COVID-19 Exposed the Fake King of the Haredim
It's convenient to assume that Israel's whole ultra-Orthodox population listens to Rabbi Kanievsky, but the truth is the Haredi population is far from homogenous
Headlines Tuesday focused on the results of a meeting between a 92-year-old from Bnei Brak with an accountant from Givatayim, as if the two of them really have influence on the life of the people in Israel.
But Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, whose PR people have dubbed him the “Minister of Torah,” is as aware of what is going on around him and sets the agenda for the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) public, about as much as Moshe Leon could have been elected Jerusalem mayor without the deceptive deal made between Avigdor Lieberman and Arye Dery before the 2018 local council elections, when Leon’s slate didn’t even win a single city council seat.