The holding of elections in Israel has long ceased to be an 'exciting' event. Voter turnout drops from time to time, and even ultra-Orthodox voters, who usually reach a higher turnout, do so because they understand the implications, but do not see voting as a 'reason for celebration.' In this context, it is intriguing to read the diary of Rabbi Moshe Yekutiel Alpert, born in the Jerusalem 'Batei Machsha' and a graduate of the 'Etz Chaim' Jewish High School, where he also worked as a 'teacher.'.
In 1938, Alpert received the position of Mukhtar of the Beit Israel neighborhood from the British. From the beginning of his appointment, Alpert began to keep a diary, in which he reviewed his work and the events in Jerusalem from various angles. In the next section, Alpert describes his participation in the first elections, upon the establishment of the State of Israel.
""Tuesday, 24 Tevet 5779, 25-1-49. At 5:35 in the morning, my wife and I, my brother Rabbi Shimon Leib, my brother-in-law Rabbi Netanel Sledochin and my sons Dov got up. After drinking coffee, we put on Shabbat clothes in honor of this great and holy day. For 'this is the day that God has made a revelation and we will rejoice in it.' Because after two thousand years of exile or more, it can be said that from the six days of Genesis until this day we have not been blessed with such a day, when we would go to elections for a Jewish state, and blessed that we have lived and maintained it and reached this time.".
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""My wife, my brother, and my brother-in-law went to the polling station in area 10 of Hapoel Hamizrahi, which is on Habashim Street. And all the way I walked like on Simchat Torah at the Kafet with a Torah scroll because I had the [State of] Israel identity card in my hand. There was no limit to the joy and happiness I had. At 5:50 we arrived at Hapoel Hamizrahi (according to the law, the polling station had to open at exactly 6:00 in the morning) and we were the first. Only the sun was there, the electricity was on. We asked the sun where the members of the polling station committee were? Answer: They hadn't come yet. We waited until 5:54, when two of the members of the polling station committee came, and at 6:02, the chairman of the committee came. I protested to him that he didn't come at the right time because according to the law, it had to start at 6:00.".
""The chairman apologized to me. And asked us to witness the procedure of opening the ballot box. He showed us the ballot box, which was empty, and in front of us he sealed it and tied a long rope around the box. And he tied it tightly and sealed it with wax, and wrote down all the details on it. The chairman told me that since I am the oldest man of all the people here, then I will be the first to vote. With a tremor of holiness and a sense of sacredness, I handed the chairman my identity book and he read my name from my book.".
""The deputy chairman wrote my name on paper, gave me the number 1, handed me an envelope, and I entered the second room where all the ballots for all the lists were placed. With a trembling hand and a feeling of holiness, I took one ballot from number 'B', the list of the Religious Union [United Religious Front], and put it into the envelope that I had received from the chairman. I entered the polling room again, and showed everyone that I only had one envelope, and the most sacred moment of my life arrived, that moment that neither my father nor my grandfather were privileged to have. Only I, in my time, in my life, was privileged to have such a moment of holiness and purity, blessed be I and blessed be my share! I blessed the blessing of 'Shehayinu', and put the envelope into the ballot box. I shook the hands of the chairman and the deputy, and the rest of the committee members, and left. And at 6:28 we returned home, and I went to pray, a great holiday.".
The diary was published in the book "The Diary of a Crown Prince in Jerusalem", published by Bar-Ilan University and edited by Prof. Pinchas Alpert of Tel Aviv University and Dr. Dotan Goren of Bar-Ilan University.
