Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Zwiebel et. al. show the way



We've spoken many times, thought not much recently, about the Agudath Israel, and what they do and do not do for the average Jewish Joe in America today. It's been so long, I don't even know what the last issue we had with them was, but it was probably Lubavitch-related. Many of you accuse me of being one-sided and of employing a double standard, criticizing, but never giving credit when due, although that certainly is not the case. It certainly is not as easy and not as exciting as criticizing, especially in the line of work I'm in - blogs work, that is. There's only so much you can write in a congratulatory tone, words like yipee, yay, hooray, and bravo only go so far, after that you're not left with much else to say. Which is why I'm dragging out this paragraph to no end; I haven't written much this week and I'm beginning to miss it. That's what writers often do, they stretch out their sentences, especially if they get the old "nickel a word," which I'm not, but I'm still in that frame of mind. Now that we've gotten that out the way we can go on to paragraph two. בשם השם נעשה ונצליח

A delegation of Rabbis and askonim visited Sholom Rubashkin in jail on Tuesday. We're all tired of arguing the points of the case and whether or not what he did was wrong, and whether or not he deserves to shvitz in jail while others enjoy their $10Mil penthouses. Every once in a while many of us ask ourselves "what's going on with Rubashkin?" and a "nebach," "tsk, tsk" may escape our lips. We may not even remember until VIN reports some update about his case. Yet people like Reb Chaim Dovid Zwiebel did remember Sholom and shlepped down to Dubuque and Des Moines to plead his case and to "do" in Pidyon Shvuyim. I know Rabbi Lerner and others are involved too, but we never did get on their cases to begin with. Hence the focus on CDZ. I do not know if he went as an independent lawyer or as an official representative of the AI, but he used his connections and clout to get down there and plead. That's more than any of us have done, and more than many of his friends and co-Chassidim have done. May Hashem bless him for that.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

There may be some Aguda nachalnikes who are anti-Lubavitch but I bet most in the AI see Lubavitch within their constituency.
I recall during the CH riots I got a call from an Aguda officer and asked me to give him some names of responsible leaders in CH , they could deal with.
Some of the problem stems from CH itself, and the go it alone attitudes. They are not the only ones with that problem. But really is there an Aguda liason in CH someone who unofficially acts as a go between on non theological issues with the Aguda. I imagine at some point the late Nissan Gordon acted as such.
Finally I personally think Rubashkin at this point has done his due and should get out on bail with his passport deposited in the court. Rubashkin is suffering because of the tactics used by many other frume Yidden who jumped bail or sought refuge in Israel. Names like Mondrowitz, Berger and many others are amongst these. Of course secular Jews did this too but besides Meyer Lansky (who merited to have a mechutan of our family to be maspid him...) they are not high profile.
Its like in school if you call in sick when you are healthy, you end up having no sick days when you are really sick. So many charedi Jews have used the State of Israel (Zionist entity) as their Ir Miklot that someone like Rubashkin had
to take the fall. But I agree at this point emough is enough and the man should be granted the same privaleges that the zaddik Madoff gets.

Anonymous said...

Hi I thought I would do my Chessed of the day and pop in here. Yeh I know its hard when everyone thinks your too boring to even drop you a comment.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

IS THAT THE BEST CHESED YOU COULD THINK OF?

I would say STAYING AWAY would be a bigger chesed to me...

Anonymous said...

MOIRADIG! GIT ARAINGEZUGT! GAR TIF!!!

Anonymous said...

Tzig, What happened to everybody? Is it the Syms bash?
Or maybe the heating system broke here?

Gosh!!

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

does the yeshivishe oylem still go to the Syms bash?

Anonymous said...

I dont know. You tell me. ee
Wow I hear my echo here. ere

Check this out. Ah gut Voch. och
Part 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO01hVfDFjI&feature=channel
part 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrYL8OASxkk&feature=channel

Anonymous said...

zwiebels actions already backfired!

99 new charges.....

Anonymous said...

Tzigalleh meh,
I know you are easily riled up so I sent you the previous post lest you get antsy about how smart your team was sometimes.
Btw, I know you like teams, so by you Lubavitch is your "team" and you "trash talk" anybody who dares say anything about them, but apparently you know the truth. Ah, and what is the truth??? The truth is that "ein tsadik baaretz asher yaaseh toiv veloi yechto" Neither Lubavitch or oilem hayeshivos were entirely right, both had valid points.The unfortunate part was that Lubavitch
chose to go it alone and stick to their guns even when they started going terribly awry.The result is at least a half of Lubavitch who are aligned with the Meshichist/crazy group.
Btw I left you something to latch on and quibble about: I said the Meshichisten are at least half, true to the Lubavitch character you are going to argue that they are not 50%. Does it make a difference? A large percentage of Chabad has lost its marbles and that is sad.
Btw, lately I've read a couple of personal diaries written by regular Jews that interacted with the Rebbe, for example Zalman Jaffes book, and can tell you that the Rebbe's personality comes out so much better that what comes out when you read a heise chosid's garbage. In Jaffe's book the Rebbe comes across as such a caring, normal individual able to relate to everybody. Interesting to note that in Jaffe's book the chasidim are always trying to get in the way of a normal relationship by fardreying him a kop "you don't give the Rebbe a hand, you don't sit and so much more...

