Agudath Israel of America

Agudah serves as a leadership and policy umbrella organization for Haredi Jews in the United States representing the vast majority of members of the yeshiva world, sometimes known by the old label of misnagdim, as well as a number of Hasidic groups. However, not all Hasidic groups are affiliated with Agudath Israel. For example, the Hasidic group Satmar, which is vehemently anti-Zionist, dislikes Agudah's relatively moderate stance towards the State of Israel.[5][6]

Agudah has ideological connections with both the Agudat Israel party and with Degel HaTorah (Flag of the Torah), two Israeli Haredi political parties that have representation in the Knesset (Israel's parliament). In Israel, Degel and Agudah are in a political coalition called United Torah Judaism (UTJ).[7]

Agudah is also a part of the World Agudath Israel organization, which convenes international conferences and religious conclaves.

MetLife Stadium, site of the 12th and 13th Siyum HaShas

The original Agudath Israel movement was established[8][6] in Europe in 1912 by some of the most famous Orthodox rabbis of the time, including Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagen (the Chafetz Chaim), Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski of Vilna, the Radziner Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner, the Gerrer Rebbe (Imrei Emes), and the Chortkover Rebbe. It grew during the 1920s and 1930s to be the political,[9][10][11] communal, and cultural voice of those Orthodox Jews who were not part of Zionism's Orthodox Jewish Mizrachi party.[12]

Rabbi Eliezer Silver, an Eastern European-trained rabbi, established the first office of Agudath Israel in America during the 1930s, organizing its first conference in 1939. After the Holocaust, some prominent rabbis who made their home in America established a moetzes ("supreme council"), and the movement began to grow rapidly with the rise of the yeshiva-based and Hasidic Orthodox communities.

Mike Tress led the expansion of the movement during the early 1940s as its chief lay leader until his death in 1967. His cousin Rabbi Moshe Sherer then took the reins as president[13] and the organization flourished further in size and accomplishments. After his passing in May 1998,[13] he was succeeded by Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, as Executive Vice President. In 2008 Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, having served Agudah as general counsel and director of government affairs,[14] took over as Executive Vice-President.[15][16]

In August 2012, Agudath Israel organized and operated the National Celebration of the 12th Siyum HaShas in MetLife Stadium, the largest gathering for Orthodox Jewry in the history of the United States. Agudath Israel organized the 13th Global Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi to be held in MetLife Stadium on January 1st, 2020, and livestreamed around the world.

Agudah's policies and leadership are directed by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah: Council of Torah Sages, composed primarily of rosh yeshivas (the chief spiritual and scholarly authority in a yeshiva) and Hasidic rebbes (who head Hasidic dynasties and organizations). The Moetzes sets all major policies and guides the organization according to its precepts of daas torah (Hebrew: דעת תורה‎), generally translated as Torah knowledge/direction.[17] Rabbi Yaakov Perlow (recently deceased), who was the Novominsker rebbe and a member of the Moetzes, was appointed as the Rosh Agudat Yisrael ("Head of Agudath Israel").[18]

The organization has a lay staff, many of whom are also ordained rabbis.

The executive staff includes Reb Shia Markowitz as CEO,[19] Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel as the Executive Vice President, Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin as the Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Rabbi Labish Becker as the Executive Director.

There are several hundred Agudah-affiliated synagogues across the United States and Canada.[6][20]

The Agudah takes positions on many political, religious, and social issues, primarily guided by its Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. It uses these stances to advise its members, advocate for its constituency in the halls of government, and to file amicus briefs on behalf of the Orthodox Jewish community in the United States. See below, under "Activities".

In 1956, for example, the moetzes issued a written ruling forbidding Orthodox rabbis to join with any Reform or Conservative rabbis in rabbinical communal professional organizations that then united the various branches of America's Jews, such as the Synagogue Council of America. This position was not endorsed by the Modern Orthodox. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik of Yeshiva University had initially aligned himself with Agudah, but later established his independent views on these matters and a host of other issues, such as attitudes towards college education and attitudes towards the secular-led Israeli governments. Rabbi Soloveitchik felt it important to nurture the modern Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). However, at times, some of the more traditionalist rabbis at Yeshiva University aligned themselves with Agudah's positions.

In 2015, Agudah denounced moves to ordain women, and went even further, declaring Yeshivat Maharat, Open Orthodoxy, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and other affiliated entities to be similar to other dissident movements throughout Jewish history in having rejected basic tenets of Judaism.[21][22][23]

While Agudath does not consider itself as Zionist, it is generally supportive of the State of Israel insofar as it supports participation in its politics and the development of religious life, as well as the security of its population. Agudah takes stances on issues affecting the Haredi sector in Israel; in contradistinction to the more stridently anti-Zionist Haredi communal organizations.[24]

Agudah advocates its positions in several ways:

• Publication of an e-newsletter entitled Weekly Window
• Publication of a general-interest monthly magazine, The Jewish Observer, for almost 45 years (1963 - 2010)
• Maintains full-time offices in Washington, the west coast, the Midwest, and the South
• Activism by lobbying and submitting amicus briefs, as described earlier
• Organizes prominent lay-person missions to government agencies
• Rabbi Avi Shafran, the official spokesman of Agudah, responds to media articles and statements which concern the Orthodox community; Rabbi Shafran also organizes members to do the same
• Conveys its positions in the Jewish media, particularly through privately owned weekly Jewish newspapers in English called "HaModia", and "Yated Neeman" (distinct from the Israeli English-language newspaper carrying the same name), which convey news and views from the Orthodox point of view
• Publication of articles and press releases on its website

• Agudat Israel (of Israel)
• Degel HaTorah
• Orthodox Judaism
• Haredi Judaism
• Schisms among the Jews: Hasidim and Mitnagdim
• United Torah Judaism
• World Agudath Israel

• Agudath Israel of America Official Website
• National public policy of Agudah, 1999
• Professional survey of Agudah
• Dei'ah Vedibur, weekly web edition of Yated Neeman newspaper
• The Jewish Observer, Agudah's magazine, on the web
• The Lefkowitz Leadership Initiative, Agudah's website for younger people
• "אגודת ישראל באמריקה". Hamichlol.