Page 235 - חרדים ואנשי מעשה

Abstract

Po‘alei Agudat Yisrael (Pai) was founded as a labor union in Tel Aviv in
the early 1930s. As a movement it was an integral part of the Old Yishuv,
in terms of its social norms and values, but its activities took place in the
heart of the New Yishuv, and it viewed itself as part of the Jewish renewal
in the Land of Israel. Even so, Pai kept its ideological distance from the
Zionist movement, and, throughout the period addressed in this book, took
great pains to establish itself as an ultra-Orthodox alternative to the General
Labor Association (Histadrut). Whereas World Agudat Yisrael, Pai’s
mother movement, did not place any major focus on the Land of Israel in
its operations, some of its members would have preferred to see greater
involvement in the goings on there. And indeed, Pai’s ideological agenda
remained committed to the educational platform of Agudat Yisrael, and this
formed the basis of their way of life.
Pai defined itself by differentiation from the movements in its penumbra
– the Histadrut, Agudat Yisrael, and Hapoel HaMizrahi. Its independence
was created largely by defining its differences from these movements. Pai’s
bylaws reflect the founders’ effort to have it both ways: on the one hand to
declare their loyalty to the values of Agudat Yisrael, while aspiring, on the
other hand, to establish a socialist labor union. Pai sought to differentiate
itself from Agudat Yisrael but also, perhaps more critically, from Religious
Zionism. Attempts to promote cooperation between Hapoel HaMizrahi and
Pai failed, due to a principled objection of the Greater World Congress
of Agudat Yisrael. This failure brought to light the limitations of the
independence of Pai in contrast with Hapoel HaMizrahi, which, since the
1930s, was already an independent union.
Alongside its political and economic operations, in order to bolster
its independence Pai also engaged in union activities, i.e. assisting union
members in all areas of life: employment, settlement, and social welfare.
In the employment perspective, Pai’s leadership operated in two tracks:
as a liaison between employers and workers in order to encourage haredi
employers to take on Pai workers, and as leaders making employment

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