World Agudath Israel

2025-07-18T21:50:34Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:D449:62C3:E21A:87A2:

{{Short description|International Jewish Organization}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar |Politics}}

'''World Agudath Israel''' ({{langx|he|אגודת ישראל}}), usually known as the '''Aguda''', was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of [[Ashkenazi]] [[Torah Judaism]]. It succeeded ''Agudath Shlomei Emunei Yisroel'' (Union of Faithful Jewry) in 1912.<ref name=HarJ>{{cite web |title=Haredi Judaism
|url=http://religion-faith-belief.blogspot.com/2013/02/haredi-judaism.html}}</ref> Its base of support was located in [[Eastern Europe]] before the [[Second World War]] but, due to the revival of the [[Hasidic]] movement, it included Orthodox Jews throughout Europe. Prior to World War II and the [[Holocaust]], Agudath Israel operated a number of Jewish educational institutions throughout Europe. After the war, it has continued to operate such institutions in the United States as [[Agudath Israel of America]], and in Israel. Agudath Israel is guided by its [[Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah]] (Council of Sages) in Israel and the US.

== History ==
=== Katowice Conference ===
World Agudath Israel was established by Jewish religious leaders at a conference held at [[Kattowitz]] (Katowice) in 1912.<ref name=HarJ/> They were concerned that the Tenth [[World Zionist Congress|Zionist Congress]] had defeated a motion by the Torah Nationalists [[Mizrachi (religious Zionism)|Mizrachi]] movement for funding religious schools.

Among the chief founders of the organization were [[Jacob Rosenheim]] (one of the leaders of German Jewry), and Rabbi [[Avraham Mordechai Alter|Avrohom Mordechai Alter]] (the fourth [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Gerrer Rebbe]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rosenheim, Jacob {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rosenheim-jacob |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kamenetzky |first=Yaakov |date=February 1980 |title=Blessings of 'Shalom' / What is an Agudist? |url=https://agudah.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Rav_Yaakov_Kamenetzky_JO_1980_Vol14_No5_Blessings_of_Shalom.pdf |journal=[[The Jewish Observer]] |pages=16–18}}</ref> The aim of World Agudath Israel was to strengthen Orthodox institutions independent of the Zionist movement and Mizrachi organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/Orthodoxy/Aguddah.html|title=The "Aguddat Israel" Movement|website=www.ucalgary.ca|access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref> The advent of the First World War delayed development of the organisation, however.

=== World War I, [[interbellum]], World War II ===
During the [[First World War]], Rabbi Dr. [[Pinchas Kohn]] and Rabbi Dr. Emmanuel Carlebach (both from Germany),<ref name=FVIOJ.co>"The legal publishers of this new daily were the German rabbis Pinchas Kohn and Emmanuel Carlebach of the FVIOJ..."{{cite book
|title=Jewish People, Yiddish Nation: Noah Prylucki and the Folkists in Poland
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1442662107 |isbn=978-1442662100
|author=Kalman Weiser |date=2011| publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Lithuanian Jewish Communities |page=192
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1461629381 |isbn=1461629381
|first1=Nancy |last1=Schoenburg |first2=?Stuart |last2=Schoenburg |date=1996|publisher=Jason Aronson, Incorporated
}}</ref><ref>"At the wedding of Rav Emmanuel Carlebach zt"l of Cologne, all the married women (in the picture) wore shaitels." {{cite web
|title=The Ashkenaz Forum :: Topic: Shaitel vs. Tichel |date=13 August 2009|url=http://www.kayj.net/en/forum/minhogim/1312-shaitel-vs-tichel}}</ref> were appointed as the rabbinical advisors to the German occupying forces in Poland. In this position, they worked closely<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stevens-tech.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/carlebach/german_rabbi_goes_east.pdf|title = Stevens Institute of Technology}}</ref> with the Grand Rabbi of Ger, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter. As a result of this collaboration, they developed the Agudath Israel organization, with the aim of unifying Eastern European and Western European [[Orthodox Judaism]].

Agudath Israel gained a significant following, particularly among Hasidic Jews. It had representatives running in the [[Second Polish Republic|Polish]] elections after the First World War, and they won seats in that country's [[parliament]] ([[Sejm]]).<ref>"Agudath Israel... In time it became a political party represented in the Sejm (Polish Parliament)." {{cite book
|title=The Many Rooms of this House: Diversity |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1487510616 |isbn=978-1487510619
|author=Roberto Perin |date=2017| publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref><ref>"... between the wars, none was more effective than the Agudath Israel. ... in the Polish government and was represented in the Sejm (Polish Parliament)." {{cite book
|title=The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of Orthodox Jewry
|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0881256412 |isbn=0881256412
|author=William B. Helmreich
|author-link=William Helmreich
|date=2000| publisher=KTAV Publishing House }}</ref><ref>"Agudas Yisroel succeeded in electing deputies to the Polish Sejm." {{cite web
|title=Agudas Yisroel |url=http://www.YIVOencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Agudas_Yisroel}}</ref> Among the elected representatives were [[Alexander Zusia Friedman]], Rabbi [[Meir Shapiro]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Safier |first=Dovi |date=2023-09-26 |title=A Light from Lublin: Rav Meir Shapiro's Quest to Build Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin - Mishpacha Magazine |url=https://mishpacha.com/a-light-from-lublin-rav-meir-shapiros-quest-to-build-yeshivas-chachmei-lublin/ |access-date=2024-09-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> Rabbi Yosef Nechemya Kornitzer of [[Kraków]], and Rabbi Aharon Lewin of [[Rzeszów|Reysha]].

