Rabbi Yosef Blau was the son of Rabbi Baruch Yehuda Blau, one of the renowned and independent businessmen of Jerusalem, and the grandson of Rabbi Moshe Blau, leader of Agudat Yisrael. In his youth, he became close to Chabad and soon became a dominant and leading part in the top management of Chabad educational institutions.
For many years, he was the right-hand man of Rabbi Ephraim Wolf, the Lubavitcher Rebbe's representative in the Land of Israel, and stood at the foundation stones when Chabad institutions were established in Lod, Kfar Chabad, and in Kiryat Malachi.
During all those years, he was the living spirit in the umbrella organization of Chabad institutions throughout the country and was considered the brain behind the establishment of Chabad housing in Lod, the Nahalat Har Chabad neighborhood in Kiryat Malachi, and the development and prosperity of the yeshivots in Lod, in Kfar Chabad, in Nahalat Har Chabad, in Rishon LeZion, and more. Within this framework, he was also the director of the vocational schools in Kfar Chabad for years, where hundreds of boys were educated, who only thanks to this preserved the embers and traditions of Yisrael Saba.
Throughout all his years in all his positions, he made a huge contribution to establishing the Chabad educational kingdom in Israel.
Over the years, Rabbi Blau was elected Rabbi of the Jordan Valley Regional Religious Council. At the same time, as part of his active reserve service in the IDF, he reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
For many years he was a senior member of the Ministry of Education. In this role, he harnessed the ministry and through it all the relevant state authorities to strengthen Jewish education in the Commonwealth of Nations in establishing the Heftziva program, which laid the foundations for the establishment of the Jewish education systems that operate to this day in the Commonwealth of Nations, among other things, through the Chabad emissaries scattered throughout these countries.
He was later appointed chairman of the religious council in Kiryat Malachi, a position he held until his last day, investing heavily in the development and improvement of religious services in the city for all classes and denominations, while dealing with a serious malignant disease that ultimately ended his life.
Rabbi Blau was a model of a public figure who was devoted to the Lubavitcher Rebbe with all his heart and worked tirelessly to uphold and carry out his instructions throughout the years, leaving behind his personal interests and dedicating days and nights to the common good and the individual.
During his illness, he wrote his memoirs for his sons and descendants. The chapter published here on the Haredim 10 website for the first time, with partial omissions, recounts the "stinking exercise" affair that shook the country exactly 35 years ago, and the "disgusting exercise" affair that followed it - and shook Chabad Hasidism with a severe jolt.
Chapter One: The Turbulent Events
I am writing this chapter for you, my dear and beloved sons and descendants. But please do not forget and take it to heart, because this chapter is nevertheless different from my memoirs. It is different because in reviewing for you the sequence of events of those days, I must state a proper disclosure: unlike the details that I have described so far, in the previous chapters - in which I mentioned events and happenings in which I was active and involved in every detail and a partner in making decisions and implementing them; here I have no choice but to rely on processes and details, most of them from the chronological and meticulous documentation, written by the director of the contacts, my important friend, the Grand Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Aryeh Leib Kaplan.
This is due to the fact that, as mentioned, I was not involved in these processes, although I knew about some of them and was updated by Rabbi Kaplan both about the surprising connections that were forged with figures from the political swamp and about his guidance and special holy tortures that he was privileged to receive from the Rebbe in real time and throughout the process. In fact, Rabbi Kaplan shared with me more than once his struggles and thoughts, while walking the path most hated and alienated for a true Chabad activist: the Israeli political arena.
Ask, what is it to me anyway; why do I choose to add a chapter to my memoir, if the things are not related to my actions and I was not involved in them? This is the question that this chapter raises.
To you, my dear descendants, I would like to present the affair that, although it was associated with my name, has never been and remains foreign and distant from my world and the treasure of my memories and history to this day.
And this is the story of the 1959 incident, days that will probably be remembered as a period of low point in the annals of Chabad public activity in the Holy Land.
Below we will attempt to compile, in an orderly and meticulous manner, the sequence of turbulent events in which a self-interested group of honor-hungry, small-statured people, from the edge of the active avenue, succeeded in shattering with a loud noise the majestic, honorable and supreme image of Chabad activity, which was acquired with great wisdom, dedication and diligence, by exemplary Kama figures who were recruited by the Rebbe to serve in the holy place in the early years and did so with true dedication, faith and miraculous talent.
In the following lines, we will try to reconstruct the events of those days one by one.
Elections 1989
At the end of the month of Tishrei 5789, something happened in Israel. For the first time since the establishment of the state - and since the founding of the Chabad Kingdom - Chabad took a clear political action and acted explicitly, openly and clearly in favor of a party in the Israeli elections.
The campaign began on Hoshana Rava 5789, nearly a month before the elections, when suddenly a clear instruction came from the Rebbe to Rabbi Ephraim Wolf - chairman of the Chabad Chassidim Association - according to which "in an exceptional manner" Chabad must support and work for the success of the Agudat Yisrael list that G.
A version was published in public (I do not pretend to endorse the reliability of the words, but that is how it was published) to the following effect: "Chabad members and Chabad activists should put themselves in the thick of the action to ensure that as many people as possible vote for the party indicated by C."
This precedent-setting ruling was preceded by a saga unlike any that Haredi Judaism had known until then. Previously, the head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva had established a subsidiary faction that he called the 'Organization of the Children of Torah' (abbreviated as ABT), and soon began negotiating with the parent party in which he was then active, under the official justification: the time had come to put an end to the deprivation of the "Avrechim Children of Torah" - and demanded more prominent representation for this group within Agudat Israel.
