Thursday, July 28, 2011

משיחיזם נוסח סיגעט-סאטמאר בהסכמת רביה"ק זי"ע

Proof that the Satmar Rov was Moshiach from a Purim cake delivered as Mishloach Manos in 1968 and 1969. Sounds like a Lubavitcher story, with a tambourine exchanged for some yummy cake.


Shaar Blatt


The Gadol is referred to as "yenner Litvikker." The Hunyader Rov believed B'emunah Sheleimah that the SR would be revealed as Moshiach. He was the father of the late Rav Moshe Aryeh Freund of Jerusalem.


Yud mischalef b'mem. The Yismach Moshe's nevuah has now been realized...


We weren't worthy for Moshiach. He passed away on 26 Av, 5739.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Color these glasses "Chabad"



Here

The Spinker Rebbe of Yerushalayim, Reb Mordche Duvid Kahana, zt"l, was niftar yesterday. Most people never really knew him. He had a tiny shul on Rehov Salant in Meah Shearim, and if you blinked you could miss it walking by. (This is not the Spinka I grew up in, in case you're wondering.) RMD was a great-grandson of the late Rav Nachman Kahana, Rov of Spinka, the author of the "Orchos Chaim," who was a SIL of the Imrei Yosef, the first Spinker Rebbe, and who traced his yichus, ben achar ben, to the Baal Kuntres HaSfeikos, the brother of the "Ketzos." (The same Kahanas who fought the Teitelbaum Rabbonim in Sighet...) RMD was known - those that knew him - as a Masmid and Talmid Chochom who was on staff - like his father before him - of the Otzar HaPoskim, meaning he worked for a living... On another, more cosmetic note, he was one of the last Rebbes who would smoke in public, mostly because he could not go for more than a few minutes without a cigarette. על פי דרך הטבע you might say that the smoking killed him, since he suffered terribly the last few years, but he never could kick the habit...

The Spinka Rebbe was known as an Ish HaShalom who never - or rarely - got involved in politics. Despite being very Conservative when it came to his own life and family, he never took that to others, meaning he never yelled and screamed that all others were living in sin by doing what they do. In politics he also was not heard from, although the Eda HaCharedis saw his as of their own. However, he was heard from when it came to the danger of giving land to Arab Terrorists/Hamas, and he was part of the group "Vaad HoRabbonim L'Inyonei Pikuach Nefesh," a Rabbinical group that saw it as its mission to make known to the world the dangers of giving land to Arabs/Terrorists. Which makes perfect sense, since JEWISH lives should be beyond politics, and whether or not you're a Zionist shouldn't matter. The fact that the group is dominated by Lubavitcher Rabbonim also didn't seem to bother him, or the Erlauer Rov, shlit"a, or Rav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, SIL of the late Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt"l. They too were very active in the group, despite its "Lubavitcher connotations."

Which brings me to the issue at hand. Many of you nice people complained about the lack of coverage that Chabad sites gave and continue to give to the passing of Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim in the Charedi world. That proves to you that Chabad is "outside the realm." Whatever that means. To tell you the truth I was a bit surprised at all the coverage he got in all the Chabad websites, maybe I've been influenced by some of you here. It seemed like pandering to me, or that he pandered to us so we'll pander back... But then I realized that we all do this, not just Lubavitch. "ער איז געווען דבוק אין רביה"ק זי"ע" is a common line when it comes to obituaries in the Satmar-Yiddish press, which is "code" for "he was worthy of an obituary in our paper." In the Litvishe press they would write "מרן ראש ישיבה אמר עליו שכל כולל חזו"א עומד בזכותו," or something like that. So in Lubavitch "code" that would translate into "הי' מקושר בלו"נ לכ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע." In the Spinka Rebbe's case; I guess Lubavitchers also liked the fact that he was a Talmid of the Yeshiva Toras Emes in Yerushalayim and that he would attend 19 Kislev functions at the Lubavitcher shul on Rehov Baal HaTanya. As much as we'd like to think that we're different we're very much the same. So maybe Lubavitch is "in the realm" after all...

Shmais

COL on his passing

Another story on COL about his connection to Rabbonei Pikuach Nefesh

Shturem also has the Pikuach Nefesh angle

As well as blurb about him learning in Toras Emes Chabad in Yerushalayim

Monday, July 25, 2011

Chossid or Litvak/Misnaged?

