The point is not the Spinka Sefer or the Ruzhiner's Hanhogos. He's a Left-winger who hates all things Chassidish. And Charedi for that matter, even if his Zeide founded the Shotzer Shil in Montreal in 1909! (As if that's supposed to prove something)
Nadler's subjectiveness, clothed in the mantle of the academy, is blatant. Nadler has nothing of import to say about Spinka so he smears Rizhin, a hasidus with no real connection to Spinka. Spinka shtams from Ziditchov which focused on kabbalah. What connection is there to the malchusdike hanhogah of the heilige Rizhiner? As HT has said, of late Spinka may have fallen under Satmar influence. Again, what connection to Rizhin? For that matter, what connection did the Rizhiner's hanhogah of his hasidus have to the very real need in Czarist Russia to eliminate informers? It is all just an excuse to smear Hasidut.
I just did not get the relevance of Nadler's piece AT ALL. How does it make any sense to place the blame for this scandal in the arms of the Rizhiner rebbe? Because he was the first rebbe to make money off of it? He was hardly the first religious figure or even Jewish rabbi to make money off of his spiritual work. Furthermore, Hasidim in America are exposed to many other models of faith based business, from megachurches to mormonism to aish and chaba"d-- all of which are a very different model than the Rizhiner and all of which MAKE MONEY off of spirituality. Did the Spinka rebbe have an opulent court? Does he know how to use a finger bowl and where the oyster fork goes on the table? I seriously doubt it. He is far from an austro hungarian monarch. And whats with the dichotomy between High and Low Hasidism. For Nadler there is a MISTAKE in evoloution of Hasidut that leads to Ungarishe rebbes in BP. Who are the same as they were in 1800. This is an incredible load of BS. First of all, who is he to judge whether Vayoel Moshe, Imrei Josef, Minchas Eluzar etc are BETTER than the Tanya, Toldot Yaakov Yosef, Kedushas Levi and Mei haShiloach??? If noone has kept track, they are very very different works. Second off all, the Hasidic community is not stuck in 1800. For example, the complete move away from Hasidut in contemporary Satmar, the integration of "Halacha" into hassidism and the integration of Litvish yeshivish norms in some sections all show a dynamism that takes us far beyond 2008, nevermind 1800. The fact that these are aesthetically formed into having certain resonances with the past does not mean they ARE the past. It means Hasidim are very sad that the past is over. Understandable, since it ended with the deaths of many of their parents, siblings etc.
I am a Misnaged, not in the sense that I am against Chassidim, but my hashkafos are based on Nefesh HaChaim--through shaar daled. For this reason, I have different beliefs. But I regard chassidim who are sincere as mivakshei Hashem.
I detect hatred in this man's writings. And if he is not a talmid chochom, he has a major chutzpah to put down a sefer out of hate and spite.
The point is not what or how hw writes but that the Spinka's actions and resulting chillul Hashem give fuel for idiots like Nadler to spread their bile. The only one to blame for the article is N.T. Weisz
"And he infamously was fond of declaring, as a kind of personal motto, “All the money in the world belongs to me.”' Wow, that was really evil. He leaves the unsuspecting reader to understand that the heiliker Ruzhiner was referring to himself... Nadler fails to mention the minor detail that the statement was a quotation of a posuk about G-d...
As it just so happens, Nadler may be a farbissene Misnagged but he is by all accounts a serious talmid-chokhem. I was told from a guy in Montreal who used to daven in his shul (Nadler was the rov of the biggest sheel in Montreal -- Shaar Hashamayim) that he has yadin-yadin; and that when he used to give gemoreh-shiurim in his sheel and quote toysfesen and all kinds of other rishoynim by heart. And, if you look at his own book on the misnagdim (I don't remember what it is called...I think "The Beliefs of the Misnagdim" or something like that), you will see that he has tremendous bekiyus in Sifrei machshoveh and that he is a serious scholar. So, I doubt Nadler would "diss" the Imrei Yosef without having at least looked through it; maybe it's not a very original book, and he just wasn't impressed. In any event, all these attacks on Nadler are a convenient way to "shoot the messenger." He isn't the one that brought this chillel ha-shem on us frime yidden. The so-called Spinker Ruv did. But it is always easier to blame
They hated him then and they hate him now. It's remarkable how Nadler twists the truth with full knowledge of history : he knows that Sanzer Ruv reverred Heilige Ruziner to infinite extent, so he spells out the "all-out war" to be against Sadigura only. He paints the picture of lifestyle that spread like prairie fire to Hasidic courts "all across Rumania" even as the history has it that most Romanian hoifen were dirt poor; already by Heiliger Rizhiner's grandchildren weren't yoiresh any of the "opulence" besides maybe a clean dress and a fish fork.
