Wednesday, September 1, 2010

ר' אל'ע איז מיט ג-ט


Monday, chof Elul, was forty years since the passing of Reb Ella Lopian. That's how he was known. Ella, not Elya. Reb Ella was special. It's tough to explain, but I'll try.

There are those that make names for themselves by attacking others or by being leaders of large groups. As a kid I collected Rebbe pictures, and the picture you see above was one of the pictures I had. I think my nephew took my collection, IIRC. We didn't know much about him in Spinka back then, but we liked the picture, it was special. As it is today, no matter how old you are. Reb Ella feeding a cat in Kfar Chassidim is special, considering he was an old man by then, well into his 80s for sure, and he was the mashgiach, not the maintenance man. Most people would send a bachur to go do it, if they remembered at all or cared enough, but not REL. That message resonates especially well with kids, being that kids are used to being shik yinglach for adults, yet here the adult, the well-respected Tzaddik, is doing it himself! That speaks to kids, and it leaves an indellible impression on those "young skulls full of mush."

I also had another experience with Reb Ella. We alluded to it here, but sans details. As a bachur in Chasan Sofer we learned Lev Eliyohu (as well as Michtov MiEliyohu) Our Rebbe was Reb Hershel Cohen, z"l, a talmid of BME in Monsey, a fine, fine Yid who suffered terribly later in life. We learned those seforim for mussar seder each morning. In the hakdomeh there's a toldos section, and one interesting - no, fascinating - detail stuck with me all these years, through Lubavitch and all: Reb Ella's parents left for America when he was all of 9 years old. He refused to go along with them, preferring to stay alone in di Litteh all by himself, saying that Amerikeh iz a trayfeneh medineh. As someone who was homesick in summer camp after one day I was blown away by that! A 9 year old kid! You can put aside all his later accomplishments - if that was the last thing he ever did, Dayenu! Now I see where someone posted a few lines of Reb Chayim Shmulevitz's hesped on Reb Ella; hafloh voFeleh! Kol Hashiurim has the hesped recording, it's just a bit difficult to understand Reb Chaim'n, with his very heavy and sloooooow voice. It's number 19 in the list.

So back to the point of why he was so special; Anybody who can make a buk like myself appreciate him, his demeanor, his personality and his accomplishments MUST be special! There are plenty of shiurim/shmuessen of Reb Ella on KH that you can listen to in your free time. That style is gone. Today we have grandstanders who build tillei tillin shel gornisht mit nisht in their speeches, which are supposed to be shmuessen. The correlation to shmuessen of old is purely coincidental. Sure, we have stories about gilui eliyohu from Reb Ella, but vos hut dos mit unz?, we can learn from his middos tovos. The same goes for Reb Chaim; that style is also gone. But what's the point of lamenting the ones that have passed? We cannot bring them back, we can only try and follow in their footsteps so that der fin oyven will give us a good year in the fullest and most mundane sense of the word.

47 comments:

schneur said...

1. In the hakdamah to Lev Eliyahu it notes that reb Elle spoke about Chatas neurim only once a year , he felt it should not be dwelt upon unlike many of our Chassidishe manhigim who do not cease speaking about this matter.
2. I agree with your assesment , as a kid I saw the RIETS YU mashgiach rav Lessin , a Slobodka personality of course I had no idea what he was talking about but just seeing him his majestic appearence inspired one. R. Hillel Goldberg of Denver actually wrote a fine piece about just this matter.
3. Animals. I like animals and cats. But let me note , I saw several times in biographical accounts that the Razferter rebbe Moreh Moreinu Sholom Eliezer ben Moreh Moreinu Chaim Halberstam of Sandz personally fed his chickens before davening on Shabbes, in accordance venasti esev besadcho lvehemtech and veachalta vesavata.
There is also a nice photo of Admor hechaalutz Reb Yeshayale Shapiro (brother of the Piasezner rebbe hayad) feeding his chickens al admas hakodesh in the biography of him by echad me- Anash Shabsi Don Yihyah.

schneur said...

I can't resist but to add you are correct it is probably gone (I do not know what goes on everywhere maybe there still is some facsimile) and that is very much related to the end of Lithuanian Jewry in July 1941

Anonymous said...

Wow. I knew you had it in you.

Beginning of Lev Eliyahu has biographical info; how he inspired Reb Mottel P. to go to yeshiva.

The Shwardrons, (Reb Sholom wrote the sefer) relate how Reb Sholom asked his Rebbe why he disagrees with almost all of the Rayatz's campaigns.



Moshe

Anonymous said...

Some of the shmuessen are online here, at his great-nephew's site. Nice article as well.
http://www.iawaken.org/shiurim/rabbiElyaLopian.asp

Yitzhok Elchonon Spektor said...

R'Yitzchok Elchonon Spektor was said to have a dog so that he could perform all the necessary mitzvahs bnoigeah owning an animal

The Bray of Fundie said...

WADR Rabbi for whom YU is named...sounds like you were attending to your own spiritual needs whereas REL and the Admor HaCahlutz were attending to the animals needs.

