The Cheder Years (Part II)

(The Chakal Yitzchok of Spinka, HY"D)

Summary: Hirshel's Telzer Talmid father gets married and moves to Brooklyn, New York. He learns part day and gets ready to earn a living as well. He later has a son and at first sends him to a small pre-school run out of a local shul in Boro Park. After pre-school the child needs a real Yeshivah, so he asks his old Yeshivah buddy who also has sons where he sends his kids, and if he'd suggest it for his young son. The friend suggests Spinka Cheder in Boro Park, then in it's 3rd year, and his suggestion is the final choice. Thus begins a turning point in the family direction for years and maybe generations to come.

You see my friends, had my brother - and subsequently all of the "Tzig" boys - been placed in a place like Ch'san Sofer or Vien or some other "Pareve" Cheder things most likely would've turned out very differently. Since there wasn't a very strong Chassidishe direction at home the boys could've decided not to pursue the Pseudo-Chassidic/Hungarian way that they were taught at Cheder/Mesivta, but could've chosen other ways of life. Litvish, could've been one choice, since many of our friends did end up transferring to Yeshivos like Novominsk, where despite there supposedly being a "Rebbe" is run like a Litvishe Yeshivah, and we could've followed in our Dad's footsteps and been Goleh to a Mokom Torah like Telshe. But alas, the decision to choose Spinka had and continues to have all kinds of affects, to this very day, some adverse and some positive. This is not to say that Spinka is really to blame, since most of the Melamdim were Satmarer, and the Menahel was a 20-something Bobover Rebbishe type who happened to be the Rov's BIL but was probably the most qualified man for the job anyway. Yeah, right. But they put their name to the Mossad, so I guess it was what they wanted in a school.



Spinka was what you might call a school that suffers from SatmarInferioritis, a disease suffered by mostly Chassidic groups whereas they feel inferior to Satmar and decide to take steps to bring themselves up to par with the above-mentioned Hungarian group. So they embark on campaigns to ban this and disallow that, and to encourage this and condone that, but there's no real Toychen, Chassidish or otherwise, that they "pushed" like, say, Stoliner Cheder, which did succeed in creating their Chassidus in America, mostly from Litvishe boys who learned in their Cheder, by pushing Stolin in everything they did. Then again, Spinka doesn't have what Stolin has as far as history and appeal either. And so the years went by with very little direction, we were taught was that Peyos need to be Vos Lenger, and that we should speak Yiddish, and most of us did, myself included. We had mostly Satmarer Melamdim, or those of the smaller satellite groups, and the education was very Hungarian with Chassidic overtones, meaning that most of the stories and Divrei Torah were of Chassidishe Rebbes of yesteryear. We traded Rebbe pictures instead of baseball cards, and we spoke with an Hungarian Chassidishe Havoroh. We all looked forward to growing up and dressing Chassidish, the more Chassidish the better. But speaking Yiddish and having long Peyos only takes one so far, a boy needs a sense of direction, otherwise he floats on the open sea without a compass, going where the wind pushes him. That we never really got at Talmud Torah Imrei Yosef D'Spinka. It's safe to say that the same goes for many other Chassidic Chadorim in BP, you have thousands of Shtreimlach walking around today that know very little about any Chassidus, and many never want to know.


(Reb Yankev Yosef of Spinka)

As far as I was concerned here's what I went through: (I'd get the other side of the story - from the Rebbes and Menahalim - but I'd rather not meet some of them, VeDal.) I was a good kid who did quite well in Cheder, never really made trouble and was well liked by both Rebbes and classmates. I guess there wasn't much a choice; if you didn't stay in line you were reminded with petsh, starting all the way in Kita Alef. I learned well, and did what I had to, and was probably on my way to be a generic Chassidishe kid, with Geknippte Peyos behind his ears, a turned up hat, and a Shtraymel on Shabbos. My father ZGZ was a self-made who never was a Chossid of a particular Rebbe. As a Bocher he would travel to New York to spend YomTov with an uncle in Crown Heights, and together they would walk to Williamsburg to spend davenen or Hakofos with the Satmar Rov. In the early married years he would travel to the Satmar Rov zt"l to seek his advice, and was also Zoche to have a "long" 7-minute talk with the Lubavitcher Rebbe zy"a in 770 after Mincha. Other times found him - and me - in Skverrer Shtetl seeking the advice of the Skverrer Rebbe shlit"a. None of that translated into him becoming a Chossid of a Rebbe that I could follow.

Spinka did have its own Rebbe, Reb Yaakov Yosef Weisz of Bnei Beraq/Boro Park, and for a while - in my early teens - I was a Spinker Chossid, even davening Spinka Nusach and doing Spinka Minhogim as best I could, after all, even I realized that I need some kind of path in life. The old way of "just being a frum Jew" seemingly wasn't an option for me, and I needed a group to identify with. But I never had or felt like I needed a connection with the Spinker Rebbe. After 10 years in Spinka I decided that the place was no longer for me, it was becoming more and more like a Satmarer Yeshivah, being that this was Mesivta already , and many of my friends had left for other Yeshivos.

Hemshech Yovo, be"h.

