Jews in Podolia: 1860s-1880s

 

 

Source: (try to ignore her politics...)

She took it from HERE

The Hasidim by Vincent R. Tortora (1972)

Looks like we're heading back to the great divide of תשמ"ט

I'm no expert on Israeli Haredi politics; I'll be the first one to tell you that I get severe headaches trying to follow it. But the currect matzav is easy enough for a novice like myself to understand. The Chassidishe Moetzes, after a meeting today, says to Stay Home Tomorrow and not vote for anybody in the ירושלים mayoral runoff election between Shas candidate Moshe Leon and the secular Ofer Berkovitz. Reb Chaim Kanievski says vote for Moshe Leon, otherwise you'll be a partner in all the Chilul Shabbos etc. And if you don't you're מחלל שם שמים. The Moetzes says that they're doing it because Degel is supporting a secular candidate in Tzfas. So it's just basically all politics and spite. But why is Degel supporting secularism in Tzfas and crying over קדושת ירושלים? Beats me. All this comes after the disaster of Round 1, where Slonimer chossid Yossi Deitsch lost by a wide margin after the Degel people didn't vote for him. Not only did they not vote for him, they showed the Agudah that they're twice as strong as them, voting in 6 of their own to Agudah's 3 on the city council. The biggest punch in the gut Ger had seen in a very, very long time. And secretly you might say even some chassidim aren't crying...

Which got me thinking: for a while I thought that were there to be open lines of communication between the Lubavitcher Rebbe and some of his Litvishe detractors, things would be quite different. If the Rebbe would live in EY, as silly as that sounds, then people from EY would have a chance to see the Rebbe and not be sucked into the great web of lies and deceit created by the haters. It would make sense, were it not for the events of recent weeks. No member of the Moetzes, some of whom live minutes away from the Roshei Yeshiva, made the effort to go visit Reb Moshe Hillel Hirsh or Reb Gershon Edelstein, or any tier 2 Rosh Yeshiva to try and tell them that it's imperative that we stay home tomorrow. Conversely, no Rosh Yeshiva went to any Rebbe to convince them to change their mind about staying home, since the קדושה of Yerushalayim is on the line. I realize that here the onus was on the Roshei Yeshiva, since the Chassidim are only doing it out of spite, and what kind of case can they make? How will they convince anybody of the righteousness of their decision today? We'll leave Reb Chaim out of this for now, since Yanky Kanievski would probably not let i n to their zeide....

Some would say that it's ironic that it happened to Yossi Deitsch the Slonimer, a chossid of Reb Sholom Noach, who was a close acquaintance of the late Ponovizher Rosh Yeshiva... (and no friend of Chabad, despite having taught there in the early 40s in Tel Aviv.) The real cynics say that all the Rosh Yeshivas need to do is speak about "Shabbos" and B"K, and all (veise) Slonimer will join them en masse.... Lots to hash out here, including "is Reb Chaim really in charge here, or as the Etznikim say, it's all his eynikel Yanky?" Also, did the Satmar Rebbe had a ווייטער בליק, as his supporters say? although he did allow his people to vote in municipal elections... MK Yisroel Eichler, in his Belzer apologist way told an interviewer last week that since Chassidim don't follow sports elections are r their entertainment, but chas vesholom, there's no animosity between Chassidim and Litvishers, just like fans of one team don't HATE fans of the other team... Time will surely tell. 

.....יתומים היינו

Reb Chaim's Letter, below:

זכרונות של הרב יצחק טובי' ווייס - גאב"ד העדה החרדית‎

Memoirs from the current Rov of the Edah HaCharedis, HaRav Yitzchok Tovia Weisz. Rav Weisz was a friend of Lubavitch and had many interactions with them. He is currently was married to the widow of haRav uriel Zimmer o"h. Most of what is brought here is "in-line" with Lubavitcher sources, although it does lose a bit of the flavor when put into the drippy Jerusalem Heimishe style. Also, surprisingly, there is much respect shown here to the Rebbe, זצוקללה"ה נבג"מ זי"ע

Thursday Links

Bekeshes in Yeshivishe Baltimore
Isaac's Bakery
Speech, Thought, and Action - A Ma'amar of the Rebbe
הגט באמריקה שמסעיר את עולם ההלכה
Is it permitted to eat Hot Dogs?

