Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Smile!

Browsing some of the galleries of the kinus Hashluchim gala banquet I saw many familiar, unexciting faces, but some of them jumped off the page! Like the two here. The first one is Rabbi Yankel Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and the Ukraine, who was a guest of his brother Moishe, seated next to him, as was the case last year. Moishe is my landsman, and maybe yours too if you grew up in Boro Park, and is today what you'd call a successful shliach himself in the feminist utopia of Wellesley, Massachusetts. Not exactly where his Stoliner principal expected him to be now, but nice, nevertheless. I think this cooperation - where Lubavitch brings people from the outside, and not just financial backers ("layleaders") - is a big step in the right direction, where all groups respect and work with each other. The 3rd man in the picture is R' Levi Gorelik, son of Reb Gershon Mendel of Milan. RLG is a son-in-law of the Rebbe's mazkir Reb Binyomin Klein, and is a top mashgiach for the OK and a known lecturer in Crown Heights and abroad. ( I hear now that he's no longer associated with the OK, and that he's involved with the RCE/Merkaz Rabbonei Europa I'm not sure if the three know each other or were just placed at the same table.


R Yankel Bleich

The next picture is what really surprised me, especially since the all-important Agudah convention is only a week away, when Reb Abish Brodt, pictured here on the left, is the feature entertainer, bringing Reb Chaim Dovid, Esq., into a frenzy on Motzoei Shabbos at Melava Malka. With him are (L-R) Meir Eichler of Eichler's in Flatbush, Lipa Brennan, who organizes the kinus but is the Administrator at Yeshivas Novominsk and the NR's right hand man, and Yerachmiel Benjaminson, Chief knakker at Tzivos Hashem and the Jewish Children's Museum. I would imagine that AB was the guest of either ME or LB, but I'm not sure where YB comes in here. Maybe he too was just a tablemate here. Why either one of them chose AB as their guest is not something I know; maybe one of you can enlighten us. I would think that he - being a staunch supporter of the Agudah and BMG - would not be very fond of Lubavitch, but I could be very wrong. Maybe the times they are a'changin' after all; maybe this is the dawn of a new era of mutual respect and cooperation after all, and maybe Meir Eichler will be prominently displayed in the picture galleries of this year's convention on Thanksgiving Weekend!


Abish Brodt

27 comments:

Lucky Wolf said...

Neither Yankel nor Abish are misnagdim. quite the contrary.

Perhaps some people thought that reb YB was a misnaged from perhaps looking at the relationship he has with some other shluchim. but by using that logic you could make an argument that 10 percent of all shluchim are misnagdem.

BTW Reb Abish happens to be the sweetest man.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

I realize that Lucky. I was speaking of their relationship to Chabad. RYB is a Stoliner Chossid, and AB is a Stutchiner, IIRC.

Lucky Wolf said...

Oh, i forgot to tell you, AB is a close friend of Rabbi Yerachmiel Benjaminson.

Also so that no one takes what i said before in the wrong way. As far as i know, RYB does in fact get along very well with the Shluchim in his area.

Anonymous said...

Abish is a zisse yid

Anonymous said...

this blog loves to sow the seeds of hate when ever possible.
most of the litvish velt does not hate chabad just pity them they would be mekarev them if they were in to kiruv

מענדל said...

הירשעלע
שוין א משך זמן וואס הרב גארעליק ארבעט ניט פארן OK.
ער ארבעט פארן מרכז רבני אירופה אין ענטפערן שאלות וכדו'
דא"ג עס איז געווען א טיש מלא מיט סאטמארע וואס זיינען גקעומען מיטן שליח פון בייזשינג.

מענדל

snag said...

"Rabbi Yankel Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kiev and the Ukraine"

1) Vi ken es zein az di Stoliner hot a gresserer bord fun dem Lubavitcher bruder??

2) So you mean you're recognizing the Stoliner as oberRabbiner, rather than one of two Lubavitchers? Oy vey!

3) "Stoliner principal" - you mean the one in the publishing field now?

4) "who organizes the kinus but is the Administrator at Yeshivas Novominsk". Oy vey. And you still consider the NR a snag?

5) The NR not too long ago had (has?) a close family member working in kan tzivoh, helping anash as well. You think he still qualifies as a big snag?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

snag

משה ראט אין די מאמע, יענקל אין די טאטע.....

I'm telling you what he calls himself, not "recognizing" anything

No, Moshe is too young to have had Scherman as principal. And I was talking Hebrew, not English.

I never said the NR was a snag

Bewildered said...

Amazing Benjaminson could interrupt his busy schedule of giving the Rebbe Nachas by throwing gala mixed-sitting dinners for T"H honoring Uh-gefuraner.