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Tzig Meh

I would imagine פראטעקציע has a lot to do with it.

I do however resent the fact that you seem to know who I am, and maybe even play the friend when you see me, but choose to stab me in the back like that on the blog...

Typical of the haters.

Anonymous said...

What are you talking about?
Who stabbed you in the back?


Stam azoi, your radical writings, written to "please" the powers to be, have gotten you most of the flack.

Anonymous said...

. Today is the first day of Sivan, the day on which the Jews “camped opposite the mountain.” The Torah deviates from the seemingly proper pattern and uses a singular form of the word “camped” which is interpreted by our sages to emphasize a state of unity among the Jewish people, that they camped “as one man with one heart.” Despite that, there are still some who wish to create strife and disagreement among Jews. The Talmud declares that the Temple was destroyed because of the sin of baseless hatred. It also declares that at present “all the appointed times for Mashiach’s coming have past.” Hence, just as the appointed time for the exile to end has come, it also follows the exile’s cause — baseless hatred — has also perished. Yet, there are still those who would like to revive the cause for the Temple’s destruction. They will not succeed. However, because they lack merit, they were able to inject doubt into the minds of those children who attended the Lag BaOmer parade and shouted Shema Yisrael. With that verse on their lips, thousands of Jews have sacrificed their lives; those children mirrored their dedication, shouting Shema Yisrael openly. Why would some object to this? There is only one answer: baseless hatred.

That very term implies that there is no reason or rationale for that hatred. However, one must ask why a Jew would act in this manner. He is a son of Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov — how is it possible for baseless hatred to arise within him? Furthermore, because of their hatred, they have wasted time usually devoted to the study of Torah and service of G-d and used it to spur baseless hatred. How is it possible for a Jew to act in this manner.

There is a simple answer to that question: The only one who would act in this manner is one who wears unfit Tefillin. From a personal perspective, that person must know that he is making a blessing in vain, that he has not put on Tefillin etc. However, the effect is even deeper. Tefillin are intended to subjugate the heart and the mind.[24] Even if one wears kosher Tefillin, and has the proper intention, wishing to subjugate his heart and mind, it is very difficult and requires great effort. The Tefillin, being G-d’s Mitzvah, help attain this goal. However, when one’s Tefillin are unfit it is impossible to do so; and when one lacks the subjugation of heart and mind, we see what bitter results can follow.

It is inconceivable: In our age, after what happened to the six million Jews and we saw the results of baseless hatred, the entire Jewish community joined together. Yet, there are still those who try to stir up baseless hatred.

What does baseless hatred mean? When the Besht called for baseless love, he explained that one must love every Jew, even one who lives on the other side of the ocean, whether he has ever met him or not. The very fact that he is told a Jew exists should stir feelings of love. Baseless hatred is the very opposite. How is it possible that one has such hatred? Generally, the subjugation of one’s heart and mind would prevent such feelings from arising, but when one uses unfit Tefillin, the mind remains unsubjugated.

The Nazis did not differentiate between one Jew and another.[25] The fact that an individual descended from Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel, and Leah was enough for them. Nevertheless, there are those who negate their study of Torah and disturb that of their students in order to stir up baseless hatred. This can only come about because the individual does not put on kosher Tefillin.

One might ask why I am making public mention of this matter. First, I wanted to counteract the influence of this baseless hatred and explain how it was possible that it could have arisen. Also, the party in question, is surrounded by a group of flatterers[26] and they would not have let the message reach him. They are so permeated with hatred and strife that they have totally forgotten what it means to love someone. ‘ On the contrary, in order to achieve their aims, they use their influence to cut people’s salaries, etc.

Another reason for making the statements publicly was to establish a public record of what was said. This way my words will not be exaggerated or altered. Unfortunately, if the message were to have been transmitted privately, it could have been distorted. Now, it will be transmitted as it was said. In this manner, the message will hopefully reach him and he will hopefully check his Tefillin, begin putting on kosher ones, and, in the future, act with control over his heart and mind. Since I have raised a question about those Tefillin, their status is doubtful. Tefillin are a Mitzvah from the Torah itself, and hence, the principle “when doubt arises in regard to a Torah law, follow the more stringent course” applies.

May this effort destroy the last traces of baseless hatred and may we spread Ahavas Yisrael, thus eliminating the reason for the Temple’s destruction.

Anonymous said...

Is the above post quoting what the Lubavitcher Rebbe said about Rav Shach?Nu,nu,I've seen much worse said about the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Rav Shach and others and I'm not a Lubab.
Now that we got that straight ,maybe someone can tell us what it exactly was that the Lubavitcher Rebbe said about the Chazon Ish?Everyone always screams about it but when pressed to quote it all we get is silence.