Spinka, for thee I cry

Today was D-day on at Spinka HQ on 56th Street. The judge did what many of us hoped would never happen. There will be no house arrest. Arrest, yes, just not in the house. From what I hear Texas may have its first Chassidishe Rebbe as a resident...We'll try and keep you posted. UPDATE: I hear now that the SR first traveled to Massachusetts for medical tests, and will most likely then transfer to Otisville Correctional Facility in New York to spend the remainder of his sentence there.

I was at a meeting of former talmidim last Spring in Monsey. I must say that it's "ah shod" that I couldn't have had that connection with the Spinker Rebbe back when I was a talmid there. The setting was very "loose." After a speech from the Spinker Rebbe and a short overview of the situation there was Maariv, with the customary Spinka sefiras haOmer. After services each yungerman sat down and spoke to the SR, reminiscing about his time in the cheder/yeshiva, and bringing him up to date as to what's going with him at this point in time. It had been a long time since we spoke, a very long time, for whatever reason, and we spoke for a long time. It was easy going and inspiring at the same time. The SR told me then that he too learned in Tomchei Tmimim, ("Ich bin oich a Tumim")and that among other things the Gabbai Reb Yochonon Gordon passed away in his father's shul at 440 crown Street. I must say for a Tomim he sure had to brush up on his Lubavitch knowledge, but that's neither here nor there. I walked away with a new appreciation for the SR as well as for my years there, in Spinka Cheder and Mesivta. (If I already wrote about that evening here I apologize.) Obviously it's not proper for a young bucher'l to be buddy with the Rov/Rebbe/Rosh Yeshivah, but still, I can't help but think that things could've been better there, that the atmosphere didn't have so "ohngeshtrenked" all the time, that the Yeshivah could've been a lot more successful with a better Modus Operandi. Maybe I speak only for myself, I'll grant you that, but don't we all see things our way?

I realize that today is different than 10-15 years ago, when you could get away with murder in NYS, maybe sit for a few months, and certain people were "above the law." א געוויסע רבי פון ספרינג וואלי קומט אין באטראכט. But one can't keep from wondering what many of you keep on wondering when it comes to SMR: where was Misters so-and-so when we needed them? Where are all the years of connections and elbow-rubbing when you need them? Why didn't "der-un-der" speak to _____________? and why didn't _______________ use his contacts to at least stop this embarassment? I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, because I doubt there was much to do. Times are different and not everything is for sale like it was in the pre-Internet age. But I do cry for the fact that this had to happen, and that years of hard work may come to an abrupt halt, despite 2 generations of educating thousands of Yiddishe Kinder. זאל דער אייבערשטער געבן אז דער ספינקער רבי שליט"א זאל אפקומען מיט א פאר טעג און אינגיכן ארויסגיין מן המיצר אל המרחב בתוך שאר בני ישראל.

Related Reading: (Order may be mixed up. Check the dates for the proper order.)

1) Old Spinka Posts

2) More Spinka Talk on the Blog

3) Again, Spinka

4) The (Spinka) Cheder Years

Stayed in Hungary - for now... (Part V)

The new building you see was built after I left. A building on the right - not seen here - was at first the pre-school and later the Mesivta, where shiurim and meals took place.

It seems like I didn't keep my promise, after all. At the end of part IV I promised not to make you wait very long for Part V, but I guess I got caught up in other matters and never did get back to "myself." So all this talk about Spinka reminded many of you about my memoirs, and I got lots of requests to continue them, which I'll begin doing right here.

Mesivta Shem MiShmuel of Mattersdorf sits at the corner of 19th Avenue and 50th Street. The fact that they added "Mattersdorf" to the name shows you where they were heading. Before that there was no Mattersdorf on the building, or even on the stationery, AFAIK. Yes, the Roov was the Mattersdorfer Rov, or "miLefnim Ab"D Mattersdorf," but it wasn't some Mattersdorfer franchise that he was running. But in the late 80s somebody decided that the only way they could continue having a mesivta and yeshiva gedola was to give it a franchise name. Things worked out for a while, and for several years the mesivta was running just fine, but only for a few years. For a few years many of those who learned in the Cheder and came from places like Flatbush and Staten Island, would stay on for Mesivta. But that would soon come to an end. A few years after I arrived an entire class from Mesivta got up and left after 11th grade. The Beis Medrish (Yeshiva Gedola, zal) was not to their liking and they all decided that they would not be going there. IIRC there was no 12th grade at that time, or 3 years mesivta was the normal setup then, I forget which, so after 11th grade you had to go to Beis Medrish, and many of the boys were not willing to do that - for several reasons.

Rav Shmuel Ehrenfeld, late Mattersdorfer Rov and Rosh Yeshivah, with his son Akiva, who took a more Litvishe route in life.

