What set the Rebbe apart - (Part I)

Natan Yellin-Mor (Friedman)

There are all kinds of stories out there about the Rebbe. Some are nice, some are very nice and some are just, like "wow!" But even the "wow!" stories; how often does a story move you like never before? How often does it give you such a kitzel that it gives you no rest? How often does it tell you never to give up and never to lose hope? Here is one such story. You might say that there are two elements to this story, and that the point is not only what set the Rebbe apart, but also how a Jew must never lose hope.

(Free Translation)

Gershon Jacobson was the editor of the Yiddish-language "Algemeiner Journal" from its inception until his passing in 2005. There was a columnist in that newspaper by the name of Natan Yellin-Mor.(Friedman) Mr. Yellin-Mor was an extremely talented writer who write in both Yiddish and Hebrew, in the Algemeiner he wrote Yiddish, of course. He was a Yelid Grodno who was a member of Lechi during the Pre-State days, but switched ideological sides after the War of Independence, and even more so after the Six-Day War, when he became a sort of champion of Arab Rights. This was way before it became popular to look at Israel as occupiers. He would espouse his anti-Religious views in the Algemeiner every week, thanks to Gershon, who was a very liberal man when it came to publishing ideas and opinions. Reading his articles left you boiling mad, guaranteed. (I guess doing things for ratings is not a new concept, after all...)

in 5737 Natan Yellin-Mor came to see Gershon on the second day of Rosh Hashonoh. (Please don't ask me if he drove or walked, or if he wore a yarmulke.) Gershon took the opportunity to explain to his guest about was what about to happen later that day at 770, when the Rebbe would wash before Shkiah, farbreng, speak divrei torah, bentsh, daven Maariv, make Havdoloh and distribute Kos Shel Brocheh. Gershon told him to accompany him to KSB and take the opportunity to meet the Rebbe. Natan thought that idea was preposterous; "Gershon, he said, the Rebbe knows what my opinions are, and his opinions are the complete opposite of mine, he'll throw me out of his shul if I come and see him!" "Nonsense, said Gershon, the Rebbe is a Gentleman and would never do that to you. Of course he has very specific opinions, but he speaks gently and will be very happy to meet you. You'll be happy you met him." The two arrive at KS"B; GJ gets wine and then introduces NY-M, telling the Rebbe "dos iz Natan Yellin-Mor."

Yellin-Mor though that this was it, the Rebbe would throw him out shul, but to his surprise the Rebbe raised both his hands and exclaimed (I'm paraphrasing here) "Mr. Natan Yellin-Mor, far mir iz a greyser koved az ihr zent gekummen af ah bazuch tzu mir in shul. Ihr zent a gevaldig'e shrayber, ven ich bakum di tzeitung mitvoch ovent iz di ershte zach lein ich ayer artikel. Ich bet mechilleh fun der redakter, noch far zayn artikel. Ich bentsh aych az ihr zolt oysnutzen ayere talenten tzu lange gezunte yohren." NYM almost fainted right then and there. He stood there, unable to get a word out, until he stammered, "Ihr leint meine artiklen!?" Ich farshtey nit, ihr zent maskim mit vos ich shrayb?! The Rebbe smiled and said, "If I would read only what I agree with I'd have very little to read... I read lots of things, including your articles." NYM was confused; "If you don't agree with what I write why do you bless me to continue writing,?!" he asked. "One day you'll yet write the truth," the Rebbe said, "for now continue writing. Every person gets talent from G-d that he needs to utilize to its fullest, and I'd like to see you utilize that talent in the future even more than you had done until now."

to be continued...

לכבודו של מרן החזו"א זצוק"ל

Rav Chaim Kanievski says: 11 Sifrei Torah go up in flames in Vizhnitzer Shul in Bnei Beraq because they stopped using a generator on Shabbos in Vizhnitz. 60 years ago the Imrei Chaim had agreed to the request of the CI to use a generator and now they had reneged on that agreement. They use the municipality's electricity. Now the koved of the CI is demanding retribution, and got it. "The CI has a din Sefer Toreh," said Reb Chaim, when they disrespected a Sefer Torah this is what happened. Many of Reb Chaim's mentshen deny this vehemently, they say RCK never said such a thing. The Vizhnitzers say that the generator broke way back when the IC was still alive, pre-1972, and that Vizhnitz changed to electricity with his consent. Reb Chaim was noticeably absent from the massive levaya that took place last week.

