Auerbach was the
rosh yeshiva of and the
Nasi (president) of Yeshivas
Midrash Shmuel and Yeshivas Toras Simcha, both in Jerusalem. For a short time, he also served as one of the roshei yeshiva of
Yeshivas Itri in Jerusalem. Auerbach was the head of the party (colloquially referred to as "Etz"), which he founded. His followers formed a political organisation known as the
Jerusalem Faction. In a 2010 letter signed together with
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv,
Aharon Leib Shteinman and
Nissim Karelitz, Auerbach expressed his strong disapproval of
conversions to Judaism involving Israeli soldiersbeing performed by
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) rabbisthe process of which the former determined to be a violation of
halakha (Jewish law). In 2013, as the Israeli government launched a campaign to
draft Ultra Orthodox men into the IDF, the Jerusalem Faction adopted a controversial policy of demonstrations and incitement against the draft. ==References==