His narrative, painting a picture of evil Romanians and Hungarians using torn facts and half-truths, and contrasting the "better" Polish and Russian "dynasties" against the "bad" Romano-Hungarian ones, should be very familiar to readers of this blog. And in case you wonder where does Mr. Nadler shepp the drive for this, the answer is simple :
"His grandfather escaped from Rumania to Canada in 1909, where he was instrumental in establishing the Montreal shul of the late Shotzer Rebbe"
His "shuhl" in Montreal was and is conservative, no mechitzah etc. It so happens that I know this guy, and to claim that he is a talmid chochom is not just outrageous exaggeration but an insult to graduates of any mesivta, never mind yeshivah or real lomdim. If he has yodin yodin, he must have gotten it from some private rabbi as a "gratuity", certainly not from a yeshivah (his alma mater YU did not give that semichah in his days). To cite a tosfos by heart when you prepare a shiur is no big deal.
I happened to find his yichus that "His grandfather escaped from Rumania to Canada in 1909, where he was instrumental in establishing the Montreal shul of the late Shotzer Rebbe." To actually be rather humorous -to bash chassidus, yet to some how try to be m'yachus oneself to it . . .
Interestingly in other articles he refers to himself as a Litvak.
Ah mechaye, ah geshmak. Der Forverts returns to the twenties and earlier. Such an article deserved to be written in mameloshon to give the full flavor of the vicious hatred of the arbeitor yiddishten to anything frum.
Allan Nadler's hatred of all things chassidish needs no further elaboration. While I've never met the dog personally, I've read enough of his diatribes to recognize his typically biased approach. Nadler is, practically speaking, a 'cultural' Jew. His values are defined by the popular culture, and not by any loyalty to Torah, or anything connected with traditional yiddishkeit. Nadler hates chassidim because they represent exactly the type of Jew he wishes had already assimilated, but never will. Distinct in both mannerism and appearance, the chassid with his old-fashioned garb and adherence to an ancient code as opposed to the cultural innovation du jour, is a real thorn in Nadler's eye. Notice his slick choice of words "busted", "juicy transcripts", and "elaborate schemes" as his smug judgement of the Spinka rebbe puts the lie to his mandatory 'alleged' in the headline. Not to worry, Jewish scum like Allan Nadler has come and gone before, and like all the rest of the dirt, he will surely finish up in the garbage- where he belongs.
In the late eighties, Nadler wrote a series of articles bashing the Rebbe and Chabad Chassidus.
Nadler argued that a Jew who was never in Israel cannot be a Jewish leader. If I remember correctly, JJ Hecht wrote a rebuttal in the Jewish Press, asking Nadler if he considered Moshe Rabainu a Jewish leader.
He is definitely a very impressive and serious scholar and this article is a masterpiece.
Of course Hirshel & Co. still want to settle accounts with him because he wrote years ago about the dangers of the crazy Lubavitch messianism. He also did a fine presentation at the NYU conference on the Rebbe about two years ago on frum opposition to Lubavitch.
shar hashamayim is conservetive, (there was a story 30-40 yrs ago that somebody made a chasunah there against the ratzun of the rabonim in the city and a close reletive of the choson/kalah passed away during the chupah), anybody that know"s a little history of chasidus recognizes that this guy is of the wall, he may be a TC (which i doubt) but he ain"t understand chasidic history history,
I met him at the NYU conference on the Lubavitcher Rebbi's legacy, where he presented a paper defending the attacks against the rebbi from Bnei Brak and Satmar. In spite of the mixed crowd of frum and non-frum, he walked around, and publicly ate, without any head-covering. Talmid chochom? No, ta'anis cholom perhaps.