Anonymous said...

Anon/ Moshe.
I don't remember the anti Rebbe Rayatz statements, and it does not shock me from a misnaged, eventough he is a mussarnik. But I was amazed that he said that Emuna and Bitachon of the Chazon Ish should not be learned by the Mussar chassidim Since it creates a hishraslus in Mussar.

Anonymous said...

Schneur,
"unlike many of our Chassidishe manhigim who do not cease speaking about this matter"
it is a common mistake by many that the subject of Chattas Neurim is a chassidic issue, all our eastern European gedolim did not cease speaking about it, Yaarat Devash, Derushie Hatzlach, Shaar Hamelech, the Chasam Sofer confessed before his Petira that his sickness that he died from, was a kapoa for his not talking enough about Chatas Neurim. So it was a core subject of Ashkenazic Jewry until the Yeshiva World diluted it thru the Nefesh Hachaim influence.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous of 2:45 pm:
Could you please expand on the Nefesh Hachayim and how did this dilute the issue of hatas neurim.

Anonymous said...

Where does it say that the Kovner Rov had a dog. please let us know.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
Did you ever learn nefesh hachaim?

Anonymous said...

Just a not a well know story about chatos neurim:

When Satmar Roov was by the Heiliger Husiatiner , Husiatiner TOLD HIM:
"Satmar Roov, ir zent a klal tier, geit redt veigen shmiras habris"

I heard it from somebody who was there.(R Chaim Rabinovich,Mishkones Rebbe)

I guess he was not as smart as Shneur..But we leave in a free country, of coarse.

I Second It said...

To anonymous of 2:45 pm:
Could you please expand on the Nefesh Hachayim and how did this dilute the issue of hatas neurim.

Anonymous said...

Schneur,
"Razferter rebbe Moreh Moreinu Sholom Eliezer ben Moreh Moreinu Chaim Halberstam of Sandz personally fed his chickens before davening on Shabbes, in accordance venasti esev besadcho lvehemtech and veachalta vesavata."
I heard that another Ungarischer Tzadik Reb Yeshye of Krestir was feeding the birds before Davening and Tekiatth Shofer, I also heard or read by Klapholtz that the Belzer Rov reb Aron was busy with these kind of stuff, after he emigrated to Palestine.

Anonymous said...

A simple request to all the anonymouses. Please tell me where the Nefesh Hachaim relates to the issue of shmiras habris. I really dont know a nd would like to check these passages. Thanks.
.

Anonymous said...

If we are really concerned about chatas neurim why dont we go back to the way it was done150 years ago and marry off our children about the time they become bar mitzvah and reach puberty. Anyone who knows the history of our gedolim knows that this was common practice.If you are serious about this issue there is no other solution. Otherwise itis just words.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
You are making a strong point, places like Skver,Ger and Toldos Aron, they are not marrying their own rebishe kids at the bar mitzva, I think that the old Viznitzer Rebbe did put on the talith and tefilin for the first time at once,since he married his rebetzin by the baar mitzva.

An Ailmesher said...

Hate to but your bubble Tzig, but I read in some Israeli book (can't remember which one right now), that R. Elya Lapian visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe and wanted to check him out to see if he was influenced by the colleges he attended. When he returned to Israel, he said that he saw that the Rebbe was indeed influenced by the schooling.

Anonymous said...

where can i get the biography of the rebbe r shayala shapiro?

shoyn said...

HT, just to make yours and your readers day!

R Elya has lubavitcher grand or great grand children, one of the sufrin families in london

5th request by readers said...

where in nefesh hachaim does it dilute thee chatas neurim issue?
or this is a blog that wants to lower the level yiddishkeit but is ashamed to admit that the the yerida is coming from his own camp, so it flirting that even the other camp wasn't so hot about it

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

Mr. 5th request

why the need to knock other groups?

is it not a fact that C"N is not mentioned at all in Litvishe camps for many years already?

who said he was trying to belittle anybody with that statement?

maybe he commented and hasn't been back to check comments since? that happens very often, you know.

5th request by readers said...

no its not a fact
C.N. was more so modified and diluted in lubavitch , how about make a post about your camp, why the need to knock other groups

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

ok, it's not. whatever makes you happy.

that was not the point of the post, I never even came close to mentioning it. Some guy went and commented about it.

Anonymous said...

OK, lets get a realistic, objective view on the priority that C"N gets in Chabad.
BTW , I love the masa-matan here, the shakla-vetaraya. Keep it up, man, keep it up.

Anonymous said...

Mr.5th request,
It was the intention of Hirshel to talk about the Mussar of Lapian. Reb Schneur interceded with the Chattas neurim subject. So where exactly is Lubavich involved here?You are a obsessed nutcase. Nobody owes you anything to provide sources, don't be lazy and go thru the sefer from cover to cover as other people did, and maybe on the way you will realize the issur of Biyyul torah and you will stop visiting Bloggers and bederch memaila we will get rid of you.

Anonymous said...

