Degel HaTorah
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Degel HaTorah (or Degel haTorah) (דגל התורה Hebrew for "Flag/Banner [of] the Torah") is an Israeli mostly Ashkenazi Haredi Judaism political party with a small number of seats (2-3) in the Knesset, Israel's national parliament.
In 2005, Degel HaTorah was part of the coalition government of Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon.
Degel HaTorah mostly reprents the so-called "Lithuanian wing" of the non-Hasidic Haredim (known by some as "Mitnagdim") as opposed to the Hasidic dominated Agudat Israel party. At times, the parties compete against each other, but they frequently join forces within a political alliance called United Torah Judaism (UTJ) (Yahadut HaTorah in Hebrew) as for the 17th Knesset (elected 2006).
The Degel HaTorah party was founded as an independent party by Rabbi Elazar Shach in 1988 splintering off from Agudat Israel because of policy disputes with the Hasidic rebbes within Agudat Israel which had been the only party for all Ashkenazi Haredi Jews in Israel. The party's name, "Flag of the Torah", was a contrasting reference to the flag of the state of Israel, associated with secularism and other behavior and ideas that haredi society sharply disagreed with. Rabbi Shach died in 2001.
Degel HaTorah's rabbinical arbiter (posek) as of 2006 is nonagenarian Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv of Jerusalem.
The party has two seats in the 17th Knesset (elected 2006).
[edit] See also
- Agudat Israel
- Agudath Israel of America
- Haredi Judaism
- Hasidim and Mitnagdim
- United Torah Judaism
- World Agudath Israel
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