I hate to intrude on this loshen hora-fest with a reality check, but allow me to introduce myself. This is Allan Nadler writing. I won't bother to defend myself against all the astonishing bile that is being directed against me (why ruin so many people's idea of fun ?), but let me just correct some factual errors:
1) The Shaar Hashomayim was once, many decades ago, part of the Conservative movement (it was established almost 175 years ago and that was the only movement that existed in North America at the time), but it is a traditional shul, with a mechitzah. It never had mixed seating, not for one day! Since I left the rabonus there (in 1991)all of the rabbis have been Orthodox musmakhim, two from YU and the current rabbi from YCT. The Siddur that is currently used is the Artscroll. The davening and all other conduct at the shul is Orthodox. The bobeh-mayseh about the wedding is utter nonsense. The shul's catering/kitchen is under the Vaad Hair of Montreal. There are all kinds of Yeshivishe and Hasidishe weddings there; it is a community synagogue, and is banned by no one. The late Rav Hirshprung officiated with me at many weddings there during the years I was the rabbi. Rav Leib Baron gave a Talmud Shiur there for about 40 years. And so forth.....
2) I don't, chas ve-sholom hate Hasidim. I love and admire them; except of course when they turn out to be insane messianists, or simple ganovim. All I was trying to do in my article was make some sense of this Hillul Hashem by placing it in a historical and cultural context. You can disagree with my "pilpul" -- which is what all academic conjecture really is -- but why such personal animosity ? I didn't defraud the IRS. And I did try to explain why in the Hassidish velt, there is a perfectly legitimate historical reason to hate mosrim ! It just so happens that it is misplaced in this country. We are not living in Tsarist Russia anymore; there are no special unjust Jew-taxes; the IRS isn't out to punish us. So, we have an obligation to behave ourselves in accordance with Dina de-Malchusa Dina.
3) I never, not for one day, attended Yeshiva University (contrary to Anonymous, who claims to know me personally). My smikhas are from Rabbi Leib Baron (former rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz ha-Torah and now in Israel) and Rabbi Zvi Hersh Tennenbaum, z"l, the former Av Bes Din of the Vaad Harabonim of Boston. Rav Baron was a talmid of Rav Elchonon Wasserman in Baranovitch and later was at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Poland and Shanghai. Rav Tennenbaum was a talmid of Rav Boruch Ber in Kamenetz. In that sense, of being their talmid, I am indeed a Litvak ! My University studies were at McGill (BA) and Harvard (MA, PhD). At Harvard, my doctoral supervisor was the late Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky, himself also the Tolner Rebbe in Brookline, with whom I had a very close relationship.
4) My Zayde, on my mother's side was a Tolner aynikel. On my father's side, a Litvak who was born in Botosani, Rumania. There was a large emigration of Litvaks to Rumania in the 19th century, by the way.
5) Aside from all the hatred, there is also ridiculous praise: I do not have Yadin Yadin semikha. I never quoted Toysfes or Rishonim or Akhroynim "oysveynig" in my shiurim at the Shaar Hashomayim or anywhere else. Even if I had that kind of memory and bekius, which I do not, I wouldn't engage in that kind of shtik !
6) The correct title of my book referred to by one of you is "The Faith of the Mithnagdim." If you bother to read it, you will see that I harbor no antipathy for Hasidim.
7) And if you read my op. ed. article that appeared last summer in the Montreal Gazette, defending the Hasidim of Outremont against their real enemies -- the French Canadian anti-Semites, you'll understand how much I value and respect Hasidim and their communities.
7) Most importantly, I find it very sad -- and ironic -- that the focus of all this anger, these insults and the incredible distortions of reality, are not directed at the real criminals in this matter: the Spinker Rebbe and his cohorts. Just as in my article I bemoaned the misguided focus on the moser, Kasirer, now I am astonished that the focus is on me.
In normal literate society, the kind of article I wrote would be seen as an attempt to explain, if not justify, abberant behavior, by looking to history. When white liberals try to explain, for example, the causes of the high crime rate in inner city black communities, by looking at the historical and social roots of the problem, the racists attack them as apologists. Here I do much the same thing -- to a largely secular readership of the Forward that has no understanding of Jewish history -- and this is the result.
It is geferlich to see all this hatred and rechilus directed at Allan Nadler, who somehow became the story, instead of the Spinker Rebbe's and his fellow ganovim ! In his article, all Nadler did was try to explain why there is so much anger against the moyser, Kasirer. And most of his explanations are actually quite sympathetic to the Hasidim, especially when he gives the history of the Lubavitcher Rebbes' experiences with moysrim.
