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Keeping KedushasYerushalaYim!

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Keeping Kedushas YerushalaYim!

maKing a difference at the Jerusalem municipal

electionsIf you are a resident of Jerusalem, owner or renter, you’ll soon be receiving a distinctive lavender-colored rectangular envelope in the mail emblazoned with the official-looking lion seal of the City of Jerusalem. This is the Arnona, the city property tax, and when you’ll remove the perforated seals and peer inside, you’ll see that you owe the City of Jerusalem something in the order of several thousand shekels. For most of us this would be a disaster if not for the significant discounts the city currently offers to those who can prove they don’t earn enough.

I say currently because it’s not yet clear weather these discounts will continue. According to Rabbi Yosef Deutch, a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council, whether or not the city will continue to offer that discount in the upcoming five years depends upon how many members of the Gimmel party are voted in at the Tuesday, October 22nd Municipal elections. And that in turn depends upon how many religious Jerusalem residents come out to cast their ballots.

“people need to understand”

R’ Deutch said in an interview with Yerushalayim Shelanu, “that in the upcoming elections, it will be decided whether they are going to be able to come down to the Municipality and get a discount on property taxes as it has been until now, or if they will be [as the saying goes,] ‘tossed down the stairs’.”

What do they do for you?

Like many Anglos, I have an image in my mind of politicians as slick, baby-kissing manipulators interested only in their own power. In researching what the Gimmel party has done for the residents of Jerusalem however, a very different image has emerged – that of humble public servants whose sole interest in power is in order to be able to better help their constituents.

Take, for example, the cases of the overflow of school-aged children in the Har Nof and Ramot neighborhoods. New

facilities were needed – badly – and as these are religious neighborhoods, the knock came to the door of the Gimmel party members on the Council.

Ramot resident Moshe Cohen explains “Rav Pindrus, Rav Kellerman, and Rav Gura [of the Gimmel party] pushed the whole thing through. They cleared the red tape. They found the money for us. They put up new buildings for those children.”

Cohen tells of a time when Ramot was filling with garbage. ”No one was cleaning Ramot. The cars couldn’t go in and the whole neighborhood was filthy. There are a lot of small alleyways, so the city was saying ‘It’s private property; we won’t clean it” But it wasn’t private property; it was public. It was Yossi Deutch [of the Gimmel party] who got them to send in

workers to clean it up.”

These are only a handful of stories picked from a rich legacy of hard work on behalf of religious Jerusalem residents. “Each of the council members has an average of 30 to 40 requests for help per day,” said Rabbi Yitzchak Pindrus, Deputy Mayor. “We help people get permission to extend their buildings, to deal with bureaucracy, to pay taxes, to solve Chinuch issues. The more seats we occupy, the more money we have available,

and therefore the more power and influence we have to get things done on behalf of the religious community.”

in the Board room

“Help us make the minyan”, the campaign slogan of the Gimmel party, doesn’t refer to shacharis or mincha. Rather, R’ Pindrus explains, it means that if there will be enough votes for Gimmel, then Gimmel will be allowed two more members on the board. Combined with the other religious parties, that will make a majority coalition of religious members.

For the past five years, the number of Gimmel members, eight, have left the religious faction just short of a coalition. For that reason, when the Mayor and anti-religious members of the committee have spent the budget in ways that are antithetical to Torah, the religious members have been powerless to stop it.

Rabbi Yitzchak Pindrus (L) and Rabbi Yossi Deutch (R), senior members of the Jerusalem City Council

Keeping Kedushas YerushalaYim!

“Three months ago,” explains R’ Pindrus, “they succeeded in opening a tourist center at the old train station, with restaurants and events – all running on Shabbos.” Referring to the scheduled opening of a giant multi-screen Cinema City movie complex that would also run on Shabbos, R’ Pindrus says “If we will, with Hashem’s help, be able to secure another two seats, we can prevent this from happening, and we may even be able to overturn what they’ve done already … they won’t even come up to the city hall with ideas like that.”

“What they’re trying to do by opening this old train station

center on Shabbos,” says Rabbi Shmuel Machlis, Political Consultant to Gimel, “is to create a whole new non-religious demographic in Jerusalem. A community starts small and expands, and that’s what they have in mind.”

more power to them

As approximately 1,500 new English speaking Olim fill Jerusalem’s streets each year, the voice of the English-speaking community continues to rise, and the public servants like Rabbi Yitzchak Pindrus continue to answer the call.

