Clarifying the "מחדש" post

I have gotten numerous comments from people who read but "don't have time to comment" that if I really want to be objective then the Alter Rebbe was an even bigger Mechadesh in many different realms of Halachah. That being the case I shouldn't "pick fights". Again I'm being misunderstood.

The point of the post was not to bring out the fact that the Chazon Ish was mechadesh new guidelines in Shiurin D'Oraisoh, or that the Satmarer Rov had new ideas for Hilchos Avodo Zoroh. Rather, it was to bring out that those who scream about the "Mechadshim" had better check their own backyard first and see what their Rabbonim were Mechadesh, then decide if you want to condemn others.

"Rav Dessler" brings a story of how REED had in his posession a becher from his elter-zeide Reb Yisroel Salanter which his wife insisted he use for Kiddush every Shabbos. Now REED was of the opinion that the CI was the Moroh D'Asroh/Posek Acharon in B'nei Brak where he lived and his shiurim should be followed. The becher had no such shiur. He waited till his Rebbetzin passed away to use a bigger becher. In other words, according to the CI RYS never made a proper Kiddush.

Strange, no?

CORRECTION ON 1/6/15:
Upon reviewing the story I see that I inadvertently misquoted the book; The becher was a present from his uncle Reb Chaim Eyzer of Vilne, who received it from RYS. ואתכם הסליחה

"Rabbi Marulies walking home in Bucharest"

That's the caption of the photo by Yale Strom in 1985. Anybody know any more about the man? He's holding a "Divrei Yoel", so he seems like the "Head Meshilech" in Bucharest or maybe the whole of Romania? and no, there's no fun intended here, just a nice photo of a פארצייטישער איד און רב

Tell me more if you know something abut the man.

Let's play " Name that מחדש "

1) He decided that all Geonim, Tzaddikim, Rishonim and Acharonim, Tanoyim and Amoroyim never made Kiddush on a proper cup, never ate a proper Kezayis Matzoh, and never wore a full-size Tallis Koton among many others. Who was he?

A) The Chazon Ish
B) The Satmar Rov
C) The Lubavitcher Rebbe





2) He decided that all those who disagree with on issues of Tznius, Zionism, Hilchos Bais HaKnesses among others was not a credible Orthodox Rabbi. He also included speaking Hebrew into idol-worship, making it a cardinal sin. Who was he?

A) The Chazon Ish
B) The Satmar Rov
C) The Lubavitcher Rebbe





3) He decided that due to a total breakdown of Religious observance in America and the world over that some time must be taken from already free time and put to good use. Yeshivah students must use their free time to try and bring those Jews back. The same goes for married men and women, who should try and make a "career" out of it. Who was he?

A) The Chazon Ish
B) The Satmar Rov
C) The Lubavitcher Rebbe





NAME THAT !מחדש

winner takes home some fantastic prizes.......

Kelmer Chinuch

"The Alter (of Kelm, HT) knew exactly what he was looking for in Talmidim: (of the Kelmer Talmud Torah, HT)

Those who will bear the yoke together ith friends without any thought of personal benefit or Kovod, and will commit themselves to conduct themselves according to my words and advice. Every Talmid had to pass the rigorous scrutiny of the Alter to be admitted. Only those posessing a refined manner, some wordly knowledge, a thirst for spiritual elevation, and, in most cases, a recommendation from their Mashgiach could hope to gain entry. " (Katz, Tenuas HaMussar)

How many of today's Talmidim would've passed that test?

די מומע צילא

Tzila Schneersohn, wife of R' Ben-Zion, who was the brother-in-law of the Frierdige Rebbe passed away Thursday night. Who she was from home I do not know, but her husband's Yichus is simple.

He was the son of HaRav Avrohom Schneersohn of Kishinev, son of HaRaHa"K R' Yisroel Noach of Niezhin, son of the Tzemach Tzedek, N"E, who wrote the Tshuves of his father. RAS attended the Rebbe's wedding in Warsaw, in 5689.

RBZS was a Talmid of YTT in Lubavitch and lived in Tel Aviv after the WWII, working as a bookkeeper. He passed away in 5736. He's pictured here a BarMitzvah celebration in Israel.

(RBZphoto courtesy of ליובאוויטש וחייליה TS photo courtesy of shturem)

Gap Closing?