As far as all the nonsense, and trayfene-reid about how much Nadler hates Hasidism, which was initiated by Tzig himself, when he titles his post "Allan Nadler doesn't Like Hasidim" I would like to know how you explain this article that he wrote defending Hasidim in his own shtot of Montreal:
Muchas gracias to Professor Nadler for a great posting here.
He makes some great points, but he should realize that some of the people here will not like him even if he is innocent of the charges they level against him. They will not forgive him for exposing their getchke years ago. Some of these people are hard pressed to admit to problems in the Chassidic world.
He should keep on doing what's right, and not worry about satisfying all of them. Those who are full of hatred toward him, will likely not change in the forseeable future. They like to play attack the messenger instead of waking up and putting their house in order.
Did one frum newspaper report the Spinka arrest ? Even the Jewish Press didn't. I guess they want the Forward and Nadler to also pretend that it didn't happen ?
Nice try, Dr. Nadler. Now, if you'll be so good as to 'explain' just a little bit more... Since, as you so eloquently admit, you do not have 'yadin yadin', how dare you weigh in on such a serious question as whether the halachos forbidding mesirah still apply in the U.S ? As a matter of fact, most contemporary poskim (Minchas Yitzchok, Mishne Halochos, & others)would clearly disagree with you (in cases where the subject poses no threat to human life, i.e rodef). There is the further issue of the very real risk of severe physical violence, or even death, while in the 'care' of the BOP or DOJ. In fact, an academic of your standing should have no trouble uncovering recent studies putting that risk as high as 20% ! Does halacha then permit mesirah in the US ?! Says who- your yadin-yadinless psak ? You find it 'sad' that "these insults and the incredible distortions of reality, are not directed at the real criminals in this matter: the Spinker Rebbe and his cohorts" (your words)?! That's what you find sad, you vile scum ? All you've done here, Dr. Nadler, by declaring the Spinker Rebbe and his associates to be 'real criminals' (just as you found them guilty in your initial article) is to show your true colors. According to Torah, as well as U.S law, a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty, yes, Allan, even a hassidic man, even a Rebbe ! Do you know which type of Jew doesn't enjoy these presumptions according to halacha....a moser. Methinks a professor should avoid shooting off his mouth, and certainly his filthy pen, in passing ignorant and vicious judgement against his fellow Jews. This, especially when anybody (even) remotely familiar with these types of investigations knows very well the frequent perjury by federal agents in pursuit of an indictment, not to mention the vast amounts of conjecture and hypothesis many of these cases are built on - that's why we have trials, and the initial presumption of innocence. One more thing, Dr. Nadler. Why did you feel compelled to trot out your supposed 'hassidic yichus' all of a sudden ? Was it because you wanted cover for your hatchet-job on the Spinker Rebbe - how many times in the past have you broadcast your supposed hassidic connection ? And just to clear the air, you've been accused by an earlier poster here of walking around eating without a head-covering, is that true, Dr. Nadler ?
I saw lately a article of Adler making fun of the Chasidic(Jewish) Minhag of eating Kugel, as a old fashioned Maskil (many rabbinical dynasties produced maskilim and Sonie Hadas as the Besomim Rosh for instance)as it goes with the usual maskilic psuedo sophistication, he finds the source and similarities between pure kosher shabbos food and the Church waffle where I got to give him credit he shows allot of Bekius in christian theology.I assume he got Yadi Yadin from the Montreal Bishop, from there he turns vulgar on a quote of the holy Koidinever ZT"L His being a grandson of a Shutz Shul founder, is worth as Pat Buchanan and the Mamzer Actor (I forgot his name)famous statement All my best friends are jewish
27 comments:
I never touched the Spinker Rebbe's sefer al haTorah, but is Nadler qualified to write the way he did about it?
