Note: Please read our introduction to Eretz Hakodesh here.

Part 1 of this article examined the promises Eretz Hakodesh made to potential frum voters, such as defending the Kosel, stopping giyur shelo k’halocho, etc., and how far away they were from reality – R’ Aharon Feldman called their campaign promises “nothing less than a fantasy.” This article will focus on what Eretz Hakodesh was really doing instead and how much it belies their claim that joining the WZO is “not something we want to do; something we need to do.”

The Department for Periphery Advancement and Diaspora Involvement

In the 2020 the election for the World Zionist Congress (the body that controls the WZO), Eretz Hakodesh came in third place far behind Reform and just 1,600 votes shy of the Mizrachi. This gave them 25 delegates. In addition to voting the budget, these delegates also control the many WZO departments such as The Department for Zionist Activity in the Diaspora, The Department of Hebrew and Culture, The Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora (run exclusively by the World Mizrachi Movement) and The Department of Social Activism, Tikkun Olam, and the Preservation of Zionist Heritage. in 2021 a new department was established called The Department for Periphery Advancement and Diaspora Involvement. It was headed by newly-elected Eretz Hakodesh delegate Yisrael Schwebel with Nechemya Malinowitz (also from Eretz Hakodesh) as the Department Director. This new department, despite it’s comically Zionist name, was surely locked and loaded to take the Reform head on.

In the WZO’s 2021 Department Report, this new department had its first chance to lay out its goals and showcase its initial achievements. From the report:

The Department was established this year with the aim of increasing the connection between Israel’s geographic and social periphery to Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

Our staff promotes the cultural bond among the various sectors of the Jewish people. Our vision relies on solidarity, promoting education, and increasing settlement of Israel. As such, Jews of the Diaspora should be familiarized with the State of Israel, creating the bridges between every part of the Jewish people, exposing the blessed work of the WZO to new populations.

The Department objectives include enabling Diaspora teens and new olim arriving in Israel to learn about Israeli culture, creating a social atmosphere that connects them to the State of Israel, and an opportunity to be a part of the Israeli social fabric.

To break that down: their explicit goal is to create bridges between every part of the Jewish people. That means that they want us to be more connected with Reform, Conservative, and the Zionists in general. How will they build that bridge? By exposing Jews to the “blessed” work of the WZO. They want to educate teens and new olim about Israeli culture and give them an opportunity to join the Israeli social fabric.

But maybe this is all just bluster that they had to say to appease their bosses at the WZO. You can’t judge a book by the bad hashkofos on its cover. What did they actually do? The report lists three “Central Projects” the department undertook in its first year. The first is called “My Dad’s a Tzabar”. This project aims to help new olim adjust to life in Israel. Nothing it describes is specifically frum; this seems to be something all Zionists would support. It’s difficult to make a case that by helping new olim with the social struggles of moving to a new country they are ‘fighting Reform from the inside’. But that wasn’t all they did.

Next on the list of Central Projects was “Go Galil“. To quote the report:

A project centered on trips and treks for teens on their study year in Israel to provide learning opportunities about all areas of Israel, increase Zionist ties to all these areas to Jews returning to the Diaspora, develop the sense of solidarity between all Jewish people, and connect new populations to the WZO.

We held outdoor activities with students studying about the Land of Israel and historical sites, completing an Israeli knowledge quiz, touring the ancient site of Peki’in and getting to know the village populated by four different religions. Also, unmediated events were help with specific populations at regular times (such as meals).

This project isn’t only missing the mark of “saving Kedoyshei Yisroel” (see Part 1) – here they are actively teaching Jews Zionism. It’s not clear who the teens are that they “connected to the WZO”, but Eretz Hakodesh is running the program so undoubtedly they must be trying to involve frum teens. That means that frum teens should have more solidarity with all Jewish people, be connected to the WZO, and bring their new found Zionism back to the Diaspora.

Last but not least of the department’s Central Projects is “Olot Laregel (Women’s Pilgrimage): Women’s Zionist Hallel Prayers and Celebrations in Jerusalem“. From the report:

Goal: Connecting young women from the Diaspora to the Israeli holiday atmosphere.
Target audience: Female Diaspora students
studying in Israel during the holiday.
Objectives: Exposing new populations to WZO activities, familiarizing them with Israeli culture and values, creating a Zionist and inclusive atmosphere for young women that may make aliyah with more veteran olim.

