the left still hurts the Torah community. Okay, I'm We're the only ones. I must be honest, we're the only ones. I can give you more examples. Okay? The Keren Kayemeth JNF has not spent a nickel or or a shekel over the green line in Judea and Samaria for years because we don't have the majority in the Keren Kayemeth directorate. Only until Eretz Hakodesh came got involved did we start pushing that money should go over the green line. The other parties have not done that. We finally got small amounts, but we're beginning to get amounts for educational programs, for social programs over the green line. That hasn't been done before. So, again, other parties are doing wonderful things. But if we don't challenge the status quo okay, then the Judea and Samaria is being hurt. Torah community is being hurt. Children are being hurt. But Rabbi, let me suggest for a second. The audience probably has no idea where this money is coming from. If you ask somebody, "Where does the money come from?" "Oh, donations and blue and white boxes." It's completely wrong. If anybody buys a house in the United States of America, probably other countries when you bought the house, there's a purchase tax added on to your first bill. 10%, 9% of the property value, you pay a purchase tax to the government. The same thing is true in Israel. Keren Kayemeth Jewish National Fund Israel owns about 20% of Israel. And they made a deal with the government that whenever you sell a piece of land or apartment or house, whatever the case may be we get 20% of that purchase tax. In 2023, Keren Kayemeth JNF Israel earned 9 billion shekel. Let's round it off, give or take 3 billion dollars. That's where their money comes from, not donations. And that money is being given to We We documented that the Reform and Conservative of each get 50 million shekel a year for their purposes. You can do a lot of good with 50 million shekel, but you can do a lot of bad. And our mandate from Gedolei Yisrael on both sides of the Atlantic okay, or in Europe was as saying to serve me right, "Vas ist tov." And I must suggest that we are the only organization mandated for that and we are the only organization doing that. A lot of other organizations do good things and wonderful. But the bottom line is if they don't if nobody stops the status challenges the status quo and the people of Yehuda and Shomron will be will be suffering because they don't get the funding and the building they need. And the Orthodox community and and by the way we became known as the activists, as you said, Rabbi. During COVID because of our efforts, 35,000 students in seminary and yeshiva, all students in all seminaries got into Eretz Yisrael. 35,000 visas were issued through our offices and our fingerprints. We've We've opened up a Keren Kayemeth opened up a division for kids off the derech. I don't mean off the derech they didn't make it for Shacharis this morning. I mean 12 to 19-year-olds that haven't made it to Shacharis in years, haven't fasted on Yom Kippur, forget about Shabbos and forget about kashrus. And we've taken them We had Keren Kayemeth with our input has taken them off the streets, put them to work shepherding sheep, teaching them, training them. And these kids are beginning to go back to life. They go home. They finally go back to their families. They finish up their high school. I I get your point, Rabbi. So, let me ask you. So, what would you say to someone who says, you know, in Israel in the Knesset in general, the Charedim and I don't want to get into that. I'm not I'm not raising this because I want to get into that, but, you know, Charedim participate to the degree it benefits them. So, they're not necessarily contributing an equal share, but they will participate so they can direct money and policies in a way that benefit them. Is this just a world example of that? Are we expanding that from in Israel? What would you say to the person who says Eretz Hakodesh was basically a way for Charedim to get in on the action of these billions of dollars to direct it in ways that will benefit their community? Okay, so I repeat, number one, we didn't go in for the money. If it was only money, I would not have gotten allowance to get in. That's not what the Charedi community does. That's according to the poskim that I deal with and you deal with, that was not. The Roshei Yeshiva said money can't go in. Fighting the left, that's the mission, number one. So, number one, we went in to put system back on track, number one. Number two, I think we're contributing. We're trying to challenge and tell these people, "Do what you're supposed to do." We're involved in aliyah. I'm involved in aliyah constantly. Aliyah has not been successful the Jewish nation. But I deal with aliyah. I don't care who it is. Let me Somebody asked me, "Would you help a a a non-Orthodox Jew make aliyah?" And my answer is probably before helping an Orthodox Jew. Why? An Orthodox Jew doesn't get to Israel, they'll marry an Orthodox Jew. But a non-Orthodox Jew stays in America, I don't know if they're going to marry a Jew. And if I can get them to Israel they'll marry a Jew. So, that's wonderful. So, we're not in it only for ourselves. We're in it to stop to to make the system stop hurting people, number one. And number two, I was just recently at the Jewish Agency Board of Governors. We participated. We're there. We're not just for ourselves. We're there to help everybody. But helping everybody has to be Now again, um the system has to be challenged. This is not the time and place to talk about the programs that are under the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth, WZO that are detrimental not only to Eretz Yisrael or Jews and Ashkenazi Jews. I believe there are programs going on that are contrary to what you and I would call the best interest of Israel. Judea and Samaria Understood. So, helping out other helping out others. The Orthodox Israel Coalition, you know, they're they're for example, um I don't think there's anyone who falls under the umbrella of the OU, YU, Young Israel, Torah, RCA, I hope I didn't leave anyone out, who who would disagree with their platform or the importance, you know, their struggle will just be how do we get people to actually take the time, make the effort, click the link, pay the few dollars, sign up and vote. I think that's their friction, that's their challenge. You have a much bigger friction. Eretz Hakodesh has a bigger friction, which is a segment of the Orthodox world who as you said at the beginning, there's a some battle and disagreement over whether one should even be participating in this. And you saw just in the last 24 hours, just as this election opened up, there's already like an explosion over it. My Godol said this, my Godol said that. Do it, don't do it. Rabbi Lerner quotes this one, why don't they use their name? They use their name, they don't use their name. So, why why is it controversial in the greater Torah world, Yeshiva world, if it's so clear and it has the mandate of these Gedolei Yisrael, does it remain controversial today? I mean, you and I have discussed this offline, but if we just from a population size got Monsey, Passaic, Lakewood, Brooklyn, just their populations to register and vote, you could sway the whole election. Rabbi. Don't forget Florida. Florida is a given, that's why I didn't even have to mention it. But those numbers of those communities, if they voted, could sway a whole election. So, yet there's friction a there's always been a there's always a faction that holds that Zionism is un- acceptable. Anything connected with a Z is unacceptable. That's and those people are entitled to their opinion, they can do But there's another set of opinions. There are those people who hold it's forbidden to vote in the Israeli Knesset election. On the other hand, most of our Yeshivas and most of our Chassidisha Rebbes in Eretz Yisrael well, not only vote, they campaign. So, there's an opinion. And I don't challenge that, they're entitled to their opinion. But the bottom line is, we have many Gedolim who have told us, let me tell you a story, and I have permission to repeat the story. Okay? The Rav probably