Today's Pics

HaRav Reb Lazer Silver visiting a Jewish Day School in Cincinnati.



Potoker Rov in Post-War France



Street scene in Warsaw, 1930s

Source 2

Source 1

סאטמאר און חינוך עצמאי: א מאדנער שידוך

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רבינו סר מן הדרך
Meeting at the Ruby Schron offices
אלף ילדים צרפתים נרשמו למוסדות חינוך חרדיים

First there's this strange interest in French Jewry. They're not authentic-looking like the תימנים, so why care about them? They also don't think much of Satmar. So it's the Kaliver Rebbe that sounded the alarm. He's the one that traveled the world and saw these precious Jews, and he worries that once the make aliya they'll lose some of their will to fight. In the Holy Land we're all Jews, so it doesn't matter how religious we are. They might say. OK. At least the KR has some real concern for them; he doesn't do it out of a vendetta against the Israeli Government. And the Satmar Rebbe is taking the credit because of the Kaliver's illness. OK. SO they travel to Toronto - why davka Toronto? - to raise money for Chinuch Atzmai, so that the French olim that went to either Otzar haTorah or Chabad  or other frum schools in France can continue to do that and not - chas veSholom - go to ממלכתי דתי schools. Dunno what kind of money they raised in Toronto, but it was significant. The entourage consisted of the Satmarer, R Malkiel Kotler and R Dovid Feinstein. A carefully choreographed group. Why RDF? Maybe since R Malkiel is closely identified with the מחבלים faction of Lithuanians in Israel they were afraid that people would think that this was not REALLY an issue. Then they came back to NY and started working on the oylem here. Stories in all Haredi publications, some week after week, including the Ami, which I found kinds surprising, since they're not supposed to be such alarmists. Then they started raising money here.

The Satmorim were perplexed. They've been taught their whole life that Chinuch Atzmai is חינוך לכפירה. The כפירה of ציונות, of course. Which is THE worst kind. And here the Satmar Rebbe who is more closely aligned with the zealot faction is going around raising money for them. OK, he's not flying coach on a commercial airliner, but STILL! Most swallowed it, but some could not. Pashkevillen started to appear decrying the travesty. Demonstrations by a few zealots happened right outside Schron's offices in NYC. And being that Satmar that is a chassidus run by the people, not by the Rebbe, the upper management decided that they needed to act. This was one thing they didn't think through. But what were they to do? They already collected the money. They can't send it back now, that would be foolish and embarrassing. So some genius came up with a plan to use the money for schools in France or something. Maybe 'splain to the Frenchies that Israel is a terrible place where they beat Jews and cut their beards off in the army. That will change their minds and make them stay in jolly ol' France. All this time his brother in KJ is laughing all the way to New Hampshire. They wanted to get him involved but he said no. Even his friend Reb Malkiel couldn't convince him. Let them all go וואו די גרינע פעפפער וואקסט. Said he. Which goes to show you: Satmar and Chinuch Atzmai mix like Gin and Slivovitz. 

French Jewry, a new crisis? (Guest Post)

JP Photo

Hirshel:

 I'm asking a question here, not necessarily jumping to conclusions. I'm not sure about this but it's my gut feeling that some new "issue" is starting to be created under our very noses. It's called chesed Kalev, for French Jews going to Israel. Now that חסד לאברהם - founded by the late Skulener Rebbe, zt"l, איז שוין עליו השלום, we're left with kind of a lull, or a void, in the business. People have time and nothing to do with it. Now I see a new consortium of charlatans are ringing a bell on France. That the French Jews who are making aliya are going to go frei because they're going to go to secular or Religious-lite schools in Israel. It also gets an anti Zionist flavor, which gets the zealots on board; that the Zionists will not let you go to frum mosdos in Israel. As if the Frenchies are semi invalids coming from a non developed African country with pea brains that can't make decisions regarding their kids' schooling.  I see R' Zalman Leib Teitelbaum from the more-extreme Satmar faction signed on to this, not his brother who hates this baloney, plus he has no love for Skulen. וד"ל.  The Hamodia quotes Reb Chaim Kanievsky who supposedly tells people to rather go to official secular mosdos than mamlachti Dati! What a statement!!  Going to secular vs. a place where you say Krias Shema and put on Tefillin! The old juvenile Bnei Berak talk. It must have been taken out of context. They claim that the Kalever Rebbe, may he have a רפו"ש, placed 4,000 kids in to Charedi mosdos. That's almost as big as the whole skverer chasidus!!

Are people so gullible ????

