Ultra-Orthodox Judaism differs in so many ways from the general public that it is almost difficult to list them.
The four parts of the Shulchan Aruch define the division between an ultra-Orthodox Jew and his disconnected brother. However, beyond the laws of the verses and everyday practices, ultra-Orthodox Judaism is characterized primarily by its negation of Torah knowledge, or if you will, by the negation of self-choice and absolute submission to the divine commandment of "and do whatever He directs you.".
The crowning glory of obedience to the wisdom of the sages is demonstrated, of course, during election days.
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When the rest of your people Israel are hesitating between right and left, between a wise economy and the cost of living, we, the members of the Haredi public, seem to have nothing these days. This does not mean that we do not have an opinion or a view, or that our hearts do not lean towards one party platform or another, but that right here, at this very moment when your mind meets that commandment of "and do whatever he tells you" - right at that moment, it disappears, or if you will, straightens out.
We are not ashamed of it, in the knowledge of the Torah. This nullification and submission to those who are greater than us in Torah wisdom and leadership, has already proven itself throughout all generations.
Conservatism, the one that represents the path of authentic Haredi Judaism above all else and the one that has preserved us as a people against all odds and against all who rise up against us to destroy us, is always measured by accepting the leadership as it is and following the leaders of the flock almost blindly. Yiftach is in his generation as Moel is in his generation.
And yet, the power of choice has not disappeared from us, and it is what ultimately determines our leadership.
""Do for you a rabbi" is also a divine command, just like the obligation to obey him, that leader. The Haredi public, which voted until 1983 for the only Haredi party that existed at that time, received that same year, with the establishment of the Shas party by Maran Ha-Rav Yosef, ztuk"l, an additional right in its electoral power.
The division would seem to the uninitiated eye, as two different paths, the Sephardic Haredi public versus the Ashkenazi Haredi public, but this is not the truth.
It is true that the 'majority' of Shas voters were Sephardim and almost all of the G voters belonged to the Ashkenazi faction, but the differentiation began one step earlier - the Sephardim did not vote for Shas because the party members were Sephardim, and not vice versa. Each voted for the specific list they chose only because their rabbis, or if you will, their 'rabbi' (at least in Shas), decided and ordered them to do so.
The fact that hundreds of Ashkenazi Jews chose not to vote because of the instruction of their rabbi, just like the hundreds of Sephardim who did not vote for Shas or did not vote at all, also according to the instruction of a rabbi, proves that there is no line that guides you, whether you are Sephardi or Ashkenazi. There is one red line that guides every Haredi Jew, "and do whatever he instructs you" - obey your rabbi!
5775 or 5783. Even then, as today, a new channel opened up in the power of the ultra-Orthodox electorate.
The Yahad party is not Eli Yishai's party, just as Shas is not Gafni's and Shas is not Deri's movement. These three parties are three paths, but they have one and only one name - all three are "ultra-Orthodox parties.".
This sacred definition is given solely because of the origin and purpose of those parties, and for no other reason.
The party is not measured by its members, just as Shas would not have changed its face if the 'procurement people' brought back by Deri had agreed to include themselves on the list. Even then, it would still be considered an ultra-Orthodox party due to the simple fact that its leaders and sources are outstanding scholars of Torah.
Similarly, the tsitzits of Gafni and McCleb are not an issue, since their elders are the ones who are 'actually' at the top of the list. Even the new party, a Yahad party that is subject to the opinions of the great and fearless, is not measured except by its leadership, which is worthy, respected, and sacred.
From now on, therefore, when the ultra-Orthodox Jew comes to the polls and in these moments of truth, of the stage of personal nullification and complete submission to the knowledge of Torah while eliminating self, we are given the right to choose between three paths that all begin at the same point of reference and end at the same destination: the rabbinic messengers who do as their senders will, the disciples of the sages, loyal and not independent.
Shas, together or three - and you did whatever he told you.