No, don't panic, it's not The Gap that's closing, you'll be able to shop there as long as you wish. It's this Chasidic-Misnagdic gap that's closing, at least according to David Of Lakewood. He must be a real teddy bear.

"Alte Mirrers"

For blogger "Board of Directors", who had this to say on the Uriel Zimmer post:

"FYI: Not all of them were clean shaven, although MOST of them were.
But I can tell you that 99% of them grew beards and Peyos later on."

"THE biggest Alter Mirrer, Harav Hagoen R' Shmuel Berenbaum Shlita (Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva) has peyos.

BIG peyos."


(Photo - courtesy OORAH.org)




(Reb Shmuel Berenbaum today - CREDIT Mirrer Yeshiva News)


Can't argue that.



...............אבער אמאל




Rabbi Nachum Zev Dessler of Cleveland's "Hebrew Academy", aka Nochum Velvel, son of REED.






Summer Camp (L-R)Joshua Chinn, R. Moshe Shein, Harry Horowitz, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?,R. Simcha Weissman, Pinchas Berliner, R. Shmuel Birnbaum. Mottel Jaffe

One for the road.....



Yeshiva students and women in Mir family
(Pinchas Berliner top-left)

(Old Mirrer photos courtesy of darkwing.uoregon.edu)

and the most famous Mirrer of them all:



Schneur Zalman Rubashov, aka Zalman Shazar 3rd President of Israel, born Mir, 1885

(Photo courtesy of Shazar Center)

Would the opposite happen?

A story from "הרב מבריסק " [The life and times of HaRav IZ Soloveitchik of Brisk] edited for brevity:

בערבו של חג שלחו להודיע למרן זצ"ל כי מונח עבורו אתרוג תחת ידיו של האדמו"ר הריי"צ שניאורסון מליובאוויטש, שהתגורר בקצה מרוחק של העיר, מרחק כמה שעות הליכה מאכסנייתו של מרן זצ"ל. הדרך הייתה בחזקת סכנה, כאשר כל העת חגים מפציצים כבדים בשמיה של וורשה ומטילים טונות של פצצות, שיצרו עם הגיעם אל הארץ עיי חרבות, וזרעו הרס רב. בחור בעל לב חם לתורה ומצוותיה, מחסידי גור, נדבה אותו רוחו והוא הציע חרף הסיכון הרב, שהוא ילך אל ביתו של האדמו"ר הריי"צ על מנת להביא את האתרוג. מרן זצ"ל הרהר קימעא, ולאחר שהפך בהצעה נטה להסכים לה, בהטעימו כי אם בעת צרה כזו ליעקב ישנו יהודי המוכן למסור את נפשו עבור קיום מצווה, אין הוא רשאי למנוע בעדו מלעשות כן. השעה הייתה תשע בערב, כאשר אותו בחור אכן יצא אל הרחוב המסוכן על מנת להביא את האתרוג. אולם, רק בסביבות השעה ארבע לפנות בוקר שב לאכסנייתו של מרן זצ"ל כשבחיקו טמון האתרוג היקר. הבחור סיפר כי האיזור בו התגורר אז הרבי הריי"צ ספג אותו לילה פצצות רבות, והרבי נאלץ לברוח ממקום למקום מאימת ההפגזות. כך יצא שרק בתום חיפושים מייגעים מהכא להתם ומהתם להכא, הצליח לפגוש באדמו"ר הריי"צ שנטל עמו את האתרוג היקר לכל מקום שאליו הגיע במנוסתו ממטוסי המלחמה. עם האוצר יקר-הערך שקיבל מידיו של הרבי, שב הבחור הנמרץ עם שחר לאכסנייתו של הרב מבריסק

"In short, they say, that a Gerrer Bochur ran around Warsaw on the night before Succos in October 1939 dodging German bombs looking for the Esrog that the Frierdige Rebbe N"E was guarding with his life for the Brisker Rov. The Rebbe had to run from place to place to avoid the bombardment. To highlight to the reader how rare an Esrog was that year, a line of thousands of people waited outside where the Rebbe stayed in order to fulfill the Mitzvah on the first day of Succos!

In actuality it was Rabbi Yosef Wineberg לאויוש"ט who was sent by the FR to deliver the Esrog to the BR.

Why the Rebbe chose to give this Esrog to the BR, although there were many, many other Rabbonim and Tzaddikim in Warsaw, many more friendly to Lubavitch than the BR, who would've gladly been the recipient of this prized esrog is not something I'll venture to answer. The Rebbe had his reasons, I'm sure.