Prominent Torah scholars who led Agudath Yisroel included the [[Avrohom Mordechai Alter|Gerrer Rebbe]], the [[Izhbitza (Hasidic dynasty)|Radziner Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner]], and the [[Yisrael Meir Kagan|Chafetz Chaim]]. In [[Latvia]] between 1922 and 1934, members of the [[Agudas Israel (Latvia)|Agudath Israel]] faction, led by [[Mordehai Dubin|Mordechai Dubin]], were elected to [[Saeima]] (The Parliament). Another prominent member of Agudath Israel was [[Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl|Michoel Ber Weissmandl]]. In [[Lithuania]], Agudath Israel was active inside of [[Achdus]], which merged into the Jewish Economical and Religious Party, and in Czechoslovakia, Agudath Israel first founded the [[Jewish Conservative Party]], which than merged into the [[Jewish Economic Party]] and lastly into the {{ill|Jewish Republican Party|sk|Židovská republikánska strana}}.

In the United Kingdom, the Agudath Israel movement was represented by the Adath Israel Synagogue, formed in 1909, and the [[Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations]], formed in 1926. By 1943 Agudath Israel represented approximately 5000 families and was led by Rabbi Dr [[Solomon Schonfeld]]. The British secretary of the Agudath Israel World Organization, the political wing of the movement, was Harry Goodman, publisher and editor of ''[[Jewish Weekly]].'' He played a key part in maintaining the Agudath Israel organization through World War II.<ref>Pamela Shatzkes (2002) ''Holocaust and Rescue: Impotent or Indifferent? Anglo-Jewry 1938-1945'' Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 13-14</ref>

=== Post-World War II ===
In the post-war period, Agudath Israel was active in Europe to provide aid for Holocaust survivors. There was a branch in the World Agudath Israel World Organization in [[England]] located at 37/38 Mitre Street in [[London]]. Another branch was located in Switzerland, located at 59 Lavaterstrasseled which was led by Dr. [[Shlomo Ehrman]]. There were also branches in [[Allied-occupied Germany]]. The Central-Committee of Agudath Israel of the [[British Zone]] was led by Rabbi [[Yisroel Moshe Olewski]],<ref name="migdal dovid">{{cite book |title=Migdal Dovid ([[Lelov (Hasidic dynasty)|lelov]]) 2019 Edition, Toldos Hamo"l, page 92}}</ref> Rabbi [[Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft]]<ref name="migdal dovid" /> and [[Efraim Londoner]]<ref name="migdal dovid" /><ref name="Albert, Rabbi Shmuel 2019">Albert, Rabbi Shmuel. [[Hamodia]], Inyan Magazine Vol. XXII No. 1059 May 8, 2019.</ref> and was located in [[Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp|Bergen-Belsen]].<ref name="Albert, Rabbi Shmuel 2019"/> Yehuda Leib Girsht represented Agudath Israel on the camp committee of Bergen Belsen.<ref name="Albert, Rabbi Shmuel 2019"/> The Central Committee of Agudath Israel of the [[American occupation zone|American Zone]] was led by H. Parasol and N. Braunfeld and was located at Trogerstrasse 58/4 in [[Munich]].

==Agudath Israel and the State of Israel==
{{main|Agudat Yisrael}}
When [[Israel]] was founded, Agudath Israel reached a ''[[modus vivendi]]'' with the State of Israel, which was predominantly led by [[secularists]]. It helped secure an agreement between Ashkenazi rabbinical leaders and [[David Ben-Gurion]] which ensured Ashkenazi rabbinical co-ordination with the state, as well as the implementation of such guarantees as public observance consistent with the laws of the [[Shomer Shabbat|Sabbath]] and ''[[Kashrut]]''. It has established itself as an Israeli political party winning seats in the [[Knesset]] either as the [[Agudat Israel]] or in coalition with other Orthodox groups running under the name [[United Torah Judaism]].<ref>"... list made up of the ultra-Orthodox parties Agudat Israel and Degel HaTorah ... United Torah Judaism (UTJ) promotes the interests of the Haredi community ..." {{cite web |title=United Torah Judaism - The Israel Democracy Institute
|url=https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/united-torah-judaism}}</ref>

== The Great Congress ==
The World Agudath Israel federation held international conferences and Torah congressional meetings known as '''HaKnessia HaGedolah''' ({{langx|he|הכנסייה הגדולה||'''The Great Congress'''}}), which included many of its spiritual and political leaders, from Israel and around the world. To date, six congresses have been held, the last of which was in 1980.
They were in 1923, 1929, 1937, 1954, 1964, and 1980.

== See also ==
*[[Agudath Israel of America]]
*[[Agudat Israel]]
*[[Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/aguddat.html Agudat Israel] article from the Jewish Virtual Library

== Bibliography ==
* Gershon C.Bacon, ''The Politics of Tradition: Agudat Israel in Poland, 1916-1939'', The Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1996, {{ISBN|965-223-962-3}}

{{OrthodoxJudaism}}
{{Religion and politics}}

[[Category:Ashkenazi Jews topics]]
[[Category:Agudat Yisrael]]
[[Category:Political parties of minorities]]
[[Category:Orthodox Judaism]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1912]]
[[Category:1912 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Orthodox Jewish political parties]]

[[he:הכנסייה הגדולה]]
[[he:אגודת ישראל#הקמת אגודת ישראל]]

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World Agudath Israel