knows the name of Rav Yosef Afrati. Sure. Rav Yosef Afrati is was the right-hand man, a right-hand Talmid, or whatever of Rav Yosef Zatsal. I know Rav Afrati for decades. Okay? An American Rosh Yeshiva went to Rav Afrati and said that I know said the American Rosh Yeshiva. And I heard this from Afrati on numerous occasions. Rav Afrati responded, "Interesting. I know Pesach Lerner for many years and I trust him, but I don't listen to anything second hand. I might Okay. Okay, so you were saying you Let me share share with you Let me share with you a story. Rav Afrati, who I've discussed, says it's true. And I've heard the story on numerous occasions from Rav Afrati. Number one is an American Rosh Yeshiva Yeshiva went to Rav Afrati and told him that he, the American Rosh Yeshiva, knows that Rav Chaim was against Eretz Hakodesh. Rav Afrati responded that he, Rav he knows Pesach Lerner for decades. He trusts me, but he doesn't listen to anything second hand. So, Rav Afrati said, "And we know Rav Chaim answers and said, I asked Rav Chaim about Eretz Hakodesh. Rav Chaim answered him, yes, I told him to open up, I told him to do it." Rav Afrati then asks Rav Rav Chaim, "What about the Shver Rav Yoshiv?" Rav Yoshiv was not into these things. And Rav Chaim responded, "Different situations and different challenges require different answers. What they're doing doing to the Torah community today requires a challenge and therefore told him to go in." Now, that response, well, that is what everybody had told us on all sides of the Atlantic. Okay? Whether it's from England, Eretz Yisrael, or America. And that is the that's what's makes us unique. Not saying special, unique. We went in to challenge. And when we got into the system, and we learned the more, Okay, I met with governors and mayors of cities in Judea and Samaria. And I asked them, "How come you guys are not getting anything?" It says, "Nobody's there fighting for us." Ironic, quote unquote, the Chareidi individual, the Chareidi party, is fighting for Yehuda v'Shomron because there are a lot of Let's be honest, there's a lot of communities in Yehuda v'Shomron. Chareidi, non-Chareidi, doesn't make a difference. It's part of Eretz Yisrael. And it's part of Eretz Yisrael, they should be benefiting from Keren Kayemeth LeYisrael, whose mission is to buy and service and build up Eretz Yisrael. Aliyah is wonderful for everybody. Okay, making moving to Eretz Yisrael. And there were very few people who were fighting in the system and helping people out. Nefesh b'Nefesh does wonderful work, don't get me wrong. But after Nefesh b'Nefesh, it goes back to the Jewish agency. And the Jewish agency is a bureaucracy. And Baruch Hashem, when I write to them, I help them, they respond to me, they cooperate to me. So, I've been able to get a lot of families into Eretz Yisrael that were still busy with all the process. Okay, Shmita. Shmita, the last Shmita cycle. Shmita in KKL, which owns tens of thousands of dunams, was always under the Heter Mechirah. Now, I'm not speaking bad about the Heter Mechirah. I personally had a conversation 50 years ago, probably 50 years ago, with Rav Zalman Auerbach on the Heter Mechirah. And his answer to me was, "M'stama is good." So, I'm not challenging the Heter Mechirah. But it's not accepted in a lot of areas and you don't know who's watching over it in KKL. The the Shmita b'Zman Hazeh, the last Shmita cycle, was under the auspices of Rav Yosef Afrati, the biggest Godol in Missisauga, Clearsburg, Ords in Eretz Yisrael. And all the Chuvim and all the Zeitim, all the carrots and all the olives were all to the basin. It's an advantage, something we can do if we're in at the table, we can affect the table in a positive senses. So, I want to bring up Eretz Eretz Hakodesh Eretz Hakodesh is doing wonderful work and we're very, very grateful for your leadership and their wonderful work. And and each of these conversations I've sort of ended and wrapped up the same way, which is, you know, just like the army, which we've of course unfortunately come to know well the last year and a half, the heroic soldiers, precious soldiers, and we daven for each and every day. Just like the army has different units and you need the different units and some are more aggressive, some are less aggressive, some are protective and some are assertive. And you need the units cuz they're all 40 fighting for the same cause, that there is a coalition within this election. And and I don't want to get in trouble by leaving anyone out, but certainly it's the Orthodox Israel Coalition, it's Eretz Hakodesh, maybe Aish, maybe this, maybe that. Again, I don't want to get in trouble. Certainly there are those who share similar Torah values and those who share similar political values, of which there could be a coalition, commonality and and working together. And then there are different units that break out to do their own work in their other ways and we hope that the people listening, whether it's meaningful for them to support and vote for Eretz Hakodesh or for the Orthodox Israel Coalition or one of the other groups we're interviewing or one of the other groups that have the shared values, the key is to to get in the game, don't be passive and a spectator, don't complain when you see policies and money being spent on things that undermine, compromise, or corrupt what we care about. There's an opportunity for everybody to register and vote and whichever unit you're voting for, vote in the coalition of the army that will advance the interests of of Torah Jewry. I don't know Rabbi, but I I don't know I don't know who else interviewing, but let me comment that we work together with Shas, so we have Sefardim in the community. And one of the new parties coming out is Am Yisrael Chai, which is say college campus coordinated by uh Bnei Torah. So, uh hopefully hopefully my goal My goal is to work for the people on the right, center right, and my goal is the center right takes this Congress by storm and we win. And then we'll go into a back room and we'll argue out who gets what. But at the end of the day, the hope would be that in totality the center right will control and put things where they're supposed to be and hopefully we can take we can have a big Kiddush and give it say some Shalom to the center left. Okay, on that note, so Rabbi Lerner, thank you for joining us and sharing in Yashar Koach on the great work of Eretz Hakodesh and it should succeed hopefully in not being not only having to combat a left, but the Sura Mera, but but be able to focus all of its energies in Mitzvah Shem on the Asay Tov. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Rabbi Steve Berg, Rabbi Berg, my dear friend for many, many, many years. We've worked together on so many projects and ideas and we got to do a whole separate conversation because what you're doing at Aish is just outrageous. It's impacting the world and millions, it's not an exaggeration, online, offline. It's an incredible thing really to see and it deserves its own very worthy conversation. But for today we're here to talk about Aish HaAm and Eish HaTorah throwing its hat in the ring in the World Zionist Congress in this election offering a slate and uh getting involved in the direction of billions of dollars. I've been describing this as like a huge Jewish color war with the first prize being like billions of dollars at stake, which is in some ways what it feels like. Obviously much more serious than that. So talk to us about why. What did you see that said, you know, Aish needs its own party. We need to be part of this election. We need to fight with our own seats and our own slate. Why not join one of the other existing groups? There are Orthodox groups out there. Why not join one of them? First of all, thank you so much. It's you know, we've been friends for many, many years. It's It's a pleasure to be here with you. For us it's not really about the bill I know everyone's throwing around billions of dollars and all the different terms. It's not really about that for us and it's not even about the fights among the denominations. I'll kind of leave that to other people. For us it's really been