The point is not the Spinka Sefer or the Ruzhiner's Hanhogos. He's a Left-winger who hates all things Chassidish. And Charedi for that matter, even if his Zeide founded the Shotzer Shil in Montreal in 1909! (As if that's supposed to prove something)
Nadler's subjectiveness, clothed in the mantle of the academy, is blatant. Nadler has nothing of import to say about Spinka so he smears Rizhin, a hasidus with no real connection to Spinka. Spinka shtams from Ziditchov which focused on kabbalah. What connection is there to the malchusdike hanhogah of the heilige Rizhiner? As HT has said, of late Spinka may have fallen under Satmar influence. Again, what connection to Rizhin? For that matter, what connection did the Rizhiner's hanhogah of his hasidus have to the very real need in Czarist Russia to eliminate informers? It is all just an excuse to smear Hasidut.
Its just strange that he would write like that. Is he a talmid chochom?
that article reads more like a drunken tirade!
btw what's up at the mir? piecemeal is going painfully slowly.
I just did not get the relevance of Nadler's piece AT ALL. How does it make any sense to place the blame for this scandal in the arms of the Rizhiner rebbe? Because he was the first rebbe to make money off of it? He was hardly the first religious figure or even Jewish rabbi to make money off of his spiritual work. Furthermore, Hasidim in America are exposed to many other models of faith based business, from megachurches to mormonism to aish and chaba"d-- all of which are a very different model than the Rizhiner and all of which MAKE MONEY off of spirituality. Did the Spinka rebbe have an opulent court? Does he know how to use a finger bowl and where the oyster fork goes on the table? I seriously doubt it. He is far from an austro hungarian monarch.
And whats with the dichotomy between High and Low Hasidism. For Nadler there is a MISTAKE in evoloution of Hasidut that leads to Ungarishe rebbes in BP. Who are the same as they were in 1800. This is an incredible load of BS. First of all, who is he to judge whether Vayoel Moshe, Imrei Josef, Minchas Eluzar etc are BETTER than the Tanya, Toldot Yaakov Yosef, Kedushas Levi and Mei haShiloach??? If noone has kept track, they are very very different works. Second off all, the Hasidic community is not stuck in 1800. For example, the complete move away from Hasidut in contemporary Satmar, the integration of "Halacha" into hassidism and the integration of Litvish yeshivish norms in some sections all show a dynamism that takes us far beyond 2008, nevermind 1800. The fact that these are aesthetically formed into having certain resonances with the past does not mean they ARE the past. It means Hasidim are very sad that the past is over. Understandable, since it ended with the deaths of many of their parents, siblings etc.
I am a Misnaged, not in the sense that I am against Chassidim, but my hashkafos are based on Nefesh HaChaim--through shaar daled. For this reason, I have different beliefs. But I regard chassidim who are sincere as mivakshei Hashem.
I detect hatred in this man's writings. And if he is not a talmid chochom, he has a major chutzpah to put down a sefer out of hate and spite.
The point is not what or how hw writes but that the Spinka's actions and resulting chillul Hashem give fuel for idiots like Nadler to spread their bile. The only one to blame for the article is N.T. Weisz
SDR
Nadler would write either way. Besides, I've already blamed the shtub mentshen for this whole fiasco, not him.
Did you expect a word of sympathy out of Ferdwert ?
"And he infamously was fond of declaring, as a kind of personal motto, “All the money in the world belongs to me.”'
Wow, that was really evil. He leaves the unsuspecting reader to understand that the heiliker Ruzhiner was referring to himself... Nadler fails to mention the minor detail that the statement was a quotation of a posuk about G-d...
As it just so happens, Nadler may be a farbissene Misnagged but he is by all accounts a serious talmid-chokhem. I was told from a guy in Montreal who used to daven in his shul (Nadler was the rov of the biggest sheel in Montreal -- Shaar Hashamayim) that he has yadin-yadin; and that when he used to give gemoreh-shiurim in his sheel and quote toysfesen and all kinds of other rishoynim by heart. And, if you look at his own book on the misnagdim (I don't remember what it is called...I think "The Beliefs of the Misnagdim" or something like that), you will see that he has tremendous bekiyus in Sifrei machshoveh and that he is a serious scholar. So, I doubt Nadler would "diss" the Imrei Yosef without having at least looked through it; maybe it's not a very original book, and he just wasn't impressed. In any event, all these attacks on Nadler are a convenient way to "shoot the messenger." He isn't the one that brought this chillel ha-shem on us frime yidden. The so-called Spinker Ruv did. But it is always easier to blame
They hated him then and they hate him now. It's remarkable how Nadler twists the truth with full knowledge of history : he knows that Sanzer Ruv reverred Heilige Ruziner to infinite extent, so he spells out the "all-out war" to be against Sadigura only. He paints the picture of lifestyle that spread like prairie fire to Hasidic courts "all across Rumania" even as the history has it that most Romanian hoifen were dirt poor; already by Heiliger Rizhiner's grandchildren weren't yoiresh any of the "opulence" besides maybe a clean dress and a fish fork.
