Can you identify these ליטווישער רבנים?

Book Review - "Shadar" by Dovid Zaklikowski

Buy It Here

SHADAR Touching Hearts, One Person at a Time 
$22.00 
By Dovid Zaklikowski and Rabbi Shimon Raichik 
Hardcover: 448 pages, 300 images and documents


I just had the distinct pleasure of reading this long overdue book about the life and work of Reb Shmeel Duvid Raitchik. The Frierdiger Rebbe's shliach to California and a מקושר נפלא to the Rebbe זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע. A man who was דבוק בה' ובמשה עבדו every second of every day. Until his dying breath. כפשוטו ממש. Maybe if he had his own publishing company it would be out earlier. It's been 21 years since his passing. And if not for Dovid Zaklikowski who knows if this would ever see the light of day. From his beginnings in the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Otwock, to his escape to Vilna, Kobe, Shanghai and ultimately New York, no detail is lost. And then there's the whole story of his shlichus. The family history, the family trials and tribulations during WW2 - it's all there. And rightfully so, a large section is dedicated to his late Rebbetzin and her family. Even people who knew him from as far back as the 40s and 50s would have lots to learn from this book.

You might divide Rabbi Raichik, and by extension the book, into two parts: 1) his personal עבודת השם and 2) his עבודת הקודש as shliach. But in reality they were היינו הך. It was his devotion to Torah, mitzvos and chassidus that caused to be the רב פעלים that he was. That caused him to be relentless in his works, whether raising money, building mikvaos, or telling people where they had to be in Yiddishkeit. No matter how far they seemed. There were no kid gloves - yet people recognized his sincerity and emes and could not turn him down. It didn't matter who you were or how many doors were closed. Fifty years of living in California working with all kinds of people had very little zero effect on him. Because he was connected to the source. If I wrote anymore there'd be no need for you to buy the book. So click on the link and bring inspiration into your home.

article in כפר חב"ד magazine

a short clip of his words to shluchim at the כינוס השלוחים

Looks like we're heading back to the great divide of תשמ"ט

I'm no expert on Israeli Haredi politics; I'll be the first one to tell you that I get severe headaches trying to follow it. But the currect matzav is easy enough for a novice like myself to understand. The Chassidishe Moetzes, after a meeting today, says to Stay Home Tomorrow and not vote for anybody in the ירושלים mayoral runoff election between Shas candidate Moshe Leon and the secular Ofer Berkovitz. Reb Chaim Kanievski says vote for Moshe Leon, otherwise you'll be a partner in all the Chilul Shabbos etc. And if you don't you're מחלל שם שמים. The Moetzes says that they're doing it because Degel is supporting a secular candidate in Tzfas. So it's just basically all politics and spite. But why is Degel supporting secularism in Tzfas and crying over קדושת ירושלים? Beats me. All this comes after the disaster of Round 1, where Slonimer chossid Yossi Deitsch lost by a wide margin after the Degel people didn't vote for him. Not only did they not vote for him, they showed the Agudah that they're twice as strong as them, voting in 6 of their own to Agudah's 3 on the city council. The biggest punch in the gut Ger had seen in a very, very long time. And secretly you might say even some chassidim aren't crying...

Which got me thinking: for a while I thought that were there to be open lines of communication between the Lubavitcher Rebbe and some of his Litvishe detractors, things would be quite different. If the Rebbe would live in EY, as silly as that sounds, then people from EY would have a chance to see the Rebbe and not be sucked into the great web of lies and deceit created by the haters. It would make sense, were it not for the events of recent weeks. No member of the Moetzes, some of whom live minutes away from the Roshei Yeshiva, made the effort to go visit Reb Moshe Hillel Hirsh or Reb Gershon Edelstein, or any tier 2 Rosh Yeshiva to try and tell them that it's imperative that we stay home tomorrow. Conversely, no Rosh Yeshiva went to any Rebbe to convince them to change their mind about staying home, since the קדושה of Yerushalayim is on the line. I realize that here the onus was on the Roshei Yeshiva, since the Chassidim are only doing it out of spite, and what kind of case can they make? How will they convince anybody of the righteousness of their decision today? We'll leave Reb Chaim out of this for now, since Yanky Kanievski would probably not let i n to their zeide....

Some would say that it's ironic that it happened to Yossi Deitsch the Slonimer, a chossid of Reb Sholom Noach, who was a close acquaintance of the late Ponovizher Rosh Yeshiva... (and no friend of Chabad, despite having taught there in the early 40s in Tel Aviv.) The real cynics say that all the Rosh Yeshivas need to do is speak about "Shabbos" and B"K, and all (veise) Slonimer will join them en masse.... Lots to hash out here, including "is Reb Chaim really in charge here, or as the Etznikim say, it's all his eynikel Yanky?" Also, did the Satmar Rebbe had a ווייטער בליק, as his supporters say? although he did allow his people to vote in municipal elections... MK Yisroel Eichler, in his Belzer apologist way told an interviewer last week that since Chassidim don't follow sports elections are r their entertainment, but chas vesholom, there's no animosity between Chassidim and Litvishers, just like fans of one team don't HATE fans of the other team... Time will surely tell. 