about empower young people. I I have been involved with the the World Zionist Organization WZO now for five years. Very, very close friend of mine, Jacob Haguel, is the chairman. Came to visit me about five, six years ago said you got to get involved and I and I've been involved and and one of the things I've seen I'm a board member of Jewish Agency and involved in all levels and one of the things I've seen is just there's a is a certain uh staleness to the Jewish community, you know, where where it's kind of like the same way it's been for the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years and I think that we need an influx of of young people, of of people that are have dreams, have hopes, have different ideas of of what could happen and that's I think been our our goal. I think we have the youngest slate in the entire election. We We went with basically I would say every university student suing their university. You know, we have you know, Aden Yaeger from Columbia, Shabsai Sassoon from Harvard who went to Aish for three years, a number of other students. We have a tremendous amount of influencers who are involved on very, very high levels with massive populations out there. I I was recently at the Jewish Agency board meetings and everyone was coming up to me saying, well, well, how much did you pay your influencers? And I said, zero. You know, they want to work for the Jewish people and and so we put them on our list. So for us it's been about creating that I don't think has existed before and I think something that the Jewish people needs, that that kind of energy. I I love that answer because you know, I've been having this conversation or putting this together to try to educate myself and others as they're seeing a lot going on about this election and want to understand it better and and what you're describing is it's not only about what you stand for, which we'll get to in a moment, but it's about who you're reaching. And I love the perspective that says we're not at each other's throats, we're not competing. What we're actually trying to do is collaborate to reach as many people as possible because Aish on college campuses and with its influences is going to reach a whole other population than you know, rabbis in their shuls or than you know, some of the other groups that that are dealing with different demographics. And that notion that says we are in many ways aligned, we have so much in common, there's a coalition that we can form together. Now let's break up because we can each specialize and focus on a group that we can reach to get in because it's all about registering and voting. If you don't register and vote, then you don't have influence, you don't have seats, you don't you you can't be part of a of a coalition. So there's no question that Aish HaAm and you know, the people that you mentioned and the influencers that already are part of Aish either professionally or or voluntarily that Aish promotes their beautiful light that you're reaching more people. So when you reach those people through those influencers and through those college students and college leaders and you get them to vote and let's say Aish HaAm has tremendous success and the slate gets voted in. What does Aish HaAm stand for? What do you want to see happen? Are there policies? Is there a direction of some of these dollars? What do you want to see different with the influence that you'll have if if that slate wins? Yes, I look our one of my main I have a couple different areas that I'm going to advocate for and I tend to advocate for and one of the big ones is social media. You know, Aish does a million video views a day on social media. We're very, very active. We're probably the largest in the in Jewish community and I think the the overall Jewish community is just totally missing this point. You know, this is again, like I said, you know, I come to these meetings and the and most people they just have no clue what social media is and even the Israeli government, you know, we do a lot of work with the the Israeli government right after October 7th, we went to meet with the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and even till now Israel is struggling with social media, they're struggling with getting their story out there, they're struggling with how to tell it. So as as far as I'm concerned, one of the things that we will be doing is is trying to get dollars allocated towards influencers. I want to bring more influencers to Israel because quite frankly I could I could talk till I'm blue in the face, but if I get an influencer who's got a couple million followers out there to say something, you know, it kind of blows up and we have seen so many beautiful stories, the beautiful stories of people that were totally unconnected to Jewish people on October 6th. October 7th happens they're they're looking at a different world and some of these influencers really at the risk of their careers because they lost followers, they lost sponsors, they lost all types of things, start fighting for the Jewish people. And you know, we have been engaging them and we've been saying, okay, you've been fighting for Israel, let's add a little Jewish wisdom in there, let's add some more things in there and you could you could be a powerhouse and and and so I'm so proud of of those folks. So I want to get dollars to bring them over to Israel, dollars to help them on their mission and and the flip side also is and this is something you know, we both know Malcolm Hoenlein who I think is one of the treasures of the Jewish people. He said something to me that was so powerful so many years ago. He said that basically he had come out of the struggle for Soviet Jewry rallies and all the different things that happened in the 70s and the 80s. So much of the Jewish leadership came out of that. So much of our future leadership is going to come out of October 7th and so I would say we have like I mentioned before, pretty much every university student suing their university is on the Aish HaAm slate. What I want to do is I want to run shabbatones, I want to run trip. I want to take these Jewish leaders who have fought back. You know, they they they weren't just going to take it. They fought back. They put their universities in in the in the spotlight. They've done a tremendous, tremendous job. I want to support these young Jews, right? I I want to support them in what they're doing, whether we have shabbatones, trips to Israel, bring them to Knesset. You know, the the overall this Jewish leadership that you and I both know so well that has existed that's having trouble kind of moving forward into the next century. We got to push them and these kids are the way to do it. These young people are the way to do it. I I love that that approach and that attitude. You know, the cynic listening might say well, you know, Rabbi Burg started Aish HaAm because Aish is in it for themselves and this other slate, they're in it for themselves and this they're they're Charedim, they're in it for them. Then each one is in it for themselves. And and what I'm hearing a little bit is that the answer is first of all, yes, but that's okay cuz each person is in it for Klal Yisrael, just bringing what they bring to Klal Yisrael, right? If if the slate wins, Rabbi Burg doesn't, you know, build an addition on his house. If another slate wins, that person is not going on vacation with their family. They're trying to win to be able to because they believe that they have a platform and a direction to be able to transform the Jewish people and repair the Jewish world and and stand up for Israel and and bring unity and make things better and what Aish specializes in is is reaching Jews that others are not and doing it at a scale that others are not, then why wouldn't we want them getting dollars to use it in that way? It's not a matter of, you know, building the next Aish building or or raising everybody's payroll in Aish. It's a matter of reaching more Jews, inspiring more Jews and more connection to Israel. So you know, I think people looking at this election somewhat cynically have been looking at some of the new slates in