Bang-Bang

This Man Thinks He Speaks For You

From Here

The kid on the left. With the perfect peyos.

Here's a quote from VIN:

"US Senator Joe Biden who is the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate recently met privately with Ezra Friedlander and Simcha Eichenstein of The Friedlander Group, to discuss how the Jewish community feels about the Obama--Biden ticket and how they can reach out to the Orthodox Jewish electorate in key swing states including Florida."

Ok, let me get this straight. A couple of guys with keys and cellphones start a PR firm or something to that effect and they now speak for me?! For tens of thousands of other people who never heard of them before? Did something happen while I was away that allowed this to happen? Did all the Rabbonim and elected officials ride off into the sunset and leave the community to these guys? Wait, that gives me an idea! maybe I'll start a "PR Firm" and call myself an activist. Seriously though, I thought Crown Heights had it bad with all its bickering and such, but this takes the cake. If you grew up in New York you know there are faces that you recognize as machers. Many are stam do-nothings, and many - often affiliated with organization that do lots of good - are people that are connected to the community and its leaders - if there are leaders. But this?

Can't we all just get along?!

Yosef Dov commenting on Circus Tent Avoiding the bush at all costs

איך האב געבעטן א פריינד מיינעם וואס איז מער באהאוונט פאר מיר אי אין איינגליש אי אין קאמפיוטעריי צו ווארפן א בליק און זען דעם צושטאנד פון אהבת ישראל אין דעם דאזיקן בלאג אין די געציילטע טעג פאר ר"ה. צום באדויערן קיין גליק האב איך ניט געזען. נאכמער- עס קוקט אויס אז מענטשן באמת מיינען אז דער אייבערשטער איז זייער צופרידן מיט זייערע "צורעכט מאכן" אלערליי קאמפפונקטן וועלכע שטייען אקעגן דעם יידישן פאלק און יידישקייט - ממש לוחמי מלחמות ד'..... קינדערלעך האט רחמנות אויף זיך! הערט אויף מיט די נארישקייטן אן קער זיך אום צום לערנען און עבודת ד' איך קאן אייך צוזאגן אז קיין גוטע רעזולטאטן וועלן דערפון ניט אויסקומען פאר קיינעם. צוויי באמערקונגען: צום ערשט - דער חשוב'ער אנפירער פון דעם בלאג ר' הירשל זיכער האט זיך ניט פאסיק אויסגעדריקט. מען טאר ניט צוגלייכן כלל וכלל די יידישע השקפות מיט להבדיל נצרות אפילו נאר צו פארגלייכן א קליינעם פרט. וואס ער האט געדארפט שרייבן איז אז כאטש די אלע תורה השקפות,דרכים, און גדולים כולם אהובים כולם ברורים וכו' און בגדר אלו ואלו וכו', אבער אז עס קומט צו אויסקלייבן אן אייגענעם דרך און אן אייגנעם רבי דא קאן און מעג א ייד שפירן דאס אויסגעצייכנקייט פון זיין דרך און זיין גדול. דאס מיינט ניט חלילה אז מען מעג דערנידריקן די אנדערע- נאר אויפהייבן זיין רבי און מקיים זיין די מצווה פון כבוד רבו.

צווייטנס: זיינדיק א ייד וואס גאנץ לעבן לאנג געלערנט און געהאדעוועט געווארן אין ליטווישע קרייזן, בין איך בפירוש מוחה אויף די זילזולדיקע אויסדרוקן וועגן דעם ליובאוויטשער רבין און זיין שטעלונג צום חשיבות פון למוד התורה. שומו שמים! צענדליקער מיט צענדליקער גדולי ישראל אין וועמענס ד' אמות האב האב געהאט דעם זכות בייזיייק צו זיין זיינען בהתפעלות געווען אי פון זיין גאונות אי פון זיין הרבצת התורה. איך וויל זיך ניט איבערחזרן נאר איכ'ל דערמאנען עטלעכע ווער זיינען אין עולם האמת - ר' משה' ר'שלמה זלמן, די הייליקע גערער רביס, הרב יאללעס, הגאון האדיר הרב הירשפרונג זצ"ל, מען קאן פארזעצן אן אן עק אבער נאר איינער וואס האט קיין שייכות ניט מיט עולם התורה קאנט עס לייקענען. דער אנאנימנער שרייבער וואס רופט זיך "א שטאלצער ליטוואק" פארשעמט אונדזערע גרויסע הייליקע ליטווישע גדולים און בפירוש שטעלט ניט פאר דעם עולם התורה.
נאכאמאל, בעט איך אייך הערט אויף מיט פטרן צייט און ספעציעל מיט נעגאטיווער רייד און אין זכות פון דעם זאלט איר אלע געבענטשט ווערן מיט א גוטן געבענטשטן זיסן יאר אין אלע הינזיכטן בתוך כלל ישראל.

