As millions of Israelis head to the polls in Tuesday’s 26th Knesset elections, some 1,500 Chabad emissaries have set up stations across the country, primarily near polling places, inviting passersby to put on tefillin as part of a large-scale nationwide campaign.
Thousands of Chabad Hasidim are also taking part, using the election-day public holiday to reach broader audiences.
A Chabad emissary from central Israel told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that the campaign has drawn an enthusiastic response, with people from a wide range of backgrounds stopping at the tefillin stations.
“We are seeing an enormous wave of Jews from all walks of life flocking to the tefillin stations. Nothing could be more moving on election day. ‘Choose life,’" he said.
The campaign extends beyond polling stations. Chabad emissaries are also reaching out to students and teenagers, hospital patients, senior citizens and new immigrants. Meanwhile, Chabad Houses across Israel are holding expanded Torah study programs during the public holiday.
Alongside its on-the-ground activities, the media division of Tzeirei Chabad has launched a special campaign promoting Jewish unity under the slogan: “Today and every day, I also choose Jewish unity - I love every Jew."
A Chabad representative explained that the initiative seeks to highlight the common bond shared by Israelis at a time when political disagreements are taking center stage.
Despite differences of opinion and political affiliation, the message is that “we are one people, one family," he said, adding that promoting Jewish unity and love is especially important on election day, when political divisions are particularly visible.
The initiative combines Chabad’s longstanding tefillin campaign with a broader message of solidarity among Jews of all backgrounds, regardless of how they vote.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Aharonov, chairman of Tzeirei Agudath Chabad and Agudath Hasidei Chabad, said: “The Rebbe’s emissaries and the directors of Chabad Houses across the Holy Land are going out today to fulfill the Rebbe’s directive to ‘vote and influence.’ At the same time, they have launched a nationwide campaign to help Jews put on tefillin and strengthen all of the Rebbe’s initiatives, bringing every Jew closer to our Father in Heaven, as the Rebbe instructed throughout the years - especially on this day, when the Jewish people need an extra measure of unity and love for one another."