OK, well not so much, really. Apparently the Bobov sect has been commanded by a rabbinical court to hold elections to decide who their next rebbe will be. Interestingly, single yeshiva students are not permitted to vote (and I’m assuming, although the article doesn’t state explicitly, that women also do not vote).
Quoted in Ha’aretz, one person said, “Something like this has never happened in the history of the Hasidic movement, that a Hasidic rabbinic leader would be elected by a vote – our forefathers never dreamed of such a thing.”
A rather curious statement, actually, since although there were not , in the past, a voter’s registry with a list of those eligible to vote; the requirement for voters to present valid identification; and fierce campaigning, originally chassidic sects formed simply because some person formed a group of followers around themself and became acknowledged as leader. It was only after chassidism became more institutionalized and formal that dynasties formed, handed down father to son. So, perhaps in a certain sense this is a very American way of returning to an older tradition.
May the best man win.

VS.

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