The Beis Medrish at that time was made up of mainly holdovers from the old days. Lots of extended family and old talmidim. There was no official kolel by then, but a lot of the old timers came and learned there. The Beis Medrish uses the actual shul that serves as the shul for Baaleibatim on Shabbos. In short, it wasn't a very pleasant situation for those Flatbush and Staten Island kids. But I'm getting way ahead of myself, talking about years later! First we need to discuss what happened while I was there, and some of the personalities I had the pleasure of getting to know. People like Rabbi Gurewitz, zg"z, who was menahel of the mesivta at that time, a Novardhikker with a car from the 60s and a man who I would've liked to have known better while I was there. I was too young to get to know him, just as I was in Spinka, and he left - IIRC - a year after I arrived there. People like Reb Hershel Cohen, z"l, a Talmid of BME and a Yid a true Yerei Shomayim, who I merited to have as a maggid shiur. Rabbi Cohen suffered terribly later on as Parkinson's ravaged his body and took his away (what we see as) before his time. He was a true Rebbi and taught as as we were his own children, caring about our progress in learning and in midos tovos and yiras shomayim.


So when I say I stayed in Hungary I need to actually be a bit more clear. Yes, Mattersdorf - in the Sheva Kehillos - does fall into the category of Hungary, but it sure was different than Spinka. As different as an "Emberrer" from Budapest was to a chossid from Selish. The goyim might speak Hungarian in both cities, but boy was life different, and boy were the Yidden different there. In Spinka there were Litvishe Maggidei Shiur, yes, but we had one only for Shiur Bekius ("Girseh" in Lubavitch lingo) The older bochurim had people like Reb Gershon Neuman and Reb Yerachmiel Ungarisher full time. We had Chassidishe Maggidei Shiur most of the day, and the Litvishe were there only to teach and to instill a derech haLimud, not to make policy, chas vesholom. (Ironically enough they both are quite un-Litvish, with Neuman a Viener and Ungarisher a Litvak only from his mother, who was a daughter of Reb Ruven Grozovsky.) In other words they didn't dictate policy or set the tone there. In Mattersdorf they reined supreme. In Mesivta we had all Litvishe Maggidei Shiur - as far as I can remember - with one Chassidishe Maggid Shiur for Shiur Bekius. Yes, the Roov came ocassionally to give a shiur or shmuess, but that didn't set the tone, and neither did Shalisheedes in camp, it was the boys and the staff, and if you closed your eyes it could've been a Mesivta in Lakewood or Flatbush.

Color these glasses "Chabad"

Here

The Spinker Rebbe of Yerushalayim, Reb Mordche Duvid Kahana, zt"l, was niftar yesterday. Most people never really knew him. He had a tiny shul on Rehov Salant in Meah Shearim, and if you blinked you could miss it walking by. (This is not the Spinka I grew up in, in case you're wondering.) RMD was a great-grandson of the late Rav Nachman Kahana, Rov of Spinka, the author of the "Orchos Chaim," who was a SIL of the Imrei Yosef, the first Spinker Rebbe, and who traced his yichus, ben achar ben, to the Baal Kuntres HaSfeikos, the brother of the "Ketzos." (The same Kahanas who fought the Teitelbaum Rabbonim in Sighet...) RMD was known - those that knew him - as a Masmid and Talmid Chochom who was on staff - like his father before him - of the Otzar HaPoskim, meaning he worked for a living... On another, more cosmetic note, he was one of the last Rebbes who would smoke in public, mostly because he could not go for more than a few minutes without a cigarette. על פי דרך הטבע you might say that the smoking killed him, since he suffered terribly the last few years, but he never could kick the habit...

The Spinka Rebbe was known as an Ish HaShalom who never - or rarely - got involved in politics. Despite being very Conservative when it came to his own life and family, he never took that to others, meaning he never yelled and screamed that all others were living in sin by doing what they do. In politics he also was not heard from, although the Eda HaCharedis saw his as of their own. However, he was heard from when it came to the danger of giving land to Arab Terrorists/Hamas, and he was part of the group "Vaad HoRabbonim L'Inyonei Pikuach Nefesh," a Rabbinical group that saw it as its mission to make known to the world the dangers of giving land to Arabs/Terrorists. Which makes perfect sense, since JEWISH lives should be beyond politics, and whether or not you're a Zionist shouldn't matter. The fact that the group is dominated by Lubavitcher Rabbonim also didn't seem to bother him, or the Erlauer Rov, shlit"a, or Rav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, SIL of the late Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt"l. They too were very active in the group, despite its "Lubavitcher connotations."

Which brings me to the issue at hand. Many of you nice people complained about the lack of coverage that Chabad sites gave and continue to give to the passing of Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim in the Charedi world. That proves to you that Chabad is "outside the realm." Whatever that means. To tell you the truth I was a bit surprised at all the coverage he got in all the Chabad websites, maybe I've been influenced by some of you here. It seemed like pandering to me, or that he pandered to us so we'll pander back... But then I realized that we all do this, not just Lubavitch. "ער איז געווען דבוק אין רביה"ק זי"ע" is a common line when it comes to obituaries in the Satmar-Yiddish press, which is "code" for "he was worthy of an obituary in our paper." In the Litvishe press they would write "מרן ראש ישיבה אמר עליו שכל כולל חזו"א עומד בזכותו," or something like that. So in Lubavitch "code" that would translate into "הי' מקושר בלו"נ לכ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע." In the Spinka Rebbe's case; I guess Lubavitchers also liked the fact that he was a Talmid of the Yeshiva Toras Emes in Yerushalayim and that he would attend 19 Kislev functions at the Lubavitcher shul on Rehov Baal HaTanya. As much as we'd like to think that we're different we're very much the same. So maybe Lubavitch is "in the realm" after all...

