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161 28 Public Announcement (1938)        Until the large-scale immigration waves after World War I, the majority of the Yishuv was Orthodox and a substantial minority were haredim—adherents of a fervently antimodern and anti-Zionist Orthodoxy. Even those haredim who immigrated to Palestine after 1881 considered themselves to be the continuation of the pre-Zionist Yishuv. The haredim were aligned with the international Agudat Yisra’el (founded in Kattowitz in 1912)—an umbrella political party that represented ultra-Orthodox Jewry—and in 1919, Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Jews formed a separate communal organization called the edah haredit. Agudat Yisra’el did not take part in elections (largely due to women’s suffrage) or the Yishuv’s governing structure, and it did not recognize the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, a position created by the British and associated with the Zionist institutions. Agudat Yisra’el began to soften its rigid anti-Zionist stand after the riots of 1929, in which their members lost life and property, and even more so after 1933, when it needed to cooperate with the Zionists to get immigration certificates for its members who were suffering persecution at the hands of the Nazis. Tensions rose between moderates and extremists within Agudat Yisra’el, and around 1935 an irreconcilably anti-Zionist faction in Jerusalem broke away from the party and called itself Ha-hayim (Life). In 1938, tensions grew worse as the Yishuv leadership imposed a new public excise tax, called Kofer haYishuv , to pay for enhanced security services in the face of the Arab Revolt. The Haganah, the Zionist militia under the authority of the Jewish Agency, held military exercises on Source: Placard in private collection of Menachem Friedman. Used with permission. Translated by Eran Kaplan. the Sabbath and Jewish holidays, thus exacerbating long-standing haredi anger about Zionist institutions practicing violations of the Sabbath (e.g., cargo transportation). While Agudat Yisra’el was reluctant to publicly condemn the new tax, the extremist faction that adopted the name “Neturei Karta” had no qualms about doing so, as shown in this document, which, in the traditional fashion of communication in the haredi community, took the form of a street poster. In the years leading up to creation of the State, Agudat Yisra’el, while politically and theologically opposed to the Zionist idea, cooperated with the Zionist establishment, whereas the more radical Neturei Karta maintained their vehement anti-Zionism. After the creation of the state, Agudat Yisra’el participated in the Israeli political system (though between 1952 and 1977 it did not sit in the cabinet) while Neturei Karta refused to recognize Israeli sovereignty or cooperate in any way with the Israeli establishment. ❖ A new ominous monster has arisen of late over our Holy Land. In light of the terrible situation and great calamity that the Jewish community in our Holy Land and in the Diaspora has been battling for several years, the only option before us is to unify our nation’s reserves and return to our original faith, seek ways to come back to our Father in heaven, destroy the pagan altars, which are the libertine schools that are based on heresy and apostasy (heaven forefend), to mend all the Jewish communities throughout the land according to Jewish family law, to abstain from forbidden foods and violating the Sabbath and holidays; for this is our true protection from all of our enemies and shall be our only salvation in this dire hour. And what do we see today? Instead of the only refuge by means of repentance and good deeds, the reliable remedy of many generations since we became a nation until this very day, we see that the libertines who go against the Torah, the leaders of the Va‘ad Le‘umi,1 who in their fear lest the people shall turn away from them because of all the failings that they have brought on the Yishuv since they disseminated their venomous ways, have raised a monster and a new pagan altar to poison the Jewish community, promoting a system of their own (heretical) hubris, that is, under the guise of Kofer ha-Yishuv, which undermines the very nature and spirit of our holy Torah for the following reasons: (a) The very thought of defending the Yishuv by force of hand is heretical (heaven forefend), all the more so since this would bring destruction as we have already seen in the time of BarKochba2 who had tens of thousands of soldiers mighty and strong...

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