Yeshurun - The Lomzher Gaon - Rav Yehuda Leib Gordin

A biography of a great gaon who wrote in Sfas HaMedinah so that goyim should understand what we believe as well. From Yeshurun, Elul 5757

Sunday, July 24, 2011

.....כל זמן דער ליכטעלע ברענט



דער הייליגער בעש"ט נ"ע האט אונז געלערנט אז פון יעדען זאך קאן מען זיך עטוואס אפלערנען א דרך אין עבודת השי"ת. פונקט נעכטן נאכט, מוצש"ק, האט איך געהערט ווי דער ליובאוויטשער רבי, זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע האט אמאל דערציילט וויזוי דער בעש"ט האט דאס אויסגעלערנט פאר די תלמידים, נאכדעם ווי אן אוקריינישער ערל האט געבעטן אז מ'זאל אים העלפן ארויסשלעפן די וואגן זיינער פון א טיפער בלאטע. די תלמידים האבען געענטפערט אז זיי קענען אים העלפן, ווייל די בלאטע איז צו טיף און די פערדן צו שווער. דער גוי האט דאס אבער נישט אנגענומען, ער האט זיי געענטפערט אויף זיין שפראך: "מאזשעזש, דא ניע כאטשעטש," איר קענט, איר ווילט נאר נישט. און פון דעם האט דער הייליגער בעש"ט זיי געלערנט אז מ'דארף נאר וועלן, ווייל קענען קען מען יא, אפילו אז מ'מיינט אז מ'קען נישט, ווייל עס קומט נישט אהן גרינג. כאטש די דאזיגע פרשה וואס מען "פייערט" היינט אין מדינת ניו יארק האט נישט מיט פרומע אידן צו טוהן, ווייל ע"פ תורתנו הק' איז עס פארבאטען, קאן מען זיך אבער יא עפעס אפלערנען דערפון, גוטע זאכען דוקא, טיפע אפלערנונגען, עכ"פ לדעתי

גיט א קוק אויף די 2 פארשוינען אין דעם בילד. זיי האבען היינט, אין א מזל'דיגער שעה, "חתונה געהאט." דאס אז 2 מענטשן אין זייערע יארען האבן בכלל חתונה געשעהנט נישט יעדן טאג, און טאמער יא איז די שמחה א שטילער, בדרך כלל. א פארפאלק אין די יארען האט שוין בד"כ חתונה געהאט און געהאדעוועט א משפחה, חתונה געמאכט די קינדער, און ביידע האבען שוין - נישט ביי קיין שום איד געדאכט - פארלוירן א מאן אדער פרוי. בד"ג גט מען זיך נישט אין די יארען. זייער זעלטן אז 2 מענטשן אין די גאלדענע יארען זאלען חתונה האבן דאס ערשטע מאל. אין אונזער פאל איז אבער דער וועלט נאך נישט געווען גענוג "פארגעשריטן" ביז היינט, און די 2 פרויען האבן נעבאך נישט געקענט ביז היינט "זיגלען זייער ליבע" ביז היינט אינדערפרי. דאס אז די אלטיטשקע איז שוין היינט אין א וויעלטשער, די העלזל אירער איז איינגעוויקלט אין א גיפס, און קוים וואס זי גייט, נעבאך, דאס האט נישט אפגעשוואכט זייער שמחה, זי ווייזט פאר די וועלט אז זי האט געווינען דעם פארמעסט! זי קען יעצט אויסלעבן אירע יארן מיט גרויס פרייד, און ווען איינעק שטארבט וועט דאס אנדערע ירשנ'ען אלץ וואס זי פארמאגט, ווייל זי איז ארויס מיט דער גרעסטע נצחון מעגליך, און קיינער וועט ביי זיי דאס נישט צונעמען, אפילו אויב די וועלער וועלן דאס צוריקצוהען. ווייל זי האט שוין אויפגעטוהן וואזס זי האט געוואלט.


