During the days leading up to the US presidential elections
and of course Election Day itself Betzalel Wolf, voter
registration coordinator for Agudas Yisroel of America, had
his hands full as he worked feverishly to get the voters out
to the polls. He was the person to turn to for all Aguda
members seeking information or assistance in casting their
vote.
An initiative to get voters out of their house and to the
polling places was active for two months, but during election
week it went into high gear. During the course of the project
over 8,000 citizens in Orthodox communities around the US
registered to vote. Although the campaign focused primarily
on New York and New Jersey, efforts spanned the country with
the support of Aguda's eight regional offices across the
US.
Aguda also worked to locate potential US voters living
outside the United States, in large part through a
gemach for US citizens sponsored by a section of
Agudas Yisroel of America's Office of Government Affairs and
run by R' Aaron Spetner. Along with other organizations he
managed to register 10,000 Americans living and learning in
Eretz Yisroel, enabling them to exercise their right to vote
— even from another continent.
Spetner worked to drive home the message that "every vote
counts." The act of voting is meaningful and important, a
fact gedolei Yisroel have acknowledged. In 5745 (1984)
HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt"l wrote that since hakoras
hatov is a fundamental principle of Judaism, every Jewish
citizen has an obligation to participate in the democratic
process that preserves the liberties we benefit from.
HaRav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt"l noted that politicians
carefully assess the number of votes they receive in every
district. Their policies, decisions and willingness to help
our communities are based on these findings. The fact we vote
shows our government representatives that our community cares
and should not be overlooked.
Recently letters have been issued by gedolei Yisroel
in Eretz Yisroel, including Maran HaRav Eliashiv
shlita, on the importance of voting in the US
elections, and in Brooklyn prominent rabbonim issued a kol
korei encouraging Jews to register and vote.
Agudas Yisroel worked hard to spread this message through
ads, letters to unregistered voters, drawings held in
schools, enlisting the help of local rabbonim and the tried-
and-true method of door-to-door canvassing.