A strange interview with a French anti-Zionist from Aix-les-Bains (Yiddish)

Ya gotta feel for the Natruna people, those "Neturei Karta Lite" who would love for the State of Israel to go away, but they keep from publicly meeting with the Ahmedenijads of the world and waving Palestinian flags. So they have no real way of doing away with the State, היל"ת. So they put ads in papers "distancing" themselves from Israel and the IDF. nu, nu. They also have a telephone line where you can call in and hear speeches and interviews that speak of the evils of Israel and teach you VaYoel Moshe. In short it's a Satmar front group. Here they found a Jew in France who speaks Yiddish with a French accent and who tells people that it's all good in France. No cause for concern. There's even a spiritual renaissance going on among French Jews. France has a rich history of Jewish growth and will continue to be a haven for Jews. So no need to panic and make aliya. Besides, we all know that it's MORE dangerous there... Maybe he's a Novardikker and sees the good in everything. Or maybe his love for France is מעבירו על דעתו. I  wonder why he won't give his real/full name...

Listen here, if you dare, and if you can stomach the dripping KJ Yiddish...

Photo Source

to Yankel: with Love

This goes out to my friend, the commenter Yankel, who said things about what defines a true Gadol B'Yisroel. Maybe this will enlighten him a bit. In truth we can all learn from this.
Direct Link for non-Scribd users

  Here's my story: 12-6-14

ישיבת תומכי תמימים ליובאוויטש בעי"ת ברינוא, תש"מ - פרסום ראשון

These great pictures were taken by Aviv Itzhaky back in 1980 who maintains the copyright. It is with his kind permission that we feature these pictures. The great figures that built Brunoy were still there. Reb Yossel Goldberg, Reb Nissen Nemenov, etc. The great influx of Sefardic Jews into the Chabad system was also well underway, as is evident from some in the pictures. Reb Itche Nemenov, son of Reb Nissen, born in 5708, was apparently some kind of rebbi/mashgiach in the Yeshiva.

Photos © Aviv Itzhaky

הגה"ח ר' יוסף גאלדבערג ע"ה - ראש הישיבה

ר' איטשע נעמענאוו - לינקס

הגה"ח ר' הלל (הילקע) פעווזנער ע"ה

באמצע, מוסתר בחלקו, הגה"ח ר' יוסף גאלדבערג ע"ה - ראש הישיבה 

ממראות הישיבה

More about The Rosh Yeshiva, the Gaon Reb Yosef Goldberg

אבל כבד: השליח הרב שמואל אזימוב ע"ה

The one who was responsible for the great revolution of Jews coming back to Torah and Yiddishkeit in France. A father figure to thousands of Jews in France who owe it all to him. What more can we say? A great loss. Period.

Lubavitch.com

Shturem

COLlive

?מה נאמר

מורי ורבותי


I'm flattered that people look to me and to my writings to take comfort in the event of terrible tragedies, but what am I supposed to say at a time like this? What words of comfort can I possibly deliver? We sit and mourn יחד עם כל בית ישראל. I have a friend -or maybe "acquaintance" would be a better term? -  from my Kolel days who's a Chabad shliach in Toulouse and was quoted in one of the reports. He had just dropped off his children at the school when he heard the shots. His daughter texted him to stay away from the school. Why do I tell you this? I have no idea. I'm just rambling. Rabbi Sandler was on shlichus in Toulouse, having come from Israel to teach. This is an unspeakable crime, especially since we know that the killer looked to kill children point blank. We can see from the pictures that the community in Toulouse is a united one, with many different streams all being educated either in Lubavitch or Otzar HaTorah. I have met Jews in Monsey who are French - not Chabad - and spoke so highly of Lubavitch and their activities. It warms the heart to see Jews united so. Let's do that here too! Here we have countless numbers of Jews who could easily assimilate in France yet choose to educate their kids in the ways of Torah, despite the dangers of it! What a beautiful nation the Yidden are! I'm tired of being the bearer of bad news here. Obituaries, one after the other. It's bad enough that I write about people, cities and culture that are long dead, now I need to write about killings, r"l? You want links? see below. You've heard and seen it all by now.

See
More
gunman filmed killings...
the victims
Solidarity march in Paris
Neo_nazis suspected
Anti-Semitism in France
Victims to be buried in E. Yisroel
Same gun had killed 3 paratroopers before
Rabbi Sandler HY"D a dedicated Talmid Chochom
Four die
Another terror wave feared
Tragedy in Toulouse

Let's hear about good things happening!!

Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov ע"ה - an appreciation

(L-R; R' Bentzion Shemtov, Rebbetzin Bassie, o"h and יבלחט"א her husband R' Shmuel (מולע) Azimov

Received via e-mail: "On an August Paris afternoon, a troubled young man rang the bell of  Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov. He had met her two years before in New York, but how things have changed.  They were cousins but he could not recall how. He had fallen in with a hard crowd but had finally willed his way to 28 Rue de Vinaigriers."Who are you?" from the French window on the second floor.  "Ari Brisk," was the answer. "Who are you?" she asked again, looking at me. "What happened to you?" Two minutes later she opened the front door, admonishing him while inviting him upstairs. Rabbi Mulle (Shmuel) Azimov was on the phone but the harsh words did not stop. To Ari's dismay, she had drawn a bath, placed all his clothes from the dirty knapsack to wash, and was cooking a meal fit for a king- all this with harsh words, but softened by the smell of fried shnitzel. Events took a turn for the good.Years later he'd recall this parodox- it stayed with him.