HaRav Reb Tuvia Goldstein saw the difference between Chassidim and ליטאים in Siberia....

Reb Tuvia tells us how in Siberia the Litvishe bochurim found excuses and reasons why they were exempt from mitzvos. The Matzos wouldn't have a shiur and it would be too cold to sit in the Sukkah. [He was the pride of Kamenetz and Baranovich before being exiled to Siberia by the Russians in Vilna.] The Chassidim did not seek such excuses and had mesirus nefesh for mitzvos even while in Siberia. He would sing a niggun that he learned from the Lubavitcher Chassidim from Nevel, the Jews who knew not of a reason not to sit in the sukkah, now matter how cold. Reb Tuvia tells us how the Litvishe Bochurim האבען זיך געפטר'ט מיט לומדות.... The Chassidim didn't know of such heterim. He also tells us how the Gr"A and the first misnagdim would never have made the "cherem" if they had seen the (Chabad) Chassidim in Siberia and the mesirus nefesh they had. Something tells me this book doesn't sit well with some in the Misnagdic community.

the cover of the new book

do we encourage untruthful behavior?

photo source

So over Shabbos I davened in a shtiebel frequented by mostly Hungarian Charedim. Nice people, friendly and all. No complaints. A lot of Chassidus Mevueres seforim, as well as other Chabad Seforim. Several Tehillas Hashem siddurim as well. The Rov is a sweet Rebbishe type. He even shows me the end of the aliya when I'm called up. A-1 service. So there's this one bochur there, 14-15 years old. Seems to be a nice kid, but his davening irked me. While writing this I'm thinking that I may have written about it once before, when I had the same thoughts the last time I encountered his behavior. It may have even been the same kid! Anyhow, most of you don't remember anyway... So this kid davens with tnu'os meshunos. Strong shukkeling. Fists clenched. Veins popping. שמונה עשרה is a long ordeal. But he seems like someone who knows from this world. clean hat and shoes, etc. That's not to say that he's a total bluffer! He seems like a kid who means well. But my point is simply that he's getting way ahead of himself! He's not at that level of dveikus, and it doesn't seem like he's ever going to be there. But in his mind, since he maybe wants to be there all the outside trappings of being at that level are justified. And in his mind this is the way to get close to Hashem! Can it be that since we allow ourselves to be untruthful, דהיינו מ'נארט זיך, in ענינים של עבודה, that it spills over to all other aspects of life as well? That we're untruthful in our business dealings or with our children and spouses? Then again, what does the משנה say? וכל מי שאינו לא חיגר ולא סוּמָא ולא פִּסֵּחַ ועושה עצמו כאחד מהם  אינו מת מן הזקנה עד שיהיה כאחד מהם, שנאמר 'צדק צדק תרדוף - so maybe he has a point.

Art Exhibit @ Kehot in Crown Heights

a real Chossid screams when his Rebbe is attacked!

So said the great Reb Shmuel Salant of Yerushalayim. טאקע ניט קיין חסיד, אבער דאך. כנראה אז ער האט פארשטאנען צו חסידים.

And here I thought that I was being "open-minded" and "tolerant" by allowing it here and in life outside the blog. I thought that by allowing others to speak ill of my Rebbe - כאילו - that I was showing them that I'm not "from the crazy ones." So where do I go from here? What copious amounts of Tshuvah do I need to do?


אוי לי

Lubavitch mourns its elders

Harav Chaim Menachem Teichtel, 92 - תלמיד הישיבה בהיידע and son of the גאון בעל משנה שכיר הי"ד. RCMT was niskarev to Chassidus Chabad and its נשיאים by the late Reb Zalman Schneersohn, ע"ה. He was one of the few remaining talmidim of the famed Heide Yeshiva in Belgium. Ironically, most if not all, of those remaining talmidim are Lubavitcher Chassidim, having come to Lubavitch during WW2 in France. He leaves behind a beautiful family of Chassidim and shluchim all over the world.

