Orthodox Council of Jerusalem

The Orthodox Council of Jerusalem (OJC) (Hebrew: העדה החרדית‎, ha-Edah ha-Charedit, Ashkenazi pronunciation: ha-Aideh Charaidis or ha-Eido ha-Chareidis; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communal organization based in Jerusalem, with several thousands affiliated households. It is led by an independent rabbinical court, chaired by the Gaon Convenor, acronymed Ga'avad, and operated by the Rabbi Convenor, Ra'avad. The OCJ provides facilities such as dietary laws supervision, ritual baths, a Sabbath enclosure, and welfare services. The Council was founded in 1921 by devout Ashkenazi residents of Jerusalem, especially of the Old Yishuv, who refused to be affiliated in any way with the new Zionist institutions.

Inspired by militant anti-Zionist ideology, it refuses to receive any state funding from the Israeli authorities or to endorse voting in the elections, relying on donations from fellow anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews abroad and its own income. Its members often engage in violent demonstrations against Sabbath desecration, autopsies, or archaeological excavations of human remains, which they all regard as sins, and are noted for their poverty and extreme religious strictness. The Council also sponsors a very small Sephardi Haredi Council.

The OCJ was founded by Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and Rabbi Yitzchok Yerucham Diskin (son of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin) in 1921, prior to the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate by the Zionist movement under British auspices. Rabbi Sonnenfeld was named the first Av Beis Din, a position he held until his death in 1932. His tenure saw the Ottoman Empire's control over the Land of Israel weakening, and the British gaining control of the British Mandate of Palestine after World War I.

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