particular, but all the slates are saying, this group is in it for them, this group is in it for them, this group is in it for them. And the answer is yes, but each one is in it for them because what they think they uniquely bring or not uniquely, but what they focus on bringing for the betterment of the Jewish people and that's good. We need them all. We want everyone to get a lot of votes, everyone to win and then this whole group to form a coalition together and say, we care about Torah, we care about Israel, maybe we lean a little center right on politics about Israel. Now let's figure out how what we each specialize in and and do it together. So are you seeing some collaboration here even even as each slate is fighting for themselves to get people to register and vote? Is there a spirit of collaboration? Is there opportunity for collaboration? It's a good you know, it's a good question. Look, I'll just tell you that number one is Aish has the worst business model on the face of the planet because a lot of our students do not pay tuition. They're probably Jewish and they don't have money and we we raise the money and and we we support them. The same thing for online. Our goal is unaffiliated Jews. We go after Jews and there So in terms of us being able to use the money for ourselves something like that doesn't really work so much for us. It might for for other people. In terms of collaboration, look, I think in the future there's room for collaboration. There've been some things that I think have been problematic. I'm just being very frank and open and honest. You know, we we actually produced a documentary which I I'm very, very passionate about and our documentary covers Harvard, Columbia and UCLA through the eyes of of our students and we've been doing premieres really across the country and and frankly by and large we've been doing them in JCCs, we've been doing them in theaters and other places because a lot of the synagogues don't feel comfortable hosting our documentary right? Because of the election. So like, well, I'm with this one, I'm with that one. That's that's frankly been disappointing. It's been disappointing our students and I've had to explain to them like, well, like I understand and and you know, I personally don't really get it, but you know, I made them feel better about it. The fact that so many synagogues they have some kind of historic connection and therefore they don't want to be, you know, kind of caught in this in between. So that's been disappointing. But like for the Aish HaAm, we just stay focused on what we have to do, bring the votes down for for the Jewish youth, for the Jewish future. And in the end, you know, certainly there'll be a coalition. This is a parliamentary type of election. We'll all be able to come together. But I wish I could say that it's been just a a great experience. I have seen some pettiness and I think that, you know, if Messiah's going to come, we're going to try and kind of reverse that a little bit. Yeah, this is our opportunity to work on it. And it's actually as you say that I'm thinking it's our opportunity. You know, sometimes a spectator to the Israeli political system, Americans and those outside of Israel could have something to say about how much better they should be. Well, this is our chance cuz this is system is really modeled after and and emulates and works off the same system. And now this is our chance to to practice what we're preaching or want to see in others and just set aside those differences. Um maybe this is typical BRS fashion or or sort of my perspective and philosophy and approach to life, but I just see it as um as as not being partisan or territorial or seeing it as competitive for a particular slate. It's terribly disappointing to me to hear that a shul would not show a documentary that's critical in our time and show the students in it the support they deserve cuz somehow that could impact an election which frankly, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not going to say it now cuz I'm I'm I'm running the risk of leaving somebody out, but you know, if the people in our shul vote for anyone in this this this or this, I'm happy. All right? Don't vote for them. Don't vote for that. Don't vote for the people whose interests are not aligned, who might corrupt or compromise what we believe is best, what our sacred Torah holds dear. But any of these groups who essentially are aligned, we share so much in common and we can diversify who we're investing in, which I think is also very valuable. The broader a coalition, the stronger it'll be, the more of an impact it'll have in those conversations at the table. We only gain from And also our shuls are made up And I'm supposed to be, you know, interviewing you, but our shuls are made up of diversity. So, if we're in only this party shul, well, the people who don't connect to that, they're just going to sit out this election. And if the real goal is getting 100% participation in registering and voting cuz that's what's going to make a difference, then let's offer the schmorg of, you know, whichever nuanced one of these you like, take it for yourself. But this is the This is sort of the buffet that we think is good to choose from. And absolutely each one should have an opportunity which is why I'm having these conversations and I think they're important. How are you seeing it going so far? Are the influencers, I know we're we're only barely into this. It goes till May 4th. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And I feel like I'm exhausted after 24 hours of emails and texts and posts and I don't know how we're going to make it till May 4th of this. But how is how is Aish HaTorah I'm doing in the in its initial entering into the landscape? Uh we're we're doing great. And I think one of the things that we've enjoyed again is that uh because we work with the influencers, because we have so much online, we're dealing with a massive Jewish population out there. And and so like I said, the fact that shuls have been kind of partisan is not really affecting us so much because our strategy is really, as it's always been, is to reach out to many of the unaffiliated, many of the Jews that are not connected out there, working with many of the young people in terms of the collegiates and stuff like that. So, the way I view this is Aish HaTorah has really become our movement. And this is something that's going to well outlast this election. That we are really getting people to, you know, our three values are take responsibility for the Jewish people, Jewish wisdom that everyone's got to have a part in that, and everything we do is based on love. Like those are our three values. That's how we conduct ourselves. That's how we're running this campaign. It's been phenomenally successful. I'm so proud and I've said this so many times for my influencers. You know, I'm looking at these influencers who, like I said, October 6th were just about fashion, were just about like like all these different things that were going to bring them followers, and they have they found something substantive to be involved in is the fight for the Jewish people. And the same thing on university campus. You know, these were kids who were just going to go out and they were going to get a degree, good degree in an Ivy League school, and they were going to go out and get a great job, make money, and do whatever they're going to do. Next thing you know, they're literally in the trenches fighting for the Jewish people. So, every second that I spend with these very special souls is just is just fantastic. And and thank God the election for us is is just been a labor of love. These influencers in particular, people watching who are spectators to them say, "Yeah, of course. You know, what they're standing for is obvious obvious to all of us." And they get a lot of attention. Look at all the followers they have. They don't know the sacrifices they've made. Like you said, many of them money, sponsors, relationships, being spoken of negatively, and they've paid a price for it in many cases. And if they were building a career as an influencer, which is a topic for