You never know.

Anonymous said...

There is no active Chief Rabbi in Ukraine now. Rav Bleich is not in the country more than a few months a year, Rav Chaikin has retired, and R' Azman is no longer even claiming the title.

The communities in UA are decentralized and except that some Chabad communities in regions are subordinate to the shaliach in the nearest large city, there is no real organization or chain of authority.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

where is Rabbi Bleich the rest of the year? Israel?

Anonymous said...

Abish Brodt is:
A) A tomim.learnt in Bedford
B) A Big Baal Tzedokah, also to chabad
c) A Taiyereh Yid, certainly as much as some of the other charachters there, most of whom dont seem to be shluchim.

Anonymous said...

"I think this cooperation - where Lubavitch brings people from the outside, and not just financial backers ("layleaders") - is a big step in the right direction"

Maskim! Unlikely though...
Let's not get carried away.
Because a few outsiders showed up to the kinnus it does not mean much.
K'yadua, Chabad has no interest in working with anybody or any group weather l'shma or shelo l'shma.
Unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

Bewildered
it seems you have issues with Benjaminson, your criticism is out of the blue

Anonymous said...

R' Bleich seems to run all over the world. I think his family lives in the US now. He was in Japan for the trial of the bochur.

SatmarTC said...

I went to the Armory
it was great

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

careful now, TC

were you Shimon Freundlich's guest????

SatmarTC said...

lol lol
better careful

Anonymous said...

Also, there are no real issues between Rav Bleich and legitimate shluchim. I don't even think he had a problem with Rav Chaikin, who was hardly a threat as he was a tired older man by the time he tried to establish himself in Kiev.

Chabad was never strong in Kiev for whatever reason until R' Azman came along, and R' Azman is not official by any means. Kiev is the kind of place where people go for gashmius and R' Azman's style works out well there.

Twistelton-Twistelton said...

I am good friends with a son of Abish Brodt. Abish Brotd was by the Kinus Hasluchim because he has connections to various Lubavitchers who use his title co. Well, really his Son in law's title co. He is a minor partner. His main contribution to Madison Title is to go to weddings and bar Mitzvah of clients and sing. That is a exaggeration, but his MAIN role in Madison Title is as good will ambassador/sales man. He was asked to come by a client, and did. He certainly is not a big misnaged to Chabad, but he will laugh at a Chabad joke.

Bewildered said...

Anon, Thurs. 11:15,

My criticism is not out of the blue, nor am I alone in having an "issue" with a mossad of the Rebbe, dedicated to, of all things, the chinuch of children AL TAHARAS HAKODESH, running a Schnorer/Koved affair, where they can't help themselves but to seat the men and women together. Yeah, I got an issue with that.

And I would think anyone who is the Rebbe's AH Chassid should also have an issue with that!

Fulop said...

Who cares?The jeep went over the cliff and Chabad is now the most boring leave-us-alone-already Orthodox group out there.

Anonymous said...

BLEICHS!!!!!!!!!

I love em both, Reb Yankel and his Chabad brother, Moshe!!!!

Zey tiyin uf asach far Yidhshkayt iberall!!!

Malach HaMovies said...

I always though that R' Eli Teitelbaum a"h was a "Haisa" Agudist. Little did i realize that he was a "Haisa" Chabadsiker as well.

I guess contradictions like this happens at times.

samul said...

פארוואס זענען מיר אזוי שטאלץ מיט יעדען בארא פארקער איינוואוינער וואס טרעט איבער די שוועל פון ליובאוויטש?

מיר דארפען זייער אנערקענונג?

מיר זענען אסאך מער פון זיי

מילא ר' יעקב בלייך איז רב אבער אביש בראד דארף איך פאר א קדחת

Anonymous said...

איך קען משה בלייך און זיין עלטערע ברודער
משה איז ניט אזא לויבאביטשער, ער האט נאך אין זיך זיין קארלינער בלוט(געפין אויס וואו ער דרייט זיך שמחת תורה...) און זיןן ברודער ר' יענקיל איז א אמתער שליח וואס איז געגאנגען אויפטאן אין רוסלאנד אן קיים פאמ !! און נאך אסאך איידער עס איז געווען די מאדע צו גיין אויף שליחות...
און גראדער- ר' אהרן הגדול פון קארלין איז געווען די גרעסטער רבי וואס האט געמאכט בעלי תשובה. כידוע

Anonymous said...

Ic ken di Bleich Brider perzenlich....Beider rotin in zei'er feter HaRav HaChosid Shmuel Lew fun London,Nor Ish al machneihu v'ish al digloi...