Wednesday, January 27, 2016

מאקארעווער רבי






























ר' יעקב יצחק ב"ר מנחם נחום ב"ר מרדכי מטשערנאבל זצ"ל. נפטר ל' ניסן תרנ"ב. I'm almost sure I had another post on him recently. I Just can't find it by searching the blog using keywords. Maybe one of you can. If I had this up in the past I apologize. Not that I really need to. It's like you're paying me for the content...

Monday, January 25, 2016

how קנאים in Beit Shemesh deal with things not going their way

They see a Chabad shul or library and they're afraid. VERY afraid. They know how they have nothing but disdain for other Jews to offer to their own, so they're afraid that some of their own may seek inspiration elsewhere. Often times that place may be Chabad. Just because your father is a hater doesn't mean you are, although I often am shocked to see how many of the zealots have kids who just as they do. I guess blood is thicker than water, after all. More and more of these haters are beginning to see the light, namely that they've been fed hate and lies all their life. The days of smashing windows, etc. are basically over, so they're left with late night spray-paint raids. How nice.





Sunday, January 24, 2016

א גרויסע ציממעס פון די ציממעס

Hirshel: Some of us got rebuked by our fathers for laughing of the holy Besh"tonian tzimmes. We felt that Besh"t and tzimmes is an oxymoron. I see that the Hungarians were also very tzimmes oriented. The Satmars claim that by the Chasam Sofer the holy tzimmes was so holy that he was ברוגז when Reb Meir א"ש served it on a weekday. And the מהר"ם שיק was also very pro tzimmes. I don't believe this nonsense, but the chasidic wing of Talmidei Chasam Sofer are inventing stories about him non-stop, all full of lies. What I don't see by the other wings of Chassidus I tend not to believe. But that's for sure, by the Hungarian chasidim the tzimmes is not to be messed with.


Monday, January 18, 2016

אגרת מבוארת: הערות כ"ק אדמו"ר על ספרי הגאון רבי יונתן שטייף זצ"ל

ב"ה. עש"ק פ' יתרו, ה'תשע"ו, שנת הקהל
 שלום רב, כמעיין המתגבר, במשך עשרות בשנים, כתב כ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע אלפים ורבבות ביאורי וחידושי תורה. רבים מכתבי תורתו עודם בבחינת אוצר בלום, שכן כתבם בקיצור נמרץ כדרכו, באופן שקשה ללומד לראות את האור כי טוב הגנוז בהם. מכון אנכ"י נטל על עצמו את העבודה, להוציא לאור עולם ביאורים וחידושים אלו, במהדורה מאירת עיניים, עם פענוחים שיסייעו ללומד לעמוד על עומק כוונתו הק', בתוספת ביאורים, כפי הנדרש. בשלב זה מתמקדת עבודת המכון בחידושים וביאורים המצויים בסדרת 'אגרות קודש' ובאגרות ומענות רבות המפוזרות בספרים וקונטרסים שונים. התחום המרכזי בעבודת המכון כיום, הוא פענוח מכתבי כ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע למחברי ספרים, ובהם הערות תורניות על ספריהם, בשילוב ביאורים ומקורות נוספים מתורתו של רבינו, צילומי מסמכים וכתבי יד נדירים, השופכים אור על חידושי כ"ק אדמו"ר. בימים אלו שוקד המכון על הוצאת ספר הכולל אגרות-קודש עם פענוחים וציונים, ובהם הערות רבינו על ספרים ומפרשי התורה. בשעה טובה ומוצלחת הננו מוציאים בזה גליון חמישי של 'אגרת מבוארת', לקראת ש"פ יתרו. אנו שמחים לצרף בזה את הקונטרס לעיונו של כת"ר. הקונטרס כולל הערות כ"ק אדמו"ר על ספרי הגאון רבי יונתן שטייף זצ"ל, מגדולי רבני הונגריה בדור הקודם. בין הנושאים הנידונים: אתוון רברבי וזעירי במסורה; סדר הבריאה - זמן, היולי, שמים וארץ; מנין סדרי משנה ע"פ קבלה. ועוד. האגרות נערכו לדפוס בתוספת פיענוח המראי-מקומות, הערות וציונים מועילים ללימוד והבנת הדברים. נודה לכת"ר על הערותיו והארותיו, הן על גליון זה בפרט והן על אופן העבודה בכלל, כדי שנוכל להוציא דבר מתוקן מתחת ידנו, לכבודו של אבינו רוענו כ"ק אדמו"ר.

 בברכת התורה, מנחם מענדל גרינפלד


BOX.com Link

Thursday, January 14, 2016

PsOTD


















(l-r Rabbi Morris Sherer, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, Rav Yaakov Kamienecki, Journalist R' Gershon Ber Jacobson.)  Sruli Besser says: "There are many things about Rabbi YY Jacobson that are special; it's an honour to tell the story of a chassid who's capturing the hearts & minds of all sorts of listeners. The backstory of his father is incredible - this picture, of Reb Gershon Jacobson with Rav Hutner, Rav Yaakov and Rabbi Sherer, is thrilling; it captures the flavor of a different time."


















