Let me start with a confession: I still have both my kidneys. I’m not proud of it. I hope to give one away one day. But I know people in our community brave enough to have made the sacrifice and donated their kidney to save another human being. Our community consistently steps up—families send children to defend Israel in uniform, we invest heavily in yeshiva day school education, and we dedicate countless hours in shul. We give our time, make sacrifices, open our wallets and homes and hearts, and the rare heroes among us even donate body parts.

Collectively, we proudly say we are the Dati Leumi community of “Mi K’amcha Yisrael” nation. And yet, when asked to spend just five minutes and five dollars to vote in the World Zionist Congress election for Slate 5 (OIC Mizrachi), many of us won’t bother. How do I know this? In the last election cycle, only 1,829 votes came from Bergen County—one of the strongest and most committed Modern Orthodox communities in the world. Think about that. Thousands of us belong to shuls aligned with Religious Zionist values. We attend rallies, we send our kids to yeshiva day schools that proudly fly Israeli flags, march in the Salute to Israel Parade, and we are constantly fielding and responding to requests to donate, write, support and advocate for Israel. But when given the chance to actually shape how hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated for Jewish education and Religious Zionist causes in Israel and the Diaspora, we shrugged.

Why? Do we take the reality of a Religious Zionist Israel for granted? We shouldn’t—we’d better not. We can do better. We must do better. This election isn’t symbolic or expensive. The World Zionist Organization directs real funding to real programs—money that can go to Orthodox youth movements in our communities, to religious schools in Israel, to support aliyah and religious Jewish identity initiatives. If we want our values to be represented in these institutions—Torah, Zionism, halacha, achdut—we need the most seats at the table. Voting for Slate 5 OIC Mizrachi ensures that Religious Zionist voices are not drowned out by others who may not share our priorities.

Our rabbis and heads of schools and national institutions have urged us to vote. Don’t believe me? Ask them. Voting takes less time than ordering from Amazon and costs less than your morning coffee. But if we don’t show up now, then we’re choosing silence over influence. We’re choosing to opt out of the one global Jewish voice we do have.

There is no reason we can’t deliver 50,000 votes from across the country. We have the numbers. We have the passion. What we’re missing is the follow-through.

If you are a hero interested in organ donation, visit renewal.org. If you are not there yet but want to do something else for others, your final opportunity to vote is this Sunday, May 4. No extensions. No excuses. You, your spouse, anyone over 18 in your household. Be sure they vote.

Visit www.voteoic.org to get started.

Ari Wartelsky lives in Teaneck with his two kidneys (for now) and is the campaign manager for the OIC Mizrachi Slate in the 2025 World Zionist Congress elections