• A joint celebratory prayer event for women
• Artistic programs that combine Israeli culture themes and topics
• Recording an original song of two languages (Hebrew and English) that focuses on the Israeli
  experience
• A high-quality musical performance of unique content on Zionist values and love of the land
• A singalong

Yisrael Schwebel and Nechemya Malinowitz of Eretz Hakodesh put on a “high-quality musical performance of unique content on Zionist values and love of the land.” One would expect the effects of hischabrus im hareshoim to be subtle and that the bad hashkofos slowly creep in after a long time – unless, of course, they were there to begin with. In this case, one year after joining the WZO, Eretz Hakodesh put on a Women’s Zionist Hallel prayer celebration.

Two years later, The Department for Periphery Advancement and Diaspora Involvement was still working hard, to quote the WZO’s 2023 Departmental Report:

. . .to deepen the connection and broaden familiarity between all parts of the Jewish people; to promote Zionist and Israeli values, and to further knowledge of the eternal treasures of our Jewish heritage, in Israel’s geographic and social periphery.

In its activities, the Department fulfills the vision of a shared connection between all segments of the people, based on unity and mutual responsibility. These values are transmitted through education, nurturing the Jewish people’s cultural assets, and partnership in settling the land.

In order to realize this vision, we work to deepen Diaspora Jews’ familiarity with all parts of Israeli society. We introduce groups of teens and visitors from the Diaspora to the many different facets of Israel, and publicize the many beneficial activities of the World Zionist Organization. . .

They weren’t making Olot Laregel sing-a-longs anymore but their projects were still equally troubling. They began offering programing specifically targeting North Americans: Interactive Zionist Educational Activity for Foreign Students.

From the report:

“A unique project offering educational Zionist activity in North American educational institutions and communities. The participating students view a presentation created by the Department to strengthen their attachment to heritage and to Zionism. The presentation introduces participants to key Zionist concepts, and imparts knowledge about Zionist heritage sites. The project also enables students in foreign educational institutions and schools to participate in the substantive experience of an interactive quiz, and to acquire knowledge and basic concepts regarding Zionist heritage and the State of Israel.

The presentation shows the map of Israel and gives a historical overview of Jewish rebirth and the founding of the state, with an emphasis on geographic landmarks appearing on the map. . .

Another program element is an interactive quiz in which the students demonstrate the knowledge they acquired through the presentation, and additional knowledge about Eretz Israel and the Zionist heritage. The quiz draws on a huge database of questions about Eretz Israel, Zionism, and Jewish heritage. For every quiz, questions were selected at random for students who had competed against each other in groups. The contest winners received prizes and Eretz Israel souvenirs.
The project has been a great success, with demand exceeding expectations. The Department is preparing to launch another presentation in the summer of 2024, to focus on the painful events of the past year in Israel, and on how Israeli society has coped with them – through wartime unity and mutual aid.”

The most disturbing part of this project, as demonstrated by the report, is that this was directly targeted at frum people. Quizzing them on “Zionist heritage” – a virtual reality tour of “Jewish Rebirth and the founding of the state of Israel”. . .

After Oct. 7th

All of the above took place before October 7th, 2023. After the war broke out, The Department of Periphery Advancement and Diaspora Involvement and the entire Eretz Hakodesh, for that matter switched gears completely. They focused entirely on rallying support for the soldiers and for Israel in general. They set up a hotline to convince people studying in Israel not to go back to America. They raised money and organized volunteers to send reserve soldiers supplies. They even held barbeques for soldiers on IDF bases. All of these thingswere welcomed and encouraged by all the other Zionists in the WZO. The supplies they provided were paid for by donors not the WZO; this was not a case of diverting funds that otherwise would have been spent on rainbow talleisim. Rather, it was something that could have been done without any involvement in the WZO but instead was used as an opportunity, to quote Schwebel and Malinowitz, “[to drive the] deep-seated processes of connection and partnership within broad swaths of Diaspora Jewry, who came to visit and contribute and who assisted in a variety of ways with the home front effort and by extending support for IDF soldiers.” In other words, connect frum people to all the not frum people doing the same thing, under the same umbrella organization. This is exactly the expected outcome of joining the types of organizations that R’ Moshe, R’ Yaakov, and R’ Aharon labeled as ossur close to 75 years ago.

One project in particular that stuck out was an advocacy campaign to rally support behind Israel in America. From the 2023 report:

“The aim of the project was to strengthen the relationship and to galvanize public opinion in the overseas Orthodox communities on Israel’s behalf. The public-opinion effort’s impact can be seen in the communities’ public discourse, which has united around Israel’s legitimate stance; it can also be seen in the share of community members who have participated in pro-Israel rallies.”

(The rally they are referring to is the pro-Israel rally in Washington in November of 2023.) While the rally didn’t feature any speeches from rabbis; one of the main speakers was Christian pastor John Hagee (see here for more details of the rally). When it became known that frum people were considering attending, multiple Roshei Yeshiva wrote letters assuring the rally. Still Eretz Hakodesh was proud to boast to their friends at the WZO that they succeeded in getting members of the Orthodox community to attend.