Shmais

COL on his passing

Another story on COL about his connection to Rabbonei Pikuach Nefesh

Shturem also has the Pikuach Nefesh angle

As well as blurb about him learning in Toras Emes Chabad in Yerushalayim

גאליציאנער שטאלץ

I remember Daled Av as the Bobover Rov HY"D's Yohrtzeit from when I was a child. In Spinka there was a very subtle Bobover influence, especially in summer camp, where many of the counselors were Bobover bachurim and yungeleit. In cheder we had a Bobover Chossid as Menahel and he would teach lots of Kemp Shalvah songs, as well as the older Bobover nigunim. Come daled Av the Bobover boocherim would pack out and head to New York or to one of the Bobover camps to prave the Yohrtzeit. If it fell out on Shabbos it was a whole Shabbos away from us kids. Anyway. Those are my childhood memories of that day. Looking back I would say that some of us were envious of the bachurim; maybe it was for all the wrong reasons, maybe it was because they got to leave camp and not us, but maybe it was because we also wanted to go to the vaunted Bobover Rebbe. Bobov was way cooler than Spinka, in the eyes of a young kid anyway. Not that we used words like "cool" back then in Spinka, but you get my point, I hope.

One can appreciate the Bobover Roov's greatness when we look back at what he accomplished back in Galicia. If my memory serves me correctly there were dozens of Bobower Jeschiwoth spread all across the Galicianer plain. Many of these boys were sons of very simple folk and had very little potential. Many, not necessarily the majority. I once heard Rabbi Dr. Hershel Fried talk about the Roov and how he would take these "Mountain Jews" who didn't own a pair of shoes and would make "mentshen" out of them. Besides for teaching them Torah he would teach them how to speak properly, teach them how to eat using cutlery - fork and KNIFE - and how to take them care of themselves. Kind of a Kovod Ho'Odom approach, but without sacrificing the Chassidishe Levush and ideals. Yes, they were jealous of him, his cousins, especially the other Sanzer Eyniklach who had very little to show as far as accomplishing in the realm of Yiddishkeit. ב א ב ו ב is Roshei Teivos "בא אחיך במרמה ויקח ברכותיך," they said. While many of the Sanzer Rov's children were still alive and well, their brother's GRANDCHILD was building Yiddishkeit and producing feine Yungeleit, talmidei chachomim, by the hundreds. He took the zeide's broches and ran with them, so to speak.


Matzeivah recently placed at the site of the mass murder outside Lemberg/Lwow. Reb Benzion Halberstam of Bobov was one of the murdered.

The Belzer Chassidim laughed at him and called him a Mechalel Shabbos because he came to shul with shiny shoes on Shabbos morning after walking home from shul on a muddy street. "It must've been that he polished them," they said. It never ocurred to them that he had a second pair... So while Belz was losing their young men and women to the ills of the day, Bobov was building. The Bobover Roov saw past the "s'nisht inzer minheg & choodesh ooser min Hatoyreh" (in this case) and confronted the ills of the times head on. It takes a big man to recognize that what he's doing is right no matter the scorn from others. We saw some of that in RBZ's son in our days, when his son took a decimated group of survivors and restored SOME of the glory here in the United States. But In America, when all groups see themselves as belonging to the same cookiecutter Yiddishkeit/Chassides it's tough to stand out and shine. Here too Bobov was the butt of many jokes among other Chassidic groups, but here they have less to point to as far as accomplishments. Less, I said, not that they have nothing. May Hashem avenge the blood of the Kedoshim, veHu Besoychom, speedily and in our days!

!אשריך ר' משה לייזר

l-r: Reb Gershon Neuman, RMLZ and the Pupa Rebbe of Boro Park 

Reb Moshe Lazer Zigelman, who was jailed for not willing to testify against a fellow Jew, was finally released on Monday, after spending 7 months in Federal prison. The prosecutor had jailed him for contempt, but finally released that keeping him locked would do no good. This after already spending some 2 years behind bars for his role in the Spinka debacle. At his home a little celebration was prepared for him, where he donned his shtreimel as a sign of joy. The next day Stoliner Cheder in Boro Park celebrated with RMLZ. They had davened for his release every day for months and he came to thank them for their tefillos.