AP/AFP/Getty

פארוואס האב איך געברענגט דעם אלעמען באקאנטער ווארט פון ר' ישראל סאלאנטער, פרעגט איר? וויל איך טשעפן ר' ישראל, ח"ו? אינגאנצן נישט. דאס ווארט איז מיר פשוט געלעגן אויף די צונג לעצטנס, ווייל איך האב עס עטליכע מאל געהערט. אפשר איז דאס די "הוראה" וואס מ'קען לערנען פון די צוויי פרויען: אז כאטש זיי האבען אזוי לאנג געווארט אויף צו טוהן נישט קיין גוטע זאך, קען מען זיך לערנען אז מ'דארף האבען געדולד, מ'טאר זיך נישט מייאש זיין, ח"ו. ס'הייסט אז זיי האבען שוין צענדליגע יארען געווארט אויף "חתונה" צו האבען. ווען זיי האבען זיך באקענט מיט צענדליגע יארען צוריק איז דאס געווען גאר ווייט פון געשעהן, א וויסטער חלום, און דאך האבען זיי נישט אויפגעגעבן האפענונג. כאטש ס'איז נישט געווען איינגענעם, מ'האט פון זיי געלאכט און געשפעט, און אפשר נאך ערגער. מ'האט אויף זיי אראפ געקוקט און אפשר נאך אויסגעשאלטן. אבער זיי - די 2 ווארשיינליכע אידענעס - האבען זיך געהאלטן פעסט ביי די גלויבונג אז וואס זיי טובען און וויזוי זיי לעבן איז רעכט און נאבל. ר' ישראל'ס ווארט רעדט זיך טאקע וועגן תשובה, אז כל זמן ס'ברענט קען מען נאך פארריכטן, אבער אוודאי קען מען דאס בארגן אויף דער ענין התקוה ושלא להתייאש.

און איצט צום עצם הענין: מיר פארגעשריטענע מענטשן ווילן אז מ'זאל לאזן יענעם לעבן און זיך נישט מישן אין זיינע געשעפטן. פארוואס וויל מען דאס? פשוט. כדי יענער זאל זיך נישט מישן אין אונזערע געשעפטן... נאר וואס דען? די הייליגע תורה הקדושה לאזט דאך אבער נישט, און רופט עס אהן בשם תועבה, און ג-ט ברוך הוא האט פיינט תועבה, און זאגט אז ער שטראפט דערפאר, שפירן מיר זיך פאראנטווארטליך אז מ'דארף טוהן אלץ וואס מ'קען אויף אפצושטעלן אזעלכע זאכען ביי אונז אין לאנד. אזוי וואלט געדארפט זיין, עכ"פ, אבער למעשה איז עס נישט אזוי. פרומע אידן שפירן זיך גאנץ אומבאקוועם ווען עס קומט צו דער נושא, בכלל, און קענען זיך נישט אויסדרוקן דערוועגן, ספעציעל נישט ווען עס האנדלט זיך מיט די פרייע און גוי'אישע פרעסע. ער ווייסט אז מ'קוקט אים אהן ווי א מאדנער בריא אהן דעם וואס ער עפנט דאס מויל, נאר ווי ער שטייט און גייט, ער דארף נישט אז מ'זאל אים נאך צו דערצו פיינט האבן ווייל ער לאזט נישט 2 מענער וועלכע האבן זיך גאר שטארק ליב, און וועלן בלייבן לעבן צוזאמען לעולם ועד - נישט ווי א מאן און פרוי וועלכע שיידן זיך נאך א פאר יאר - חתונה האבען. פרומע אידן זענען בכלל ממעט אין פראטעסטן, א חוץ די אנשי סאטמאר ונטו"ק. און אז מ'גייט נישט פראטעסטירן קעגן שניידן וואוטשערס און לאו אינקאם האוזינג, וועט מען אוודאי נישט גיין אויף אזעלכע ענינים.

ס'נאך פאראן אסאך צו זאגן אויף דעם ענין

.....דאכט זיך מיר אז אין דעם פאל איז נישט קיין שייך קיין חשש הרהור

In a similar vein...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Nyirmada - Fehérgyarmat - Auschwitz - Brooklyn (Part I)


Women inmates in Auschwitz sort through a huge pile of shoes from a transport of Hungarian Jews. May 1944. USHMM, COURTESY OF YAD VASHEM

Today is my Maternal Bubbe's 20th Yohrtzeit. I remember being in a Yeshiva camp and getting a call from my parents that "Bah-bee" had passed away. The news was a great shock to me, despite the fact that she had been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years already and had been deteriorating physically as well. Her life was one of great sorrow and later much joy. Despite being 40 years old at the time of deportation in June 1944, she managed to be sent to work instead of to the gas chambers and survived to even see one grandchild marry a fine ben-Torah. She lost her husband and one child, but remarried, and built a new life here in New York, first in East New York, Brooklyn, and then in Boro Park. At the time of her passing it had been 8 years since my other zeide passed away and we were not "used" to losing loved ones, so it was a very painful experience at the time.