His narrative, painting a picture of evil Romanians and Hungarians using torn facts and half-truths, and contrasting the "better" Polish and Russian "dynasties" against the "bad" Romano-Hungarian ones, should be very familiar to readers of this blog. And in case you wonder where does Mr. Nadler shepp the drive for this, the answer is simple :
"His grandfather escaped from Rumania to Canada in 1909, where he was instrumental in establishing the Montreal shul of the late Shotzer Rebbe"
If he's a talmid chochom, I won't say anything more about that comment.
His "shuhl" in Montreal was and is conservative, no mechitzah etc. It so happens that I know this guy, and to claim that he is a talmid chochom is not just outrageous exaggeration but an insult to graduates of any mesivta, never mind yeshivah or real lomdim.
If he has yodin yodin, he must have gotten it from some private rabbi as a "gratuity", certainly not from a yeshivah (his alma mater YU did not give that semichah in his days).
To cite a tosfos by heart when you prepare a shiur is no big deal.
I happened to find his yichus that "His grandfather escaped from Rumania to Canada in 1909, where he was instrumental in establishing the Montreal shul of the late Shotzer Rebbe."
To actually be rather humorous -to bash chassidus, yet to some how try to be m'yachus oneself to it . . .
Interestingly in other articles he refers to himself as a Litvak.
Ah mechaye, ah geshmak. Der Forverts returns to the twenties and earlier. Such an article deserved to be written in mameloshon to give the full flavor of the vicious hatred of the arbeitor yiddishten to anything frum.
Allan Nadler's hatred of all things chassidish needs no further elaboration. While I've never met the dog personally, I've read enough of his diatribes to recognize his typically biased approach. Nadler is, practically speaking, a 'cultural' Jew. His values are defined by the popular culture, and not by any loyalty to Torah, or anything connected with traditional yiddishkeit. Nadler hates chassidim because they represent exactly the type of Jew he wishes had already assimilated, but never will. Distinct in both mannerism and appearance, the chassid with his old-fashioned garb and adherence to an ancient code as opposed to the cultural innovation du jour, is a real thorn in Nadler's eye. Notice his slick choice of words "busted", "juicy transcripts", and "elaborate schemes" as his smug judgement of the Spinka rebbe puts the lie to his mandatory 'alleged' in the headline.
Not to worry, Jewish scum like Allan Nadler has come and gone before, and like all the rest of the dirt, he will surely finish up in the garbage- where he belongs.
In the late eighties, Nadler wrote a series of articles bashing the Rebbe and Chabad Chassidus.
Nadler argued that a Jew who was never in Israel cannot be a Jewish leader. If I remember correctly, JJ Hecht wrote a rebuttal in the Jewish Press, asking Nadler if he considered Moshe Rabainu a Jewish leader.
Nadler is not a Litvak in terms of yichus.
He is definitely a very impressive and serious scholar and this article is a masterpiece.
Of course Hirshel & Co. still want to settle accounts with him because he wrote years ago about the dangers of the crazy Lubavitch messianism. He also did a fine presentation at the NYU conference on the Rebbe about two years ago on frum opposition to Lubavitch.
Bravo Professor Nadler !
shar hashamayim is conservetive, (there was a story 30-40 yrs ago that somebody made a chasunah there against the ratzun of the rabonim in the city and a close reletive of the choson/kalah passed away during the chupah), anybody that know"s a little history of chasidus recognizes that this guy is of the wall, he may be a TC (which i doubt) but he ain"t understand chasidic history history,
I met him at the NYU conference on the Lubavitcher Rebbi's legacy, where he presented a paper defending the attacks against the rebbi from Bnei Brak and Satmar. In spite of the mixed crowd of frum and non-frum, he walked around, and publicly ate, without any head-covering. Talmid chochom? No, ta'anis cholom perhaps.
