Thursday, January 28, 2010

.......הכל תלוי במזל



You know me, I'm just the like next guy. If I'd have the money I'd be in the Beis Medrash all day, no doubt about it. Not that I'm such a learner, but I'd take that over business any day of the week. I cannot stand talking business if I don't absolutely need to. But G-d has other plans for me. He wants me to struggle to make a buck, and to fall asleep at the sefer when I do manage to open it. Strange sense of humor he has... Some people don't have that problem; G-d them all the money in the world, so they have time to learn. Others may not utilize the time properly, but many do. Some of the swankiest summer home colonies have packed shuls on Sundays and on July 4th, Akhshir Doro, BeNichuseh. They take fine bnei torah as husbands for their daughters and they have the best of all three worlds. We had a discussion a while back about one such "Litvishe" Baalebus, who was talking Torah to his eidemel in the office on a Friday morning, and how we were envious of him, being able to support a fine ben torah in Eretz Yisroel. Azoi geit es. This is what we mean when we say that we have nisht der velt un nisht yener velt, nisht alein a ben torah un nisht an eydem a Ben Teyreh, it's poshut too expensive to have one these days...

These other people, the few that managed to have the best of all three worlds - there seems to be a new way for them to feel good about themselves. Not, new, new, but relatively so. Now they can have it all. Money, their own businesses/companies, time and money to vacation, stay at the Ramada Renaissance, aaaand have all the Gedolim come to them too! The annual Yarchei Kallah is the perfect opportunity for guys who have a hard time studying and learning, and thus lack real kovod, to feel good about themselves even in the realm of Torah. They go to Eretz Yisroel, visit the mekomos HaKdoshim, visit the Gedolim and the Gedolim visit them, and they get to see their tchatchkes in Mir and Brisk and learn with them too! It's a win-win all around, no strings attached. Kulo LaShem. Why do the Roshei Yeshiva have to come to them? I'm not quite sure why, to tell you the truth. Why should a 95+ year old Rav Shteinman have to shlep to them to give a shmuess? why they can't they all be loaded onto a bus and make the rounds to all the addresses on the Gedolim tour? I'm sure that showing them how the gedolei haDor live in simplicity and maybe even poverty would go a long way towards getting them to support Torah in Eretz Yisroel, despite that not being the puropse of their visit.

Come to think of it - what is the purpose of the visit? Who came up with this idea? What does it accomplish? And how does it help the Agudas Yisroel of America? Why not at least make a Yarchei Kallah to Lakewood? I don't get it. Excuse me if I don't see the beauty in it, but all I see is gepashete kelblech velche zoyfen milch un lekken honig. Meileh if you give freie donors and students such gifts iz ein zach. But to do this to former Yeshivaleit?! feh. The worst part is using Torah, klompish, as the reason for this shindig. yuk. The Mussar giants of yesteryear would have their food come up on them if they heard about trips like these. Maybe we can have a limud zchus on the organizers, that they felt that no place in America could deliver such an opportunity, and they held their breaths and put this together, even if it meant to be matriach the elderly ziknei Roshei Yeshiva. Yes, that must be it. Ayb Azei you can forget all that I wrote above and stand up and cheer for this great event - monumental in the course of history - that got as much press coverage as the passing of a Torah luminary, if not more.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

they have one in BMG; but it is fundraiser.

Did Maran bash chabad at Yarchei Kallah?

dovy said...

A+ job on this piece Tzig

Anonymous said...

Guy Gezogt,
one more point,
if the Aguda would change the Event to Lakewood ask these People the money to help out a few Yeshivas in the great USA that are struggling to survive, 100's of Rebbes are not being paid for months,they would do real service for Klal Yisroel,
Didn"t Reb chaim Oizer have the Vaad Hayeshivohs to help yeshivahs in a desperate time, much more desperate then today,

Shmuel said...