See Here





























Harav Yitzchok Zalman Posner - Great Orator, Author and Shliach. Rabbi Zalman Posner was one of the most prolific and creative Jewish writers of our time. He was sent by the Frierdige Rebbe to Nashville, Tennessee way back in 1949 and remained there until his failing health kept him from performing his Rabbinic duties several years ago. (Above vintage pic: The Rebbe and RaSHaG at RYZP's wedding in Kislev, 5710)

Passing of RYZP, 87 (Shturem)
Collive

Reb Velvel Zalmanov, 98

הרב זלמנוב שלא הכרתם

Readers Write...

(a taste of what I deal with)

Dear Reb Hirshel,

 I am a frequent reader of your blog and of course I immensely enjoy what you write. I was wondering, if you can clarify certain suspicions I have about Chabad. I have been told, that as there isn’t really just דצח''מ in the world. There is another category called “Chossid”. This is how I understand it: just like a flower does not incorporate a דומם; when it rots, it disintegrates, so to a Lubavitcher is not כולל what other Yidden possess. He is a distinct entity. This can mean many things. It might mean that you guys just look differently. You people have decorations on your yarmulkas, straddle the gartle above your heart, wear colorful and different type of clothing (including the women, vedal), smash your fedoras, etc. However, that is only the outer trimmings, and since Chabad is all about “pnimiyus”, I am sure that it runs much deeper. Obviously, you assert that it is all about תורת חב''ד. Meaning, unlike the חג''ת/Paylisher who are more emotional, you guys are all about using the head. תורת חב''ד, from what I understand, is about bringing the Kabalistic concepts to the fore in a way that can be understood by the sechel. When a Yid has a deeper and broader understanding of the Creator and the soul(s) of a Yid, one can automatically serve הקב''ה better.

 Also, the emphasis is on serving the Aibeshter, not on using the learning ח''ו to feel accomplished and to get a sipuk; therefore, a true Chossid doesn’t feel any “Yeshus”, even when he understands the Rebbe’s mamorim better than the other guy, he doesn’t feel any pride! Compare that to ‘you-know-who’, who even when they learn מוסר בהתפעלות it is all about self-interest, right? All this rhetoric is helpful to understand what makes a true Lubavitcher tick. Ok, I understand that. But just tell me one thing, does my plumber who chants three chapters of Rambam daily, or the guy behind the counter in the pizza store with his pamphlet with Steinsaltz gemara and stories from the FR, really have any understanding of chassidus? Can they convincingly make the argument that it is more than “chakira with Kabalistic terminology” (farkert from Maharal), or not?

 I await your response.

They write papers about Satmar too

“Commanded War”: Three Chapters in the “Military” History of Satmar Hasidism

Box.com link

Chassidim and their funny beliefs...

FYI, "אדמו"ר אור ישראל מסטאלין זיע"א" was born in תרכ"ט, which made him all of 5 (!) years old at the time of the story. By the way, Reb Hirsh Margolis was the elter zeide of Dov Eliach, mechaber of ",הגאון" and no fan of Chassidim. Funny how these things work.


Source: HebrewBooks, קובץ ביאו"י

Brisker "Wikleaks" B O M B (Part II)

(Here's Part I from way back when)

This 32 page treasure full of lies, half-truths and distortions gives us a glimpse into the Ahavas Yisroel that many of the Gedolim had for their fellow Jews - especially Chassidishe Yidden, ובפרטי פרטיות אידן בעלי מסי"נ כמו חסידי חב"ד ורבותיהם נ"ע. And I've only read until page 3... Why do I call them lies, etc.? Because otherwise I have no choice but to lose all respect that I had for many of these Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva. What would you do in such a case? Comments asking me to decipher and type this up will be ignored, unless you send me your credit card information and allow me to charge it $35 an hour. I think that's reasonable for this type of work. If you're going to post this elsewhere or pass it around at least link back here.

  Notes Lo Noda Lemi 1 by   neveler

For our non-Scribd users here's a link to Box, which is good with most filters as well.