My question is: Would the BR have risked his life and the life of a Talmid to do the same for the Rebbe?

The Rebbe's קנאי

9 Kislev marks 44 years since the passing of Reb Uriel Zimmer z"l.

Some of his life's accomplishments:

Spoke 17 (!) languages



(at a UN function)

wrote for Lubavitch and "Der Yid" at the same time!


(Booklet on Mezuzah)

Translated the Tanya into Yiddish.



l-r: Unknown, Reb Uriel, Reb Pinye Althoyz, Reb Yaakov Yosef Raskin


RUZ was a devoted Chossid of the Rebbe despite being so anti-State, and maybe because of that.

Read an Article in The Israeli weekly "פנים אל פנים" after his passing.




(Photos courtesy of Shturem-Chabadnik and other sources)

חנוכה תש"י

כ"ק אדמו"ר מהריי"צ נ"ע

The Menayreh of HirshelTzig

Small, yet respectable.

Big, yet not ostentacious.

Just like it should be.

Thank You Shver and Shvigger.

Reb Shimon Shept Nachas

Seeing his townspeople participating in a public Menorah-lighting in Grodno, proud to be Jewish after all these years. These people are probably descendants of Reb Shimon Shkop's Talmidim and Ba'alei Batim, or maybe people who arrived after the war. It's good to see that both their physical and spiritual needs are attended to.


(Photo courtesy of Shturem)

גרויסע רבי קליינע מנורה

(Photo courtesy of Shturem)

A simple aluminum (!) Menorah which the Rebbe had in his posession still from his days in Europe, and which he used until the last Chanukah in New York.

I thought of comparing that to the monstrosities used by the Other Tzaddikim of our generation, but I reconsidered....

Rebbe

Charcoal on paper by Chasidic artist Refoel Eisenberg ( I know he has a website, I just can't remember the URL.)

Thanks to a reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

Who says we don't do אתכפיא ?

This is what I had to listen to in the car tonight on the way back from Manhattan, and it was a 2 hour trip!

"Chabadskers"

"Yat Kislev"

"I don't know how to say this; but when the Rebbe was alive" etc.

"They don't know how to sing Niggunim"

Son: "Totty, what does Lubavitch do today on Yat Kislev"?

Father: "eh, who cares"!

Man in back seat: The shluchim are in all far-flung places and they struggle BeRuchnius and BeGashmius, it's mamesh a pele! They have such Koyches!

Father: "Yeeees, but they do a lot of harm in Russia to other groups who work there."

MIBS: "why is that"?

Father: "They're Amiratzim".........

And all this from a man in his 60's, a scion of many Chasidishe dynasties, although his education came from -------------------


You guessed it, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin!

Go speak to such people...............

And all the while the Tzig sat there and didn't say a word!

Confessions of a Tzig

I need to get this off my chest, the pressure is just too much.



(Chazan Itche Meir Helfg-tt of the Park East Synagogue, NYC)

I attended a um, um, um, ahem, CHAZZONUS CONCERT Sunday night, and I loved it. The singing was wonderful, with the heights he reached something out-of-this-world. The crowd loved every second of it.

You see, I've been deprived my whole life, never having been to any musical concert before, and I had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the absolute best. Orchestra seats 15 rows behind the stage, one row ahead of Norman Lamm and Charlie Besser, son of you-know-who. It was something special.

My question is as follows:

The Rabbeyim and Chassidim in general were not fond of Chazzonim, period. The reasons abound, especially when the Chazzen is the one leading the davenen, not just performing at a concert. Their lack of basic Yiras Shomayim was legendary, with a few exceptions, and the davenen was considered superficial, staged, and lip-synched. While I was sitting there, watching and listening to Itche Meir Helfg-tt sing, and sing he did, I couldn't help but think about the Rabbeyim, and about how they would feel about my sitting there, not to mention the other Anash sitting there.