Last week Rav Wosner said it was because they were not nizhar in Koved Beis Haknesses. This was also the reason why the Holocaust didn't do as much damage amongst the Sefardic Jews, Rav Wosner continued, since they did have Koved Bais HaKnesses. Vizhnitzers are very confused now, not knowing whether they need to correct both problems or not.

Jeshurun

Reb Zalman Havlin, z"l

You guys wanna know why I don't comment on the recent Jeshurun hit piece? Very simple. I haven't seen it. I've heard lots of people talk about it, but I haven't seen it. And none of you knackers had the common decency to scan it and send it to me. You want me to lay out 20+ dollars just so that I can work even harder for you? Fuggedaboudit! It's also very hard to trust people like Prof. Havlin [author of the article] who very clearly has an agenda, i.e. fighting his grandfather's battle re: Yeshiva Toras Emes and Lubavitch. He won't rest until he makes Lubavitch look REALLY bad. Professors do that from time to time to time, they write books about people they dislike and claim to have no bias one way or the other... There's another recently-published book - also about Lubavitch - that makes the same claim! I heard they even got some computer program to match the writing styles of the Besh"t's letters there and elsewhere. Now that's something. All in the name of truth, of course.

There! I've opened another Pandora's Box for y'all.

All alone on Rutledge Street

Imagine yourself a young bachur in Williamsburg. Your heart is searching. Your soul aches for something other than Der Rebbe's eynikel's mitzvah tantz at 4am. You roam the neighborhoods looking for the truth. You crack every sefer that you can get your hands on, looking for the one that speaks to you. It takes a while, but you find it!!! Now it's several years later, 1am one late summer night. Your friends are walking down Lee Avenue with their shtreimel boxes in hand, returning from the latest wedding they really didn't want to attend. But they had to, it's their shvigger's second cousin's daughter and you had to waste another night this week. The second one. They missed half a day's work/kolel since they had to be there at the pre-Kabbolas Ponim pictures. They also HAD to wear the shtreimel; after all, which second cousin once removed doesn't?! You feel for them and for their lack in finding a derech. You find your way some years ago. Breslov. Oy, how Reb Nachman spoke to you and knew what was your heart and mind! And OY! how they - your family and friends - laughed at you [or were horrified] when they found out! But you persevered. In a way it was easier because on the outside you stayed the same, so there was no obvious change. Breslov is good in that way; you can stay the same and keep to your old dress, which takes some of the edge off. People can laugh at you and call you names, but that's about it.

So for years you had a little shul to call your own in Willy. It wasn't much but it suited you just fine. There you could get away from all the name-calling and be with friends and like-minded people. There you could learn what you want with whom you want and when you want. In Williamsburg it's especially easy. Those that daven there are likely of the same background and mindset as you are. No need to put up with strange Na-Nach types like you would in Israel. You meet them on your trip to Uman, but then you don't have to see them all year. It makes it easier. The one problem you had was the lack of space for "gein in feld." a.k.a. Hisbodedus. One of the main tenets of Breslovism. It's tough to do when you live in Willy. Where do you go, to the BQE? Fear not, Achi, now there's a place for you. The new shtiebel on Rutledge Street has two Hisbodedus rooms on the roof. See picture above. It's the red ones, I believe. You head up to the roof, close the door and you talk to G-d, just not as loud as you would do in di feld. People might get afraid and upset and call the Shomrim... Good old-fashioned American know-how with some Hungarian thrown in more good measure. Kudos to the guy that came up with that idea.

You're on the roof. Talking to G-d. Down on the street they're talking to themselves...Muttering, that is.

Hot off the presses

!גאר וויכטיגע נייעס

The Rebbe and Giyus Banos

The question never fails to come up, even among the friends of Lubavitch, and the kanoyim love to use that topic as fodder for attacking Lubavitch. "Where was the Rebbe and Lubavitch when we were battling decrees such as National Service for women?!" Somehow they don't see that building Yiddishkeit and caring about issues such as Giyus Banos go hand in hand. They'll agree that the Rebbe dedicated his life to building Yiddishkeit, but they'll question his commitment to issues like GB. IOW, the shayleh is really the other way around: how can one who claims to care about issues such as GB not worry about the disappearing Jew and how to bring him back to his father in heaven?! The good people at Kovetz Or Yisroel took it upon themselves to rectify the situation and to try and change the opinion of some of those people. I'd like to get this out there first, even before I've written alot about it, because every day that goes by is a shod af di tzeit.


I don't always have the 7-8 dollars in my pocket to buy it when I see it, but the material in there is always second to none, month after month. And this has been going on for some years now.


