Guest Post - Being Menachem Avel משפחת קטלר - by Rabbi Isser Z. Weisberg

I went to be menachem ovel the Kotler family today at the modest home of their mother Rebbetzin Rishel a"h at 515 5th St. in Lakewood. Incidentally the Rebbetzin would always mention to members of my wife's family, the Schochets, that they were related and the families were close (exactly how, I could not ascertain). I came together with Reb Nochum Kaplan, who now serves as the head of the "Central Office of Education" of Chabad in Crown Heights. R' Kaplan started his career as the principal of the Bezalel Hebrew Day School in Lakewood almost 40 years ago. He was reminiscing with the Kotler family about the early years of Lakewood and his close and warm relationship with Reb Shneur and the Rebbetzin z"l. (They were also related somehow). Incidentally R' Nochum was one of the first to introduce me to the world of Chabad while I was learning in Lakewood. While there in the Rebbetzin's home I snapped a picture of the famous list of the founding 13 talmidim which was hanging on her kitchen wall for over 50 years. (The number 15 quoted from the NYT in Wikipedia is incorrect). The Yeshiva opened its doors for the Pesach zman of 5703, hence, the list indicates summer 1943. This list was created for the Draft Board, and lists in which yeshiva each talmid obtained their 4D status. (which is the exemption for ministers & divinity students.

(See Here).

The first on the list is Reb Yisroel Kanarek z"l founder of Peekskill Yeshiva and the last is my father z"l, Reb Yaakov Weisberg. If I am not mistaken my father is the only one of the group born in America. From the book "The Legacy of Moran Rav Aharon Kotler (Dershowitz)" p. 74: "Rabbi Yaakov Weisberg was the very first American bochur to "hear" the Rosh Yeshiva's public call to Bnei Torah to "forge a new link" in the chain of Oskim BaTorah Lishmoh and join the fledgling Lakewood Yeshiva. He was a Talmid Chochem of note who loved and built Torah. Loved and did countless Chassodim (with devotion, Simcha, and true modesty) for countless individuals."

תמונת הלילה

Source

Brisker "Wikleaks" B O M B (Part II)

(Here's Part I from way back when)

This 32 page treasure full of lies, half-truths and distortions gives us a glimpse into the Ahavas Yisroel that many of the Gedolim had for their fellow Jews - especially Chassidishe Yidden, ובפרטי פרטיות אידן בעלי מסי"נ כמו חסידי חב"ד ורבותיהם נ"ע. And I've only read until page 3... Why do I call them lies, etc.? Because otherwise I have no choice but to lose all respect that I had for many of these Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva. What would you do in such a case? Comments asking me to decipher and type this up will be ignored, unless you send me your credit card information and allow me to charge it $35 an hour. I think that's reasonable for this type of work. If you're going to post this elsewhere or pass it around at least link back here.

  Notes Lo Noda Lemi 1 by   neveler

For our non-Scribd users here's a link to Box, which is good with most filters as well.

4 months of הכנה - Chassidim have nothing on them...

4 months of preparation for RAK's 50th Yohrtzeit. Wow! Even in Lubavitch they do 2 months, tops. כל הכבוד to the folks at BMG, they're firing on all cylinders. Every week every publication has ads and advertorials, ad salesman are seeing green! The man standing in the 3rd page next to RAK is obviously NOT his son Reb Schneur, it's Neuberger or Kramer from NIRC. Even I know that. They should have knowledgeable people identifying Rabbonim at newspapers and magazines, not נשות חיל.

בד"ה - הגאון האדיר ר' דובער (בערל) שווארצמאן ז"ל

Yeshiva World Calls him the "father of Rav Yaakov Eliezer Shlita, who is the eldest grandson of Hagoan Rav Aaron Kotler ZATZAL, and is presently the Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood East in Yerushalayim..." Berel Shvartzman was from Nevel. Yes, that Nevel. I was told that he was boki in Tanya and Likutei Torah. His mother was HaYitzchaki, a cousin to the famed Reb Zalman Moshe of Nevel. His family left the USSR during the 30s and Berel learned in Eitz Chaim, IIRC. [ I'm told now that he was a Chevroner.] Once during a visit by RAK to Israel he gave a shiur in his shver's (RebIsserZalmanMeltzer) Yeshiva Chevroner Yeshivah and Berel was not impressed by the shiur... And told him so... So RAK took him to America and married him off to his daughter. That marriage ended rather unfavorably, but his kids did manage to get pedigree that was more to their liking than a Neveler balagoleh... כאטש אז יעדער חסיד וואלט אנדערש געזאגט.  The frum webistes seem to not want to recognize that he had a wife and life after the divorce, and several children too... Reb Berel was married to a sister of Rav Uri Chountal's of Yerres, France, wife, who passed away a month ago.

I heard that he would say that he was Tinok Shenishbeh...

Thank You, Rabbi Kotler