Some guy went and commented about it.
and some other guy came around and pointed out that lubavitch is more guilty of modernizing chatos neurim than the snags , so why dosent the moderator challenge that some guy that if he dosent substantiate his remark about the Nefesh hachim it will be lined over

Anonymous said...

An Ailimisher
how did he detect it thru ruach hakodesh? did he detect it on Reb Aron Kotler too that he was influenced by reading sifrie minois? or his ruach hakodesh worked only if he had background information from the book Making of a Godal of the Ben Horav? Did he he go to America only for that? who paid for the ticket? probably the Brisker Rov and the Chazon Ish? what a foolish story

Anonymous said...

"is it not a fact that C"N is not mentioned at all in Litvishe camps for many years already?"

It was never a problem.

Anonymous said...

Alimesher said earlier that R. Lopian visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Does anyone know when or if Rabbi Lopian visited America? Did he deliver any shmusen, and if yes where?
ej

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

It was never a problem.
if you say so...

Anonymous said...

IIRC, in Lita they only spoke about it birimizah (like the Chazon Ish does in his writing), but they always, and still, continue to speak about it. (Their are writings from the Steipler and R. Wolbe).

In Nefesh hachaim he does mention the disastrous effect of a bad machshuvah (worse than the mayse of Titus) but that's about it.

The Rebbe didn't stress tzniyus(allowed them to have mixed events for kiruv, bochurim in places where they shouldn't be, etc)and look where it all led to. He did stress the need to be "moser nefesh" to go on shlichus and rub shoulders with the big donors who drive to shul on Shabbos and garner publicity, etc.

They tell me you can tell a Lubab woman from down the block

Moshe Pipik said...

I knew you would not haVE the guts to respond because you are gutless and always busy with non existent "haters"
In fact you and your ilk are the biggest (and dumbest)haters of all!

Vote for the meshichist shnuk and get the Goat too!!

KoolAidIsGood.com

Kalman said...

Does anybody know if he had a connection to Lubavitch?

Anonymous said...

Maybe stop your teshuva/hisbonenus and write a post?



Moshe

Anonymous said...

You see how much of a problem C"N is by them that somebody mentions one word about it and these perverts can't get over it.
Find something else to speak about in yimei haslichos.
They say that by the olden day mashpiim (shlomo chaim, reb nissen וכו') when they spoke about מאראזענע it was a code word for C"N (heard from someone who learnt by shlomo chaim).

moshe said...

http://www.thelakewoodscoop.com/news/2010/09/baruch-dayan-haemes-meis-mitzvah.html#more-25646.


Volunteers for mishnayos

Anonymous said...

Anon
Re;chabad, he is the 1st or 2nd to quote Tanya.

Boifen Hamiskabel said...

this election proves that in crown heights there are more open meschisten then closet meschisten

Tthinking about moving out said...

The CH community should follow the example of many other kreizin who split when it became apparent that they will not be able to coexist. There are two satmars? For all intents and purposes there are two Lubavitch's. Let a new community emerge that rejects the messianic cult, appointing their own Rabbonim, and then each will follow his authority. There is simply no way that 46% of CH that voted for R' Bogomilsky will be subjected to the ideological leanings of the meshichistin.

Anonymous said...

Beoifen Hamiskabel,

The elections showed that the meshichesten have a very tight majority, they always claimed they have 80 percent.If the other side would campaign as aggressive and negative they would get the vote as well.

Anonymous said...

The elections proved that this blog is run by a guy with no guts, scared of his own and the Lubab shadow

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

The elections proved that this blog is run by a guy with no guts, scared of his own and the Lubab shadow

please explain. I'd love to hear this.

Anonymous said...

The election has shown that Chabad has respect for torah, Braun is a real talmic chochem, now the bashers will sing a different song he is a talmid chochem because he did not learn in Lubavich,

Yechiel said...

"The elections proved that this blog is run by a guy with no guts, scared of his own and the Lubab shadow"


Because you have a something to say about everything even if you"dbe better off shveiging.Suddenly here you are keeping quiet where a watershed moment has taken place:A young Meshichist leaning yechi sayer has been elected for a life time office as Dayan on the Crown Heights bais din.
Here you cannot hack a tchenik that the Meshichists and their supporters are a vocal minority in CH.In actuality they are the majority.
So now we have a rov in CH who's shechittah would not be acceptable by many of the top hechsherim as "shechitas meshichist"
So you have nothing to say about this???
Eloh mai? You are scared to even allow discussion.
UMESAYMIM BETOV

SDR said...

http://www.zbermanbooks.com/Page.asp?ID=913866aaca735b055c48328a6c1074c7d146d2af85ba1e45c7fcf415dfe230e1&ProductID=162038&CategoryID=7594

Havana said...

A couple things to set the record straight. 1- Today, in yeshivish circles, he's more known as reb ELYAH 2- the book about him has no mention of anything to do with chassidus, positive or negative. His entire derech was one of mussar, he did not have a war with others. One should glean from his focus,an unbelievable strength of character, not unconfirmed stories.