"This is Not an Election, This is a War of Life and Death" – The Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a on the Obligation to Vote

This coming Tuesday, the 16th of Cheshvan 5787 (October 27, 2026), the Knesset elections will take place. Morinu HaRav, the Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, has repeatedly emphasized in every election cycle that voting is not a trivial matter, but an absolute obligation. Before you is a selection of his words from previous election campaigns. These words were spoken then, but they remain true and valid for this year's elections as well.

"The Ballots are a War"

On the eve of the elections, the Rav said in a shiur (Torah class): "Tomorrow at eight o'clock, everyone is going to the polling station. This is not an election; this is a war." He explained: "In the past, war was fought with bullets, with gunfire, with arrows and spears. Then people decided that instead of killing one another, it is better to write ballots, and whoever wins the most ballots will be the king." Therefore, he said, "It is forbidden to say the word 'elections'."

"Therefore, we say that right now this is a war of life and death, and the only way to fight this war is by casting the ballot 'Gimmel'! Whoever votes 'Gimmel' will merit all the blessings and will have a portion in the World to Come, in the merit of saving the Torah."

And what is at stake? "They want to uproot the Torah, and we want to live the Torah, and this is the only war that is fought for the sake of the Torah." The Rav warned against the harsh decrees threatening the yeshiva world and its students, and against intentions to cancel yeshiva budgets and introduce public transportation on Shabbos.

"From Spiritual and Physical Destruction"

"Every party, even if it is religious, has all sorts of side agendas, all kinds of secondary goals. The only party that is solely dedicated to Torah study, Shabbos observance, and the education of boys and girls has no other goal. Anyone who votes 'Gimmel' saves all of the Jewish people from both spiritual and physical destruction. In this merit, he will be blessed with all the blessings, and he will have a portion in the World to Come, immense wealth, shidduchim (marriage matches), and sons and daughters. To everyone who votes 'Gimmel'! Hashem is with you."

To ensure there was no doubt about the severity of the matter, the Rav said: "A person must know that this is more than just Halacha (Jewish law)." He cited the words of the Zvhiller Rebbe zt"l in the book Tzaddik Yesod Olam: "Not going to the elections, he says, is more severe than eating on Yom Kippur." In another conversation, he added: "A person who does not go to the elections transgresses all 613 mitzvot."

"Let the Groom Emerge from His Chamber and the Bride from Her Canopy"

The Rav requested that no one remain at home: "Everyone must go, all of Shuvu Banim from the youngest to the oldest, men and women." Even a bride and groom during their Sheva Brachos (seven days of festive meals following a wedding): "Every boy and girl, every man and woman, every groom and bride, must leave their Sheva Brachos to cast their ballot."

He emphasized going early: "Everyone must go and vote first thing in the morning; right at seven in the morning, everyone should be at the polling stations." He also explained why: "Anyone who goes at eight in the morning awakens another hundred people to follow him... Finish the prayer early; those who wake up in the morning should run first thing to cast their ballot. This comes before everything else; it is pikuach nefesh (a matter of saving lives)." He mentioned that "Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky zt"l always goes first, to demonstrate this to the entire congregation."

In a public call he made on election day one year, the Rav asked everyone to mobilize their families: "Everyone can tell their aunt and their uncle, their wife's sister and their father's sister," and that they should also take their grandfather and grandmother. He asked everyone to make phone calls "to acquaintances, to friends, even the most secular, it doesn't matter."

"Do Not Fight With Any Jew, Heaven Forbid"

Despite the intensity of the call, the Rav repeatedly clarified the proper approach: "Every single Jew is called 'Adam' (a human being), and our task is to bring everyone back in teshuvah (repentance). Right now, the way to bring everyone back in teshuvah is solely by casting the ballot. This ballot is the deciding factor today; it is the sword and the spear." Voting, he said, is the way "to bring them back in teshuvah, not to fight with any Jew, Heaven forbid."

The Rav compared this to a ship: "Rebbe Nachman said that as long as the ship is still at the waterline, the watershed mark, it can still be saved from sinking." And now, he said, "a hole has been torn in the wall of Judaism," and the ballot is the way to plug it.

This is also the path of Breslov: "Our entire focus is only humility and lowliness, accepting humiliation with love, and studying the entire Shas (Talmud)... Breslov is solely about obeying the Torah leaders of Israel, walking by their light, and dusting oneself in the dust of their feet." Rebbe Nachman, the Rav reminded us, writes in all his books that he did not come to innovate anything in Halacha or to go against any custom, and "all the customs of Israel that the Rebbes established throughout the generations are the Holy of Holies."

A Proclamation to All of Shuvu Banim and to All of the Jewish People

"And now we are issuing a proclamation here to all of Shuvu Banim, to all of Breslov, in Jerusalem, in Bnei Brak, in all the cities and all the branches, and to all of the Jewish people, secular and religious alike, that everyone has a Torah obligation to go and cast this ballot... and to go with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice)... and to convince all their household members, all their neighbors, and all their friends and acquaintances, secular and religious alike, to go and cast this ballot."

The Rav's Letter: "Whether one observes tradition or does not observe tradition"

Already during the elections of the year 5763 (2003), on Sunday, the 9th of Shevat, Parashas Beshalach, the Rav wrote a letter "to all our brethren, the Children of Israel, wherever they may be." In it, he addressed every Jew, "whether one observes tradition or does not observe tradition, who would never agree to lose his Jewish birthright from generation to generation," and wrote:

"Therefore, only 'Agudah' is the sole party standing in the breach at this time, to save the children of all our brethren, the Children of Israel, whether they are observers of tradition or those who have already weakened in their observance of tradition, yet all desire, like one man with one heart, the pure Jewish education of all generations... And only if we vote for Agudas Yisrael, and strengthen its hands, only through this will we save the State of Israel from spiritual destruction, and we will all continue, with one heart like one man, to preserve its true Jewish character, until we merit to be a light unto the nations."

He signed: "With the blessing of the holy and pure Torah, your faithful servant, Eliezer Berland."

Approaching Election Day, it is also worthwhile to read the Rav's special prayer for Election Day, and the Rav's holy call during the 5783 elections, "Everyone must vote Gimmel".