Decision of the Rabbis of Bnei Brak - From the Meeting of Isru Chag Shavuot 1964 - Renewed on 12th Elul 1969

Decision of the Rabbis of Bnei Brak - From the Meeting of Isru Chag Shavuot 1964 - Renewed on 12th Elul 1969

Typewritten leaf, - decision signed by six rabbis of Bnei Brak (R. Landau, R. Wosner and others) against the Ministry of Religions' initiative to establish a religious council in Bnei Brak, thus rescinding the independence of the rabbinate. Bnei Brak, Sivan 1964. With an addition at the foot of the leaf dated 12th Elul 1969, renewing the above decision, signed by nine rabbis (including the Yeshuot Moshe Rebbe of Vizhnitz).
Typewritten copy of the decision reached at the meeting of the rabbis of Bnei Brak which took place the day after Shavuot 1964, hand signed by the participating rabbis (see previous item).
On 12th Elul 1969, after the debate over the establishment of a religious council was reawakened, the rabbis of Bnei Brak once again gathered, and again affixed their signatures on the present document.
The addition from 1969 is signed by: R. Yaakov Landau, R. Shmuel HaLevi Wosner, R. Moshe Yehoshua Hager (the Yeshuot Moshe of Vizhnitz, then rabbi of Kiryat Vizhnitz), R. Avraham Shlomo Katz, R. Yitzchak Shlomo Unger, R. Avraham Tzvi Weiss, R. Natan Gestetner (rabbi of Shikun Agudath Yisrael), R. David Shemesh (rabbi of the Sephardi community in Pardes Katz), and R. Yechiel Meir Weingort (rabbi of the Gerrer Chassidim).
[1] leaf. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks and torn filing holes.

The Orthodox city of Bnei Brak was unique since it's founding for its independent rabbinate. Unlike other cities, Bnei Brak never had a religious council - the rabbis received their salaries directly from the municipality, and all kashrut and religious services in Bnei Brak were funded directly by the municipality, without the involvement of a third, governmental party such as a religious council. In other places, all religious services were under the control and supervision of the religious council, which in those days was under the Ministry of Religions, led by members of the Mizrachi movement.
Bnei Brak was also the only city in Eretz Israel were Satmar Chassidim participated in the municipal elections, with the approval of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar, fierce opponent of any cooperation with the Zionist government, and with the approval of the rabbi of Riskeva, rabbi of the Satmar community in the city. The main reason for this exception was the necessity to maintain the independence of the Bnei Brak rabbinate, and to preserve the power of R. Landau and his colleagues who upheld proper Torah observance.
In the summer of 1964, the Ministry of Religions established a religious council in Bnei Brak. Knowing that the Orthodox community would not passively accept this move, it was done in an underhanded way, on paper only. A notice from the Ministry of Religions was published in the HaTzofeh newspaper, announcing the establishment of the religious council headed by 12 members lead by R. Yaakov Landau Rabbi of the city. The notice was published without the knowledge of the new council members, and without a prior notification. This placed them in a difficult position - on the one hand R. Landau and his colleagues did not wish to cooperate with the establishment of a religious council led by the Ministry of Religions, yet on the other, if they would renounce their positions, the Ministry of Religions would appoint other members to the council instead, and they would thus lose their control over the religious services in the city.