PAI, not pie or pi

A Guest Post by Shimon A

Recent local elections in Israel have seen the "Tov" party gaining a seat in both Beitar and Beit Shemesh. Tov's aim is to represent the working Charedi. There has been talk that what we are seeing is the beginning of the reestablishment of the Poalei Agudat Yisrael Party (PAI).

If you have only arrived in Israel or were born in the past 20 years or so, then when you hear "Poalei Agudat Yisrael" the first thing that probably comes to mind is the Bank that goes by that name. However, PAI is one of the original political parties that was around before the establishment of the State of Israel. Who were they and could they really be making a comeback?

PAI was set up in Poland in the 1920's, as the trade union of Agudat Yisrael (originally called Poalei Emunei Yisrael) and participated in certain elections, such as the Jewish Community Council. An attempt at that time to set up some branches in Eretz Yisrael did not last for any length of time.

Binyamin Mintz (Yad Binyamin is named after him) with some other people, reestablished PAI in 1933 in Eretz Yisrael. Mintz was was the type of person that they don't make anymore. He was born in Łódź in the Russian Empire (nowadays part of Poland) and studied at the Gerer Beis Medrash. He made aliya in 1925 and worked in construction (yes, Jews did that kind of thing once upon a time) and he set up a printing press. Initially, PAI was part of Agudat Yisrael and would follow the instructions of the Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah, but their somewhat more Zionistic outlook was a cause of tension and friction between the two.

The founding of Kibutz Chafetz Chaim in 1944, typically shows the Charedi, but also Zionistic approach of PAI. The Kibutz was set up on JNF land with the full cooperation of the Zionist establishment. The members served in the Hagana. The Rav of the Kibbutz, Rabbi Kalman Kahana, was a close talmid of the Chazon Ish and, therefore, Shmita was strictly observed, unlike the Poel Hamizrachi kibutzim, that relied on the Heter Mechira. But this did not stop Kahana from being a member of the pre-state Yishuv government and even signing Israel's Declaration of Independence.

PAI had 3 representatives, including Binyamin Mintz and Rabbi Kalman Kahana in the first Knesset. PAI ran together with all the other religious parties on a joint list called the United Religious Front. The united list altogether received 16 seats and was seen to be a success, but this unity has not been repeated since.

Over the next 3 decades PAI would sometimes run on its own and sometimes with Agudat Yisrael. With issues like voting in favour of the Sherut leumi bill, the relationship between the two was always stormy. The most PAI ever received was 3 seats, which was enough for Mintz to serve as Minister for Postal Services and Kahana as Deputy Education Minister.

PAI gradually declined as it started to lose its constituents. By the 1977 election, PAI only manged to win one seat. On the one hand, the working Charedi became somewhat of a rare breed and on the other hand, there was a move to the right religiously, by the National-Religious. Yeshivat Sha'alvim, which was founded by the kibbutz of that name, was the flagship of the PAI movement. However, being a Yeshivat Hesder, it became clearly associated with the more religious or torani part of the National-Religious. Nowadays, many of the graduates of Sha'alvim are very prominent in the communities in Yehuda and Shomron and cannot really be told apart from graduates of other top National-Religious yeshivot.

A last attempt to keep PAI going was made in 1984. The Mafdal had split over support for the Camp David agreement and Meitzad, the breakaway party, ran on a joint list with PAI (now headed by Avraham Verdiger) called Morasha. The party received 2 seats, but fizzled out when Rav Chaim Druckman of Meitzad rejoined the Mafdal. PAI ran again in the 1988 election with Agudat Yisrael and Avraham Verdiger was reelected. His moment of fame came in 1990 when Peres did his "stinking maneuver", brought down Shamir's National Unity Government and attempted to form his own with the support of Shas and Agudat Yisrael. However, Verdiger, even though he was part of the Agudat Yisrael list, refused to go along with it and Peres failed in his attempt to form a government.

Since then, not much has been heard of PAI. Yes, they do exist on paper. There are still 14 settlements that are part of the movement and PAI still has some shares in the Poalei Agudat Yisrael Bank, owned mainly by the First International Bank of Israel. I guess you can call all this a shadow of its former self.

So back to my original question. Will PAI make a comeback? There have been some recent changes in the Charedi world. There are a lot more Chareidim in the workforce nowadays. The Charedi college in Kiryat Ono, where students study business management and law is becoming popular. Unfortunately, these Chareidim seem to find it hard to get their children accepted to good Talmudei Torah because they have left the Yeshiva benches. The Tov party which ran in the local elections in Beitar and Beit Shemesh appealed to this constituency. And what do you know, one of the people behind this party is Chanoch Verdiger, the son of PAI's Avraham Verdiger.