Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The Munkatcher Rebbe, שליט"א, has a fine sense of, um, humor

Received via e-mail:

Frankfurter edicated the Sukkos issue of Ami magazine to Reb Burechel Munkatcher. The son Reb Moshe Leib opened himself up as never before, saying that is father was a hero, just as much as Reb Michoel Ber Weissmandl, except he wasn't recognized. He claims his father was not dumped by Munkacher Chasidim after the war, he just was not ready to be stuck with a local chasidus -  Klal yisroel and its  problems were his life now.  It's a very interesting piece. Reb Burechel busied himself finding a answer for the Shoah. Reb Moshe lieb is saying that 2 rebbes were trying to answer the Shoah  The Satmar Rebbe and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.   I don't know which Lubavitcher Rebbe, maybe the Rebbe Rayatz in הקריאה והקדושה.   Reb Burechel was arguing that it's dangerous not to get a answer. It can happen again. היל"ת. The Shoah was a message; if we didn't get the message this time it'll happen again. ר"ל. Reb Moshe Leib is saying that Reb Shmuel Duved Ungar zt"l, the Nitra Ruv, wrote a letter to his father with the title "צדיק יסוד עולם." At the time Reb Burechel was 30 years old. The Munkatcher asked Reb Shmuel Duved's son, Reb shulem moshe, why did his father use such lofty titles when addressing him? He answered: Noach is called tzadik for saving Gentiles,  your father saved thousands of Jews, that's a whole universe. The letter is printed in a pamphlet that Reb Burechel printed for his candidacy for the Tel Aviv Rabbinate. 

So, by "sense of humor" I mean that he doesn't take himself seriously enough. He can do such an interview and not worry about what the world will say. I was as surprised as the next guy when I saw the article. I guess anybody can be rehabilitated these days. מה שלא יעשה השכל יעשה הזמן, as the saying goes. The problem is that - no disrespect intended - the Munkatcher was the one who had a yad in ostracizing his father... Not so the much the Dinover. To be fair the old timers made sure they were fed lies about their father. So it's not that Ami just discovered Reb Burechel and went looking for his next of kin. If you get what I'm saying. Also, Frankfurter most likely, and I'm being very generous here, knows what went on when he was a kid, he knows what they did in Munkatch, he's not someone who grew up outside that circle... They're basically enabling this revision of history that every kid in Boro Park knew about. At least twice a year on Shabbos morning we'd hear that he passed away, and then we'd laugh/cry about the history and how Munkatch skipped a generation. So why now? Beats me. Maybe they've been reading stories and testimony online. Maybe his grandkids asked too many questions? Agav, I like how every picture featured in the article was previously on this blog. Not saying anything, just saying.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Word in my family is that my great-grandmother, who passed away on Hoshana Rabba, gave him some mussar before she went.

But still, when he says that there are some rumors going around about why his father is no longer the rebbe, and that the rumors are all wrong, LOL.

Basically, this article rehabilitates him enough to whitewash him. It's a step in the right direction, but its not the truth.

Thanks for sharing my articles way back when, btw!

א. ססון said...


הד"א, אין עבירה מכבה מצוה, ואין מצוה מכבה עבירה. מה הרבי אמר מקודם ומה שאמר עכשיו שניים אמת

shmulik, squirrel hill said...

I sense some hidden anger towards the rebbe of munkach, what's behind it ?

Anonymous said...

For someone that doesn't even know when his great grand mother passed away, which wasn't hoshana raba, only 3 days earlier, how can we expact to hear the truth about past history

Unknown said...

Nu. I remembered the date a little wrong. It was a bit of a hectic week, forgive me if I was too wrapped up in the events to remember exactly when they occurred. When I write about history, I don't rely on my own memory. I rely on primary sources and first-hand testimony, in that order.

Anonymous said...

Furthermore, on the point of your great-grandmother giving mussar for others, it reminded me of two idiomatic expressions; 1 - The pot calling the kettle black. 2 - Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Her whole life she was an angry woman, acrimonious and vindictive, every person that walked thru her door got to hear it from her, being called out on this thing or the other, she never tried seeking the good in other people or their deeds.

Coming to think of it, this probably came because she wanted to deflect the major issues in her own house, the rotten fruits in her own garden, her failure in chinuch and upbringing of her children and grandchildren. Instead of furthering the legacy of her holy father and ancestor’s, she left the world with her daughter's (and lots of grandchildren) being mechalelei shabat and druggies etc.

Maybe her last breath in the final months and days of her tragic life, would’ve been better served calling out the ones close to her on becoming better Jews, righting their own ways, to align and associate them more with her holy ancestor’s legacy, than calling out other people in private family matters which she had agendas in meddling with, without trying to rewrite history in the process.

not a harry said...

i think this is simply the munkatchers way of paying back frankensteinberger for publishing the puff pieces on ora etc to try and help out rabbid epstein get some sympathy from his prosecutor. humor comes in handy, rewriting history, ah, big deal!

sum1 said...

of course every article frankfurter writes about is about himself

Anonymous said...