First a few words about Reb Moshe Lazer himself. Being a Spinka talmid I can tell you that I've known him for close to 30 years. He's a real gentleman, and that we need more people like him, people who practice what they preach. As far as I know he was א זעקס און פופציגער that came to the Holy Land from Hungary as a boy and either he or his family were part of the מורדים who were chucked from וויזניץ by the late Rebbe once when his father was out of the country. Ask your local yenta what that was about. רעדט א פיינעם אונגאריש, אויב איך געדענק גוט. That being said, Reb Moshe Lazer's kanous was on his own cheshbon, not on yenem's. He adopted the Yerushalmi dress, more or less, but is quite "cosmopolitan," to borrow a term from the hippies. At first he had a job in the gashmius of the yeshiva, and then later, when the current Rebbe ascended to the his position after his father passed away on Chol haMoed Pesach 5747, RMLZ was asked to become gabbai. You might say it was a fine choice. Most - if not all - of his father's gabboyim were Israeli, since he lived in Israel for most of the year, so the Rebbe needed a local gabbai. Being a vareme chassidisher yid, as well as a talmid chochom you might say that he increased Spinka's stature in the world of Chassidus. I do not know when he got involved with any money matters, so I cannot comment on why he was first incarcerated, but I'd guess that he had little if any טובת הנאה from the crime that sent him to jail in the first place.

בכל אופן, what we want to discuss here is the "crime" that sent him to jail the second time, and what we can all learn from this. He was willing to sit in jail for as long as it takes, anything, really, all he asked is that he not be forced to testify against his fellow Jew. How many of us would stand up to that pressure? Not many. You don't like me speaking for you, then I'll speak for myself. I highly doubt that I'd be able to. The haters - who B"H have plenty to write about us these days - pile on him, and the Munkatcher Rov, for the little celebration the MR had for him the after he was released. They cannot relate to celebrating another Jew - or any man's  - simcha, because they are miserable people. All they know is misery, and that's what they wish on others, so that their miserable existence isn't as bad in comparison. They also cannot relate to helping a fellow who has fallen on hard times, be it financial or legal. So this too is a crime. And they sure as heck cannot relate to going to jail to protect another man who may very well be guilty! A noble like act like that is BEYOND them, because they're so concerned about "justice," you see? Celebrating a brother's release from prison is now a crime somehow. I guess we tuck tail and quietly just go away? And when I say haters I don't just mean the obvious ones. You who lectured to us and told us how to care for our kids (even though you have none of your own, or you left your wife and kids when you decided that OTD is the way to go...) דיר מיינט מען אויך. Yes, there is a need for change, but spare us the righteous indignation, thank you very much.

Lessons from ספינקא (modified)

I guess that somehow yesterday's developments in Los Angeles were brought about by my writing about them just the day before. Commenter "snag10" in yesterday's comments section called him a sc--b-g. Very nice of him to say that, I guess only those darn Chassidim do this, right? The truth is I was thinking how I should be affected by that story, and I feel that I am affected, even after all those years, since I still have some connection to them. After all Girseh DeYankusa is no small matter, and it was under those auspices that I got that Girseh, some of it that'll never leave me. Which brings me to another point; What's with the Koach HaPoel BeNif'ol? How was my Yiras Shomayim affected by that money, and was my education the equivalent of all those Mosdos in the Holy Land that are Korea LeBaal (like the Kanoyim like to say,) and is Yesudosoy BeHarrerei Not Kodesh? Can I somehow blame my lack thereof on this? There is a Vort to that effect from the Rebbe Reb Meilech zt"l, about children not turning out "Vi es darf tzu zein" because they were raised on Gegazelete Gelt. I realize this isn't Gegazelt, since it's only "evasive Gelt," but still, altz "Dina DeMalchusa Dina" it must have some kind of adverse affect, no? But I digress.

They've come a long way since I was there. When I left after Kitah Tes they were experiencing a downturn in the Mesivta, and the Yeshivah Gedola. I had already left the Cheder building so I don't quite remember what was happening on that end. Today's highly successful Kolel was getting underway, it had a few good years under its belt, but nothing like it is today, the largest (I think) Kolel in Boro Park, no small accomplishment. The Cheder happened to have a very good name when I was there, with an emphasis on instilling good Middos in students, albeit by using the stick sometimes, - OK, more than sometimes - but still, that was the idea, to raise good, well-behaved kids. They did succeed to some degree; we weren't the Vilde Chayes that kids from other Chadorim were known to be (that's me as a Spinka Cheder Yingel talking, not as a Lubavitcher) yet we were almost as "Chassidish." In camp we played Baseball - at least we tried, and we went on all kinds of trips, including "major trips" to places like Dorney Park and HersheyPark. Yet we still spoke Yiddish while playing ball (which is a good thing) and had a serious learning schedule in camp too, complete with Rebbes - the same as all year round(!), wearing Chalatlech, and close to 6 hours of learning. Then, some years later, things began to happen that signaled the end of the relatively normal and easy going days in Mosdos Spinka, they realized they weren't "frim/chassidish" enough.

You may ask: "Why do you go on about what they did in class and camp, why is this pertinent to our discussion about current events?" It's very simple, friends, it's all part of the same problem, and all are symptoms of the same disease. It's no coincidence that as soon as the supposed "frumkeit" set in so did the Dreidlach and funny business. The times coincide with the passing of Reb Yankev Yosef, so maybe that's the reason for the changes, I don't know, I was a clueless kid, really clueless. At first they discovered new dinim in Shulchan Aruch like prohibiting live music in Camp. For years we had the Stoliner Kol Rinah band (lead by Mr Klitnick on Alto Sax!) play in camp on Motzoei Shabbos Nachamu as well as the last night of camp at the banquet, then one year it was decided that we had a churban beis hamikdosh and were forbidden to dance to live music. There are many more examples, but I don't want to bore you all with details. The clientelle of the Yeshivah soon started to change as well. Gone was the Boro Park kid that had a Hungarian/Chassidishe background, and in came the "Tchoolent Tup," and the Tchoolent Tup likes things his way. At the same time all kinds of shvitzers started to work at the offices there, and as Gaboyim there, and that spelled trouble. These characters started to bring to Spinka methods they learned in other circles, and the result is the events before us today, terrible events that are destroying families.