Source 1
Source 2: Menachem Butler/FB

Rabbi Goren was some 12 years younger than Rav Hutner, but they were acquaintances. The latter only leaving the Holy Land in approximately 1930. The former already being a talmid in the Chevroner Yeshiva at that time. And RYH again spending a year or so in the Holy Land some years later. Maybe they attended Rav Kook's shiurim together? The man in the middle is hitherto unknown. At least to me. UPDATE: Friday. Reb YD Miller tells us that this is Rabbi Menachem Tzvi Eichenstein, (1910-1981) Chief Rabbi of St. Louis.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

א העכסט-אינטערעסאנטע שמועס מיט'ן סאטמאר רב אין פאלם ספרינגס, קאליפארניע


There seems to be an issue viewing this clip on Chrome. IE works fine. The shmuess is about the zman Maariv Motzoei Shabbos in the holy cities of Pressburg and Mattersdorf, cities of the Chasam Sofer. It seems like they davened Maariv not at 72 minutes post-Shkiah, but rather at the emergence of 3 stars. Which was 42 minutes after shkiah in the winter and 55 minutes after the shkiah in the summer.

Monday, January 11, 2016

דער אונגארישער כולל שומרי החומות פרעדיגט בראסלעווער פראפאגאנדע?!

The whole idea of a Chinese auction seems strange for an old-fashioned institution like KSH. But times change, and they need to get with the program. I get that. So they're doing their own auction. Fancy prizes and all. Not sure about computers. But the characters they choose for this catalog, and the theme, seem a bit strange for the Hungarian Kolel of the תלמידי מרן החת"ס. Almost as if they're trying to follow the led of other organizations who justify and means to make money, be it crying children or similar gruesome images. The following are several images that people who choose to enter their auction that they're helping these two yungeleit feed and clothe their families and thereby allow their souls to be nourished as well.

Bid Online

 




















דער אפענער רעקל, מילא. די מאדערנע אמעריקאנער טלית קטן- אהן די גלעקאלאך וועט מען אויך פארזעהן. But the young man on the left is not what we usually see in KSH circles. That's more Shuvu Bonim, etc. They probably made him put his knapsack away.
























But what have we here? A Chumash ע"פ לקוטי הלכות from Breslov! Who is this fellow? Is he a Breslover? a recent convert? if not, why does he get support from KSH?! Is the spiritual nourishment that they speak of? Should Hungarian Jews be supporting such nourishment?
























And what's this hat-laid-back, top-button-open, nice-white-smile young man? Which Yerushalmi yungerman looks like this, other than א האלבער שב"בניק?























So now he can buy a bugaboo carriage and take the kid to the babysitter, on his way to Kolel. All from his Kolel check? Or from the Pesach חלוקה?


Oy! what a little marketing can do the age-old image of the Yerushalmi yungerman! ATMs, credit cards, bugaboos, and white teeth....

Sunday, January 10, 2016

"Last" of the Sub-Carpathian Jews

Shimon putting on tefillin for his morning prayers while his Christian wife wakes up from bed. His mother told him he was Jewish only after he grew up, so he did not get any Jewish education, but he's trying his best to keep the traditions.
















Alexander is the shochet (ritual slaughterer) of Mukacheve, and the last active one in the region. There aren’t many people who eat kosher around so he is thinking to move somewhere else, probably to Israel, where he could get more work.

In the Jewish cemetery of Khust: “She always acted with care, and read the book of Psalms with love. She married her daughters to students of the Torah, and always lend a helping hand in the house. She honoured Tisha b'Av with all her strength, and as a righteous woman went straight to the world beyond...”
















Irshova has no Jewish community today, so there is nobody to keep the key to the old cemetery. The combination of numbers that opens the padlock is scribbled by the gate, but to be able to read it one needs to know gematria, the Jewish method of interpreting letters as numbers. 
















Aaron bakes challah in his Brooklyn Bakery in Uzhgorod. He grew up in a Jewish neighbourhood of New York and then moved here with his wife. He is fascinated by the region's Jewish heritage, and looks forward to showing his father that it is still possible to live a Jewish life here.


A religious Jew prays his morning prayer in Kolochava. He has been sent to help the local rabbi during holidays by Chabad, a Jewish religious organization whose mission is to bring Jews together and closer to God.

Vova, the president of the Jewish community of Khust, carries the Sefer Torah (Bible Scroll) during the shabbat prayers.


Jews gather in Mukacheve for the ritual of Tashlich. On the first day of the year, it is tradition to go to a river (or to a lake, as long as it has fish in it), and cast the sins and misconceptions of the past year into the water.