another time, but if they were doing that, this was a bad decision for them. So, for anyone who's watching who thinks this is an obvious choice for them and how lucky they are they get to do it. In some ways they are fortunate, it's a privilege, but it's not obvious at all. And to the degree they have managers or people who are trying to influence them, they probably would have counseled them out of it and therefore they are deserving our our support for the price that they're that they're paying. I'll ask you one last question, Rabbi Bergon, not to be, uh you know, controversial, but um but to be direct and put it out there. So, Aish HaTorah new slate, new platform, not all the Torah leadership of Aish uh let me put it this way. How would you explain if they were Torah leadership of Aish who was encouraging voting for a different slate or a different party or wasn't automatically saying Aish is the obvious choice? Look, I I don't have a problem with that, but we're we're very very eclectic. And and like I said, you know, if people want to vote whichever way they want to vote, I mean, that's the definition of democracy. You know, it's people having a decision, you know. In terms of what we've been able to build here, this is all about our values. This is literally is filled with our values. Rabbi Berkowitz is the Rosh Yeshiva, so he is, you know, he's on board 1,000%. Our students, our alumni, everyone's just totally invigorated by this. I mean, everyone's really really excited. So, we really haven't had a had a had that issue. So, if someone wants to vote for someone else, you know, I guess it's okay as long as they're doing it for right reasons and not, you know, some of the slates are are frankly bribing people. They're not just offering them money, like literally cash. And that, I mean, even even I who like I'm very very open, it kind of bothers me a little bit when people are just kind of buying votes. That's, you know, that's something that that, you know, I think they used to do in the old days in Chicago. I think modern day democracy tries not to do that. Uh so, if people are doing it because they really believe in a certain cause and a belief and they're passionate about it, then I think it's awesome. I think you should go with it. If you're doing it because, you know, you're you're winning up in some raffle or or someone's paying you money to to round the votes or your own vote, uh that I I don't I don't think that's quite Torah Hashkafa. Got it. Rabbi Bergon, thank you. And like I said, I look forward to speaking a lot more about a lot of other topics. It's exciting and appreciate your coming on and and sharing a little bit about Aish HaTorah. And we wish a lot of hatzlacha. And certainly knowing you is enough for me to know, but also knowing Aish and the incredible work it does, I think it's a it's a fantastic choice of of a slate. And I know that the seats that you'll have around that table will only make the outcome of any conversation much better. So, thank you for joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you. And I'm, you know, you know I'm your biggest fan, whether it be online or in BRS. I think the things you do for the Jewish people are just uh absolutely terrific. Thank you. Okay, we are glad to be with Mort Klein, our long-time friend. Mort, great to see you again. And as always, thank you for what you're doing for the Jewish people and for the state of Israel and fighting in the front lines and an unabashed spokesperson. And uh thank you for all that you do. And and we're honored to have had you uh previously not only in our show many times, but I'm behind the bema. Today's conversation specifically is about the World Zionist Congress and the election that is sweeping the Jewish world by storm with many slates, coalitions, potential partnerships. And I'm simply trying to educate myself and others about the different groups and the slates and what they stand for, what they're advocating for. Um this is an enormous amount of money at stake, billions of dollars, over a billion a year each year. And it's can really make a difference and influencing policy. So, first of all, thank you for being here. And tell us a little bit about the ZOA slate and what it stands for, how it's different from some of the other slates, and why you think everyone should register and vote for the ZOA. Well, our slate consists of 30 other ardent fervent Zionist organizations uh from Lawfare to Students Supporting Israel to American Friends of Judea and Samaria and and many many others. We are the strongest Zionist right-of-center group that's running. We have successfully been fighting BDS, for example. We'll continue to. We're the only organization that got a resolution passed in last year's World Zionist Congress that you're not No No organization is permitted to support to to say they oppose BDS even though they support it with companies that are working in Judea and Samaria. That is also boycotting Israel. There's 800,000 Jews living past the '67 line. 5 or 600,000 in Judea and Samaria directly and other several hundred thousand in Eastern Europe. So, we have been successfully, against all odds, been able to get such resolutions passed that we don't support boycotting Jews anywhere anywhere in the in in in the in the land of Israel. We're the only major public or major organization that fights for and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. Let me tell you, the foreign minister, Gideon Saar Gideon uh Saar. Saar, my goodness gracious. I've only known him for 25 years. It proves that I'm past 40. Uh Gideon Saar spoke to us in Israel to the organizations a few weeks ago. He begged us, "Please publicly oppose a Palestinian state to reduce pressure on us. We have pressure to establish a state, to give land away." Do you know that ZOA is the only major organization publicly opposing it? I went to other groups in that meeting, Orthodox and others. And they say it's too controversial. We're not going to publicly oppose a state. We fight against it. This would be a disaster for Israel. We saw what happened in a mini state in Gaza. And what a disaster, monstrous disaster it was. Imagine giving them more land and more power to to do their monstrous deeds against the Jews. We are the only organization that publicly support the right of Jews to live in Judea and Samaria and build in Judea and Samaria. And and we are the only ones who support sovereignty. That we support Israel declaring sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, over the Jordan Valley and other areas of the land of Israel. We've also gotten resolutions passed that no one is permitted to use the word West Bank. This is a term that de-Judaizes Jews in Judea and Samaria. Only the word only should be used is Judea and Samaria. We helped get Brian Mast, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, to give an order no one at House House House Foreign Relations in the federal government can use the term West Bank. Only Judea and Samaria. And Senator Cotton from Arkansas has introduced legislation in the Senate with respect to that. No one else promotes that. We're the only organization that supports Donald Trump's Gaza plan to remove the Arabs from Gaza and rebuild Gaza an area which they will not be hostile and dangerous for Israel for Jews. These Arabs in Gaza they can they have nothing to come back to. It they lands are destroyed, the areas destroyed, the houses destroyed. There's no facilities. This is the perfect time for that to happen. We are the only organization supporting Donald Trump's plan. Even though the the government of Israel supports it, the Knesset of Israel supports it, the people of Israel supports it. So let me just interrupt you for one second more because these are all important positions of the ZOA and you know, personally I'm I'm grateful for them. But connecting it back to the World Zionist Congress, right? So if people vote for your slate for the ZOA slate, your presence at the table and participation will be able to direct more funds towards these goals and these policies. So bring it back to the World Zionist Congress and why Everything I said is