He is not the only one; there are hundreds, perhaps more.

The Jewish revolution of Paris which she spearheaded with her husband was to the curious eye a wonder, yet there were reasons. She lead her life not in the shadow of what her father, the inimitable chosid R' Bentche Shemtov, had gone through, but as the embodiment of mesiras nefesh for the Rebbe's mission with dignity at every moment. Her favorite story of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka being the long walk across Paris "in the cold winter" she'd emphasize, describing the trek for milk and butter for the Rebbe in pre-War Paris.From five thirty in the morning until one o'clock the next, every day, she taught, lectured Principal a school, guided couples, suggested shidduchim, cooked, and all this while studying chassidus every day, sichos, one after the other. Long before igros bibliomancy, she'd approach a problem through a sicha, "the sicha always brings a solution." Their house was simply a sanctuary for the light of the Rebbe's chassidusת and that luminescence has lit many. I resided there for several months years ago, always considered her greatly, but her light as a chosid was beyond greatness, her family and the many who knew her now see...

I'd say it was her total bittul to the Rebbe which allowed her to saunter from an elevated perch, and touching others, allowing chassidus to flow through her for there was nothing else.She referred to the Rebbe as "dem Rebben" not der Rebbe, implying a belonging of chosid to Rebbe. The Rebbe was familiar and available but more important was the urgency of the Rebbe's call. There was work to be done, and, arguably, no shluchim have done that work as the Azimovs. I once ate at their Shabbos table when a guest, new to traditional Judaism, began asking questions about feminism and Judaism when Bassie interrupted her with a very strong lecture about the state of women today in light of promiscuity in modern culture. I felt embarrassed for the woman; Bassie was being too strong. To my astonishment the woman became a full ba'alas tshuveh, within a few months. She was persistent and more importantly lived the Rebbe's truth in heroic fashion, all this  with a life threatening illness that she harbored for years.The involvement of the Rebbe during her trying sickness, entailed daily updates and guidance. For years she ate butter and told me that when she was unable to digest food, the Rebbe had recommended butter, and it had been the only food which she had been able to digest the following years. Bassie never for a moment compromised. Perhaps therein is the secret, how one is imbued with that special spirit to be an infinite chosid of "dem Rebben."


Ad kan the email.


HT says: Rebbetzin Bassie Azimov passed away in Paris last week at the age of 67. She was the daughter of the Chossid Reb Bentzion Shemtov of London and the wife of Reb Shmuel (Mulle) Azimov, shliach to Paris. She and her husband were responsible for the tremendous "revolution" of Yiddishkeit in Paris that goes on until today. What has been accomplished in France hasn't happened anywhere else in the world. Hundreds upon hundreds, if not thonsands of families that lead complete Torah lives. Some thrird generation already. All were introduced to Yiddishkeit by Reb Mulle and his Rebbetzin. The love and respect, and even reverence that people who came in contact with the Azimovs have for them is nothing short of amazing. All their mushpoyim and mekurovim are like their own children, and at the levaya they cried as if their own mother had passed away. No matter where you stand on the Chabad politics you respected Mulle and his wife because they demanded respect. Not they demanded it, it was their work and accomplishments that demanded it for them. They themselves asked for nothing. When you saw that she had passed away you were saddened, because you knew that there is nobody that can replace her. You also cried for her husband, a tzubrochene man physically, who suffered a stroke some years ago, and who now suffers so much more upon his mate. May the Eybershter give him lange, gezunte yohren, and may their children know only joy and happiness מכאן ולהבא עד עולם

"Bikur HaMeysedes" in Broonwah

The Rebbe fun Toldis Ahren bazucht di Meysdes Lubavitch in Broonwah, Frankreich, u'bifrat di Yeshiveh Teymchei Tmimim, un farbrengt mit dee buchrim. Vee bavust hubben di Anshei Toldos Ahren alange kesher mit Chabad, noch fun di tzayten fun Reb Ahren Rutt, velcher hut bazucht der Frierdike Rebbe in Yurop. Oych iz der Rebbe fun Todos Ahren, der Baal Divrei Emuneh, geven etliche mohl af yechides baym Rebbin in 770.

Bilder:COL


דער צווייטע פון לינקס איז הרב ר' יחיאל קלמנסון, ראש ישיבה און באוואוסטע מחבר ספרים






די רבי פון תולדות אהרן מיט ר' איטשע נעמענאוו, רעכטס