I look back today and try and understand her life, but I find it difficult.

When I look back today, I realize that there was so much more that I could've heard and learned from her, if only I had the brains to do it. But alas! I was young, and I didn't realize that at the time. If I may, allow me to blame the surroundings in which I was raised, i.e. the mindset that I had in my cheder and early teen years. My Bubbe was a classic Hungarian frau who spoke little Yiddish and even less English, so I had a language barrier to contend with. We communicated with lots of love and kisses and food and other goodies. She loved us dearly, because we were almost all that she had in this world, but that still doesn't equal knowledge and history. That's good for a child, but not for when you're trying to remember where she came from and what she was all about... I wish there was some way I could turn back the clock on this one. Ultimately what happened was that she was so affected by the events of WW2 that she lived in a very quite and withdrawn world all her life, despite the fact that she had a child and eyniklach. That's how I see it now.

Yes, age is a big factor here, but not all of it is age. ( To be continued... )

Kedves nagymamám, nagyon hiányoznak szépen, és soha nem fogjuk elfelejteni!
(courtesy of Google Translate...)

תנצב"ה



Nyirmada, Hungary, current photo

Thursday, July 21, 2011

"Daas Torah" of One

We spoke recently about the many "Milchomes" that the late Ponovizher Rosh Yeshiva waged. Many of you would think that only those on the "left," or people that were out of the realm, were the recipients of his ire. The author here documents the many wars that were waged against people of his very own circles as well, and all because they would not subjugate themselves to the Daas Torah of one man.

Rav Shach's monopoly on "daas Torah"

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dear Rabbi, may I beat his brains in?

The following is a series of letters written by the great Kano'i Reb Meir Heller (Semnitzer) of Jerusalem to 2 Rabonim in the Diaspora, the Shimloyer Rov, Hy"d, and the Rogatchover, zt"l. Reb Meir is considered to be the Rebbe of the extreme kanoyim of today, the Sikrikim, who do not respect any of today's Rabbonim, because they see them all as corrupt and drunk with power or bought off by the Government. Reb Meir wasn't happy with keeping his views to himself or with screaming them out at demonstrations and protests, he took things to a new level, to a level of pashkevillen and physical violence. Ye, being a G-d fearing Jew, he wanted to be sure that what he was doing was in accordance with what the Torah and Shulchan Aruch say, so he sent these Shayles to the 2 aforementioned Rabbonim. 2 of the more famous things that he did are the pouring of very dirty water, beis Hakisseh water....., on the late Rav Kook, and the pashkevillen that he printed against the Imrei Emes of Ger when he visited Rav Kuk at his home in Yerushalayim. "Avrohom-Arohom leGezeiroh Shovoh" the placards read.... Reb Meir was respected by all, because his motives were seen as real and sincere, he wasn't paying lip service and he wasn't part of a clique of Kanoyim. The Shimloyer Rov either didn't respond... or maybe the letter was lost in the mail, but the Rogatchover gave a lengthy answer, one which makes you open more than a few volumes...























Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Looking towards the future



We lament today the beginning of the end of the Yerushalayim and the Beis Hamikdosh. Much of what we do and don't do these next three weeks is to make sure we never forget the destruction of what once was on that Holy Mountain in the Holy City and the great men who walked there. At times it seems like we're content on remembering the old and not thinking about the new. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, zy"a, asked that during the 3 weeks we learn the Hilchos Beis HaBechiroh of the Rambam, so that we know what we once had and that we look forward to what will be rebuilt, speedily in our days. One might say this idea is very much in-line with the Rebbe's way of thinking, which is to focus on the future, but to use our past as our guiding light. When it comes to Golus/Geulah the Rebbe would focus on bringing the Geulah, hoping for it every day, and doing all that we can to make it a reality. I can see where some of you may be uncomfortable with that, maybe because you think that it somehow lessens the mourning aspect of the 3 weeks, but rest assured: It is possible to balance both, and it needn't be mixed up with current-day Tziyonus either! It is possible to follow all mandated laws of mourning and at the same time hope for redemption, may it be speedily, in our days. The Rebbe showed us how.