Reb Duvid Yungreis had a special connection with the Rebbe, as if evidenced from the Rebbe's Igros. Kedai to take a look at the letter and see for yourself. The Kanoyim love RDY, but they'll hem and haw when they'll hear about his shaychus. Or they'll find an excuse that it was "before ShaZar."


(UPDATE 10/6/10 4:23pm) I know you guys aren't paying attention when I see that I had forgotten to post this page for TWO DAYS and nobody noticed!!!!


I see the excuses being written by the Lubavitch bashers even as I write...


Who didn't sign the letter? Who else was in the BaDatz at that time? The Satmar Rov was GaAvD at the time and he didn't sign, but he wouldn't since he was in New York. I guess RMA Freund wouldn't either. Who else was in there, Rav Dushinsky II?


A recent article in HaMevaser mentions RDY's connection to the Rebbe.

Not all Sefardim are Shas'nikim

הרב יהודה מועלם, ראש ישיבת פורת יוסף

We're used to Judaism's groups having one face. Let me explain: In Di Litteh it's Reb Chaim and Rav Elyashiv. OK, make that two faces. In Chassidus it's Satmar, Belz, Vizhnitz etc. In Edut HaMizrach it's Rav Ovadiah, and maybe Rav Mordechai Eliyahu too. Somehow Rav Ovadia and Shas managed to make themselves THE face of Sefardi Religious Jewry. They give him credit for being machzir attara leYoshnah. In a recent talk ROvY spoke about the fact that the Sefardim always learned in Ashkenazishe Yeshivos and that Porat Yosef was the only (serious, maybe) Yeshivah for Sefardic Bnei Torah. He made mention of this during the whole Immanuel saga last summer, and he thanked them for it. But now, he said, Shas has many Yeshivos and all Sefardim should learn there. There's a not-so-well-known movement of "Bnei Torah-Sefardim" in Eretz Yisroel that identifies more with the Yeshivishe Oylem than with Shas. Some are major adversaries of Rav Ovadiah and never will forgive him for many reasons. Some are of the Kanoyim camp and dislike the fact that he turned Sefardi Jewry into a Political Party. Some don't like the fact that he made Sefardi Jewry into this large bloc that is forced to follow his Pesokim, which he says are based on the Pesokim of Maran HaBeit Yosef, and therefore all Sefardim are required to follow his rulings. That in turn made all other Rabbonim, including all Poskim from previous generations basically irrelevant, which made their followers rather unhappy. Rav Meullam and the Porat Yosef faction are now unknown to many because all they know is Rav Ovadia and Shas.

Me not being of Sefardic extraction makes my opinion here basically irrelevant, but I would venture to say that there's a very strong difference in approach here between the two camps. You may not think that their intentions were pure and wholesome, but that fact is that Rav Ovadia's approach of building Yeshivos and Chadorim pulled the Sefardim up by the bootstraps and made them a proud segment of society, despite what the Ashkenazim may want and think. The Bnei Torah Sefardim movement is understandably not pleased with that development just like in Ashkenazic society the Talmidei Chachomim and Rabbonim would not be were they in a similar situation. You can compare it to the old pre-Chassidus society in Eastern Europe, where only the elite were expected and even allowed to learn. All others were expected to be Tehillim and Eyn Yankev Yidden. In the Sefardic lands you could count the Talmidei Chachomim in each city on one hand, and that "tradition" continued in Eretz Yisroel as well. Chas VeSholom, I'm not accusing Geonim like Rav Muellam and Rav BZ Aba-Shaul and Rav Yehuda Tzadkah of not caring about their people, they were just continuing the traditions of their communities for centuries.



In a recent interview with Rav Yitzchak Yosef, son of, and author of VaYelaket Yosef, he spoke about his father and about the fact that he was the one that לחם לכבוד מרן שהוא המד"א בארץ ישראל. He mentioned how he made the Hamon Am change their minhogim despite that fact that this was what they did in Iraq, etc, AND DESPITE THAT FACT THAT THIS WAS THE RULING OF THE BEN ISH CHAI, ZT"L. The example he used was the issue of women making a Brochoh on Netilas Lulav, which according to the Mechaber is a Bracha LeVatalah. I was a bit taken aback by that. As if the BIC was not careful to pasken like the Beit Yosef, and only ROY was the one for whom the koved of the BY was important... This may be a Iraq vs. Morocco issue, or a Iraq vs. Egypt issue, depending on where the parties originate from. Which I guess is what irks some people too - the fact that the Shas people lumped all Sefardim/Bnei Edut HaMizrach into all big bloc that all are under the reign of Rav Ovadia, Sefardi Jewry's pride and joy and its biggest product in 500 years... That would be similar to comparing Litvaks to Yekkes and to Oberlanders, it just won't work. Rav Meullam passed away this Shabbos at the age of 90. He was a Mechutan with Rav BZ Aba Shaul - the latter's son being his son-in-law, and he was one of the last who learned in Porat Yosef in the Old City.