The lessons we can learn are as follows: I believe that the root of the problem is the fact that they wanted (or at least went along with the idea brought forth by others) to build themselves a Branzhe that'll produce Sapinker Chassidim like in Di Heim, only in the old days it didn't happen through Yeshivos, people who lived in the region were Chassidim, and that's the way they stayed. The need to build a Chassidus and to have large crowds at Tishen and children's weddings caused them to discover "Frumkeit", and later to discover "Frumme" means of maintaining his Mosdos. It may seem like a stretch and coincidence to some of you, but I believe I'm correct here. I also don't believe that they were somehow forced into this situation because they had such a strong desire to educate Yiddishe Kinder no matter what the cost, and no matter the end results. Lots of other good Chadorim - like Skolye and Stutshin - who had built good names for themselves had to close down to the dismay of parents simply because they couldn't cover the budget. I'm sure they too could've discovered these new means but they chose not to, and to their credit. I guess what's the point of having a Cheder/Yeshivah if the end result is you're not around to enjoy it. Some of today's most successful groups and Chaburos do it without as much a Shul of their own, especially not a Talmud Torah, others fail to learn the lessons very clearly laid out here....

Changes (Part III)

Photo from here

Summary: Hirshel enters Spinka Cheder in Boro Park and stays throughout elementary school. He does well in Yeshiva and is well-liked for the most part by both teachers and peers. Kittah Ches is a bit of a challenge, with a new Melamed who was learning on the job and with his Bar Mitzvah coming up, but Hirshel hangs tough and perseveres. At that time Hirshel still has no direction in life, and is content just being Chassidically inclined; the education has done that much, and he has little interest in the non-Chassidic world other than a few of the Gedolim pictures that he has.

Spinka had slowly but surely begun to change. More and more of the Hungarian/Chassidic light students were leaving, and in their place came the hardcore Satmarer etc., with many of them coming from the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Seagate, and with them they brought their ideas of how things should be run. The change MAY have been brought about by the arrival of a certain Assistant Principal several years later, but that may be difficult to prove. So, as time went on more and more Talmidim/Parents decided that this is not the place for them, and they began to look for other places to educate their children/be educated. Many leave after 8th grade, opting for Mesivtos like Beis Meir or Novominsk , but the Tzig stays put. Ninth and Tenth grade (Kitta Tes and Yud) go somewhat well, I guess; Tzig works hard to learn and daven, and basically stays out of trouble. Every once in a while some Satmarer would shoot his mouth off and we'd get into it. That would give me the nudge; it would remind me that this place really isn't for me anymore, and that it's time for me to leave. I do have to say that we had some fine Ramim/Maggidei Shiur there; "Litvishe" that could relate to the "Chassidishe" Oylem there, and some of them were good and caring. Others were not, but that's to be understood. After Kitta Yud I finally got out. I chose Mesivta Ch'san Sofer as my next place of learning - I don't remember now on who's advice - and they were nice to accept me. I would start there in Camp, not the usual Elul or after Pesach time, since I couldn't bear to be at Spinka for another summer, it would just be too difficult, MiKamoh Taamim. VeDal.

You might ask: "Tzig, where and when did the interest in Lubavitch happen? You never speak of Lubavitcher friends or personalities that you knew like others did, so why the sudden urge to become a Lubavitcher?" The truth is I sometimes wonder when and how it happened. I try and recreate the moments and not everything is clear to me yet, I don't recall every moment in my life like some people do. (which makes me wonder sometimes; How do 90-year olds remember everything that happened to them?!) What I do remember is as follows: I always had a very warm spot in my heart for Lubavitch. When I'd see Lubavitchers in the street or would go to Crown Heights for whatever reason I'd be excited about it. When some of my classmates would poke fun at Lubavitch because their idiot father or brother taught them how I'd be there to strike them down, being Mekane Kin'as Hashem. That leads me to believe that I always had that Lubavitcher spirit in me, albeit dormant at first. I understand that may be difficult for some of you to understand; you may believe that somehow you're meant to stay within that culture for the rest of your life, and that you're obligated to follow your parents' customs to the letter, but I see it otherwise, as did most of the Talmidei HaBesh"t.