Source H/T Mottel

Thursday, January 7, 2016

קיינער האט נישט געזאגט פאר רבי חיימ'ס "שטוב מענטשן" אז דער סקווערער רבי נעמט מען אויף מיט א הוט און רעקל, און מ'שטעלט צו אביסל כיבוד אויך. ומה טוב זילבערנע כלים מיט הויפענס טרויבן

זיכער האט דער רבי אנגעזאגט פאר זיינע מענטשן אז מ'זאל נישט שטערן דער ראש ישיבה פון לערנען, און מ'זאל אים נישט זאגען אז דער סקווערער רבי קומט ארויף צו אים, אז דער ראש ישיבה זאל זיך נישט צוגרייטען און זיך שטערן א מינוט פון לערנען. אזוי ווי בכלל האט ער אנגעזאגט אז כדי צו פארמיידען ביטול תורה פון די אלע חסידים זאל מען ארגעניזירן שיעורים אויף די רייזעס צו די מקומות הקדושים.... אזוי ווי די הונדערטער קינדער און בחורים וואס זענען פארבליבן אינדערהיים - וועלכע בלייבען אהן זייערע מלמדים און מגידי שיעור - וואס ביי זיי וועט אוודאי אויך נישט זיין קיין ביטול תורה.... מ'זאגט אז די צוויי האבען גערעדט פון..... טעכנאלאגיע, און אז ר' חיים האט געזאגט אז ס'איז יהרוג ואל יעבור. אבער וואס וועט זיין מיט די כיבוד? דערנאך איז מען ארויף צו ר' אהרן לייב, זאל געזונט זיין. דארט איז ער געזעצן מיט'ן הוט און קאפאטע, ווי עס פאסט פאר ווען מ'נעמט אויף אזא חשוב'ען גאסט. איין ג-ט ווייסט וואס איז בכלל פשט פון די גאנצע נסיעה.


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The time in December '45 that "Rabbi J. Teitelbaum of Szatumare" was more Liberal about the Agudah and Israel

Obviously this doesn't refer to the Baal VaYoel Moshe, but, rather, his nephew, Reb Yoel Majer-Teitelbaum of Kiralyhaza. Later in Boro Park. See pic below. It seems like none of the Satmar Rov's sister's children considered themselves zealotrs, not him and not his brother the Sassover. They worked with the Agudah. Although the Satmar Rov was to have said that he too was an Agudist, a REAL Agudist, from before they changed their opinion regarding Zionism and the Jewish State. If my memory serves me right, and if I remember פאליטיק talk from years ago, the Kiralyhaza'er referred to himself as Satmar Rov for a while, until he was convinced otherwise by his dear uncle's people. Meaning they told him that the title was taken. I guess he figured his uncle was in Yerushalkayim in 1945 and was the גאב"ד עדה החרדית, so he was free to use it. The shul on Boro Park's 49th Street is where older Hungarians/Marmuresians gather to pray and reminisce. The old Rov passed away some 30 years ago. Maybe they speak about the fact that they're among the only Yiddish speakers without shtreimlech left in the neighborhood. I see they still use the palm trees on the signage; they still want the עצי תמרים yichus. After all, they are descendants. 




Tuesday, January 5, 2016

ישיבישע לעבן אמאל - available on Ebay























YTV, 1959. Seated: head of table, right, Rav Gedalia Schorr. Hertz Frankel second from right with mustache























The YTV library, 1959. Can you tell who the Chasidic young man is?

















The Pressburg Yeshiva, 1930. Looks almost Litvish. Maybe that's why the descendants - save for a few - went to Litvishe Yeshivos?


















A calendar for the Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Tomchei Tmimim, in Brunoy, outside Paris, France, 1960. Notice how they quote the Radomsker and Gerrer Rebbes in their calendar as having approved of the Yeshiva. They also offered after-school programs, as well as study-at-home lessons. The Rebbi teaching the class on the bottom left seems to be Reb Nochum Labkowski, o"h, father of the brothers Labkowski, Roshei Yeshiva in Crown Heights.

















Telshe Yeshiva, 1935, Second from left is Aron Benzion Shurin, who later married the daughter of R' Moshe DovBer Rivkin

Monday, January 4, 2016

ציוניסטישער סטרעטינער רבי - דעמאלט אין פראווידענס ר"א - באקלאגט זיך צו הרב הענקין אז די פארכאפונג פון יוסעלע שוכמאכער מאכט אהן א חורבן אין ארץ ישראל פאר פרומע אידן

We wrote about him and his Etzel connections back in 2012. I guess you might say that he sold out to the Zionists he so loved. But he saw what was happening as destroying what frum Jews had succeeded in building in the Holy Land over the previous decade or so. [ He goes on to tell him how Yidden in EY are good and want to be close to the Eybershter, we just need to be mekarev them, not like the Jews from Meah Shearim who sow division, etc. ] The thousands of Lomdei Torah. The fact that every town, city and village had a Rov with a beard and peyos. That the kitchens in the IDF are kosher and closed on fast days! All this would be destroyed for one child. You can use a microscope to look at the bad, but that wouldn't be the real story, he says. He then pleads with Rav Henkin to use his influence to return Yosselle to his parents. His zeide would then be released from prison, the family would reconcile, and Yossele would eventually get a Torah education.

Source: Take the time to read these 2 pages.