Ah Gezunten Vinter.

Lubavitchers want Giluyim too!

Allow me to defend the Meshichiten here, if only for a moment, and if only a small part of what they do. Every Motzoei YomTov, and especially MR"H and MS"T we see pictures of thousands in 770 at a farbrengen towards the end of Yom Tov. We then see some of them lining up to get "kos shel brochoh from the Rebbe." [It's sad to watch, no matter what your opinion of Lubavitch is. Especially when it's the young kids that you see there with a cup in hand staring at the empty chair and the becher. It's tough being a Lubavitcher kid these days, no matter what the older ones may tell you - or tell them, and that's even if you don't know what Lubavitch once looked like during Tishrei, and that's even if you don't see what happens elsehwere. Even a kid realizes that something is amiss here, that despite what they tell him this is not what it should be like. But what other choice is there for him?]

Lubavitch had for many years become a place where you spoke about what the Rebbe did, rather than what the Rebbe said. When the Rebbe came in, when he left, how many times he encouraged the singing, how many maamorim and how many sichos and how long the farbrengen took and how late the Rebbe came back from the Ohel and davened mincha. That's not to say that m'hut zich nisht gekucht in dem Rebbin's torah; I'm just saying that for the hamon the fun part was the giluyim, DeHayne, if the Rebbe got up and danced and the crowd went wild, then that was a major point of discussion the next day and whenever that farbrengen was mentioned. Speak to a semi-educated Lubavitcher and ask him about Purims 5718 and 5726. There are countless other examples. In other words, when a Lubavitcher tells you that s'iz em gut azay he's not being 100% truthful. And even a Meshichist, the most radical and extreme one, who'll tell you that it's "Chai VeKayom b'Guf Gashmi Mamosh", even he - if he saw - would tell you that this isn't it - Thank G-d for that...

Having said that Lubavitchers miss that. They'll tell you they don't need it because לא עזב את צאן מרעיתו and a myriad of other reasons, because מה זרעו בחיים אף הוא בחיים, because the Rebbe said Shvi'i means there will be no shmini. That's all good and well, but what about the "giluyim?" what will take its place 16 years down the line? How will our children know what it means to push during a farbrengen and to stand on the bleachers or on a human pyramid 20 feet high? So that is recreated several times a year in 770, maybe not intentionally so, but that's the result. Bachurim and Yungeleit and children can relive PART of what would happen during farbrengens - the "lots of people" part. Meshichisten take it one step further. They take a Lulav and Esrog and they "give it to the Rebbe." They then make lines to bentch on the "Rebbe's Lulav and Esrog. " After Havdoloh on Motzei YomTov they wait for Kos Shel Brochoh. You think they believe that the Rebbe is here giving out KSB? or that the Lulav and Esrog that somebody "prepared for him" is worth an hour wait in the cold rain? of course not. They just miss the old days and they're trying to recreate it. They want Giluyim.

מענדל, נחמתני

Sukkos 1941, Ghetto Lodz...

It's difficult enough doing what's right, at least in practice, but when you think you've done right, and then later you begin to question your motives, then it gets to be a bit too much. Which is what happened after YeimKipper. But that needs to happen; we need to question our motives, despite that it may lead to not bothering anymore, because we need not trust ourselves until the day we die. Yes, the day had passed, and everything went by the letter of the law. All 5 prohibitions had been strictly enforced, and every word of the machzor dutifully said. But that's not all there is to YeimKipper. YK needs to have an effect on you, just like any other day and occasion. And a lot more. The Rebbe always spoke about being Mamshich Simchas Yom Simchas Teyreh Lekol HaShonoh Kulloh. That means that days like ST need to have a lasting effect, and no, a hangover doesn't count. Which is why I was "taking inventory" and trying to see what I accomplished on YK day other than just fasting and abstaining. So I voiced my concern and unhappiness here, and not until Yedideynu Reb Mendel wrote what he wrote was I consoled.

