In recent months, the new chairman of Torah Judaism, Yitzhak Goldknopf, plowed the country lengthwise and widthwise. He saw the task of the list’s success in the elections as a personal duty to the ultra-Orthodox public, which was groaning under the outgoing government.
Without skipping almost any circle or community, he worked to close corners, connect communities, establish headquarters and create solutions for crises that arose from time to time.
His assistants say that they received messages and emails from him for treatment even in the wee hours of the night – on issues related to the success of the fateful campaign for ultra-orthodox Judaism – when already in the morning he asks for answers and reports on where things stand.
Every day in the last months, often accompanied by his close advisor Muti Babchik, he visited the homes of his messengers, the rebbes and leaders of Hasidic courts. He humbly asked for their blessing and prayers for success in his role to represent ultra-Orthodox Judaism in the Knesset.
The day of the election began after the morning prayer and the study in the fellowship, at the residence of the Rebbe Magor, to give thanks and be blessed in preparation for the fateful campaign, for the continued prosperity of the world of Torah, for the well-being of the children of Torah, and for the raising of the fund of Hasidism.
From there, he continued straight to the polling stations next to the large Beit Midrash ‘Gor’ on Yeremiahu Street, in the ‘Zvia’ studio. To the many media outlets gathered there he said: “I hope that today by God’s will we will be able to put an end to the suffering the ultra-orthodox public went through during the last year – the Lapid and Lieberman government.” He urged the public to go out and vote and beware of indifference.
When he put the envelope in the ballot box he said: “Hirini fulfills the mitzvot to hear the voice of the sages, to sanctify the heavens there!”
At the end of the voting, the chairman of Torah Judaism went to Agudath Israel’s central headquarters on nearby Brandeis Street, where the headquarters directors Yossi Deitch and Yanaki Berger presented him with the map of the divisions by communities and the real-time voting data by polling stations in each city.
Goldknopf spoke by phone with a number of representatives across the country whose job it is to enter the data into the central headquarters, and asked them to update on any slowdown in the rate of voting. Before continuing to the next destination, he spoke to the activists at the headquarters: “It is exciting to see our dedicated activists, who give their heart and soul for the fateful campaign, we must give a lot of honor to heaven.”
Before leaving the headquarters, he called the groom, it was his wedding day, to make sure he went out to vote as instructed by the elders of Israel.
The next stop was at the central headquarters of Torah Judaism in Tellez-Stone. There he met with the head of the council Yitzhak Ravitz and together they encouraged the activists to exhaust the voting percentages in the settlement. At the end of the visit, he joined the statement of Degal HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni to work for the expansion of the settlement with the establishment of the government, with the aim of helping to solve the housing crisis in the area.
At the central headquarters in Beit Shemesh, he met with the representatives of the working ultra-Orthodox, and expressed his admiration for their dedication to the campaign: “As I promised in my meeting with you last week, immediately after the elections I will appoint a representative in my office to coordinate all your inquiries, I will be your representative in the Knesset.”
From there he continued to visit the “Shulchan Hashabbat” station that the Shabbat headquarters had established near the polling stations and showered him with compliments on the project. The next stop – the Vizhnitz Chassidim headquarters in Ashdod, where for the first time data were seen that reflected the trend later in the day in all the ultra-Orthodox concentrations. “I am happy to see the high percentage of votes you have, you are neatly following the order of the Rebbe.” Between tours of the staff, he went up to be blessed by the Rebbe of Magor.
During his visit to Nachalat Har Chabad in Kiryat Malachi, he was informed about a slowdown in the rate of voting. He spoke with the community’s businessmen and the local Torah Judaism activists, reiterating that it looks like it’s going to rain, which will prevent many from going out and voting and asked to speed up the C voters as much as possible to advance the voting time.
The headquarters in Tel Aviv and Petah were also closely monitored, when the day of the elections concluded at the control and control center of Agudat Israel in Bnei Barak, to which the data flowed from all over the country. The headquarters managers briefed the chairman of the list on the truth data.
Goldknopf told the managers of the headquarters that pleasant surprises are expected because Gur followers are active among new audiences and according to the data in his possession there is no reason why Torah Judaism should not reach 8 mandates.
He ended his busy day with an emotional speech, after learning of the results. He stated his intentions to help the ultra-Orthodox education system, to lower the cost of living and to help in the housing sector. He mentioned again his promise to help the settlement and to stand by the settlers in Judea and Samaria, and signed with a prayer for the privilege of being a faithful messenger to the elders of Israel and the people of Israel.