The many, many hats of Reb Yitzchok Frankfurter

I don't think I'd able to do his job. He defends and attacks - well, maybe "attacks" is too harsh a word, he allows attacks to be published - the same groups at the same time! One week it's Lakewood, the next week Lubavitch, the next week Satmar, he'll write nice things about them, that is. Then he's out there, both in Ami and on the radio, defending Charedim against claims of abuse, even if it is terribly unpopular. Then he profiles Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes - I guess he went there trying to ask him tough questions about why he all of a sudden picks on us - in the end what we get is Hynes talking down to the frum, telling them how they're not in the 19th century anymore and he'll throw us all in jail if we don't squeal to him... If this was me my head would spin off my shoulders! But we thought we could at least rely on his Chassidic background and upbringing to defend his people from nastiness like was said by Rabbi Noah - a Slonimer eynikel himself... Now even that gets published and defended by Reb Yitzchok.... Nobody's safe - except maybe Satmar? I don't think Satmar was included in RNW's remark - at least not in Reb Yitzchok's mind, they're the good Chassidim - so technically he still has a clean record with the Satmorim. Thanks, but no thanks, we don't need Rabbi Noah lecturing us from the grave. We're good.

  Interestingly enough Rabbi Yossi Blesofsky - shliach in Queens - is a grandson of Reb Zalman Blesofsky, who was once a member of Nesivos Olam-Malochim in Williamsburg, but later joined Lubavitch, and was גבאי in the Rebbe's shul/770.. RZB's father himself was Reb Avrohom haCohen Blesofsky, a Karliner chossid whom the Stoliner Chassidim refer to as "Reb Avrohom כהן.

The image problem we have [Weberman trial] (GUEST POST)

"I have mixed and conflicted feelings about this case. I am absolutely convinced that a Hasidic looking man cannot get a fair trial anywhere when accused of such crimes, but in this case I have my doubts as to Weberman’s guilt. That’s all, “doubts,” and doubts does not mean convinced, no need to jump on me. No competent criminal lawyer permits a police abuse case or a Hasid sex case (or even fraud case) to stand before a jury and counsel often chooses a bench trial. (Why Weberman’s lawyer let his client go before a jury should give us pause - and we should speculate as to why). I don’t know Weberman personally but he is a distant cousin, so when I asked numerous mutual cousins that I share with him and know him personally they all told me that if he is guilty he should rot in jail. Since the term “if” has come into the conversation so many times, that tells me that my “doubt” is shared by a great many others.

We in the Hasidic community must look inward why we're looked upon so unfavorably. Of course there is the age old problem of antisemitism, as well as the hate of the secular for the frum, (repulsed is a better term) added to the general worldwide dislike of the overly devout, of every religion. As more and more of our people get caught up in the Justice system, avoidance of this problem and blaming others is not an option. We must face juries that are selected out of the general population. From my own observation on how our community has developed socially and politically I get the feeling that the social attitude our community projects outwardly towards our neighbors and fellow citizens has - especially in New York - poisoned the jury pool. We live in one of the most tolerant and generous cities in the world, but what do most of the residents of the City know about us and our way of life? I would venture to say that millions of people around the Metropolitan NYC area know us for just a few things; we are opposed to gay marriage. Oh yes, let me add and we support Israel. On both issues we come off as strident, brooking a no nuanced approach; no "live and let live." No, we come off as angry and suspicious (no president named Hussein will defend Israel) The electoral graphic map published by the NY Times says is all. The red dots of Romney voters stand out as one solid core of naysayer's in opposition to the cultural and political sensitivities of most New Yorkers. By our votes and our interactions with local politicians we have projected an image of a community that is intolerant and one that does not care about the more vulnerable ones living side by side with us.