about the World Zionist Congress. We'll be at the table with more with we have more more more votes, we'll have more people at the table promoting these important policy issues to to support and and promote the government promoting the issues that I just mentioned. This is World Zionist Congress policies that we can help influence if we have more seats at the table. There's and there's over a billion dollars at stake. The more votes we get the more people we can put in key agencies that will be able to direct the funds to promote the the ZOA agenda, which of course is the Zionist agenda, which is of course is the agenda that Hashem has for Eretz Israel. That's really our biggest supporter. And let me tell you the speaker of the Knesset, the speaker of the Knesset Ohana, Amir Ohana, has publicly in a video endorsed ZOA urging people vote only for ZOA. They're doing all the things that need to be done. The the great Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight has also put out a video urging people to vote for ZOA. That's the kind of influence we have. Even Bibi in our fundraising letters he has said support ZOA, help them financially and every other way. Even the prime minister of of Israel. And it's really the tide is turning because people used to think about ZOA that we're too strong, too right of center. Michael Oren at meetings two weeks ago in Israel of all the the heads of the Jewish organizations in a meeting last two weeks ago Friday night made a speech. This is a guy was a labor guy. He made a speech and after the speech I raised my hand to ask a question. He said Mort, he called on me first. Mort, before you ask your question I have to admit something. I admit Mort, you and ZOA have been right about everything. That's an exact quote. You and ZOA have been right about everything. Even your wife hasn't said that. Pardon me? I said even your wife hasn't said that. I'm working on that but it's it's much it's much tougher with my wife. And he said Mort, I have become closer and closer to the viewpoint that you've had all these years and you've been right. And I said Michael, as soon as you get to exactly my viewpoint you will also be right all the time. So and and I may have mentioned you know Gideon Sorry, did I mention that? Yeah, Gideon Saar also mentioned that. So tell me more. I mean there's there's several slates obviously and it's a big it's a big election and there are you know, there are those you you wish that every single vote went to the ZOA. Certainly you wish ZOA was in charge of all the billion dollars a year and could direct No no no, 1/3 or a little more than a third of the people who are comprised to spy the World Zionist Congress are from Israel. 1/3 are from Europe and the rest of the world. Only about a third are from America. So even if we get every vote we'll only have a third. Got it. But do you recognize that there are other coalition partners that the likelihood is that you know, please God you know, your slate will will get a lot of votes and you'll have a lot of a lot of the candidates who will be in and have seats. But a coalition will have to be formed. So one of the things I'm trying to do in putting out these conversations with some of the slates is essentially to say to the people listening I don't appear on any slate in particular and I'm not out working on particular four slate. I'm out there saying don't vote for the wrong slate. Here's a sort of schmorg of some slates who while they disagree about some important issues but also align and overlap on the ones probably the most important and be they religious or political they really can work together. And so you know, the biggest I think opponent that we face is apathy. Is is the fact that the majority of Jews don't vote, don't register in this, don't spend the few dollars to have a say on a billion dollars. And if we can wake people up and encourage them register and vote and whether they vote ZOA or they vote for some of the others that are different but can be aligned and can form a coalition and that's really what I'm advocating and trying to push is say you know, an army is made up of different units. ZOA is a critical unit in the pro-Israel Jewish people army. There are other units too. If one of those other units appeal to you, be part of those who are really fighting in the in the in the army of Hashem, in the army of Torah, in the army of of strengthening and protecting the Jewish people in Israel. And so of course you would encourage everyone vote the ZOA but I think it's also important to recognize that there are there are other partners that you probably could align with and and form a coalition around. But there are a number of slates that are running that are promoting establishing a Palestinian state which will clearly be run by Hamas and Abbas, monsters who who are running, who are saying Jews should not be living or building in Judea and Samaria. There shouldn't be sovereignty there. No, there there there many slates that are detrimental to Jewish people. Just like they're not a slate, just like J Street is an anti-Israel, a really even anti-Semitic organization that harms Israel in every way. They just came out defending Mahmoud Khalil who was just arrested to deport for for his promoting Hamas. Remember Hamas charter calls for the murder of every Jew, article seven. Destruction of Israel, article 13. And and so so you have slates who are defending him. In fact, the head of the Jew JCPA, Jewish Council of Public Affairs, Amy Spitalnick has has condemned ICE for arresting this this terrible Hamas loving really terrorist. So there are slates that are very problematic and no, I don't want people to vote for them. They should get no votes. Well no, I agree with you. That's my point though is that let's direct them towards at least some options of slate that are right of center and let's make sure that the money and the influence doesn't go into the hands of those who are detrimental. So this wasn't a pluralism all slate vote for everybody. My point was let's identify and encourage from a range of cuz while you wish everyone voted ZOA the likelihood is not everyone will. So let them at least vote for let's direct them towards other options that we can rally around together. Look, obviously this is a democracy. There is a poll tax as you mentioned. We have a poll tax of $5 to that's simply to cover the cost of running all of all of this. So people can vote for whoever they wish of course. But I I certainly hope people understand that there quite a few slates that are promoting a really an agenda that will hurt Israel in a very serious way. I think because of our of the positions we've taken when a few years ago when there were the WCA World Zionist Organization meetings in Basel, Switzerland I was asked to come to a certain meeting. You know, there's quite a large group who would come to to all these meetings and Miri Adelson got up to the podium, asked me to come up to the podium and we were ZOA was the only organization given an award for the great Zionist work we do. Miri Adelson gave me that award along with the head of the World Zionist Organization, Yakov Hagouel. In fact, the World Likud has only endorsed one organization, ZOA slate. That's it. So we are really unique in in being proud, courageous, effective, strong Jews who fight for what's right no matter what the consequences are of the left or of the media. So I continue to urge everyone of course to go to our website zoa.org, go to Zionist yeah, Zionist coalition.org and and and and vote. Most Jews never even heard of this election of course. It's only a small fraction of Jews that ever heard of it. And as soon as they hear about $5 that becomes troublesome. Now, $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks that's not a problem. But to vote in an important election that becomes a problem for some people. And you tell people for $5 you could have an impact on deciding a billion dollars. It's a tiny price to pay. The return on that money is enormous and extraordinary. So, Mordecai, thank you for all the work that you do and and ZOA does and what they stand up for and that they