It may go something like this: As many of you know in 5749 there were elections in Israel, and not just any old elections either. These were the first elections after the big breakup between the Agudath Israel's two factions, the "Lithuanians" and the Chassidim. The reasons for the breakup were many, but we'll name two. One was the disproportionate influence wielded by Chassidic groups, mainly Ger, in the policy making of the AI and the "say" in how the money received from the Government should be distributed. Forty years of being told what to do by Ger can do that to a person and a group. The other was what Ger and their newspaper, the HaModia, which was supposed to be THE frum newspaper, was reporting and accepting. They had been told many times by the Lithuanian leadership to stop positive reporting about Chabad activities in general, and specifically about the Lag BaOmer parades organized by them. In particular one parade bothered one very famous Rosh Yeshivah, and he decided that he had seen enough; and then - in 1985 - the Yated was born. The only newspaper that followed the directives of the real Gedolim, not some "Rebbelach" that wore velvet on their collars and carried silver-tipped canes.

And so it was; The newly-independent Yated now had a carte blanche to attack all those that didn't sit well with them, and those didn't fall in line. The fact that the paper was established by the Ponovizher Rosh Yeshivah and the Steipler Gaon now made everything they said not only permissible, but it made it a Mitzvah to follow in their attacking ways. LeMoshol: Say that till now Yeruchem from Flatbush - a nice all-around good kid learning in YOB - was careful not to speak Loshon HoRah because the Chofetz Chaim said not to; now he could speak LH about certain groups because the Yated hakked against them, and the Yated is published by the Gedolim. When Yeruchem would be asked by his friends how he could say such things about a Godol BeYisroel he would reply: Mitzveh LeSaper al Apikores! This and this man was dubbed an Apikores by the Yated & Co., so I can say whatever I want about him. In other words: Lubavitch and the Rebbe can be knocked around by 12 -year-old Pi--ers. To say the least this did not sit well with young Tzig; he now knew that these people are not for him, he won't subscribe to their cockamamie theology, that's for certain. Tzig met some of these characters in Camp Mesivta Ch'san Sofer, and needless to say they turned him off. So he knew that these people were not him, but the question was "Vee Yoh?"

To be continued.....

Yeshivos Pushing Agendas

(2nd from Left Harav YY Piekarski, zt"l, R"Y Lubavitch, 4th from left The Skulener Rebbe zt"l, , 5th from left Harav Yaakov Teitelbaum, zt"l.)

When discussing the passing of Reb Eli Teitelbaum, the fact that he learned in Lubavitch was mentioned by me. Which reminds me; did the obituaries mention that fact? I wonder... Anyway; So the talk began as to why his father, a Ruzhiner Chossid, would send to Lubavitch. After all, there were other bastions of Torah like Yeshivas Moreinu Harav Chaim Berlin, and Yeshivas Harav Yaakov Yosef, and Yeshiva Torah Umada- I mean Torah Vodaas, so why send to a place where they probably just learned Tanya all day and kissed the Rebbe's picture, right? Obviously, instead of most people changing their perceptions about what a Lubavitcher Yeshiva was or still is, they instead make themselves happy by convincing themselves that it was Lubavitch that changed, and that they're right for changing their attitude towards Lubavitch. Fine, let them think so.

The point here is this: ALL Yeshivos push their agenda, most of them anyway. Whether it's the Yeshivishe Agenda, The Chassidishe Agenda, or the Zionist Agenda, it's no different anywhere. The reason you may not see it somewhere else is simple: they have nothing to offer. Then there are those that push even if they have nothing (really) to offer. In Spinka we would all travel to the airport to greet the Spinker Rebbe when he would arrive from Israel. Why? why be mevatel the learning of tinokos shel bais rabbon just to welcome him at the airport when the same can be done in the yeshiva? And why Bichlal involve little kids who nothing about the Spinka Rebbe, and are not Spinka Chassidim? Is that why their parents sent them there, to make kabbolas ponims for the Rebbe? I guess if it's an innocent little KP it's ok, after all, what's the worse that could happen, my son will become a Spinker Chossid? Nisht Geferlich.

Those of you who are either alumni of Stoliner Yeshivah in BP, or know those that are, will recognize that the Stoliner Cheder was, and is to a lesser extent, a major "factory" (for lack of a better term) of gaining new Chassidim. DeHaynu, that they managed to build up a whole thriving chassidus mostly on Tzugekummener American/Litvishe kids, most of who's parents never dreamed that their children would become farbrente chassidim of a young bochur who they were told has super powers and knows what they're thinking just by looking at them. Many, many of the Choshuvste yungeleit there are from Litvishe homes, and they were actively recruited to be Stoliners while in yeshiva there. I believe the same goes on today, and rightfully so; any person who sends his child to a yeshiva run by Stoliner Chassidim should realize that there the chance that his son will begin subscribing to their way of thinking, whether they say it explicitly or not. I guess maybe the old Rabbi teitelbaum was thinking that too; if my son becomes a Lubavitcher iz oych nisht geferlich, besser vi a l-----.

Looking beyond Greater Hungary (Part IV)

In our last discussion about the young Tzig's life we discussed how he became very disenfranchised with the new tone that he saw in Spinka. Times were changing and so were the people he was to share the Beis Medrish with. So he moved on to a more neutral yeshivah, where he thought he could settle in for years of serious learning. Also at that time; since he was growing older, the Tzig began to realize that the current approach to serving G-d, the one he was seeing amongst his peers, was not one that "spoke to him," and he began to explore other avenues. Please read Part III, linked to above, for a refresher.