Since Oct. 7th, Eretz Hakodesh has become completely indistinguishable from any other Zionist party. The only unique thing about it is that it can talk directly to a population which, until now, had nothing to do with the WZO and certainly would have been quick to reject any collaboration or association with the organization whose primary objective is to spread the idea that being a good Jew means supporting Israel and ‘national unity’, instead of following the Torah. In a recent interview with Chazaq, Pesach Lerner said clearly that after Oct. 7th, the most important thing is to keep up the unity, it doesn’t matter whether or not you wear a yarmulke.

What Do They Advertise?

When trying to appeal to the larger frum population, Eretz Hakodesh doesn’t flaunt the Olot Laregel celebration, or their virtual tours of ‘Jewish Rebirth’ but rather their less Zionist accomplishments. What are their claims? . . .

110 Yeshivos and Seminaries turned to Eretz Hakodesh to address visa, passport, and army related issues

This is meaningless. How many were helped? What did Eretz Hakodesh actually do to help? Was there any way that the help offered was better or more effective because the helper was a part of the WZO? Was there ever a problem at all, and was it ever fixed?

3,000 students from chutz la’aretz participated in 170 trips and activities in the Galil and Golan

This is referring to the “Go Galil” project mentioned above. Eretz Hakodesh defined the goal of these trips as “develop[ing] the sense of solidarity between all Jewish people, and connect[ing] new populations to the WZO”. The trips included Zionist knowledge quizzes and visits to communities of different religions.

13,000 Seminary students participated in a Tefilah rally to preserve the sanctity of the Kosel

This could have been organized by anyone and has no relation to their participation in the WZO. See here for more information about their Kosel claims.

3,500 students in camps in the United State enjoyed an Eretz Hakodesh sponsored educational program about kedushas Eretz Yisroel and mitzvos hateluyos ba’aretz

Just what the Charedi tzibur needed: the WZO teaching children in frum American camps about Kedushas Eretz Yisroel. That’ll teach the Reform!

35 community events were held for American families in Eretz Yisroel

Huh? What were these events?

4 Eretz Hakodesh sponsored Kollelim for American baalei batim in Eretz Yisroel

Oddly enough, their website makes no mention of what these kollelim are or how much the sponsorship was. In their 2022 brochure, which listed all their accomplishments to date, carried no reference to sponsoring kollelim.

150 mothers of children with special needs enjoyed a special two-day getaway, in conjunction with the Chaim v’Chesed organization

The Jewish Agency partially funded a Chaim v’Chesed program for American mothers of children with special needs in Eretz Yisroel and Eretz Hakodesh helped secure that grant.

5,000 children attended Eretz Hakodesh Shmitah events

and 30,000 dunam of KKL-JNF land kept the laws of Shmitah for the first time in its history, thanks to Eretz Hakodesh

See Part 1 for a full discussion of their Shmitah accomplishments (or lack thereof). In short, according to the KKL, everything was done exactly the same this Shmitah as every other Shmitah.

20,000,000 shekel were spent on teens-at-risk through the KKL-JNF Education Department

It’s difficult to know how they arrived at the number 20 million (about $5.5 million) because the KKL and JNF don’t advertise supporting any teen programs for Orthodox youth. Here they are referring to what Eretz Hakodesh supporter and Mishpacha editor Gedalia Guttentag wrote in a 2022 article describing two teen programs – a bike tour training program and a sheep farm. The bike program seems to be small and doesn’t have a learning component to it, as described in the article, making it unfeasible that it’s budget is in the millions. The farm, called Chavat Lechatchilah on the other hand received 4 million shekel in 2021 and 2022 combined and another 750,000 in 2023. Still short of the 20 million they claim, but we’re getting there.

But what is this farm for at-risk Charedim? While the farm appeals to Charedi youth, it’s leadership is not Charedi in the slightest. They are extreme religious Zionists with a very different idea of rehabilitation. According to their website:

בחווה אנחנו מגדלים צאן ודואגים שיהיה בלי מומים כדי שנהיה מוכנים עם קורבנות כשרים לבניין בית המקדש

They aren’t helping at-risk teens rejoin frum society, they are turning them into the most extreme religious Zionists ר”ל living out their fantasy of the Geulah as shepherds.

To put the icing on the cake, the idea that Eretz Hakodesh funded Chavat Lechatchilah is in itself a bit of a stretch, but does provide interesting insight into Eretz Hakodesh’s impact. According to the Guttentag article:

The KKL funding now going to the educational aspect of this project is noteworthy, given that the site is deep inside the West Bank. For decades, Reform and left-wing control of the KKL meant that the organization’s bloated budgets . . . never included so much as a penny for causes over the Green Link.