הירשעלע
ווער זאגט אז דו האסט געדארפט עפעס פילן? אדרבה ווייל ס'ארט דיר אז דו פילסט ניט איז א סימן אז עס איז דארטן געווען עפעס א שטיקל אמת. ווען דו פילסט טאקע עפעס איז ווער ווייס וויפל איז אמת און וויפל א דמיון.
והעיקר ווערן קאלמוטנע איבער אזעלכע זאכן איז גלאט מתנגדישע שטיק און פאסט ניט פאר זמן שמחתינו.
טאמער דו ווילסט דוקא קלאגן וועגן זיין א חזן וכו' קען איך מאכן בעסער פאר דיר. ס'איז שוין יארן וואס איך האב יום כיפור ניט געדאוונט מיט א מנין, ווייל בשעת'ן דאוונען דארף איך אנפירן מיטן קהל מסביר זיין וכו'. פרעג איך דיר, קאן איך עפעס פילן? ווען שחרית דאוון איך פאר'ן מנין, און די עבודה זאג איך בשעת די הפסקה ווען איך בין אויסגעמוטשעט און קאם וואס איך זאג די ווערטער. נאר איך ווייס איין זאך, דא דארף איך זיין און דאס איז וואס דער אויבערשטער וויל פון מיר. איז לאמיר זאגן לחיים און זאגן א פרייליכן ניגון.
מענדל

Mendel's words come from the heart, they're not just lip service, and they're not just repeating what he read somewhere. He experiences this not just on YK. And in his case it's because he's serving others. He knows that the reason he doesn't get to "feel" YK is because he's doing G-d's work and teaching the less affiliated. If he were to worry only about himself who would worry about those who know not what to do? Which is why we need not harp on the past. Yes, next year's pre-YK needs to be better. I need to learn more and do more, and maybe then I'll experience what I assume others do, despite not knowing for sure. But right now I cannot allow a day that didn't work out exactly as I would've liked it to work out to disrupt the next step in serving Hashem.

פעטער וועלוול זינגט לכבוד סוכות

Another Version

א סוכה'לע א קליינע,
פון ברעטעלעך געמיינע,
האב איך מיר א סוכה'לע געמאכט.
באדעקט דעם דאך,
מיט א ביסעלע סכך,
זיץ איך מיר דארט סוכות ביינאכט.
באדעקט דעם דאך,
מיט א ביסעלע סכך,
זיץ איך מיר דארט סוכות ביינאכט.
- - -
דער ווינט א קאלטן,
וואס בלאזט דורך די שפאלטן,
עס לעשן זיך די ליכטעלעך פיל.
עס איז מיר א חידוש,
ווען איך מאך מיר דארט קידוש,
און די לעכטעלעך זיי ברענען גאנץ שטיל.
עס איז מיר א חידוש,
ווען איך מאך מיר דארט קידוש,
און די לעכטעלעך זיי ברענען גאנץ שטיל.


ביים ערשטן געריכט,
מיט א בלאסן געזיכט,
טראגט מיר מיין טאכטעריל אריין.
זי שטעלט עס אוועק,
און זאגט מיט גרויס שרעק,
טאטע'ניו די סוכה פאלט באלד איין.
זי שטעלט עס אוועק,
און זאגט מיט גרויס שרעק,
טאטע'ניו די סוכה פאלט באלד איין.
- - -
זיי נישט קיין נער,
האב נישט קיין צער,
זאל דיר די סוכה נישט טוהן באנק.
עס איז שוין גאר,
באלד צוויי טויזנט יאר,
און די סוכה'לע זי שטייט נאך גאנץ לאנג.
עס איז שוין גאר,
באלד צוויי טויזנט יאר,
און די סוכה'לע זי שטייט נאך גאנץ לאנג.

Your New Rov (if you're in CHeights...)

Crown Heights elected Rav Yossel Braun of Sydney as its third Rov on the first day of Selichos 5770. I waited until after Yom Kippur to post this for obvious reasons. No! not because of what I'll write, but because of what is inevitable when it comes to this blog: lots and lots of mud. And I didn't want it on my plate this High Holiday Season...


5750...

This is basically how I remember Shaye Braun, pronounced Brown, as in "Bro" and "own." בראון. He was Yossel then, or was it Shaye then and it became Yossel later? I forget. His zeide was the בעל שערים מצויינים בהלכה. I came to Yeshiveh Ch'san Sofer soon after he left, so I never got to have the zechus of being in the Yeshiveh at the same time... But I knew that he was out there. His spirit still roamed the halls on 50th Street. People talked about the fact that he left Tchebin after being there for a little while and went to Tomchei Tmimim. It was a big deal. He was a top bocher and the fact that he defected meant something, no matter what you thought of Lubavitch. Yeshiva Ch'san Sofer had several more defectors at that time, several were very closely related to the Mattersdorfer Rov, and I doubt they were happy to see that happen. And then I began to see him in 770 when he came back from the Holy Land. If you come from where I come from, and at my age, seeing faces like that was always very comforting, IYKWIM. There was also this one time where he got up on a chair while waiting on line with tons of other bachurim at a Youth Corps sign up in Boro Park, and chazzered ah sicha to all assembled, but that's for another time...