.....יתומים היינו

Reb Chaim's Letter, below:

An article about Rabbi CMA Hodakov in 1935

Rabbi Hodakov's Wiki Page 

Hodakov Article 1935 by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

EightyYears Since Kristallnacht

Add this to the RJBS resume: Rav of Cong. Morya, NYC

Article also gives a brief history of the shul and previous Rov there.

Baumel--Kehillath Morya by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

Letterhead of shul with Rav's name as Rabbi.

Some people are apparently upset that SMR wasn't featured at the כינוס השלוחים banquet last night

I did not attend the banquet. I haven't been attending for some years now. I don't feel like I belong if I'm not out there on the front lines. Towards the end of the banquet I receive the following message via Whatsapp: ( NOTHING has been changed or altered)

I'm writing to you as I know you are very close to R Sholom Mordechai... So many of us here in Lakewood decided to watch the Shluchim Kinnus this year (something we don't usually do ) to see how Chabad would celebrate with RSM in their first opportunity to show appreciation to hashem for the nes he bestowed on one of their most publicly renowned Chassidim, and also to see how Chabad would celebrate the man who became a סמל of emunah and bitachon in the whole world , the kind of heroic bitachon the reminded us of the lubavitcher chassidim that risked everything in communist Russia ... But alas we have all been sorely disappointed. Watching the kinnus You would not know this nes ever happened . You would not know there's a giant of emunah amongst the crowd . How can Chabad ignore this . How could Chabad not give public thanks for the נס גלוי that happened to one of their own.. what am I missing.  Is there some kind of nefarious politics that we don't know abt ? - עד כאן

Well. I'm not sure what to do with this. It never crossed my mind that he should be featured at the kinnus, but maybe that's because he's already sort of out of our collective minds. 11 months is a long time in 2018, when news cycles barely last 12 hours. Featured as a speaker would maybe be too much, but the guy who wrote the above comment was looking for 3 minutes of "real time joy and acknowledgment" in regards to SMR. That's all. Also, this wasn't a dinner for Lubavitch; rather it was a dinner for shluchim and their baaleibatim. Lay leaders, if you will. But I hear the טענה. I did not dismiss it out of hand. It's ironic that we all live in our little realities and bubbles. I know some people were quite upset that lawyer Gary Appel thanked President Trump for what he did for Sholom Mordechai, as well as everything else he does for the Jewish people. Shluchim that work with very opinionated Liberal Jews were worried what they would say to their college students and hippies and back home. So lots of people on either side are unhappy. The basic טענה against Chabad is they don't care about kiddush hashem or doing what's right. It's all about חנפה'נען the baaleibatim. Oligarchs and Shmoligarchs. OK. I suppose that's like Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz speaking in front of hundreds of Roshei Yeshiva and telling "דעת תורה" what they should be doing. How they should be running their schools and Yeshivos. They're also quite because he gives them money?



 I'd love to hear what your opinion is on this matter. You can also add more complaints about the banquet, if you so desire. I'm sure there are more; I know shluchim themselves have plenty. After all, they don't ask for every shliach's opinion as to how to run the banquet...  In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful and heartwarming clip shown last night.

אנטאניא נייעס

See Story

סטוטשינער רבי שליט"א אין לעיקוואוד היינט מוצש"ק

Doing it his way... Bringing children closer to their father in heaven...



Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

The "irrational" Chabad come across as the must emphatic group

Received via email: (my comments in parentheses) 

Hirshel:

What a strange legacy the Rebbe has instilled in our דור. Being right wing on the Mideast and at the same time loving every Jew. What a kiddush Hashem! The Lubavitcher school in Pittsburgh may have upset some charedim that they consider these Jews to be "legitimate" Jews and attended funerals etc., and at the same time they generally suffer the wrath of the Jewish left for their "hardline" stances; [maybe even from some of the kedoshim that were murdered here] (may G-d have mercy on the Jwish left's misguided souls) -   How do we know those pictured here are Chabad? Look at the fat Chitas the girls are holding. (Also the emblem on the sweater, but he wasn't looking that closely,  מטעמים המובנים)

I don’t buy the NYT for more than 10 years; I just saw it in a supermarket...

