Thursday, December 29, 2016

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Motzoei Shabbos Plenary Session - Torah uMesorah 9th Annual Presidents Conference

This isn't the usual summer conference for Rebbes and Mechanchim. This is for the BaaleiBatim. In Florida. And they brought YY to speak in front of people like Reb Shmuel Kamenecki. And he was good. Starts at about 1h:42m. Or you can listen to Reb Yossel Tabak about ten minutes earlier.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Cornflakes, Potato and OvernAit Kugel


















Hirshel, listen to this:

My friend was in Woodridge for Shabbos. That's near Woodbourne, in the Catskills in Upstate New York. Where the Borscht Belt once was. He walked over from his אכסניא to the holy Woodridger Ruv Reb Yitzchok Lebovitch. There is much to say about this very unique character who lives up there all year round, basically by himself. Reb Yitzchok eats a cornflakes kugel and distributes it to those at his tish. (I'm not sure who else is at his tish? during the winter, that is - HT) That corn flakes kugel is a minhag of the old Kivyashder Ruv of Williamsburg, Reb Yitzchok considers him his rebbe muvhak. He told my friend the following: My Rebbe (who was a Shapiro, einikel ben acher ben of the Rebbe Reb Hersh Mielech) heard from an alter chusid that still remembered the bnei yisoscher, that when potatoes were introduced to Eastern Europe, it was introduced as a American food, The holy בני יששכר asked that they start making a kugel out of it, in order to do birurim on that part of the world (in chabad terms חצי כדור התחתון) that needs alot of birurim. In the world of kugel - which was holy by chasidim - by the Alter Rebbe and others it's the noodle kugel. (potato kugel could not be הלכה למשה מסיני or instead of tekias shofar when RH falls on Shabbos as the Alter Rebbe said...)

So getting back to the corn flakes kugel; the Kiviashder Ruv had a sister that came to the US in the early years. Like before WW2. She was Bertsher rebbetzin, כמדומני (I think her husband was a Rokeach, זייער גרויסע מיוחסים)  - you can maybe look up the whole yichus tree in Wikipedia. Her brother the Kivyashder was by her when he arrived to the US, and he saw a new concept:  corn flakes kugel. He liked it, since corn flakes is a real American food, and this kugel will do the birur, just like the potato kugel did the birur for the Bnei Yisoschor. So who knows who gets credit for the yiddishkiet in the USA? Everybody has their person whom they credit... Satmar, Lubavitch, Lakewood, Torah VoDaas. Nobody gives the cornflakes kugel any credit. I know a big Rebbe that loves Overnight (overnait in the holy Rebbe's Rumanian tongue) potato kugel. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Students of the Lubavitcher Day School Greeting LBJ, Worcester, Ma., 1964

The man who sent me this picture made a really good observation: LBJ may have been the last Presidential candidate to campaign in Worcester...

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

The vort and wedding of Reb Refoel Shmulevitz, ע"ה

Grey hat at the vort, black hat at the wedding. source
Reb Refoel was the son of Reb Chaim. That made him Reb Lazer Yudel Finkels' grandson. He passed away less than a year ago after suffering from a debilitating disease. He was married to Reb Avrohom Farbstein's daughter.


















מימין לשמאל: הג"ר אברהם שמואלביץ, הגרא"י פינקל, הגר"א פרבשטיין, הג"ר דניאל פרבשטיין
















מרן ראש הישיבה ר' לייזר יודל (וסב החתן) נכנס לאולם! ימים על ימי מלך תוסיף....
















אבי החתן הגר"ח שמואלביץ מגיע לאולם
















תמונה נדירה של רבי חיים שמואילביץ - אבי החתן - עם משקפיים
















נראים הגרא"ק, ר' לייזר יודל, החתן, ר' חצקל סרנא, רבי משה חברוני ור' מאיר חדש
 - עומד אולי רבי אברהם פרבשטיין

























רבי חצקל סרנא משמאל עם המשגיח רבי אלי' לאפיאן זצ"ל

Monday, December 5, 2016

"Torah Links" wants you to know that they're "ABSOLUTELY" not a Litvishe version of Chabad...























פון "מאמענט" מאגאזין

At first I thought that the interviewer was asking a loaded question, setting up the answer. But after seeing the full answer I'm not quite so sure anymore... It seems like these people would find some way to knock Chabad and their mivtzoyim. Just because. Then they kind of overstep their boundaries. Like, they're going too far is to distance themselves from Chabad. Only Torah קען באלייכטען א אידישע הארץ? Mitzvos can't do anything? What about a big shtreimel with the shpitzen blown into place using half a can of hairspray, can that באלייכט א אידישע הארץ? מי שמך לאיש Mr. Torah Links?Who told you that the point of being mekarev yidden is to גענצליך overturn a Yiddishe hartz? Who died and made you the boss of Torah and Kiruv?

We expect better journalism from מאמענט - you guys come out looking juvenille.

AND as far as Torh Links is concerned, I'd refer them to their mission statement. See below.