Every group likes to show hoe somebody in the news has some sort of connection to them. Chabad is no different, and isn't when it concerns Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz o"h. I guess the news must've reached Israel only after Shabbos, because tonight COL reported on his passing, and had some interesting pictures. Shmais, to their credit, had it on Thursady Night, and had the Chabad angle first, including the above photo.
I always admired Rabbi B's patience and availabilty, at all times of the day and night. The picture here surprised me a bit, as he seems to be loud, which he never was when I heard him. At all times of the week, and the night, he'd be on the radio with Zev Brenner and Country Yossi (Reb Country Yossi) answering all kinds of Shayles, including some really childish ones. He'd have an answer for anybody, and be very patient at it. I imagine in those days he didn't get much sleep. You'd be hard pressed to find another Rov who gets on the radio and deals with all kinds of people like that. For most other Rabbonim Volt es nisht gepasst. M
Some of the Chiddushim I read about Rabbi B was that he Talmid of the Lubavitcher Yeshivah in New York, and had a Kesher with the Rebbe. He also was told by the Rebbe once on Chanukah while receiving Chanukah Gelt to learn Likkutei Torah when others were instructed to learn Tanya. (I'm not quite sure what that means exactly, but that was a comment on COL's story.) He also invited the Shliach in Far Rockawaty to come give a shiur Tanya in his shul. Obviously for a partisan "hack" like myself these anectodes about Rabbi B only increase in my admiration for him, although seeing Shaitel ads with his Hechsher on them always rubbed me the wrong way.
While on the subject of Rabbi B: After telling an acquaintance of mine on Friday morning that Rabbi B had passed away, he asked me "who's gonna print the book on Hilchos Pesach this year"? to which I responded that the book is surely ready for this year. His response was the following story: In his Yeshivah the cook passed away on Erev Shabbos. That Shabbos the boys in Yeshivah ate the food that he had prepared, and the Rosh Yeshivah told the Bocherim that the Nifter has a Z'chus that the Talmidei HaYeshivah are eating his Macholei Shabbos. So too Rabbi B, Klal Yisroel is using his book after he paassed away, and that Zchus zol em Bayshtein!
5 comments:
Tzig
I was there when he Farherd the Bochurim in the Smichah class in Morristown. I was surprisedly quite impressed with him. Not that my opinion matters.
may he be a Meylitz Yosher for all of us.
עיקר חסר מן הספר
While Rav Blumenkrantz z"l evidently learned in Lubavitch, it sounds like it was in his youth, like in his teens, in high school-elementary perhaps. He came from South America, maybe he was just getting settled then.
However, afterward, when he got older, he left Lubavitch. I know that he learned by הגאון רב משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל. Let's not make him into a full-fledged Lubavitcher posthumously.
He was a gentleman so he was nice to the shliach, but more than that, מהיכא תּיתי ?
He was not a real Litvak and major snag, in his beis medresh they daven sfard, so red zich nit ayn that he was a real Litvak who asked for a Tanya shiur.
interesting how nobody else thought that was his life's story. I called it an "angle", in other words a footnote, a tidbit. Other sites reported more, although nothing that we really didn't know.
You snags are one PARANOID bunch.
The irony is that amongst other Rabbonim RAB was somewhat of a joke, I'm very sorry to say. This is due to the fact that most of them are jealous of his success. I guess what really matters is what the Oylem thinks.
NO, it is due to the unreliability of his book, both factually and halachicly. Ask any Rov. Including any CHABAD rov
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