Tzig,
You really hate Aguda and other frum Jews.What did they do to you that you froth at the mouth so terribly, when you mention them?Are you just plain jealous? Is it because you guys continue to "praveh" yearly celebrations of Nesius, throwing around numbers about how long Am Yisroel has had this nesius for, while you, who hopefully has half a brain, realizes that it's fantasies of people who are not in touch with reality?
איך פארשטיי דיר גוט! נעבאך דו מוזט פארברענגען די צייט מיט אנ"ש וואס זענען האלב געבאקען און אין דער זעלבע צייט זעסטע נארמאלע און פארמעגליגע מענטען וואס לערנען און פארברענגען מיט גדולי ישראל! מ"קען צופלאצט ווערען פון קנאה!

jewpublic club said...

First regarding Shmuel said: "Is it because you guys continue to "praveh" yearly celebrations of Nesius, throwing around numbers about how long Am Yisroel has had this nesius for," What is wrong with celebrating Nesius years?
Second I do agree to Tzig. One thing is to make recreational trip for people like students or shluchim or anybody who's dedicated to Torah learning etc.Just to reenergize and also to listen to divrei torah and chizuk. Another is just a sponsoring a trip for those who 'read it once i a while', so they can really feel good about themselves once in a while, for the rest of the year, while spending so much money on this self indulgent activity. V'hamaskil yovin.

Anonymous said...

um, tzig? I hate to break it to you, but the aguda ALSO makes a Yarchei Kallah in USA for those whom the trip/expense is too much for. say what you want, but IMHO its a nice thing to learn in israel....

Anonymous said...

These guys would go on expensive vacations anyway.

At least they are learning torah and spending their vacations amongst gedoilei torah.

Where do rich 'anash spend their vacations.

Chances are in some resort with untzniusdike women, even learning tanya by the pool.

What does chabad do for their rich anash ? Nothing but milk them for cash.....

evanstonjew said...

I just read the true story of the brilliant Russian Jewish mathematician Grisha Perelman, who recently posted on the internet what is effectively the correct solution to the Poincare Conjecture, the most difficult math problem in the last 100 years. This genius was entitled to collect a million dollar prize if he only sent his solution to a recognized math journal for publication.

He refused the money and all the many other kibudim that came with the prize. Mathematics he said was too pure, too transcendental to be contaminated by money. He could not fathom how people could offer him money, and professorships when they had no understanding of what he accomplished.

As a result he became more and more isolated from the world of mathematics and now lives in poverty alone in St. Petersburg.

Anonymous said...

listen to the tape of the kashau ruv zatzal called "parshas belz" (availible at ivlechtichu baderech $$$$$ not Leziki hurabim) where the rebbe discusses SHTUP GENTZ MENTCHEN....

SHIMEE ITCHEE NAFXHICHEM!

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love the pure ahavas yisrael of Chabad.

Why is it the more 'gervorner' and the more Lubavitch one becomes, the more he hates all other frummer yidden.

You would think Chabad for all their talk were a bunch of R' Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev type guys.

At least they are busy fighting Gerrers in Arad rather than themselves like in CH etc....

Anonymous said...

Shmuel/Anon,
Hirshel is right 100%, the Agudah is not created to be a fuzzball for some white starched cotton shirt brats, Klal Yisroel needs help in many aspects and these peiople have to harassed on a daily basis, to help Yeshivahs, Yechidim, Hachnosas Kala, it has noting to do with Chabad,

shmuel said...

Jewpublic club,
You asked what is wrong with celebrating Nesius years.Well, nothing wrong with a Chabadsker celebrating the day when the Lubavitcher Rebbe accepted upon himself to become rebbe of Chabad, what is starnge is the claim that it's sixty years of "nesius", when the reality is that the last 15 years have been after the Rebbe passed away.So it's not 60 years of nesius.

Anonymous said...

Shmuel,
So who his the Rebbe in Chabad now? do you believe in the Zohar of Yatir Mibachyoi? it is brought down with a long biur in sefer Tanya that is the moral compass of Lubachicher Chasidim, in case if you don"t know