Ch'san Sofer was going through a major transition at that time, and not in a good way. They were losing bachurim daily, and one year lost a whole class. A whole class from Mesivta packed up and left, and there was no class for that age the next year. They had lost whatever appeal they had. Most kids from that background went to the more popular newer yeshivos, whether Litvish or more mainstream Chassidish, and a Parve/Chassidish/Oberlandisher Yeshiva like YCS was left high and dry. You can handle people with no family connection abandoning ship, but once your nephew's kids do it, then it begins to hurt. Which is what happened at YCS. It recovered after a few years, loit vee ich farshtey, but I'm not sure if the character is the same as it was once was, and if the Beis Medrash levels also recovered or only the Mesivta. As far as Reb Yossel B is concerned; he had left YCS for Tchebin, so the fact that he went over to Lubavitch could technically be looked at as not really affecting YCS, but I would think that they expected him to come back for Kolel, something that obviously didn't happen. Expecting him to stay there forever was probably not reasonable, since most bachurim see it as necessary as going to EY to one of the good yeshivos there.


5770...

I'm not here to discuss his politics, whether or not he's a Meshichist or not, and whether or not to elect him without really knowing him was a good idea. After all, most people in CH had never heard of him, save for what they were told by the people that picked him and think that they can control him. I'm also not here to discuss why the dayan HaRav Rosenberg from mechon LeHoro'oh saw fit to call for elections so quickly. They had "managed" for years without a third Rov, so why not allow for a few more weeks until people need to decide on a lifetime position? And we can all discuss the fact that they took a minus 40 Rov in CH, which is ironic to say the least. This after they had Rav Marlow, originally from Newark, Rav Osdoba, from the Bronx, from a Gerrer family, Rav Heller, from Lugano, a Brisker Galicianer. They finally got Reb Yankel Shvei, a Gezha Talmid Chochom, to fill a seat, back in 5763, to the delight of the older Gezha people. I personally think (hope, and pray) that Reb Yossel will be his own man and not allow himself to be controlled by the trouble makers in CH. They've never dealt with a guy like him, so they don't know what to expect. I see good things happening in CH, despite not really caring, I'm sorry to say. I think most people who don't live there have totally disconnected themselves from all the Politics, and from the community in general. They visit and shop, but they're turned off, for several different reasons, שאין כאן המקום להאריך בהם.

my "blah" YeimKipper

Painting By Zalman Kleinman, O"H

Maybe it's Chabad. They don't like when you get too in touch with your feelings. Maybe it's me; the fact that I am who I am. Maybe it's the fact that I was at the amud 80% of the day. After all; if the Ba'alTfilleh needs to inspire the Oylem who inspires the Ba'alTfilleh??? But the fact remains that YeimKipper was "eh." At least as far as what I felt, what I experienced. I realize a lot was happening that I may not have felt or realized, but looking back, when people ask me how it was, all I think about was how I did at the amud and how people liked it. I don't think how it changed me, how things will be different from now on, etc. Why is that? Why didn't I experience what the people in the painting experienced? I assume you'll say that I didn't prepare myself enough. I'll give you that. But what can be expected of a working man these days? I should've done more, no doubt about it, but was that all that was missing? Do all others who say they feel really do what it takes? I woke up very early on EYK morning, shlogged Kapores on a real rooster, Mikvah, nice seudah. Malkes, Mikveh, pretty decent Shemone Esrei at mincha. Drove to Brooklyn, had the seudah HaMafsekes and went to Mikveh again. By the time I was done it was time for Kol Nidrei. Where did I go wrong? Whatever.

