1936 Jerusalem evacuation

אלץ זענען די ציונים שולדיג

United Nations Special Committee on Palestine hearing in Jerusalem, July 16, 1947

Orthodox Jews are seen during a United Nations Special Committee on Palestine hearing in Jerusalem, July 20, 1947. At left is Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jews in Palestine, Joseph Zvi Dushinski. Others are unidentified. (AP Photos/Jim Pringle)

Two orthodox Jews listen intently as they attend a United Nations Special Committee on Palestine hearing in Jerusalem, July 16, 1947. Seldom photographed because of their religion the Jews’ appearance is marked

An unidentified Orthodox Jew, wrinkled with age, wearing a long beard, tattered robes and cane, attends a session of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in Jerusalem, June 16, 1947, to hear Joseph Zvi Dushinski, Chief Rabbi of Agudath Israel Congregation in Palestine, speak on behalf of his group. 

חבקו"ק שבירושלים במיטבו

Children of Jerusalem - Yehuda 

National Film Board of Canada

As you can see from the link posted here, this is a series of documentaries about the children of Jerusalem in the '90s. Yehuda is from what you might call a ChaBaKOOK family with very strong Carlebachian influences. He studies ספר המדות from Reb Nachman page by page and tries to remember it by heart. His father/parents may be Shlomo's mekurev, for all I know. כה נראה לי. אני לא מכיר אותם, אבל מהיפושים ברשת נ"ל שהם חסידי קרליבך. What is clear is that the family marches to their own beat... I doubt they could be told about dress codes and what kind of shoes to wear... Yehuda goes/studies at Cheder Toras Emes Lubavitch in Yerushalayim and is a talmid in Reb Yankel Bloi's class. There the other kids made sure to טשעפע him about his very long peyos. So much so that he cut them short one day and was embarrassed to show his face at home.... But now he's quite comfortable with them and likes to find other kids with similar side locks in the story books that he reads with his younger brother. I'd love to find out what happened to young Yehuda.

ביקור האדמו"ר רמ"ש מבאיאן-ניו יארק בירושת"ו

Flashback - Jerusalem, 1919

1919: הרב קוק וויל ניט ירושלימ'ער רבנות

"דער מארגען זשורנאל, מאנטאג אקטאבער 6, 1919"

We do this to ourselves... We are our own worst enemies

"I'm was walking today afternoon in Jerusalem (in the religious neighborhood) and a guy came to me asking if I heard how they read the תורה today so I say no. So he told me its afternoon and they need 6 people who didn't hear today so they should be able to read again so I told him I have a few minutes I walk in the shul site down in the corner (I had my phone in my hand) after a minute a guy start screaming on me GO OUT FROM HERE we don't want people like you here. a other guy start throwing on me a box of cake (קיפעלך) and a bottle of coke then a chair in between the guy who called me in start fighting back... so they let me alone here is a video after the stopped fighting physical the guy who was throwing the stuff want out of the room when I started making the video. (He was like a 45 year old Israeli)
Chaim Meisels"

 See Here

This happened in נחלי אמונה שטיבל today.

L-rd, protect us from ourselves. People like that Toldot zealot  have no other way  - or know no other way - to defend their WOL. They're throwbacks to a different era. At least the older fellow is. All they know is yelling and screaming. The tide is turning, but tides takes a while to complete the turn. We know that yelling and screaming isn't the way, but that piece of news hasn't reached the back roads of Meah Shearim. And may Hashem bless that very brave young man who stood up to them.

החסיד שמלותיו האחרונות היו: "רבי, רבי" ! - אגרות חסיד

  אגרות חסיד by Hirshel Tzig

Box.com link

  טורו של בנימין ליפקין על ר' אוריאל ע"ה

There is much to read in this treasure trove of letters. Reb Uriel Zimmer was a topic of conversation on this blog way back in 2005. If you did not grow up in קנאי'שע circles the name may not mean much - or anything to you. But if you did, and if you think the fact that he was so vehemently anti-Zionist means that you know his shittos and opinions - think again. יש לומר that it was דוקא his opinions regarding the young State that made him see in the Rebbe an אח לדעה, if you will, which then allowed him to become so מקושר. These letters to the חסיד ר' טובי' בלוי give us a glimpse into the Rebbe's early years of leadership, as well as what it was for a bochur/yungerman of that family to become a chossid. We can see what RTB's doubts and apprehensions were and how they were put to rest by RUZ, who knew where the young Reb Tuvia was "coming from," having come from there himself. The letters had been printed in photostat form back in 5765, but are now published like it should be, for the very first time. If you're looking for זאפטיגע סחורה you can jump ahead to page 32 to see where the Rebbe discusses the "Malochim" in a Yechidus with Reb Uriel. Halevai the שפיץ חב"ד'ניקעס should have the hiskashrus that he had.

