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9 Kislev 5761 - December 6, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Zeidy Goes to Vote
by Sudy Rosengarten

It was Election Day in Israel. A heated election campaign was going on between two Torah parties. For weeks prior to elections, supporters of each party wined and dined any potential voter they could get a hold of, and in every conceivable way tried to get the promise of votes that would put their party into the legislature of Israel -- the Knesset.

The streets were full of posters, the gutters were white with all the propaganda sheets showering down from helicopters. On every street corner, young people pushed flyers into passerby's hands. Cars with loudspeakers passed to and fro all hours of the day and night, urging people to vote for their party, promising great things that their party would deliver as soon as they got into office. For weeks, the only subject discussed was elections, and the discussions were often heated enough to warrant intervention.

In the Home also, hectic preparations were underway for Election Day. But there was never any doubt as to who would get the old people's vote. The Vizhnitzer Rebbe, together with many other chassidic leaders, supported the Agudah ticket. Representatives from the Agudah party were invited to spend time with those members of the Vizhniter Old Age Home who were still undecided as to how to vote, and try to convince each one to give his vote to Agudas Yisroel. It was hard work. Most of the old people didn't hear too well and the Agudah people had to yell till they were hoarse. Some of the people were forgetful, others already senile and just blinked and smiled -- pleased with the attention -- and agreed with everything they were told, despite not having the slightest idea what it was all about.

Pa was exempt from all the activity that was going on. His Identification Card, the Teudat Zehut, without which no one could vote, could not be found. Ordinarily, the Home kept all the legal, medical and identification papers of all of their residents locked in the office safe. They couldn't figure out where Pa's certificate could be. They didn't have it. We didn't have it. Without it, Pa could not vote.

Ever since Pa had run away from military service in Russia- Poland and had become, first a citizen of Canada and later, an American citizen, Pa had always been a conscientious citizen, complying with all the country's rules and regulations. Despite his advanced age when he came to America, Pa had seriously studied all the material necessary to become an American citizen and had gone to the polls on each election day to give his vote to the candidate that the Jewish community hoped would lean towards Jewish interests.

So, when Freidy's husband, who uncharacteristically left his bench of Torah study to solicit votes for Eitz, the party that Maran Harav Shach personally endorsed [which would subsequently become Degel HaTorah], heard that Pa would be unable to vote, he figured that all was not lost; something could still be done to salvage this vote.

Yitzchok Duvid put Pa in his wheelchair and wheeled him over to Dr. B. The doctor asked Pa a few questions and then issued a statement verifying that Menachem Mendel Rosengarten, age ninety-eight, was alive and in his right mind, and that a new Identification Card should be issued to him, despite his being unable to present himself personally due to his physical limitations. The doctor stamped the statement and Yitzchok Duvid paid him his fee.

Freidy's husband wheeled Pa back to the Home and hurried on alone to the Ministry of the Interior, clutching in his hand the doctor's precious verification and request for another Identification Card for Menachem Mendel Rosengarten, before they closed for the day.

By then, Yitchok Duvid was huffing and puffing. It had been a mad undertaking for him to get Pa to the doctor, pushing him in his wheelchair over the cracked Bnei Brak pavement, sand and pebbles in the road, without bumping Pa up and down. And time was of the essence because the doctor kept strict office hours and if Yitzchok Duvid came late, he'd have missed him.

As soon as the Ministry of Interior handed him the new Identification Card that they had issued for Pa, Yitzchok Duvid sped back to the Home. Now he would take Pa for another ride in the wheelchair, all the while praying that they'd get there before the polls closed.

"Vee geit men yezt?" Pa asked between the bumps in the road.

"I'm taking you to vote."

"Far vemen?" Pa asked, turning in his wheelchair to read Yitzchok Duvid's lips when he answered.

Now this was not an easy question for Yitchok Duvid to answer. The only reason he had gone to all the trouble was to get Pa's vote for Etz. After all his hard work, he had no intention of letting Pa vote for any other party. On the other hand, Yitzchok Duvid is an honest young man and felt, in all fairness, that Pa should understand the differences between the parties. Trying to be as objective as possible, he dutifully explained to Pa what each party represented.

Pa understood, and was also still alert enough to figure out which party Yitzchok Duvid favored.

"Nu, vus ken zein shlecht mit a Torah partai?" he asked. "A party that represented Torah sounds fine. While most chassidim will vote for Agudah, I see nothing wrong in giving a new party a chance..."

They finally reached the polls. There were crowds, and policemen to see that nothing got out of hand. When Yitzchok Duvid came panting, pushing Pa in his wheelchair, everyone gaped and quickly moved aside. Yitzchok Duvid showed Pa what to do and wheeled him behind a curtain to cast his vote. Then he let out a long sigh. He had done his share for the Torah Party. He had gained them a vote!

But his joy was short-lived. News travels fast in Bnei Brak and by the time Yitzchok Duvid brought Pa back to the Home, the house-mother was standing on the outside steps, hands on hips, face aflame, waiting to greet them.

"That's some chutzpa!" she spat out. "To steal one of our people to vote for another party! This Home is Vizhnitz. Vizhnitz is Agudah! What right did you have to give his vote to Etz?"

"I worked hard for Zeidy's vote," he replied unruffled. "Had your people worked as hard, they could have had this vote first. I took nothing away from you. As far as you were concerned, Zeidy couldn't vote."

Pa kept turning from her to his grandson-in-law. "What's the argument all about?" he finally asked, seeing how furious the house-mother was. By that time, most of the family had come over. They'd been looking for Pa most of the day and whenever they came, he hadn't been around. Not in his room, the shul or the beis midrash. They had begun worrying when they saw Yitzchok Duvid pushing Pa in his wheelchair on their way back home from an adventurous day.

By then, Rivky had caught on.

"Nu, Zeidy," she said, all smiles. "Abee di zugst as di bist gurnisht vert. You're always complaining that you're not worth anything these days. But now you see it's not true! You're still worth a vote on Election Day! Just see how all the parties are fighting over you!"

 

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