Then there are the simple day to day interactions; how do we tip the taxicab driver, the grocery delivery boy, our workers, our cleaners? These people, their children and members of their family end up as jurors of people like Weberman and they will be charged to decide his fate. I have long detected a strong attitudinal shift, especially among the young in our community, from a feeling of mutual communal responsibility combined with traditional fear of “what will the goyim say,” to an attitude of triumphalism and of an arrogant projection of entitlement. Correct me if I’m wrong, but whenever I bring up these issues among my young acquaintances I get the look as if I fell off the moon. I have no doubt that one day we will have to take on these dire issues, that if not dealt with in a sensible way will grow worse and worse, until we will have no choice. Of course we might avoid giving any thought to this issue and suffer without the benefit of self analysis to re-examine our place in this country. Even if Weberman is guilty of some criminal improper behavior within the indictment there is a strong possibility that he is not guilty of the more severe charges. This is where a socially poisoned jury really matters. It is reasonable to doubt and suspect that Weberman is guilty of some of the charges, likewise it also reasonable to speculate that the girl and her supporters have an incentive to pile on charges. For a victim it might be easy to morally rationalize the piling on of more accusations, in order to make at least something stick. Brooklyn’s DA Charlie Hynes office is so politicized and his integrity is so compromised that it makes me share Tzig's doubts. This trial gives me the shivers, not only about what might be the outcome for those directly involved, but I tremble about what the outcome will bring and what effect it will have on the rest of the Haredi community here and around the world."

  Yosef 718

?מה לנו ולחב"ד

A new Yishuv in Israel is being planned for the "charedi" ציבור - the Chassidishe Tzibur, that is. It's in Yishuv Charish, between Natanya and Chadera. It seems like ONE Chassidus has been left out. uninvited. Chabad. Lubavitch. And some in Lubavitch are not happy about it. They too suffer from "מצוקת הדיור" and need apartments, they too are "חסידים" - so why are they not invited to take part in this, they ask. I've been in this "business" long enough to know what's coming as far as your comments as to why they don't want Lubavitch, but I'll run this story anyway.... The unofficial Chabad website Shturem has been open and bold enough to publish a back-and-forth about this subject that makes all of see the other side. Only איין באשעפער knows what will become of this. Just to be fair, Lubavitch is pretty big in Beitar, which I think is the same type of place, unless they're trying to avoid that?

?מה לנו ולהם

?מיהו חרדי

You'd be shocked to see who liked PM Yitzchak Shamir and what he said about him!

And we always believed that the Degel HaTorah people didn't like Mr. Shamir and favored Shimon Peres and his liberal stance on peace - and that "no land for peace" was an exclusively Lubavitcher opinion. But now, upon the passing of PM Yitzchak Shamir, we're hearing all kinds of nice things that were said about him by people that we thought were not on the same page politically with him. [From the Chabad sites you'd think that one of the ziknei haChassidim passed on, but that's become normal already, although nobody knows when and how that happened...] One of those people is the late Ponovizher Rosh Yeshiva, who was quoted by former Interior Minister Yitzchak Peretz as saying that he has ".דעת זקנים" Is it the Daas of זקני תלמידי חכמים or זקני עם הארץ? It seems to be a good thing from the article, judging from the fact that they say that he had הערכה towards him, meaning that it's a good thing. the Although there's no direct mention of his admiration of Shamir because of his stance on the peace negotiations in this article, there IS another one that makes mention of it and of the fact that the idea that the PR"Y was for giving land in return for peace is a MYTH. Here's that article.

Of course there are many that disagree, some of them Lubavitchers, and who remember many of the statements he made in regards to the Golan Heights, like "We've lived without the Golan for two thousand years, and we can go another 2,000 years without it," meaning if it's handed over to Syria וועט די וועלט ניט אונטערגיין. In short, a very Baalebatishe look at politics, clearly out of his league. Like most Rosheshives. But I believe that his opinion on this issue especially changed very often, that it was a very flexible opinion, based on the time and place, and based on the needs of the frum Jews at that time, so maybe both opinions are right... The same goes for others like Rav Ovadia. I mean no harm, it's just that some Rebbes have some sort of S'yata D'Shmaya that today's Rosheshives and Rabbonim don't have. Some sort of BaalShem'ske zechus that guides them to make the right decisions... But even that doesn't ALWAYS work...

That's my Daas Baalebatim.

"כפר חב"ד של פעם"

equal opportunity offender...