“For the English-speaking community,” R’ Pindrus said, “we opened up subsidized English-speaking Ganim. We want to put more money towards things that will benefit the English speaking community. There are two American members [of Gimel] on the council, myself and Rabbi Halberstam. We’re here to help.”As one insightful immigrant noted, “In America, the Chinese

What is the Jerusalem municipality all about?

Concentrated in Safra Square near the geograph-ic center of the city, the Municipality of Jerusalem serves approximately 801,000 residents. Education, culture, health, social, infrastructure, water and sani-tation are among the areas under the Municipality’s jurisdiction. A hotline that handles all complaints relevant to the city is in continuous service and can be reached at Moked 106.Political power is distributed, through a system of checks and balances, among the Mayor, the City Council, and the National Ministry of the Interior. The main sources of income for the city are prop-erty taxes, payments for use of services, tolls, in-come from assets and grants from the central gov-ernment. In 2011, a total of 2,271 individuals made Aliyah to Jerusalem.

how do the municipal elections work?

When are the elections? This year, municipal elec-tions will be held on Tuesday 22 October, 2013. They will not take place again for another five years.

immigrant you respect is the one who attempts to understand the American people and culture and get

involved.” Similarly, each English speaking resident in Israel has a unique contribution to make, one which can be felt this upcoming October 22nd at the Jerusalem Municipal elections.

A boys school in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem, that was built thanks to the efforts of the Gimmel Party

Keeping Kedushas YerushalaYim!

1Yitzchak Ze’ev pindrus

-42 years old, Resident of the Jewish Quarter-Deputy Mayor & Former Mayor of Beitar Illit-Chairman of the Gimmel Party-Outstanding spokesman of Torah-true Judaism-Personable, accessible, fluent English speaker-Head of Department of Sanitation and Department of Chareidi Education-Vast expertise in budgetary bylaws to combat anti-religious initiatives and successfully obtaining urgently needed funding for Torah causes-Directly responsible for the building of hundreds of additional classrooms throughout the city-Graduate of Aderet Eliyahu (Zilberman)

2

Yosef deutch-Seven years of experience working for us in the municipality-Head of Department of Infrastructure

-Sourced vast funding and oversaw the infrastructure works to improve and transform the Geula, Zichron Moshe and Keren Avraham neighborhoods-Allocated 200 million Shekels for building and repair of streets and public parks all over the city-Responsible for thousands of building and addition licenses including more than 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo alone-Oversaw the approval of thousands of housing units throughout Jerusalem-Handles hundreds of requests regarding construction, taxes, and other issues every single month-Member of Agudath Yisroel and District Planning and Building Committee

3Yisroel Kelerman-More than 20 years of experience in the Jerusalem Municipality-Served for 13 years as Assistant toR’ Uri Maklev, former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem-Senior advisor to R’ Uri Lupolianski, Former Jerusalem Mayor-Deputy Chairman of the Planning and Building Committee-Handles hundreds of inquiries a

"meet the minYan"Our ten men are known, through years of selfless public service, as accessible to the individual and will-

ing and able to help the community, in strict adherence to the words of our rabbanim, shlita.

With enough votes for the gimmel party cast this coming tuesday october 22, our men will be empow-ered to fill ten seats on the Jerusalem Municipal Council and thereby form an “invincible coalition” with the members of the other religious parties. only if we have at least ten seats, will they be able to fully

protect the values of the torah-loyal residents of Jerusalem from the efforts of the anti-religious mem-bers of the council.

month in all fields and specializes in the area of apartment expansions-Instrumental in allocation of two million shekels for building and expansion of religious facilities-Musmach of Yeshivas Ponovitch and Ateres Yisroel

4Yochanan Weitzman-Son of the Dayan Reb Yosef Meyer Weizmann Shlita and noted Talmid Chacham in his own right, served as Rosh Kollel in Jerusalem’s “Ner Aryeh” Kollel-Well known as someone who helps anyone who turns to him-Vast experience and well known expert in “Children at Risk” issues-Successful businessman with reputation of being scrupulous in monetary halachos-Member of Agudath Yisroel in Jerusalem-Uses a balanced approach that encourages self-sufficiency as well as expressing compassion for those in difficult situations -Grandson of “Ba’al haSulam” and of

Keeping Kedushas YerushalaYim!

