I don't make predictions and I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow with the voting and who will win or which party will get how many seats or which will grow and which will shrink, but I do want to congratulate UTJ on running what I consider to have been the best campaign of all the parties.

UTJ produced great videos that were on point with their strong message, never wavering or unclear. UTJ rallied its people and brought many from outside their natural camp in, and they even starred in videos explaining why they will vote UTJ. They created a sense of urgency and the people seem to have responded. If there is one party that does better than expected, I would not be surprised if it were UTJ. We'll find that out tomorrow night or Wednesday when the results are published, but the campaign itself was well done regardless of that.

in one of my "haredi breaking news" whatsapp groups, the following blurb was posted:

המוקד: בהוראת גדולי ישראל; ישיבות קטנות וגדולות ואברכי הכולל יוצאים בשעה הקרובה להשתתף בעצרת בבית החיים בבני ברק במעמד גדולי ישראל להצלחת המערכה מחר. 

Translation:
As per the instructions of the gedolei yisrael: students in yeshiva ketanas, yeshiva gedolas and avreichim in kollel should all go within the coming hour to participate in the election rally in the Bnei Braq cemetery along with the gedolim, for the purpose of success tomorrow.


(this is humor, for some who might not catch it)
for some communities an election rally in the cemetery is perfectly appropriate, to rally all the voters and encourage them to go vote, even the dead voters!

According to Globes, in prep for the launch of amazon Israel, Amazon has signed a deal with the Israel Postal Authority to use Israel Post for delivery of packages in Israel via Amazon Israel.

The deal is expected to boost revenues of Israel Post by tens of millions of shekels annually.

Way to go. This practically ensures customer dissatisfaction, especially when a significant percentage of packages don't get delivered or when it takes weeks or months instead of days for delivery.

The only hope is if Israel Post gives Amazon some sort of priority service, taking extra care to deliver Amazon packages quickly and efficiently. But then every other business in Israel shipping via Israel Post will get upset.

Interestingly, Benny Gantz has been giving out jobs in the coming government he plans to form. He has been announcing who will get what task in his coming government. Gabi Ashkenazi, he says, will be appointed Defense Minister. Moshe Boogie Yaalon will be designated as Education Minister. Yair Lapid will be Foreign Minister, prior to the rotation taking place. He did not say anything about Nissenkorn, but previously he had been designated for the role of Finance Minister.

I always believe in the adage of not getting ahead of yourself. First win the election and then give out the positions. But ok, he is not the only talking about what roles they want to be responsible for and so he is not so different.

The thing that makes this different is that even if Gantz does win the election, he will not be pulling in 61 seats all by himself. He is going to need to form a coalition with other political parties. Those other parties who will want to join Gantz's coalition - they are going to want some ministerial positions as well, including some of the more prominent Ministries. Gantz is not going to be able to keep them all for his party members. He might be able to be the Prime Minister and keep Defense Minister for Ashkenazi or Yaalon, but then a different party will want Education portfolio and another party will demand the Finance Ministry. And another will want the Foreign Ministry. Or whatever each party demands and what he insists on keeping - either way, Benny Gantz will not be forming a government if he plans to keep all these major portfolios within Kachol Lavan.

My theory is that he is trying to look like a winner, as if he already has won the election and is thinking about who gets what. Think like a winner to become a winner. Think like a winner and others might think of you as a winner as well.

Earlier I posted the Quote of the Day with Benny Gantz comparing the fact that he has a stutter or stammer in speech and the ability lead with the fact that Moshe had a stammer as well but was a great leader. I thought it was funny of him, and of course he was not comparing himself to Moshe, the greatest of all time, but was suggesting that a stammer need not be a hindrance to leadership. It was a cute comparison.

The MKs of UTJ have all expressed their shock and outrage at Gantz's comparison, accusing him of being haughty and comparing himself to Moses..
1. Yaakov Asher said he had tremendous chutzpa comparing himself to Moses but just like Moses never reached the Promised Land Gantz will not achieve his dream and will not become Prime Minister.
2. Yisrael Eichler responded that Moses went with his brother Ahron to bless the Jewish people out of love, while Gantz went with Balaam to curse the jewish people out of anger
3. Yaakov Litzman said he was shocked to hear the insulting and superfluous comparison made by Benny Gantz between himself and Moshe Rabbeinu - Mr Gantz, take your shoes off before speaking about the holy people of our nation

They take everything just a little too seriously and a little too far.. We all know Benny Gantz ain't no Moses, and I don't think he was claiming to be...

sometimes a reminder is helpful

Moshe Rabbeinu had a stutter and he needed Ahron by his side to say his words, but he was still a great leader.

  -- MK Benny Gantz (Kachol Lavan) when asked about his stammering again on camera in an interview and being attacked by the Likud because of it

The Likud is silly attacking him for his occasional stammer in interviews. We all know he isn't Benjamin Netanyahu with a perfect diction and tremendous speaking abilities. Plus, even Netanyahu recently messed up a few times on camera in interviews.

interesting. first about halacha and hashkafa of tefilla, then about Uman and Rosh Hashana