Al kol ponim l'fi aniyus da'ati....

Thursday, July 14, 2011

.....מה נאמר ומה נדבר



I'm not here to ask questions or to look for answers. I'm not here to point fingers or to place blame at anybody's feet. Unlike most tragedies where a car spins out of control on a rainy night you can't even point to the bald tires on the old clunker, or to the fact that a young bachur shouldn't be driving in the country until he's 46 years old... I'm old enough to remember many, many tragedies, r"l, but never do I remember such a tragedy, and I doubt many of you do. We're all at a loss for words here. There are no words. You hug your kids and you tell them you love them, but you're STILL hesitant to tell them about the existence of evil in our little insular world! You don't want them to have to be concerned about bad people, you want them to be happy and carefree for as long as they can! I wasn't able to attend the levaya, and I have yet to hear a recording of it, I've only seen them, (I'm at a non-speaker, non-Hebrew computer) but I'd bet none of the maspidim did the usual routine of blaming the women, etc., which shows us how we have no idea what to do or say, all we can do is cry!


NYT/Reuters Photo

As far as lessons we can learn from this;

We frum Jews are programmed to want to be better. We realize the errs of our ways and we always want to improve, no matter the situation. This is the case not just when tragedy strikes, r"l - I mean this every single day. You have a few minutes where you think about your day and you realize that you could've done a lot more. When a tragedy of these proportions happens, even more so. What can I say? I don't think this we've been so terrible that this awful murder needed to happen!! Yiddishe kinder zennen voyl un gut! What more can one say?!

וידם אהרן.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Book Review - "Rav Gifter" - Artscroll (Guest Post)



Reading the new book on Rav Gifter got me thinking; I got nostalgic for a Telshe that I only know through those candles they send me a week after Chanukah - with the pictures of boys from the stone age. You see, true a Telsher might be a little stiff/rigid by contemporary standards, he might enunciate his words (diction, syntax) in a way that grates under the skin – but still, you got to give them something. At least a Telsher is a Telsher; is (or was) part of a group, a team, actually had a Rebbe that he prays that his kids should emulate. His Rebbe wasn’t just a guy who knew how to learn better than the next guy, knows a couple of blatt, Shaar Daled if you’re lucky, but nothing else. IOW: his hasogoh and depth of neshamah hasn’t changed much since he sat by Avrum Yishua’s shiur. No, R' Gifter and Telshe b’chlal, whether you believe that Reb Chaim Shtayn was really a ba'al moyphes or not, had depth, nuance, loyalty to a specific mehalach hachaim [not just being mivatel di veltvedal – even though they did some of that too]. Just take a look at R’ Gifter’s stuff on Chumash, [something that oddly that was sponsored by a graduating eighth grade class in Far Rockaway that donated their ‘yearbook’ money for the cause. VAKM”L] and you will see what I mean. It is not just a regular mussor vort recycled by Malkiel’s underpaid speech writer, if you get my drift.

Oh, yeh, the book. I will not get into if Rabbi Chee-lee Speiro was the right man for the job, particularly with the Telshers with their intellectual bend that will be reading this book. Personally, I think they should have went with Jonathan on this one, and made a book with impressive footnotes (citing which coffee room the maysah was said in) and long paragraphs. From what I understand, Reb Yonasan has his hands full, as he is already working on Artscroll’s bio of the late Philadelphia Rosh Yeshiva Zatzal, hence Rav Speero had his debut as an author of a long story. With regards to the content of the book; it did manage to capture, somewhat of R’ Gifter’s uniqueness of both being a kano'i, and someone who would cry at the sight of some flower, of some sort. It also, conveyed somewhat, that R’ Gifter was very “brayt” and wasn’t ashamed to quote explicitly from Izbitz [Reb Elya Meir, z”l, cited the Sfas Emes publicly] and how he encouraged his congregants of the Chabad of Waterbury to make the trek into Brooklyn for the farbrengens, and how he saved Artscroll gemaras from doom, etc. Yes, the book conveyed some of what Rav Gifter was all about, although it omitted his imitable form of expressing his opinions on many of his contemporaries, kiyoduah.