R’ Elazar Hendeles, renowned activist and founder of the Chareidi suburbs of Ashdod and Tel Aviv

5michel helberstam-Fluent English speaker & known as a “man of action” who knows how to get things done, and as a man of great compassion-Among the founders and builders of Kiryat Belz in Jerusalem & Ashdod communities-Trusted confidant of the Admor of Belz Shlit”a - in getting issues put on the public agenda-Works hard for the needs of the individual and the community.

6eliezer rauchberger-Chairman of the Community Council in Har Nof-Known as the “right hand man” of the Degel HaTorah faction in the Knesset-Senior reporter for Hebrew Yated Ne’eman & Shluchei d’Rabannan to the public-Instrumental in the building of synagogues and Battei Medrash-Dedicated to the dissemination of Torah and Torah ideals-Deeply dedicated and involved in the care and upkeep of eiruvin and mikvaos-Vast experience in the kashrus field-Musmach of Hebron Yeshiva in Givat Mordechai

7Ya’akov halperin-Chairman of the Agudath Yisroel in Jerusalem-Known to give personal attention to all sectors, without bias -Head of Infrastructure Development and Public Lighting Department-Serves on the Finance, Conservation and Land Distribution Committees -Known as a loyal supporter to Torah Institutions-Official Chabad Rabbi in Jerusalem

8shlomo rosenshtein-Served for 12 years as Principal of Beit HaSefer haTorani in Jerusalem-Heavily involved in outreach-Serves already for 17 years as editor of popular weekly newsletter Misaviv laShulchan-Member of boards of “Dirshu” and“‘Acheinu ‘-Author of Haparsha haMechanechet and eight volumes of Chizuk-Served for two tenures as Chairman of the Jerusalem Municipality Support Committee, funding educational institutions, social welfare institutions and chesed organizations-Responsible for the new bus lines that serve Northern Jerusalem neighborhoods-Vizhnitz Chassid & musmach of PonovitchYeshiva and Kolel Toras Moshe

9moshe goreh-Resident of Sanhedriya Murchevet & among the founders of the Mishkan Esther synagogue-Principal of Yeshivat Beit Shmuel, Jerusalem -Senior advisor and supporter of Degel HaTorah party since its inception-Known as “the address” to turn to for help-Musmach of Ponovitch Yeshiva

10shmuel miller-33 years old, Head of the Yeshivas Kovno in Jerusalem-Founder and chairman of ‘Da’as – Merkazei T’chvina v’hachana” which assists children of Kollel families who are struggling in the education world and need professional help, support and guidance-Head of “M’vakshei Hashem” working in promting the education and care of teenagers on the fringe -Board member of Degel haTorah, Jerusalem-Helped with various infrastructure needs of the Chareidi community and strengthened Torah growth in Jerusalem in the past few years -Heavily involved with Department of “Economic Growth and Chesed” in Jerusalem.-Member of the local Community Council of Givat Shaul, Kiryat Moshe, Mordot, Bayit Vegan and Givat Mordechai-Graduate of Hebron Knesset Yisroel Yeshiva

Keeping Kedushas YerushalaYim!

rabbi pindrus, What do you see as the main difference between your job serving the public [as mayor] in Beitar illit and your job serving the public in Jerusalem?

It’s essential to understand that there is a significant difference between [Jerusalem and] religious cities like Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit, etc. When I served in Beitar, I was free to operate and lead according to the policies that were amenable to the entire city, because the staff of the government was comprised of people like you and me – those who fear Hashem – which in turn reflected the attitude of the rest of the city. In Jerusalem, our work as part of the religious faction is much more complex and sensitive because we are working opposite other sectors. [In Jerusalem,] if each one of us will not be concerned for the strength of the religious faction and its power to act, then it will be, challilah, like we are shooting ourselves in the legs.”

rabbi deutch, do you feel the religious sector of the city is involved enough in the municipality, or do you feel they should be more involved?