Just read the whole thing!

"?מי צריך את הבנין שלהם"

The Satmar Rebbe holds nothing back when meeting with the Zvehiller Rebbe, Reb Mordche, of Yerushalayim in 5723. The עגל הזהב was not ע"ז ממש, but ציונות is... You can tell that the SR is somewhat annoyed by the ZR's "בטלנות" when it comes to getting his finances in order. It'll take but a few minutes to read all the pages. Click on images to enlarge.

תמונת היום

"מנחה יום ה' לך לך בבית האכסניא בוומ"ס הנגיד משה יוסף ווערטהיימער. האדמו"ר (ר' דוד מרחמסטריווקה ירושלים) מתפלל עם הבעקיטשע של ר' יאוליש (מסאטמאר זצ"ל) ....ער מאכט זיך [....] און יעדער טאנצט אים נאך, די סאטמארע וואס גלייבן קוים אינעם באשעפער גלייבן אין אים כמעט ווי אינעם רעבע זעכיתע יאגיין אליינו אליין, ס'איז א וועלט פון משוגעים אין די נארמאלע דארפן אדער משוגע ווערן אדער זיך נעמען דאס לעבן, בבחינת אין אני והוא יכולין לדור במדור אחד"

when did this become normal in the Litvishe world?

(Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

 I speak of this farkvetshtkeit, the show with the sack cloth, the funny - or weird - faces, almost like severe stomach pain. I don't think you see such expressions of the Litvishe Gedolim of yesteryear. I know that Chassidim like to have this picture of a Litvak in their minds, but I don't believe that's real. [Well, maybe real in the sense that there were SOME people like that - the town Porush, perhaps.] They're referring to American Yeshivishe guys who somehow picked this up from somewhere, but I don't think it was from the Litvaks. And come to think of it, it's not even farkvetshtkeit, it's more of a seriousness mixed with American temimus. Picture a Yid like Reb Berel Povarski, or Reb Baruch Mordche Ezrachi, do they seem farkvetsht to you? You always see them smiling. Reb Chaim Oyzer always seemed to have a smile on his face. OK, I'll grant you the Brisker Rov, and maybe Reb Elchonon too, but they seemed to be the exception to the rule. I would think that the average Litvishe Yiddel was happy, especially if he was a learned man - then he had a real geshmak in life! Today it seems like that in that world they think that in order to be an erlicher Yid you need to walk around as if your stomach is about to explode.

I'm not gonna pass judgement on this young fellow here. Maybe he's 100% earnest about the sackcloth. Maybe the fact that SOME bachurim who did make תורתם אומנתם will have to go work makes him cry out in pain. This is where this photo was taken, by the way. At the pre-dawn demonstration in Yerushalayim last week. Maybe he REALLY feels as if a dear loved one passed on, ח"ו. But I have my doubts... Something tells me he checked himself out in the mirror to make sure he has the look down pat. Meileh the אנשי ישוב הישן, I can see where that came from, although I don't think that it necessarily stems from their Litvishe background. It may be that Hungarian-Litvish hybrid that was created in Yerushalayim that caused the outcome which we see in the typical Yerushalmi. Although the very same conditions that created the sackcloth-wearing guy who yells at passing cars on Shabbos created the letz that laughs at everything that moves.... We may not know where it comes from and how it came about, but we've grown to know, and maybe even love it. But this guy with the kneitsh... מי ברא אלה?

רח' יואל פינת רח' אבינועם ילין on Google Street View

If you've ever been to the Holy Land and seen the sights in Meah Shearim you know about the Satmar shul on the corner there and some of the characters who make their home there. One of them was caught on camera watching the Google car drive along. They're kind enough to blur faces and license plate numbers now, as well as other information that can be found on the streets. It's cute to see your house in Brooklyn on Google maps, but to take a virtual tour of the Holy City is amazing! Can you guess who it is?

 

א דאנק, באברויסקער

....דער בריסקער רב'ס מבצעים

A recent "HaMevaser" story on Reb Gedalia Segal, editor of "Der Yiddisher Shtral" in Yerushalayim and some of the stories that happened with him over the years. It seems like the Brisker Rov (Reb Velvel) was involved in all aspects of Jewish life in the Holy Land, even trying to minimize the Chassidishe influence in the literature of the day, and even revising a Chassidishe Mayse with the Holy Tchortkover that was not to his liking...

Something to take your mind off Crown Heights.

Had a rough week. I have several unfinished posts waiting. Simply didn't have the time to write, not even to respond to many comments here that needed responses. We'll be back after Shabbos, IY"H. In the meantime here's a picture of HaRav Reb Shmuel Salant, Rov of Yerushalayim for what seemed like forever.