I hate to intrude on this loshen hora-fest with a reality check, but allow me to introduce myself. This is Allan Nadler writing. I won't bother to defend myself against all the astonishing bile that is being directed against me (why ruin so many people's idea of fun ?), but let me just correct some factual errors:
1) The Shaar Hashomayim was once, many decades ago, part of the Conservative movement (it was established almost 175 years ago and that was the only movement that existed in North America at the time), but it is a traditional shul, with a mechitzah. It never had mixed seating, not for one day! Since I left the rabonus there (in 1991)all of the rabbis have been Orthodox musmakhim, two from YU and the current rabbi from YCT. The Siddur that is currently used is the Artscroll. The davening and all other conduct at the shul is Orthodox.
The bobeh-mayseh about the wedding is utter nonsense. The shul's catering/kitchen is under the Vaad Hair of Montreal. There are all kinds of Yeshivishe and Hasidishe weddings there; it is a community synagogue, and is banned by no one. The late Rav Hirshprung officiated with me at many weddings there during the years I was the rabbi. Rav Leib Baron gave a Talmud Shiur there for about 40 years. And so forth.....
2) I don't, chas ve-sholom hate Hasidim. I love and admire them; except of course when they turn out to be insane messianists, or simple ganovim. All I was trying to do in my article was make some sense of this Hillul Hashem by placing it in a historical and cultural context. You can disagree with my "pilpul" -- which is what all academic conjecture really is -- but why such personal animosity ? I didn't defraud the IRS. And I did try to explain why in the Hassidish velt, there is a perfectly legitimate historical reason to hate mosrim ! It just so happens that it is misplaced in this country. We are not living in Tsarist Russia anymore; there are no special unjust Jew-taxes; the IRS isn't out to punish us. So, we have an obligation to behave ourselves in accordance with Dina de-Malchusa Dina.
3) I never, not for one day, attended Yeshiva University (contrary to Anonymous, who claims to know me personally). My smikhas are from Rabbi Leib Baron (former rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz ha-Torah and now in Israel) and Rabbi Zvi Hersh Tennenbaum, z"l, the former Av Bes Din of the Vaad Harabonim of Boston. Rav Baron was a talmid of Rav Elchonon Wasserman in Baranovitch and later was at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Poland and Shanghai. Rav Tennenbaum was a talmid of Rav Boruch Ber in Kamenetz. In that sense, of being their talmid, I am indeed a Litvak !
My University studies were at McGill (BA) and Harvard (MA, PhD). At Harvard, my doctoral supervisor was the late Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky, himself also the Tolner Rebbe in Brookline, with whom I had a very close relationship.
4) My Zayde, on my mother's side was a Tolner aynikel. On my father's side, a Litvak who was born in Botosani, Rumania. There was a large emigration of Litvaks to Rumania in the 19th century, by the way.
5) Aside from all the hatred, there is also ridiculous praise: I do not have Yadin Yadin semikha. I never quoted Toysfes or Rishonim or Akhroynim "oysveynig" in my shiurim at the Shaar Hashomayim or anywhere else. Even if I had that kind of memory and bekius, which I do not, I wouldn't engage in that kind of shtik !
6) The correct title of my book referred to by one of you is "The Faith of the Mithnagdim." If you bother to read it, you will see that I harbor no antipathy for Hasidim.
7) And if you read my op. ed. article that appeared last summer in the Montreal Gazette, defending the Hasidim of Outremont against their real enemies -- the French Canadian anti-Semites, you'll understand how much I value and respect Hasidim and their communities.
7) Most importantly, I find it very sad -- and ironic -- that the focus of all this anger, these insults and the incredible distortions of reality, are not directed at the real criminals in this matter: the Spinker Rebbe and his cohorts. Just as in my article I bemoaned the misguided focus on the moser, Kasirer, now I am astonished that the focus is on me.
In normal literate society, the kind of article I wrote would be seen as an attempt to explain, if not justify, abberant behavior, by looking to history. When white liberals try to explain, for example, the causes of the high crime rate in inner city black communities, by looking at the historical and social roots of the problem, the racists attack them as apologists. Here I do much the same thing -- to a largely secular readership of the Forward that has no understanding of Jewish history -- and this is the result.