This is not an attack on the personnel at Spinka, nor do I blame anybody in particular for the changes; that's just the way it happened there. Nobody owed me anything. There was no need for them to adapt to me. The clientele changed there just like in many other Yeshivos. Places like Munkacs, Vien, Ch'san Sofer, and even Yagdil Torah, where the Poylishe/Flatbush Gerrer was not as welcome anymore, underwent similar changes. The Chassidim moved in and the "Pareve" left in droves. The whole frum world shifted heavily to the right, and I felt very uncomfortable with some of the changes; it made me feel very much out of sorts. There often is that sense among children that the Yeshivos they attend are "MORE" than what they are. Among children and their parents, that is. Meaning, they feel as if the school is way too frum for them, or a bit too frum, but they attend the school so that the watered down version is still above what they would do on their own. Let me explain this in layman's terms, so that even the daftest among us can understand this:

Let's say you have a boy who goes to a Mesivta where he must wear white shirts. This bachur comes from a family where white shirts are not the norm. His father doesn't wear them during the week, he wears non-white shirts on Sundays and during the summer, and sometimes when he comes from school he'll go and change. That doesn't mean that he's not a good, frum bachur, it's just that he doesn't think that he needs to be in white shirt all the time. Now, let's say this bachur, who really does everything he needs to, was told by the Hanholoh that if they ever caught him not wearing a white shirt that they would throw him out of the Yeshivah, what do you think he would do? He may follow the rules to begin with, but ultimately he may begin to look for another Yeshivah. This was not the case with me, necessarily, but the point is the same. When the changes come to a school you attend, and you're just not comfortable with them, and you don't see yourself making all those changes, then you KNOW it's time to move on. If I'm repeating myself here, or if I made those points last time, I apologize.

So, where does a kid from Boro Park, Chasidish Geshtimt but with no true allegiance to any particular group, never wore a tie but no bekishe either, spoke Yiddish mostly, but could read and speak English with the best of them go? To another Yeshivah of a dying breed, of course! Yeshivah Ch'san Sofer in Boro Park, a jump, hop and a skip from home. There too the old Oberlandishe type was almost on his way out, but there were still enough there, and there were also guys who considered themselves full-fledged Yeshivish too. This was something I was really never exposed to; serious learners who spoke English, wore casual clothes in the summer and played sports mit a geshmak, basketball too! Here I was the Chassidishe one whereas before I was the less Chassidish one because I wore a short jacket, albeit one bought at a Chassidishe (like G&G Clothing) store. This was Mesivta; in the "Beis Medrish" most of the bachurim were far more Chassidish, since the old type of bachur had long since left YCS. That's where the decline of Chasam/Ch'san Sofer heritage was really felt. Yes, the Rov was still at the helm, but they had long since switched to Nusach Sefard, and a hard right turn had been made several years before. Not like Nitra, but hard right nevertheless.

More later, iy"H. ( I promise not to make you wait very long this time.)

What You Can Do At The DMV

Now, you too can waste precious time better used to learn Torah, spend time with family or make money and plan the personalized license plate you know you'll never get because you're too cheap, or simply don't have the cash! Just remember, many of your dream plates are already taken or are not allowed by the DMV... I chose to display here many of the topics that we discuss here on the tent, whether very recently or in general. I know, I know, I could've done hundreds of different things too, but I don't have that much time. Send us in your suggestions, pictures, that is, and we might just publish them! I actually saved some more plates, and maybe I'll add some later, who knows?


The Author of the Tolner Wikileaks as he was - and is known in Ger, even after becoming Rebbe, and especially now that he's embarrassed them for all eternity.

Der Rebbe di Baysrool, Beis Yisroel, as it's pronounced in Ger

Last of the Kopusters... And where Lubavitch got lots of Chassidim from.

Land of the Free and Home of the Brave

Yeah!

A Yeshivaman, one who toils in Torah despite all the hardships...

What we should be doing, but are too busy to...

It's not really alive, is it?

I should get a set..

Chai-Yat Kislev, anyone?


The man which the world was created for


Srool or Mendel, which one do you like? Or are you Monsey?


Don't know where that came from - maybe Wiki put that in my mind too


What we all need to do more of


A shtarke guy who learns in Kolel, for the time being, anyway


The Shchunah where it all happens


The day that it all began


{headscratcher}


The one we love


The Tumene Tziyonim - fechie.


An old time talmid of Reb Aron - or a wannabe from Lakewood.


מה זרעו בחיים אף הוא בחיים


A great book about a great Chossid


What could've been...

כל השביעין חביבין - and now we know in Ger too!

That "tekufeh" was way too short

Not to be confused with Spinka 56, or maybe it's the amount of Spinka Rebbes?

The Yeshivah on the hill, and on the rocks, as well....

The one you know you love and need more of...

"אולי כרמב"ן"

One person's fantasy...

Just Because...

A happy day - or "El Naqba," depending where you stand on the issue...

Ch'sidish can mean lots of things...

Imagine if that would happen...

No, there are no letters missing here - that's the word

His whole being is "anti"

None here.