Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Topics we didn't cover here in the not-so-distant past. Not necessarily in order of importance (add any I missed [in the comments])




































1) The Crown Heights Eruv.
Is it about the eruv, really? Or is it a generation of young people who in general want life/Yiddishkeit to be easy. They say they follow the Rebbe's directives, but that the Rebbe, being the ultimate "nice guy," would definitely allow an eruv to be put up these days, since the women are holed up at home all Shabbos. Is the fact that they're doing this after decades of a status-quo a de-facto rebellion against the Rebbe? I guess we should be happy that they're trying to do things within the realm of Halochoh.

2) Reb Lazer Berland and his plight/flight.
Not so much about whether or not he's guilty of the crimes that they accuse him, but more so the defense that his people put up for him. That the Tzaddik can be guilty of such sins and still be a Tzaddik. Something like that. His heavy avodah is beyond dispute, learning and davening. But who decides who's the Tzaddik of this Breslov generation? Meaning, his people say he's the Tzaddik and his actions cannot be questioned; but who told them so? (I never actually sat down and listened to a full-blown defense of him.) Or that this is all about them against us. The Ashkenazi old guard of Breslov vs. the new-age Baalei Tshuvah/Sefaradim.  That they never accepted him or what he did over the years, and now they're getting their revenge on him for "destroying" Breslov. The funny thing is that most of them are as new to Breslov as R' Lazer is. Most of them are stam Litvaks who couldn't take a living Rebbe so they took Reb Nachman. You had Reb Levi Yitzchok Bender and R' Michel Dorfman, but the rest? Were they not all tzugekummener?

3) Secular education in NYC Yeshivos
The real issue here is that the people pushing for change are not our friends. They don't have our best interest in mind. You might say that they have nothing but our downfall in mind. Will they be happy if all yeshiva kids get a HS/Regents Diploma? One wonders. And if so, if it's not our well being that they have in mind, how can we endorse their efforts? This is besides the fact that they paint all Charedi schools with the big, broad brush. I also find it ironic that most of these guys - the guys that left the Haredi world - caught up to the big world, (as if the masses that go through the US education system are beacons of intelligence and understanding), despite their lack of education in yeshiva, so what's the big deal? Within a few years in the great, big world you can sound and look like any Bernie-loving hipster anyway!

There are more, I just figured I'd put these 3 out there for now.


18 comments:

Rabbi Freilich, Abe Joel Friedman said...

The opening of the Sloatsburg Minyan Area where Thousands Expected To Utilize the NYS Thruway Rest Area For Mincha-Mariv

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

very important...

Hellenist said...


and what about our, Yarden Gerbi, and Aly Raisman.. Nu? do I have to say more?

Three of the top officials of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, including its president, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, are Jewish.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.725794?v=1F2709C48213B8B1E62E357D4A447BDA

"The fact that for two centuries Palestine was part of Hellenistic kingdoms, first of Ptolemaic Egypt and then of Seleucid Syria, made Greek influence on Jewish thought and life inevitable. "

History repeats itself!

ידיד said...

A Gitten Hirshel

1) I am confusedץ the eiruv that was made covers outer areas of Crown Heights not the ROV/MINYAN/BINYAN of the Schuna ? Unless I am wrong ?

2) Was it made by Chabad Lite guys and gals ?? Real Rabbonim or Serdeheller Ruuv….

3) The Berland story stinks to high heaven, first of all he ran for 4 years ! Also the crazy shtick a chillul hashem, the people around him etc. Please don’t sell me the Brooklyn bridge.

4) The chassidisher yeshivos produce kids functionally illiterate in 2 languages. We are not all rich or with rich Zeidas, the option to work for a living needs to be better prepared for. In Israel the Crisis is 100 times worse. the self induced poverty is a crime against thousands of families, they are stuckץ it’s a Shrek….

Anonymous said...

Common thread...נבל ברשות התורה?

anon y mouse said...

very uncommon comment though.

Pactura Observa said...

hersh, don't you know, when one runs, they look guilty, and they look like a thief.

Anonymous said...

"Most of them are stam Litvaks who couldn't take a living Rebbe so they took Reb Nachman"

glass houses Reb Tzig

Litvisher Yungerman

חבדצקע"ר said...

"The chassidisher yeshivos produce kids functionally illiterate"

הלכות תלמוד תורה והאיך להתנהג בה עם כל פרטיה ודוקדקיה.. הם הלכות מרחבת בשלחן ערוך, וביותר בש"ע הרב, ושאר הפוסקים! חזרו ונשנו "מהאנשי כנסת הגדולה ד'אמעריקא" אחר חורבן העולם האחרון, הם יסדוה כל אחד בקהלתו כאן.

הם הרוצים "חינוך חדשה" שאינו מיוסד ע"פ דיני הש"ע, או אם פשרות משונות, הרשות בידם להבדיל מעדת ישראל, ולעשות כטוב בעיניהם, עליהם נאמרו וכל המשנה ידם על התחתונה.

J.B. Monticello said...

I don't remember you mentioning the beloved Rabbi Mordechai Jungreis, Rebbe of the Nikolsburg, Woodburn NY who's taking up the mountains with a storm.

Anonymous said...

1) The Eruv issue is truly a shanda. As an aside, the Rebbes known vehemence against an Eruv (I believe not just in Crown Heights but anywhere where יד חב"ד תקיפה) makes bittere misnagdim like myself wonder **EDITED**.

2) Your commentary on the secular education inyan is exactly on target and well put.

Litvisher Yungerman

FFB said...

2) Were they not all tzugekummener?

די וועלט זאגט א גימאכטער איז ערגער, וויא א גיבורינער. וד"ל

Anonymous said...

Hey hirshel why don't u comment on chabad in israel going to the army, is this the reason u think chabad is better then other chassidus, where is the chochnmeh bineh daas

Hirshel Tzig - הירשל ציג said...

they're not "going to the army"

חבדצקע"ר said...

! ובריות בו יפקדו, להזכירם לחיים ולמות

על-פי ההסכם.. רק 15% מהתלמידים החב"דיים יקבלו פטור מצה"ל לכל ימי חייהם, כדי שיוכלו להקדיש את חייהם "לתורה ולשליחות". הם ייבחרו בידי ראשי-הישיבות וצה"ל!!! צה"ל יבחר ויפסוק מי לתורה, ומי לשליחות,
מי לחרב ומי לשלום, איזה לרעב ואיזה לשובע

ומהו עם היתר של 15% מהנבחרים, צה"ל סבירא ליה דכל "יתר כנטול דמי"! וד"ל

orensbe said...

I like the return of "bankes" in the Olympics. We're all familiar with the saying of something helping like a "toiten bankes." Good to see "cupping" making a comeback. wonder what's next

http://www.npr.org/sections/health shots/2016/08/08/489168033/athletes-go-for-gold-with-red-spots-blazing

waldo said...

" 1) I am confusedץ "

hirshel this yedid dude is confused with an enda ץ why don't you straighten him out.. a bit.

אביי ורבא said...

אמר רב מאי דכתיב (דברי הימים א טז, כב) אל תגעו במשיחי ובנביאי אל תרעו אל תגעו במשיחי אלו תינוקות של בית רבן ובנביאי אל תרעו אלו ת"ח אמר ריש לקיש משום רבי יהודה נשיאה אין העולם מתקיים אלא בשביל הבל תינוקות של בית רבן א"ל רב פפא לאביי דידי ודידך מאי א"ל אינו דומה הבל שיש בו חטא להבל שאין בו חטא