Nu, tee tsheeveh un zats mikh gezint !
It is geferlich to see all this hatred and rechilus directed at Allan Nadler, who somehow became the story, instead of the Spinker Rebbe's and his fellow ganovim !
In his article, all Nadler did was try to explain why there is so much anger against the moyser, Kasirer. And most of his explanations are actually quite sympathetic to the Hasidim, especially when he gives the history of the Lubavitcher Rebbes' experiences with moysrim.
As far as all the nonsense, and trayfene-reid about how much Nadler hates Hasidism, which was initiated by Tzig himself, when he titles his post "Allan Nadler doesn't Like Hasidim" I would like to know how you explain this article that he wrote defending Hasidim in his own shtot of Montreal:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=5df545b1-8076-4f50-82c2-b7ef4c260db2&k=5282
You should all be ashamed of yourselves, for speaking ill of someone you know nothing about.
Muchas gracias to Professor Nadler for a great posting here.
He makes some great points, but he should realize that some of the people here will not like him even if he is innocent of the charges they level against him. They will not forgive him for exposing their getchke years ago. Some of these people are hard pressed to admit to problems in the Chassidic world.
He should keep on doing what's right, and not worry about satisfying all of them. Those who are full of hatred toward him, will likely not change in the forseeable future. They like to play attack the messenger instead of waking up and putting their house in order.
Did one frum newspaper report the Spinka arrest ? Even the Jewish Press didn't. I guess they want the Forward and Nadler to also pretend that it didn't happen ?
Nice try, Dr. Nadler. Now, if you'll be so good as to 'explain' just a little bit more...
Since, as you so eloquently admit, you do not have 'yadin yadin', how dare you weigh in on such a serious question as whether the halachos forbidding mesirah still apply in the U.S ? As a matter of fact, most contemporary poskim (Minchas Yitzchok, Mishne Halochos, & others)would clearly disagree with you (in cases where the subject poses no threat to human life, i.e rodef). There is the further issue of the very real risk of severe physical violence, or even death, while in the 'care' of the BOP or DOJ. In fact, an academic of your standing should have no trouble uncovering recent studies putting that risk as high as 20% ! Does halacha then permit mesirah in the US ?! Says who- your yadin-yadinless psak ? You find it 'sad' that "these insults and the incredible distortions of reality, are not directed at the real criminals in this matter: the Spinker Rebbe and his cohorts" (your words)?! That's what you find sad, you vile scum ? All you've done here, Dr. Nadler, by declaring the Spinker Rebbe and his associates to be 'real criminals' (just as you found them guilty in your initial article) is to show your true colors. According to Torah, as well as U.S law, a man is presumed innocent until proven guilty, yes, Allan, even a hassidic man, even a Rebbe ! Do you know which type of Jew doesn't enjoy these presumptions according to halacha....a moser. Methinks a professor should avoid shooting off his mouth, and certainly his filthy pen, in passing ignorant and vicious judgement against his fellow Jews. This, especially when anybody (even) remotely familiar with these types of investigations knows very well the frequent perjury by federal agents in pursuit of an indictment, not to mention the vast amounts of conjecture and hypothesis many of these cases are built on - that's why we have trials, and the initial presumption of innocence.
One more thing, Dr. Nadler. Why did you feel compelled to trot out your supposed 'hassidic yichus' all of a sudden ? Was it because you wanted cover for your hatchet-job on the Spinker Rebbe - how many times in the past have you broadcast your supposed hassidic connection ?
And just to clear the air, you've been accused by an earlier poster here of walking around eating without a head-covering, is that true, Dr. Nadler ?
I saw lately a article of Adler making fun of the Chasidic(Jewish) Minhag of eating Kugel, as a old fashioned Maskil (many rabbinical dynasties produced maskilim and Sonie Hadas as the Besomim Rosh for instance)as it goes with the usual maskilic psuedo sophistication, he finds the source and similarities between pure kosher shabbos food and the Church waffle where I got to give him credit he shows allot of Bekius in christian theology.I assume he got Yadi Yadin from the Montreal Bishop, from there he turns vulgar on a quote of the holy Koidinever ZT"L
His being a grandson of a Shutz Shul founder, is worth as Pat Buchanan and the Mamzer Actor (I forgot his name)famous statement All my best friends are jewish
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