IMHO, the biggest problem with this book was not just that is (glowingly?) published Rav Gifter’s criticism of hayntigeh yeshivaleit – although he NEVER voiced those critiques to the fargrebteh belly-patting, balhabatim. Or how they made a big deal over some speech he gave in a college that no one heard of, to an interesting crowd…. Whatever… my main problem is simply this: They had a golden opportunity to actually inspire the readers, to grow, and to emulate R’ Gifter in some way, his ameylus, yegioh, something. Oh no, they couldn’t do that; instead they stressed over and over again, that “Max” was already from the greatest in the world in his mere twenties!!! After that, it was just all on auto pilot (or the magnet from that moshol), and no mention of any yegioh from the time he got married on…


An excerpt from the book, courtesy of Artscroll

[Disclaimer: any seeming lack of respect towards Rabbonim, Roshei Yeshiva and Mesivta Rebbis is that of the author of the post, a very strong "Yeshivaman."]

Friday, July 8, 2011

YOSEF SHUBERT AND HIS PROBLEM (Guest Post)



It seems Yosef Shubert has a big problem, well, probably more than one, but we speak of what we know.... How can he revise history without everyone catching on?

Earlier this week he put together for Matzav.com a collection of oft-repeated (but never sourced) anecdotes supposed to ‘prove’ to us that his Hero – Rav E.M. Shach – really loved all Yidden. Really, even when he accused them of heresy, when he forbade interaction with them, when he blamed them for bringing another holocaust (r”l) upon us, when he derided their Torah study as a “sword upon the necks of the yeshivos”, when his only verifiable comments about any other group of Yidden were harsh criticism and vicious attacks, Yosef Shubert wants you to know: Rav Shach loved all Jews. When RS wrote that the Rav, R’ Yoshe Ber Soleveitchik was a “heretic who is guilty of indoctrinating the masses with heresy”, when he accused Chabad Chasidim and their Rebbe of idolatry, when he proclaimed secular Israelis “not really Jewish ”, when he proclaimed the Sephardim to be “not fit for leadership positions” and when he viciously attacked Rabbi Yehuda Levy, Yosef Shubert wants to make sure you know the facts: RS really loved every Jew – really.

Just in case the reader still harbors any doubt about the great love of RS for all Jews, in case one actually reads through his published letters and sees the attacks and angry rants, or listens to his recorded speeches and hears him heaping scorn on all types of Yidden, fear not – Yosef Shubert is here to explain how it’s all really love! So the question is, WHO is Yosef Shubert, and how does he know about all this ‘love’ that never seemed to make it into RS’s writings or talks, and has been left to various defenders and apologists to ‘explain’ to us…? How can Shubert tell us as he does in his latest screed on Matzav that RS “was the biggest oheiv Yisroel of the last generation” when there exists no evidence of this, and much evidence to the contrary?!

If we read Shubert's article on Matzav.com, the answer seems very simple. We know that RS was a lover of shalom and pursuer of peace because Shlomo Lorencz said so!! Shubert tells us that “Rav Shach did not bear rancor against any person, and would forgive all those who insulted him,” again with no proof of any type. Yet even if it IS true, it seems that RS would need to be begging forgiveness from all those HE insulted, not the other way around? Although Shubert signs on as a rabbi, he doesn’t support any of his statements with Torah sources, choosing instead to simply preach the “Torah and true mesora” as he sees it. Doesn’t Shubert know that that one who claims to be speaking for Torah needs to show “mina hani mili d’omar kroh”?!! Shubert has an unfortunate habit it seems, in his kana’us for defending his version of authentic mesora, for playing a bit loose with the truth. A while back Shubert got very angry at the kovod given to the founder of Touro College, Rabbi Dr. Lander after his petira. Shubert claimed that Lander had gone against an explicit letter signed by, among others, Reb Moshe and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. Problem is, there never was such a letter. The letter Shubert based that angry attack on was specifically addressing the prospect of opening a Touro in Israel – but that didn’t stop Shubert from misleading people. Are we seeing more vintage Shubert now with this latest screed – somebody should tell him that in the internet age lies are exposed quickly. Time for a different job, Rabbi Shubert?