represent. And it is we're living in extraordinary times. Who would think that the administration of the president of the United States of America would would pass you on the right and maybe even seem further. And I say that only half jokingly. But, you know, to think that Israel is aligned, this administration is aligned, ZOA is aligned, and now it's just a question of how to execute some of these plans and decisions and ideas. Remember, Rabbi Goldberg, truth is not a political position. It is not right-wing to say we oppose a state. It would be a disaster for the people. It isn't right-wing to say Jews have a right to live in Judea and Samaria. You mean we can live in Miami or Detroit, but not in Judea and Samaria? I mean, Arabs can live in Eretz Yisrael, but Jews can't live in Judea and Samaria? This is not right-wing. It is simply simply the truth. But, Rabbi Goldberg, I also have to commend you for the holy work you do in promoting Torah and Yiddishkeit and Eretz Yisrael because the closer Jews are to Torah, the closer they are to the positions that the ZOA promotes. And that's been shown in every poll. The closer they are to traditional Judaism, the more they agree with the types of views we promote. And I'll tell you, only in the last few weeks it's become clear that there is a God in heaven. 200 missiles came from Iran. This is a few months ago. 200 missiles came from Iran. Not a single Jew was killed. How is that possible? 200 missiles, not a single Jew was killed. And and a week ago, there were bombs put on a number of buses and trains in Israel. And hundreds of Jews would have been murdered. And what happened? The guy put that they should go off at 9:00 p.m. by accident instead of 9:00 a.m. during high high traffic. And and so, hundreds of Jews' lives were saved. This is a miracle from God. The more I see of what's going on in the world, especially with respect to Israel, it makes me stronger and stronger in my belief in Hashem. What Israel's done to Hamas, to Hezbollah, Iran, now they've destroyed their anti-aircraft facilities. Who could have believed that they could have achieved this? This they achieved this with the help of God Almighty. Not to mention we're living through We're living through We're living through revealed miracles. Not to mention the beeper episode and so many others that nobody would have believed, nobody could have predicted, nobody ever would even write a script that would tell that story. It would be too unrealistic or unbelievable. We're absolutely living in miraculous times and we should merit to continue to live in them. It is clear we must keep Shabbos, keep kashrus, lay tefillin, daven, and do what God asks of us. And he asks us to do these things for our benefit. This is good for our lives. In addition, he is pleased also, I'm sure, if we do these things. So, he gets nachas as well. But, this is really best for for our people. He knows what's good for us and that's why he's given us these suggestions of how how we should live. Well, Mordecai, I couldn't agree more, certainly with with that statement. And again, thank you for all of your work and the ZOA's work. And we should merit to see these these policies implemented, fulfilled to the safety of of all of Israel and our soldiers and the hostages coming home. And please God to celebrate only good things. Thank you for all that you do. Amen. Amen. Yashar koach. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. I'm honored and excited to be joined by my dear friend Dan Caskel. Full transparency, Dan Caskel is not only my dear friend for a long time, he's also my boss as the president of the Boca Raton Synagogue. But, we are not having this conversation in that capacity, although that'd be an interesting one, Dan. But, we're here to talk about the WZO elections, the World Zionist Congress, 39th Congress, which as we've explained influences the flow of an enormous amount of money and money influences policies and decisions. And Dan, you are the the number one on the Herut slate and a big advocate of Herut. I appreciate that. I want to make one point of clarification though. Rabbi Goldberg has one boss and that's Rabbanit Goldberg. That's You know what? That's that's for sure. That is a That is a correct clarification and I appreciate that. So, Herut is slate number 23. This election is underway and again, we've been encouraging everybody. Sign up, vote, make your voice heard and influence where this money goes in Israel to both of the religious values and the political values that you have. Don't sit it out. And for the little amount of money it cost, don't be a spectator to the destiny of the Jewish people. So, why Herut, Dan? What How did you get involved in Herut? How long have you been involved in Herut? And what would you tell people about why the Herut slate should get their vote? Well, thank you. And thank you for having us on and giving Herut some some time. I appreciate that. I look forward to hearing to the other slates also. And we do we're all part of a right-wing coalition and I don't mean right-wing hard right, but, you know, we all work together. And I like Herut and I was asked to join Herut seven or so years ago by our executive director, Carmela Feinstein Cohen, who asked me to um join Herut. I was on the 38th World Zionist Congress slate for Herut as were a few other members of our community. And after that election, I was asked if five years from now I would lead the slate. And I kept my word and I'm now leading the slate. Herut's wonderful because number one, it's a Jabotinsky movement. And if you, you know, if you study a little bit of history, Jabotinsky was a phenomenal Zionist Zionist and had some great ideas. And today, many different politicians from all parties find their political roots in the Jabotinsky Zionism. Herut was originally formed by Menachem Begin. His first party was Herut. He folded it into Likud. In the early '90s, his son, Benny Begin, left Likud and he formed Herut with a few other members of Knesset. And they also formed a Zionist party that's been around since then, since the early '90s. And Herut is in about 12 countries now. A big presence in America, in Israel, in the UK, in Canada, and um and um South America and it just um you know, doing great things. What I like about Herut is that while it's non-denominational, um it almost always votes with religious Zionist parties, which is wonderful, but it has the flexibility to do a little bit more than maybe some religious Zionist parties want to. We have probably more Jews of color on our slate than any other that we do have more Jews of color on our slate than any other um slate that I'm aware of. Um We have some We have some Jews that are religious like me. I go to the Boca Raton Synagogue. Um We have some Jews that are completely non-observant or not yet observant, but believe and respect tremendously Jewish and traditional Jewish values and religious values. And it gives us a lot of freedom and flexibility to go above and beyond what some of the purely religious slates do. That's a very interesting point. So, meaning it leans or aligns with a lot of the religious values, but it's not a it's not a formally religious group. So, it enables diversity of people who share politics and therefore might be able to advocate things that you don't have to be as restricted if you were a purely religious group. So, what what are some some of the things that Herut stands for or if if you had the opportunity to direct some of these funds to particular projects, agencies, causes, uh um um policies, where would you as the as the number one candidate on the Herut slate, where would you want to see see this money go? Sure. Sure. So, this year, and I don't think by any means Herut's alone. Combatting Originally, World Zionist Congress was made to help form a homeland in Palestine. So, that's been done. So, you wonder, why are these organizations still around since great reasons why these organizations, World Zionist Org World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemeth, the Jewish Agency, why are they still around and they still do great things. And as you mentioned before, Rabbi, there is