“The advent of Rabbi Pesach Lerner’s Eretz Hakodesh slate in the World Zionist Organization two years changed that. With a right-traditional bloc holding power in the verteran organization for the first time – via Eretz Hakodesh’s Shmuel Litov, who holds a seat at the KKL’s table – money can finally go to educational projects, even if they’re in Yehudah and Shomron.”

Meaning they aren’t claiming that they redirected funds from some Reform summer camp to this “Orthodox” one, they are simply saying that because now the WZO is now “right-traditional” they agreed to change the policy that stops funds from going to any organization over the Green Line. That’s all.

What Does This Teach Us?

First of all, that R’ Malkiel Kotler was right when he responded to the question onwhether one would be allowed to join the WZO in order to “fight from the inside” and redirect money towards real Torah causes. He answered (page 5):

“ומצד מה שטוענים שיש כאן ענין של מצוה ותועלת, קודם שנבוא לדון אם זה מועיל לעשות צד היתר,
האמת אגיד שלענ”ד נראה כדבר תמוה ורחוק מאד מן המציאות לחשוב על התועלת שיכול לצאת מזה.
וכי באמת חושבים שהכופרים שיש שם יניחו להכניס לשליטת הדברים אנשים שאינם שייכים לעיקר
שורש ההסתדרות ומהותה, ואשר ביכולתם להרוס כל ההסתדרות לגמרי. ועד כמה רחוק להאמין
שיניחו דבר כזה, וכי חסר להם עצות ואופנים וממון בלי גבול להחלץ ממבוכה זו.

And regarding the idea that this would produce some mitzvah or benefit, before I deal with whether or not that would create a potential heter, the truth is that, in my humble opinion, this seems ridiculous and very far removed from the reality to think that a benefit could come out of this. Do you really think that the kofrim will just let people join who aren’t associated with the cores beliefs and essence of their organization and that will be able to undo the entire organization. And how far-off is it to believe that they would allow such a thing? Do they not have the means and money without end to protect themselves?”

Eretz Hakodesh is faithfully continuing in the long tradition of the WZO. They are spreading Zionism and strengthening the core institutions that uphold it. They are doing one thing that no Zionist party had been able to do until now: connecting the WZO directly to frum Yidden and using frum votes to do it. It is run by people who always supported the WZO. For decades, Pesach Lerner supported the Mizrachi party in the WZO (see more here); with the creation of Eretz Hakodesh he attempted to fool people who never would have voted for Mizrachi into thinking that they are voting for something completely different. It was just a scam.

Pesach Lerner wrote an article in 2020 for the Jerusalem Post called “Who are the true Zionists in Diaspora Jewry?” His answer was Eretz Hakodesh.

He accuses the liberal parties of maligning Eretz Hakodesh:

“They go so far as to allege that, with its Orthodox representatives and religious agenda, Eretz Hakodesh members are not Zionists at all. This is an embarrassing claim – for the commitment of Eretz Hakodesh delegates to the planks of the Jerusalem Program, the ideological platform of the World Zionist Organization, vastly outstrips that of the delegations that impugn its dedication. . . Simply put, with Eretz Hakodesh’s genuine commitment to Israel, and the new direction that the World Zionist Congress will likely be taking as result, there’s reason to hope that Israel and the Jewish nation will be stronger than ever.”

These are not ehrliche Yidden sneaking into the WZO, they are regular Zionists sneaking into Klal Yisroel.

In their campaign to attract voters before the 2020 election, they ran a series of ads assuring us this is “not something we want to do, but something we need to do.” THe truth is that these people have no idea why someone wouldn’t want to join the WZO. They couldn’t say pshat in R’ Elchonon. But they want your vote. Listen to Eretz Hakodesh delegate Tzvi Gluck describe why this is not something we want to do:

It should be no surprise when we see the revolving door of rabbonim who Eretz Hakodesh claim support them only later to remove any mention of that rov from their website. As of this writing, Eretz Hakodesh has entirely replaced any direct mention of Rabbonim supporting them at all with a page called “Gedolei Yisroel” which has pictures of Pesach Lerner sitting next to various Gedolim. The don’t tell us what the Gedolim told him, but the reader is supposed to connect the dots. Surely these frum people wouldn’t be deceiving me!. . . But deception is all that Eretz Hakodesh knows how do. Listen to this interview with Pesach Lerner where he describes receiving a ‘haskoma’ on Eretz Hakodesh from R’ Chaim Kanievsky:

Letters from Rabbonim

Original here