United Torah Judaism deliberately included the phrase "for
the sake of Shabbos" in its official title, to stress that
the values that it promotes and defends against the hostile
herd are general Jewish values of which Shabbos is the prime
example. The election effort included various attempts to get
the message across to broad sections of Israeli society.
One such effort took place before the Shabbos preceding the
elections. It combined an appeal to vote for UTJ with an
appeal to "vote" for Shabbos by lighting Shabbos candles.
Hundreds of volunteers bearing UTJ posters arrived at the
country's main intersections on Thursday and Friday to convey
the central motif of the party: Shabbos. UTJ promotion
leaflets, accompanied by Shabbos candles, were distributed
throughout the country.
Organizer of the Shabbos command post campaign, Rabbi Chanoch
Zeidman, the director of the Election Day Headquarters, and
Rabbi Dovid Adler, said that hundreds of activists
volunteered to man the Shabbos posts throughout the country
and to distribute the candle sets.
At a special briefing held in Bnei Brak, attended by 100
avreichim, the volunteers received instructions from
Rabbi Dovid Adler and Rabbi Akiva Meir. The headquarters
distributed hundreds of thousands of Shabbos candle sets
accompanied by a letter calling every Jew to light Shabbos
candles and to help preserve Shabbos kodesh by voting
for the UTJ slate.
Hundreds of volunteers set out for central intersections in
the country, with Shabbos signs in their hands. The campaign
was held in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Haifa, Ashdod, Tel Aviv,
Hatzor, Petach Tikvah, Tiveriya, Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Gat.
The headquarters asked volunteers and car owners to take part
in this important campaign.
Another unique feature of the election campaign was the full
time headquarters established by the Belzer Torah ve'Emunah.
Geared to secular Jews, its motto was: "On behalf of UTJ and
on behalf of a Jewish state."
The headquarters provided pointed answers to the tens of
thousands of Jews who do not belong to the chareidi camp, but
declared that they are interested in a Jewish state in
Eretz Yisroel and in education geared toward Jewish
values. These citizens are convinced that this can be
achieved only by supporting UTJ, which has shown time and
again that it is the only party which abides by its
principles and safeguards the walls of religion and
Yiddishkeit in Eretz Yisroel.
Chairman of the headquarters, Rabbi Mordechai Weiss, said
that the enthusiasm to act on behalf of the UTJ slate is
amazing in its scope. Many volunteers at this headquarters
noted that it is only education for Jewish values that can
assure our future in Eretz Yisroel and our future as a
Jewish nation.
UTJ volunteers told about the unexpected support they
received in Arad. The volunteers went down to the commercial
center of the city where they set up a Shabbos table which
conveyed the motif of kedushas Shabbos. Suddenly, an
elderly woman approached them and excitedly said, "I'm not
chareidi, and not even religious, but I will vote gimmelo"h.
The woman related, with emotion, that she recalls how two
righteous women would take her aged mother to the polls in
order to vote gimmel. "This chessed made a deep
impression on me, which I will never forget," she said. She
also noted that although she isn't religious, she firmly
believes that Jewish tradition must be preserved in the
state.
Additional Shabbos stalls were set up throughout the Upper
Galilee, and were warmly hailed. The stalls, whose purpose
was to bring the message of Shabbos to the nation, were
organized by the Upper Galilee Headquarters located in the
Chassidic community of Hatzor Haglilit. A special cassette
prepared for this purpose sounded Shabbos melodies of all the
various sects and aroused much interest.