So Akiva, how many pre-war Munkatcher chasidim and talmidim did you interview for your article?

Anonymous said...

HT Wrote: Agav, I like how every picture featured in the article was previously on this blog. Not saying anything, just saying.

Hershel, do you really live in your blog bubble and think that you had these pictures before Munkatch did?

Anonymous said...

Any reason why my comment is not being posted ?

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

because it's speaks very negatively of שוכני עפר

Anonymous said...

So if would've written it when she was still alive that's ok but because i wrote the truth posthumously, it's against שוכני עפר.
So I guess writing against a whole kehilla and its revered leaders is ok because they are still alive.
And what about writing against deceased Munkacser chasidim, I guess they are not שוכני עפר.

If you can't take the heat, don't enter the kitchen!

Stop the hokos pokus!

Chalmers said...

What exactly was the ostracizing of R Burechel all about? And why did the Munkatcher go along with it but the Dinover not?

sum1 said...

would be kiday to compare this article with wjat his father wrote in binas nivonim about how his chasidim dumped him and how he was prevented from leaving while there was still time with his mother in law and cheleck 5 andd 6 of minchas elozer. leave out the part where he writes that those who prevented him from leaving abandoned the me's almana when the ran..

Anonymous said...

No one prevented him or his mil from leaving, she didn't want to go with him and she didn't want him to go, to say otherwise is a revision of history!

זעליג פאן פראספעקט פארק said...

א רבי וואס האט גארניט פארדארבען איז צו אפלאדירן, אזאך וואס אסאך פון די היינטיגע גדולים קענען ניט זאגען

Unknown said...

"No one prevented him or his mil from leaving, she didn't want to go with him and she didn't want him to go, to say otherwise is a revision of history!"

My great-grandmother was there. The ME's almana ripped up her papers in a bid to prevent her brother from leaving. That fact is not in her book but she told me that. But she does go at length about how numerous attempts to prevent her brother from leaving were made.

Anonymous said...

הבנת הנקרא לא יזיק,
Read what i wrote, his mil didn't want to leave on her own, no one prevented her from doung her will, and also she didn't want her daughter grandchildren and sil to leave, but that had nothing to do with the chasidim

Unknown said...

@sum1, to be perfectly fair, nowhere in Binas Nevonim does he talk about his chassidim "dumping" him. It is true that he was prevented from leaving, but, as "anonymous" points out, his mother-in-law was not prevented from leaving, and in fact did not want to go. If anything, his mother-in-law was one of those involved in preventing him from leaving, as my great-grandmother a"h (R. Baruch's sister) recounts in her book, "Going Forward", and in personal conversation with me. My great-grandmother even says that, after arriving in Israel, she received a postcard from the ME's almana as the Nazis were bearing down in which the ME's almana said to her "you were right, I should have left when I had the chance" As such, I do not recall offhand any instance where he blames the chassidim for leaving his mother-in-law behind, but I ought to check again to be sure.

Unknown said...

FWIW, here's a link to some pictures I took of the relevant portions of my great-grandmother's book.
And again, she told me, sitting at her kitchen table, that when her papers disappeared, it was the ME's almanah who was actually responsible for it. And she didn't publish it because she didn't want to make a fuss.

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

where's the link, Akiva?

Unknown said...

Sorry about that, I coulda sworn I posted it
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bx9vfd2nJRbJQzA0V2VBakU5cEk&usp=sharing

Berel said...

The AMI magazine sure got me interested in Reb Boruch.

It really is hard to believe that the Rebbeh in all those pre war pictures wasn't the Rebbeh afterwards.

After reading plenty of articles I get the sense that Reb Boruch was very ambivalent himself about remaining Rebbeh after the war. Had he really, really, really wanted to remain Rebbeh he probably could have even with his change in Haskafa.

He was expunged from Munkatcher history but now that he is no longer around to say or do anything they don't like why not rehabilitate him and appreciate what he did?



teacher gitty said...

hirshel say to akivah, Thank You.

Anonymous said...

akiva:

since you claim to be an historian, i have for you a question.

you claimed once, thatreb burechel was the chief rabbi of sao paulo.

i would like to know, from where do you get that info? unless you say that being self appointed, actually assigned him that position.

Chatzi Nezek said...

why do we judge everyone with conspiracies? The Munkacher Ruv is getting older not feeling well.
So he gets more emotional on his family. He was always ready to listen to praise on his father. He had issues on yerusha which I cant really say who was correct in that matter. His father got very feisty with him he even went to satmar ruv complaining on his son. Deep down the son had a lot of love and respect for his father. He decided to clean the air on this matter.
I dont think there more in to this that we see....

פחד יצחק said...

ויחרד יצחק חרדה גדלה עד מאד ויאמר מי אפוא הוא הצד ציד ויבא לי ואכל מכל בטרם תבוא ואברכהו גם ברוך יהיה

rav hutnor said...

"rehabilitate him and appreciate what he did?"

I will add And rightly so.

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