נישט קיין עוה"ז און נישט קיין עוה"ב

Happening Near You

AP photo

A young man in Yaffo yesterday, demonstrating against the ongoing building activity that unearthed kevorim. He seems especially pained by what's going on there, judging from the clenched fist, closed eyes and apparent shouting. These demonstrations have been going on for months now, with activity picking up during bein HaZmanim, naturally. We're not gonna re-hash the issue here, and whether or not anything is being accomplished by confronting the cops and blocking traffic.


photo by Baruch Ezagui

In Airmont, yesterday, Lipa Schmeltzer making a Hanooches Eyven Hapin'eh for the expansion of his shul. Yes, Reb Lipa has a shul, and not a small one neither. Some other shuls in the area, South Monsey, would like to have an oylem like he has. And now he's expanding too. You might turn your nose at his crowd and call them "Chassidishe bums" but you know better than to do that. You know that young men from chassidishe backgrounds are very much disenfranchised with the establishment, yet they cannot turn their backs on their culture. They need the vareimkeit and the trappings; without it they feel "goyish." Lipa is one of those who gives it to them. You might say he gives and gets at the same time... There's also a Chabad element to that shul each and every shalisheedes...


photo by Baruch Ezagui

And yes, that is a bottle of Smirnoff he's holding there. I have to assume that it's filled with a genuine adult beverage. I'm sure he has his reasons for pouring mashkeh in there, and that this symbolic gesture will bear fruit. We applaud that gesture, much as we applaud what he's doing in that part of town. Just wait and see; he'll be the biggest Rebbe out there one day.

FULL GALLERY HERE

Mazel, Tshuveh, Zindigen

click to enlarge

This message - the one that RTH brings here - is as much about Mazel as it is about Tshuveh and Zindigen. Reb Tzudek is quite popular, even amongst the B'nei Teyreh. They see nothing wrong with even the most sensational statements. Remind me; who was it that made him acceptable amongst the BT (bnei teyreh): was it RYH? Or maybe they just don't know what he says, is that what it is? They know only selected shtiklach that are brought down in Pachad Yitzchok or Or Gedalyohu? Lines these are what is known as "classic Izhbitzeh;" so they tell me. Basically it's predetermined for us to sin, G-d knows it'll happen and he said so. So we have no choice but to do what he says we will... At least "us" in the general sense of the word, as a whole, the Nation of Israel, that is. We cannot use it as an excuse, you see. It's just that this is what will happen. Am Yisroel will turn their backs on Hashem and they'll they'll do Tshuveh, that's what the seder vet zein. So what's mazel got to do with it, you ask? It's simple. Reb Tzudek, Izhbitzeh and some others from that school of thought had mazel that G-d's lawyers never got on their cases. Had they done so most Jews never would've had the taanug of learning their seforim, because they'd be blacklisted, just like Rav Kook and others, who were banished for statements alot less controversial than this. This too is mazel-based, and this too is what G-d wants.

Maybe it's got something to with the fact that he never got in their way, the lawyers, that is. That's what it is most of the time; if you don't bother them or get in their way they could care less what you write in your seforim. The fact that they were Poylishe Tzaddikim - meaning literally, from Poland, may have helped thei cause. The Polish were not and are not zealots, whereas the Hungarians and some Lithuanians are. If they don't like you or you hurt their cause they'll destroy you, and most of the time it's one of their own landsleit or even chaver on the same bench in Volozhin. That too is mazel; where you're born and who your contemporaries are. Some people are at the wrong place in the wrong time, or even the right place at the wrong time. And some people are just ahead of their times. So it's written and so it is.

?וואו נעמט מען אביסאלע מזל

לע"נ ר' דוד צבי ב"ר אשר הילמן ז"ל

Rabbi Hillman was an eynikel of Radatz Chein, Zt"l, and carried his name. RaDaTZ was one the greats. RaDaTZ came to Eretz Yisroel in 1924/25 and passed away soon after. Reb Dovid Hirsh's name is mentioned with reverence until today. Der Eynikel took on the Chabad Rebbeyim by claiming that the Genizeh was forged. Needless to say the Rebbe was not pleased by that kind of talk coming davka from RaDaTZ's descendant and the one who carried his name. He was a Ponovizher bachur and one of Maran's big guns, maybe because they had a common, um, cause. There's no doubt that he was a tremendous gaon, and his admirers will tell you that he knew "all kisvei Chabad ba'al peh," but please don't tell me that he knew better than everybody else. That generations of mesorah mean nothing just because he had a good head. The naysayers love guys like him. Apparently he also had a minhag of making a huge pot of cholent and serving hungry Yeshivah bachurim all Shabbos afternoon. That too somehow proves that Chabad had it all wrong... Hillman passed away a few days ago. We had been talking about the Genizeh and his name obviously came up. In his book, "Igros Baal HaTanya U'Bnei Doro" he tries to prove that the Genizeh is false. He's mostly known for his work on the Frenkel Rambam, which makes you wonder why a TC like him would need to disprove a detail in Chabad history, no matter what the price. In any case, see if you can figure out why we brought davkeh this page from haTomim. It's aseres yemei tshuveh, why am I doing this?