Of course, as the negotiations between the ABT and the heads of Agudat Israel progressed, it became clear that the real interest revolved around one axis: to regain control of the Agudat Israel newspaper "Hamodia" - and within the framework of this control, a goal was set: under no circumstances will the name "Chabad" be mentioned in the pages of the newspaper, in any form or way.
Agoyi activists were embarrassed.
Near the time of closing the lists and submitting them for the elections, it was announced that the Rebbe of Wisznitz (author of 'Yeshuot Moshe' zt"l) did not agree to give his hand to this, and by virtue of his role as president of the Council of Torah Sages - he spoke out (according to the publications) and said: "I will not give my hand to the boycott of a holy community from Israel." The Council of Torah Sages will oppose this disqualification and the polarization within the Hasidic community.
At that time, the signal was given for the establishment of a new party, Degel HaTorah, headed by Avraham Ravitz and Moshe Gafni. And immediately afterwards, as mentioned, the same decree was issued, like thunder on a clear day, in which the Rebbe "was not left in debt."
Either way, the result was that Chabad followers mobilized with all their might and with the utmost passion for the success of the Agudat Israel list - and the result at the end of election day was astonishing and demonstrated to all the power and great influence of Chabad in Israeli public life.
In fact, despite the withdrawal of the party's Lithuanian supporters, G won five seats. For the first time, and the only time in its history, Agudat Yisrael received votes in cities and districts where there is no haredi foothold. Degel Hatorah, with enormous effort, managed to get two seats into the Knesset, and this was as a result of a surplus agreement it signed with Shas.
At this point, I would like to point out, to remove any doubt: to the best of my knowledge, and in light of clear and unequivocal information that has reached me, Chabad's so intense involvement in the elections was not in line with the will of God and the Rebbe's initial instruction. I am aware of first-hand evidence of explicit statements by the Rebbe that things have moved away from the original position the Rebbe was aiming for.
One of the references that can be cited in this regard is the words of the secretary, Rabbi Benjamin Klein, who said that in the winter of 1992 – when initial preparations began to be made for the 1992 elections (which took place in the summer of that year, on the 22nd of Sivan) and politically-enthusiastic elements from the fringes of our camp tried to prepare again for the upcoming elections and open up contacts, and even drag Chabad back into the electoral fray, the Rebbe stopped them.
In any case, under private supervision and without regard to Chabad involvement - which did not yet exist - a Chabad Hasid named Rabbi Eliezer Mizrahi was placed at the bottom of the Agudat Israel list for the Knesset. Agudat Israel activists placed him in fifth place, which was considered far away and out of electoral range, even in the opinion of the optimists among them...
The reason was that his late father, Rabbi Yaakov Mizrahi, served as a member of Knesset on behalf of the AGO. His identity therefore met the profile they were looking to place on the fringes of the list, in an unrealistic position: both as a figure who could be presented as the flesh and blood of the party, the son of someone who actually served as a MK in the party, and also as a son of Yemenite immigrants, whose placement might appeal to a traditional Mizrahi public.
As mentioned, placing him in fifth place was at a time when no one imagined that AGI would receive five seats - they didn't even dream of four or three seats at the time.
However, as mentioned, the Hasidim had the upper hand, and as the battle raged, a huge faction emerged (in the terms of those days): Agudat Yisrael had five seats, and MK Rabbi Eliezer Mizrahi also entered the Knesset.
A prize lurks on the sidelines.
The elections were over, the time had come to form a government, and it was quite clear that the head of the largest faction, Yitzhak Shamir of the Likud, had the power and ability to form a narrow right-wing government with the participation of only the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox factions.
In practice, Shamir preferred to form a unity government with the "Maaraj" (the previous incarnation of the "Labor" party), with him serving as Prime Minister and Shimon Peres as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister.
After the formation of the unity government headed by Shamir, there was keen anticipation for the long-awaited amendment to the 'Who is a Jew?' law. This was an unequivocal demand, placed on the agenda by the Agudat Yisrael faction and included in the coalition agreement.
However, Prime Minister Shamir did not provide cover for this commitment. And the one who noticed this, with his skilled political senses, was his deputy and political rival, Shimon Peres, who was not given any rest by the political germ and was looking for a way to scramble the cards and seize the premiership for himself.
In those days, Chabad found itself in an unexpected place. It had a rare political success under its belt; it was clear that it had given the Agoy no less than three mandates - enormous power in terms of Israeli politics of the 1980s.
Should we demand anything in return? Opinions were divided, with some believing that Chabad should continue to be involved in what is happening and others believing that we should disengage and return to the realms of neutral action.
With the knowledge, and apparently with the Rebbe's consent, a committee of activists was established to sit on the bench to examine whether and what Chabad's demands were from Agudat Israel. The rabbi of Kfar Chabad, Rabbi Mordechai Ashkenazi, was at the head of that committee, when above the surface there was only one demand: amending the law on who is a Jew.
What was the reason for Shamir's refusal and evasion of fulfilling his express obligations on the matter? It is difficult to determine clearly today. It may have been the result of tremendous pressure from Diaspora Jewry and influential figures who prevented him from amending the law. I remember that a rumor also circulated at the time that Shamir had been given an unwritten "will" by his political patron and predecessor in office, Menachem Begin, who instructed him not to amend this law under any circumstances.
One way or another, the one who recognized the opportunity and, with his keen senses, rushed to advance his political ambition under the cover of the matter, was Peres - who found a pretext to re-create a partnership with the Haredi public, so that when the time comes, he could also occupy the prime minister's throne through their representatives.
He crafted the plan slowly, while sitting in a highly influential position as Minister of Finance, in whose hands the state's budgets are.
Next episode: An encounter with an unfamiliar field - politics
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