Rabbi Harlap's 1918 Call for Unity Resurfaces
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
Family members of Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Harlap revealed a 1918 speech where he called for unity among Jerusalem's Ashkenazi communities. Elected as the first chairman of the City Council for Ashkenazi Communities, he urged representatives to overcome divisions and sectoral interests. The speech, delivered after elections uniting diverse groups, emphasized working "for the sake of heaven." These remarks are being published soon and are considered relevant to current Israeli public discourse.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Harlap's 1918 call for unity among Jerusalem's Ashkenazi communities was revealed by his family.
- He was elected the first chairman of the City Council for Ashkenazi Communities in Jerusalem.
- Rabbi Harlap urged representatives to overcome divisions and sectoral interests for the sake of heaven.
- The council united diverse Ashkenazi groups, from the zealous to the secular intelligentsia.
- His remarks are being published soon and are considered relevant to current Israeli public discourse.
Family members of Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Harlap have revealed a speech he delivered in 1918, shortly after being elected the first chairman of the City Council for Ashkenazi Communities in Jerusalem. In his address, Rabbi Harlap urged community representatives to overcome divisions, set aside sectoral interests, and work together for a higher purpose.
Rabbi Harlap, who was the head of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva and a prominent student of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, spoke in the Hebrew year 5678 (1918) following elections to the City Council. This council was the first to unite all Ashkenazi communities in Jerusalem, from the most zealous to the secular intelligentsia.
According to the minutes of the first assembly, Rabbi Harlap invoked the Talmudic saying, "Any assembly that is for the sake of heaven will ultimately endure." He applied this to the newly formed council, which comprised diverse groups within the Ashkenazi community, stating that "it is to be expected that each group chose people close to it."
He implored the elected officials to unite as a solid body, disregarding the election's internal disputes. "Now the elected must all unite as one solid body and one stature, without looking at the election process at all," he said, "so that no one will hold grudges against the other group that chose more members of its own kind, but rather all will join hands in a labor whose sole purpose is for the sake of heaven."
Rabbi Harlap emphasized the need for public representatives to distance themselves not only from personal interests but also from favoring their own specific communities. He stressed that by dedicating their hearts to heaven, "all side interests and inclinations will fall away from them, both for each individual who will distance himself from the personal interest and inclination of himself or his relative, and for each representative of the different groups, who will distance himself from inclination towards his group, but rather everyone will yield."
The speech is set to be published soon in a new edition of "Pure Sayings" ("Amrot Tehorot") around the anniversary of Rabbi Harlap's passing on the 7th of Kislev. The remarks are seen as particularly relevant today, given contemporary public disputes and calls for unity following recent elections.