I'm sure that אין עולם האמת זעהט מען אלץ אנדערש, and the zeide must've given him a cheylek...

חדב"נ

An Interview with Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid Tendler

Nobody is spared his wrath...

"!זיידי, נאר איין בלאז"

Our Annual Rosh Hashoneh Story

We slowed down a bit these last few months, but have no fear, we'll be back soon, better than ever. I could probably do that more often, link to older posts again when the time is right. Many of you haven't seen lots of what I'd written in previous years. I can honestly and sincerely say that I have little to atone for as far as the blog is concerned; there's not much that I wrote this year that I regret writing. For the other years there may be several; but considering how much I've written I'd say that we did pretty well for ourselves as far as providing entertainment without too much collateral damage. Besides, lachen fun misnagdim meg men doch... Seriously though, may der eybershter give each all every one of you, בתוך כלל ישראל, gezunt, parnosseh, nachas from di kinderlach, harchovas haDaas to learn and daven and anything else that a pure Jewish heart may desire.

א גוט געבענטשט יאר

כתיבה וחתימה טובה לשנה טובה ומתוקה

what alotta "shmiras eynayim" talk קען אויפטאן...

See the story on HaAretz.com

I'm not here to poke fun at Breslovers. Chas Vechoolilleh. I was just "inspired" by the most recent conversation in the piece about Rebbe Ella Lopian. Somehow that took a weird turn and ended up in a weird place. Seeing this soon after MADE me put it up

ר' אל'ע איז מיט ג-ט

Monday, chof Elul, was forty years since the passing of Reb Ella Lopian. That's how he was known. Ella, not Elya. Reb Ella was special. It's tough to explain, but I'll try.

There are those that make names for themselves by attacking others or by being leaders of large groups. As a kid I collected Rebbe pictures, and the picture you see above was one of the pictures I had. I think my nephew took my collection, IIRC. We didn't know much about him in Spinka back then, but we liked the picture, it was special. As it is today, no matter how old you are. Reb Ella feeding a cat in Kfar Chassidim is special, considering he was an old man by then, well into his 80s for sure, and he was the mashgiach, not the maintenance man. Most people would send a bachur to go do it, if they remembered at all or cared enough, but not REL. That message resonates especially well with kids, being that kids are used to being shik yinglach for adults, yet here the adult, the well-respected Tzaddik, is doing it himself! That speaks to kids, and it leaves an indellible impression on those "young skulls full of mush."

I also had another experience with Reb Ella. We alluded to it here, but sans details. As a bachur in Chasan Sofer we learned Lev Eliyohu (as well as Michtov MiEliyohu) Our Rebbe was Reb Hershel Cohen, z"l, a talmid of BME in Monsey, a fine, fine Yid who suffered terribly later in life. We learned those seforim for mussar seder each morning. In the hakdomeh there's a toldos section, and one interesting - no, fascinating - detail stuck with me all these years, through Lubavitch and all: Reb Ella's parents left for America when he was all of 9 years old. He refused to go along with them, preferring to stay alone in di Litteh all by himself, saying that Amerikeh iz a trayfeneh medineh. As someone who was homesick in summer camp after one day I was blown away by that! A 9 year old kid! You can put aside all his later accomplishments - if that was the last thing he ever did, Dayenu! Now I see where someone posted a few lines of Reb Chayim Shmulevitz's hesped on Reb Ella; hafloh voFeleh! Kol Hashiurim has the hesped recording, it's just a bit difficult to understand Reb Chaim'n, with his very heavy and sloooooow voice. It's number 19 in the list.

So back to the point of why he was so special; Anybody who can make a buk like myself appreciate him, his demeanor, his personality and his accomplishments MUST be special! There are plenty of shiurim/shmuessen of Reb Ella on KH that you can listen to in your free time. That style is gone. Today we have grandstanders who build tillei tillin shel gornisht mit nisht in their speeches, which are supposed to be shmuessen. The correlation to shmuessen of old is purely coincidental. Sure, we have stories about gilui eliyohu from Reb Ella, but vos hut dos mit unz?, we can learn from his middos tovos. The same goes for Reb Chaim; that style is also gone. But what's the point of lamenting the ones that have passed? We cannot bring them back, we can only try and follow in their footsteps so that der fin oyven will give us a good year in the fullest and most mundane sense of the word.