First publication in Haredim 10: After Oren Mizrahi, a representative of the Chabad community in the Agudat Israel faction in the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad, decided to defect from the faction and join the municipal coalition of Mayor Yehuda Butbul - a 'preventive order' was issued tonight (Sunday) at the request of the chairman of the 'Shlomi Emunim' faction, MK Meir Porush, and the heads of the Hasidic communities in Elad.
The order is signed by the rabbi, Rabbi Mendel Shafran, from the court of Rabbi Landa.
Mizrahi's agreement to join the mayor's coalition with Shas is supposed to enable the conduct of the municipal coalition and lead to the appointment of Yaakov David Berkowitz, a representative of the Vizhnitz community who defected from the AGO, to the position of deputy mayor.
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The move leaves former mayor Israel Porush and Pini Gross, representatives of Shlomi Emunim, out.
Now, after the signing of the agreement, Mayor Butbul's coalition includes the Shas factions, the two main factions of the Agudat Israel faction, and Religious Zionism.
The move by the Chabad representative on the city council was made in accordance with the decision of the community's rabbi, the rabbi Shneur Zalman Yaroslavsky. But what led the rabbi to make the decision, which many in Chabad and the Shlomi Emunim faction call "betrayal"? Rumors claim that along with many concessions offered to the Chabad community in the signed agreement, pressure and threats were also applied. The rabbi's associates deny this.
Either way, the dramatic step outrages quite a few Chabad followers in the city.
In a message posted in Chabad groups, one of them wrote: "I cannot ignore the attempt to harm Rabbi Srulik Porush just to justify a move that is all blasphemy and Chabad. Anyone who is even slightly familiar with Chabad's activities in the city over the past decade knows very well what Porush has done for its needs. Where else have you heard of a mayor who initiated and raised donations to build synagogues in the city, raising 600,000 shekels from one donor, and also assists in all the fundraising evenings?
""Rabbi Yaroslavsky spoke at a synagogue two weeks ago on Shabbat and said that he was grateful to Srulik Porush, who traveled with him to the United States to bring money, a donation to a synagogue. When they returned, the rabbi wanted to pay him the flight expenses and Srulik refused. How can one betray him like that after something like that?"
""Anyone who looks at the prospectus published before the elections, and I don't think you'll find a single word of falsehood there, will remember a little of what was done here for Chabad: building 6 kindergarten classrooms, building 6 dormitory classrooms, allocating to the yeshiva and helping to complete the building of the yeshiva's magnificent complex, personal assistance to dozens of families throughout the year and on holiday eves, an investment of one million shekels in the institution's campus and in renovations, a huge jump in the budget for community events and allocations to the Chabad house, the synagogue, and more.".
""In Chabad, gratitude is a fundamental value. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rabbi Srulik Porush, who catapulted Chabad in Elad decades forward. It is forbidden in any way to lend a hand to harming him and to a move that is entirely blasphemous!""
One of the community's rabbis' close associates explains, in a conversation with Haredim 10, what led to the decision: "Chabad marched with Porosh for 10 years. Even in the last elections, even though it seemed that the chances of him winning were low, we went with him to the end. Even after the elections, we continued to wait for moves that would cause Porosh to enter the coalition. But that didn't happen, and in the meantime, the understanding had formed that if Chabad withers outside and Degel enters - everyone would take revenge on Chabad. Therefore, with no choice, the rabbi made the decision, together with the community's leadership, to enter the coalition and save the institutions.".
Regarding the rumors that there was pressure and even threats, he says: "Some pressed, but there was also pressure from the other side. In the end, the understanding was formed that this was a retrospective move and there was no choice but to sign. True, we love Srulik very much, we have gratitude towards him, no one denies that Porush provided the community with many things, but in the end there is reality and we have to come to terms with it. Now Chabad has received an agreement with many, many honorable achievements.".
He claims, "If Chabad had not entered the coalition, Degel would have entered and accepted everything.".
A senior member of Shlomi Emunim says, in response to Haredim 10: "Nonsense, all the negotiations were conducted together with Degel. Now Chabad has also harmed the Hasidic public - Oren Mizrahi is sitting on their votes and on Degel. This is a desecration of Chabad.
""The Chabad community in Elad doesn't have a single claim against Yisrael Porush. The rabbi himself talks about a donation of 600,000 shekels that Srulik brought him from a donor in the US.".
""There is no justification for this to take justice for themselves. A Likud MK is not resigning to the Labor Party because he is now sitting in the opposition. Shas does not want to give anything to Degel and Agoy, now that they have a coalition they will not give anything either. Concern? The fact that no one joined. That is called betrayal! You received everything for ten years - daycare centers, kindergartens, buildings, allocations, budgets, donations.".
The senior official adds and accuses: "You are sitting on the votes of the Hasidic public, not even on your mandate. How are you capable of doing such a thing? Porush took care of you for 10 years, now you have shed his blood and left the Hasidic and Lithuanian public with nothing!""