A story that crept into my mind during the event is when the Rebbe Rashab and the FR נ"ע visited the Altneu Shul in Prague. The RR commented about the pillars of the old Shul being אנגעשטאפט מיט תפלות , (stuffed with prayers) of the Jews who prayed there over the centuries. At first it was thought to be a compliment, commenting on the fact that so many pious Jews had prayed there, but the Rebbe had something else in mind. "The pillars here are stuffed with Tefillos because of dishonest and insincere (non-erlich) Chazzonim that were supposed to elevate our prayers but did not. I am not accusing Itche Meir Helfg-tt of being non-erlich, we were actually quite impressed that he sings with his Chassidic dress, which in his case includes his pants being tucked into his socks, albeit quite neatly, but still. I guess Chazzonim have to live with that stereotype, much like accountants and lawyers.

Should I have felt bad about my attending the concert, especially on Erev Yud Tes Kislev?

[That feels better already....]

Our man in London - on his Yohrtzeit

הרה"ח ר' התמים מרדכי זאב בהרה"ח ר' שניאור חיים הכהן גוטניק משלוחי רביה"ק בעיר טיפליס
בגרוזיא. אח"כ רב בלונדון נולד תרנ"ז בעיר פריאסלאב ונפטר בשנת ה'תרצ"ב מנ"כ לונדון

This is how COL describes HaRav Mordechai Zev Gutnick z"l, father of Chaim, whose Yohrtzeit is Yud Tes Kislev. They have a few lines in which to describe the Nifter/es so they are limited. We'll try to expand on that, and with your help, will get a clearer picture.


More, from another website which shall remain nameless:

"Rabbi Mordechai Zev Gutnick, who was a talmid of Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Lubavitch, and a shliach of the Rebbe Rashab and Rebbe Rayatz to Tbilisi in Georgia."

"RMZG miraculously received exit visas from the U.S.S.R. and the family moved to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Tel Aviv. In 5687 (1927), he received an offer of a rabbinic position in England. He wrote to the Rebbe Rayatz about it and the Rebbe not only agreed to it, he did everything in his power to make sure he got the position. The Rebbe sent letters to rabbanim and chassidim urging them to put the offer into action. The Rebbe’s efforts were successful and the Gutnick family left for England."

"R’ Mordechai’s hiskashrus was so strong that in the summer of 5689 (1929) he traveled to Riga in order to spend time with the Rebbe Rayatz after the latter had left Russia."

"R’ Mordechai died at the age of 34 on Yud-Tes Kislev 5692 (1932). This tragedy was devastating for Chaim, who was only ten years old. His mother then entrusted his education to the Telz rosh ha’yeshiva, who was visiting London at the time."

I took out most of the references to RCG simply because I wanted to focus on his father, a largely forgotten figure in Lubavitch history. There will be time for RCG later on. What I seem to remember is reading that RMZG contracted pneumonia by walking up and down the streets of London's East End on a cold and rainy day trying to keep Yidden from opening their shops on Shabbos. The fact that they saw the Rabbi is what kept them from doing business. Without anti-biotics to fight the illness he soon died at the young age of 34.

Yehi Zichro Boruch.

[Please excuse some of the below-level grammar here, it was copied and pasted for the most part.]

.

Wish I could be there

A long-overdue symposium on Chassidus and Chassidim during the Holocaust will take place in Jerusalem's Michlalah next week.

Check the poster for topics discussed, it can be enlarged by clicking. It should be interesting. Lets hear what Berger (The Lubavitcher) will say about Chabad.

Summit at Vizhnitz

The Tzig met his counterpart last night. It was very informative. More to come soon, iy"h.

A Shabbos in Kletzk

(The "Chorev" school in Kletzk)

They've known for a while that ביי די אונגארישע בעליבתים ליגט די געלט, so they decided to come and get it where it's at. This Shabbos Boro Park will merit the visit of Rabbi Dovid Schustal, Rosh Yeshiva BMG of Lakewood, and Rabbi Matisyohu Solomon, Mashgiach par excellence. (Flatbush will have to suffice with Neuman, Olshin, and Kotler.)

Not to be outdone by their Chasidishe counterparts, they too will have תפלות and עריכת שלחנות , just not exactly that way, after all, they must maintain their "Litvishe" identity. So the PR guy said: "don't name it Arichas Hashulchon, call it "Oneg Shabbos" and everybody's happy. Each guest will daven and "farbreng" separately, I'm not quite sure why, or maybe I am....

Most of the Tefillos will take place at "Parve" to Litvishe Shuls, like Novominsk, and Dayan Brode's shul, but there will be a Tefilloh at the Nitra Shul, and the parties will take place in prominent BP mansions. I expect to find many of our friends there......