“I feel it’s important that I speak openly. As of this moment, I do indeed see a spirit of volunteerism spreading, but I still don’t see the necessary passion; there exist alarming islands of indifference in our community. It is important for people to realize and understand that we are up against tycoons who are pouring out money like water. One of them ran a campaign under the slogan ‘Free Jerusalem from Chareidization’. They use alarmism and intimidation; everything is Kosher in their eyes. To our great dismay, at this moment, not every Jerusalem resident from our camp is aware of and concerned about the

Who votes?You are eligible to vote if you are at least 17 years old on the day of elections, registered as a Jeru-salem resident, either as a תושב or as a holder of a תעודת זהות, by September 12, 2013. (Note: hold-ers of a student visa are not permitted to vote). Additionally, you must not have been registered as a resident at a different address (in a different municipal district) that had elections in the past 18 months.

Where to vote?Each voter is sent a “voter notification” (הודעה -hoda’a l’bocher) which tells you the ad / לבוחרdress of your polling place, whether it is hand-icapped-accessible, and hours of operation. Sol-diers, active and called-up reservists, can vote at their bases. Handicapped individuals can vote at a handicapped-accessible polling place (call 1-800-800-508 for a list), even if it is not their assigned polling place.

What to Bring? A valid, unexpired photo Identification: the only acceptable options are an Israeli identification card (תעודת זהות / teudat zehut), an Israeli driver’s license, and an Israeli passport.

how to Vote?You will cast two separate ballots, one for Mayor and a second for a list of candidates for city coun-cil. You will choose a yellow slip of paper for your choice for Mayor, which you will put in a yellow envelope and drop in the box. You will choose a white slip of paper for a list of candidates for City Council, which you will put in a white envelope and drop in the box.

terrible danger that’s facing us. I’m not just hyping up the issue. These are facts about which Rabbi Pindrus and I, as the heads of the Gimmel party, are knowledgeable and concerned.”

SPEAKING WITH"GIMMEL" LEADERSHIP

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Want someone Who listens ?

on october 22, every vote counts!

constantly working on making the city council more accessible to you, gimmel is committed to addressing the needs and

concerns of all Jerusalem residents.

Gimmel is dedicated to our community by: Preserving Arnona discounts Improving infrastructure Upgrading school facilities Supporting Chessed organizations Creating jobs

W H O D O W E VOT E F O R ?

Rabbi Yitzchak BerkovitsSanhedria HaMurchevet 113/27Jerusalem, Israel 9770702-5813847

יצחק שמואל הלוי ברקוביץ ראש רשת הכוללים לינת הצדק

113/27 סנהדרי’ה המורחבת

ירושלם ת“ו

Yerushalaim, 13 Cheshvan, 5774

Dear Friends lay”t,

This Tuesday, Yud Cheis b’Cheshvan, municipal elections are scheduled to be held in Yerushalaim, and your participation is important.

A strong representation on the city council means that our needs will be considered by the municipality. A weaker representation leaves us with little hope of the allocation of resources for the growing needs of our sector. In the balance is the allocation of land for mikvaos, yeshivos, shuls, ganim, schools and community centers. This election could determine whether our neighborhoods will be allowed to expand, or if construction permits for the Charedi public will be buried in the bureaucracy. Will anyone take interest in the maintenance of our roads, cleanliness of our streets, and the providing of parks for our children to play in? Not to mention funding for ganim and subsidies for talmudei Torah, schools and educational projects.

And above all, who will determine the image of Yerushalaim, the heart of our people? Will we witness Chas v’sholom the further secularization of the Ir Hakodesh, or will Yerushalaim serve as a spiritual light to all Yidden?

In the past few years, our representatives have bravely protected the rights of the chutzniktzibbur in the educational system, and are certainly deserving of our support.

To our dismay, this upcoming election also includes a challenge to the leadership of the Olam haTorah. Your vote is crucial in standing up for the stability and stature of the position of manhig hador. Every ballot cast for “GIMMEL” is a statement of support for our manhigim.

Many of you who are not Israeli citizens may be erroneously assuming that you do not have the right to vote. I strongly urge that you check with local representatives to determine whether or not you can vote.

May we be zocheh to siyata diShmaya in caring for the future of our community, and live to see the rebuilding of Yerushalaim and the Geula Sheleimah bimheira.

בברכה,

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