כ"ק אדמו"ר רבי שמריה נח שניאורסאהן זצ"ל מבאברויסק - בעל המאמר

Credit

בחבדפדיה מובא שהעומד מאחור זה אחיו רש"ב מרעטשיטשע

חדש מכתב יד!!! מאמר ד"ה שפה אחת מכ"ק אדמו"ר ר' שמריה נח מבאברויסק זצ"ל

Shalom U'vracha, 

Please find attached a remarkable Maamar from Rebbe Shmaryahu Noach of Babruisk. This Maamar is being published for the first time from Manuscript! A tremendous amount of time and effort has gone into preparing the text for publication, your financial support would be greatly appreciated. To donate via PayPal please use the link here

May we see the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days.
Wishing you Kol Tuv, Akiva.

   מאמר ויהי כל הארץ שפה אחת by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

Link for non-Scribd users

Chabad always had Breslov's back

Breslov kind of has that approach to things; Everybody always loved us besides for a few Chernoblers in Ukraine. And they were just power hungry people. (They have a few such stories with Chabad Rabbeyim, from the Alter Rebbe and on.) But we're (Breslov) better than anybody anyway, and our chassidus is the deepest of the deep. I never quite understood that. If you're better and deeper and holier who cares what anybody else says? 

Now, all that's left to ponder is did the story really happen....

אדמו"ר מנדבורנא צפת זצ"ל - העברעאיש

רבי אהרן יחיאל לייפער זצ"ל בן רבי דוד מבאניא הי"ד בן רבי בערטשע מסאטמאר זצ"ל

צפנת פענח - מהגאון דראגאטשאוו - מבואר

   רגלך לא בצקה by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

Pictures of the Day

 דער רבי דער אמרי אמת מיט דער לב שמחה

'תורה מחזרת על אכסניא שלה - בבא מציעא פ"ה א

Yeshiva Torah Vodaath welcomes its new Rosh Yeshiva, Harav Reb Yitzchok Lichtenstein. That's ben Reb Aron, חתן הגרי"ד סולובייצ'יק זצ"ל מבוסטון. You heard it correctly. "JB"'s eynikel is the Rosh Yeshiva at Torah Vodaas. I'm told he's a זייער חשוב'ר יונגערמאן. A big lamdan and a ירא שמים. Seems to be a trend among the young princes of the Soloveitchik clan; they're going back to being Charedi. We saw it with Reb Moshe Twersky hy"d, and I'm sure there are others. We hear that young Yitzchok went right wing already as a bochur. He published his zeide Reb Yoshe Ber's הגדה של פסח. He married into the Grozovsky family of Monsey, so he's at home in Torah Vodaath, I suppose. (Reb Reuven was RY at YTV, for those of you who may not know) And a קנאי to boot. What remains o be seen is can he bring back some of the glory of YTV? The cheder is booming, and even mesivta is doing quite well. But when it comes to Yeshiva Gedola/Beis Medrash the rooms are empty. Looks like it's not cool to say you learn at Torah Vodaath. Or maybe there are too many Harries there? Seems like they need a Gadol that's gonna sit on the Moetzes to run it. A man who's gonna make baaleibatim/gevirim feel proud to know him. A Rav Pam, I suppose. Not sure if that's what they got in RYL.

יהא בואו לברכה להרמת קרן (ה)תורה (ודעת) - אמן

Reb Aron Soloveitchik on Torah coming to America

   1975 by Hirshel Tzig on Scribd

Anybody else notice how the Artscroll book on Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz was almost twice as thick as the one on the Chasam Sofer?

Just a simplistic observation from a גארנישט.

Seeking info on one Pinchas Schneersohn, last of Berditchev

Received via e-mail:

I am trying to identify Pinchas Schneerson. In the attached photo R-L Chaya Ita Twersky, daughter of Admur Shlomo Benzion of Chernobyl. She married her mother's brother Yehoshua Elazar Chodorov son of Zalman Chodorov of Berdichev;  Sarah Chodorov daughter of Zalman Chodorov Admur of Berdichev - Married a Schneersohn, Pinchas Scheersohn - was he the husband of Sarah Chodorov? Who was his father? He was from Retchica (Belorussia - white russia) - Killed by the Fascists with wife and 3 daughters in Berdichev. עד כאן

I was thinking this was Pinchas Schneersohn, son Yehuda Leib, son of the Retchitcher Rebbe, Reb Sholom Ber, son of Reb Yehuda Leib of Kopust, son of the Tzemach Tzedek. But that Pinchas died in the Holy Land, and it didn't seem like he had three daughters. There also does NOT seem to be such a Pinchas in the ספר הצאצאים - which is the source for all things Schneersohn. But then again, the letter is from a cousin who would know about this.

See letter below. Any and all would be greatly appreciated. You can email me at neveler@gmail.com