a billion dollar plus a year budget that gets allocated once every five years at the Zionist Congress. Um So, what this year, anti-Semitism in America. This is an American election now for to send 152 Americans to the World Zionist Congress in October of 2025. Everyone is speaking and they should. Anti-Semitism on our campuses, around, you know, everywhere in America is a huge issue. And that should be one of the, you know, top things on our list where funds should be allocated for. And and just gradually, how do they do that? They send like like the same way Chabad sends their shlichim all around the world, World Zionist Organization also sends shlichim. Although, I'm told I keep on pronouncing that not in the Hebrew way, but in the Yiddish way. Shlichim. Shlichim. They will send their people out to help with whatever the allocation of funds is for and helping combat anti-Semitism, putting more people on campuses to empower students to do this. And I think we are not alone by any means in suggesting this. And this is should be a top priority. Enhancing an infrastructure in Judea and Samaria and what else needed in Israel. Again, something we can all get behind. Um We also think that post October 7th, the needs in Israel have grown also. The psychological needs. Like, are there the the resources that they need that the Israelis need? IDF and non-IDF soldiers to to deal with the emotional issues that will be with them for many years to come. That needs to be dealt with. Um, and that's a that's a good source and a good allocation of funds. Um, even things again, Aliyah. Most people should be in favor of Aliyah. We all when we registered to vote, when we registered to be candidates, we signed that we approve of the Jerusalem Program, which among other things promotes Aliyah, promotes Jewish unity. But one thing I did want to mention is Herut was successful in February of getting the Jerusalem Program amended to include um as part of the Jerusalem Program, which everyone signs on for, supporting the IDF and doing what we can as a Jewish people to recognize the IDF as the protectors of Zion, Eretz Yisrael. And if you can't be in the IDF by law, then to do national service. And that was a change to the Jerusalem Program, to the constitution of the WZO that Herut advanced and it was approved. Um I'm not sure why ZOA voted against it and some slates did, but otherwise it was approved and now it's part of the Jerusalem Program. So I'm really proud of that. That may be among the issues that some I don't know, maybe some religious or more Haredi groups can't advance or support, but we have the flexibility to to advance such a proposal. Um learning Hebrew. If I want to learn Torah, Rabbi, 24/6, I think I can go online, I think I can learn from your courses that are online. I can listen for a year without break and I think there'd still be things that I haven't gotten to. So I can learn Torah, but can I learn Hebrew? And I've tried many times. I think that um some of the funds ended part of the Jerusalem Program. Um it's our language. It's a part of our heritage. Why shouldn't every Jew be speaking Hebrew? Um, so that's something to consider. Um, but we have big issues to address and and um I would also love to see some specific counter anti-Semitism efforts directed towards the UN. And why can't we focus on that a little bit also and allocate some funding towards that because it's such such a hotbed of anti-Semitism. So those are among the things that we've been talking about and we'd like to promote at the World Zionist Congress. Yeah, those are fantastic and I think like you said, most all of us can rally around them. One one of the things I'm trying to accomplish in these conversations is to encourage people to not necessarily be so partisan in their particular party and slate, but to realize as I've come to understand and learn and I have a lot more to learn still in this area, you know, there's some competing interests in the World Zionist Congress and um it's it's about voting for the party that speaks to you, but also those that align and that coalitions can be formed because there are a lot of influences trying to direct these monies to things that are not, you know, we love all Jews and we and we practice and believe in love Jewish unity, so it's not about creating tension or conflict, but there are competing interests and some people want to see money go towards places that we feel can compromise or corrupt our Torah Jewish values or can endanger our people from our political views. And so um creating coalitions. So would would you agree to that that of course you're here to advocate for Herut and and you're number one on that slate and you've successfully recruited a lot of people in our community to be on the slate together with you. Um, but it's it's it's about Herut, but it's also about a broader coalition and at least if not voting for Herut, voting for the bigger coalition and not the other coalition. Is that is that a fair statement? 100% and by way of example, if someone was more Haredi and wanted to be on a slate, we've worked many times. I met with Rabbi Lerner a few months ago in Far Rockaway. Um, and he offered and if someone did come to Herut a little more religious than me, maybe kept kosher, no money kidding, Rabbi. Um, but but identified more with a Haredi slate, we would suggest that they contact uh Rabbi Lerner. Likewise, they have sent members to Herut because they align more, but at the end of the day almost um universally we're voting together. Um it's um a Jew of of color may feel more comfortable in Herut. A non-observant Jew may feel more comfortable, but totally otherwise aligned fundamentally um um philosophically with both a religious slate and a slate like Herut. And we do need to work together. And um it is and there are many things where across the board Jews will agree. I mean, I know it's hard to believe, but there are some issues we will agree and to the extent that it's more of a um fundamental um issue than the more right right of center. When I say right wing, it's not um we may have people on the Herut slate that were former Meir Kahane followers and people that may have really loved uh a more left of center um figure, but we come together um with the purpose of accomplishing and um finding that unity that is so important. And I think that's also part of uh World Zionist Congress, you know, 525 Jews all together figuring things out, working things out. No one goes home empty-handed. Everyone gets something. Um Yeah. Hopefully the nationalist camp, those slates that identify and we see things philosophically and we're philosophically aligned, will have a majority and I think we will as we did 5 years ago. So I think that's a a good place to leave it, which is encouraging people to to get out, register, vote. Like I said, don't be a spectator, don't be passive, don't put your destiny in other people's hands, don't complain and kvetch about policies or developments that you're frustrated by when you could have made a difference and which slate or party in particular is important, but less important than being supportive of a coalition and I hope that both in the conversations that we're having in this episode and broader than just these conversations, people can be not only partisan about the particular slate, but also be focused on the broader coalition and supportive and encouraging and and and experiencing that unity to ensure that the coalition and its interests both religious, political can advance. So Dan, thank you for your work. Thank you, Rabbi, but you should know that to me and your and your commitment to Israel, your Zionism that you always bring into our community and this is an example of it as a as a pure volunteer. You're not an employee of this of Herut or or of the World Zionist Congress or of the slate. It's just purely from your heart and with love and that's a beautiful thing. Thank you, Rabbi, and keep in mind I think your grandparents will be proud of you if you vote Herut, the Jabotinsky Movement slate 23. Well, we'll we'll definitely keep that in mind. Thank you so much, Dan. Thank you, Rabbi. Always a pleasure.