יוסף דוב

Avoiding the 'bush" at all costs

You've heard of beating around the bush, this idea takes it one step further. Let me preface this thread by heading some of you off at the pass. I know you well enough by now to anticipate the responses that will be forthcoming, so I'll stop you before you start. This is not an attempt to ridicule anybody's lifestyle or choice of how to raise their families. It WILL focus on some of the attempts to avoid confronting the REAL problem head on and to focus rather on some of the outcomes that these lifestyle present. In other words, don't look at the cause of the problems, just deal with minimizing the effect, it's much easier that way....

Some of you may have read recently in the charedi press about the attempt - and apparent success - of chassidishe kehillos to implement "Chasunah Takanos." Apparently this started with the Rebbe of Satmar-KJ and spread to other Kehillos who felt that they now had the green light to follow suit - or didn't want to feel left out. The press is VERY excited about it; they see it as the great savior of all the money issues that plague all the segments of the frum community. No longer will Kolel families with 8-12 children have to struggle to pay everyday bills. No longer will little Yeruchem/Yoeli/Shlomie have to wait for a bicycle. No longer will little Shifra/Rifkie/Chanie have to wait for a new shabbos dress. No longer will Mrs. Greenberg, struggling with all kinds of pressures have to wait for whatever she's lacking. No sireee, Bob. The takanos are here to alleviate all that stress and heart plaque, and to gladden the hearts of all those little boys and girls...

In case you fail to see it here's my point. Most people I know fail to make ends met way before they get to marrying off their kids. They have real trouble paying their kids' tuition, camp and buying clothes for school and Yom Tov. They have a very difficult time paying for car repairs and utilities, dentist visits and Daled minim, a leak in the bathroom and an occasional suit for the man of the house. And that's people with two well-paying jobs and smaller families. Young couples who began working in their 20's and are college educated can have tens of thousands of dollars of unpaid debt by the time their kids are old enough to go to yeshivah gedolah and seminary. OK, so now you'll tell me that chassidishe girls don't go to seminary, and that their bachurim don't go to expensive yeshivos. Right. None of the "takanos" put forth by I'm sure very well-meaning Rabbonim and askonim deal with how to get to the point where you marry off your children!

Some of the takanos are quite amusing, really. It would be interesting to know who decided on the allowable amounts of money that can be spent on chosson/kallah presents and weddings and what formulas were used. I also find it interesting that they didn't go very far with the takanos at all, and if they REALLY wanted to help people out instead of patting themselves on the back they really could've taken this much further. Here are some examples: Why is $1200 dollars OK to spend on a shtraimel, and why is there no limit on what a girl's mother can spend on her sheitlach? on her outfits? on her wedding gown? which chassidishe man has this money sitting around in some bank account? Why did Satmar-KJ decide that it was OK to do away with diamond ring completely and allow only CZ, while the shtraimel stays? Why did the other chassidishe kehillos decide that CZ was not good enough but a treated diamond would suffice? I especially liked how they write that they took care of the issue by having a "seminar" with almost all 12th grade girls in Brooklyn, educating them and explaining to them how the diamond ring they hoped for their whole life, the ring that has been tradition for several millenia, must be sacrificed for the husband's fur hat. For them a fake rock will have to do....

Teach Them Girls

HERE

COL showed this today, memoirs from the Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah and the story of her lineage from the Alter Rebbe written in her own handwriting. I'm surprised to see it, really I am. This may shock some of you, but where my family comes from, especially in the parts where the girls were not forced to go to Government schools, women didn't know how to write. period. They couldn't sign their own name, let alone write a memoir, and they definitely could not write like THAT! I imagine other women in Russia and Lithuania could write as well; she wasn't the only one got a private tutor to teach her to write. So we see a different approach in women's education, even at a time where everything else was basically the same. The Rebbetzin was born in the 1860s, so there is no "modern" excuse here, as can be made a generation or two later. Her father was a Poilishe Rebbe who went from Chabad while his father the Tzemach Tzedek was still alive and assumed the ways of Chernobel, so its safe to assume that they had the same set of rules and priorities that the other Chernobler kinder had.

I've been told by scholars and amateur historians alike that much of what we do and believe as Jews today has no real basis in Judaism. I mean behavioral and cultural things, not Mitzvos, c"v. Whether Ashkenazic or Sefardic (Sefardim maybe especially so.) We're superstitious like the Goyim and we used to treat the women like our non-Jewish neighbors did. They were meant to stay home, wash laundry, clean and cook and womanly things like that. We could chalk it up to Talmudic statements saying how you mustn't teach your women Torah, but what does that have to do with learning how to sign your name? The other option would be to say that it had nothing to do with Judaism, it was a cultural thing. For some reason it seems like some Jews saw past the cultural thing and decided it WAS important for their female offspring to at least have a basic education, no matter what conventional wisdom said. To be fair, it may have had something to do with lack of funds, as most Jews could hardly afford Melamdim for their boys, whereas Rabbonishe, Rebbishe, and Balebatishe types may have had some extra cash for amenities like that.

So maybe it's not an Hungarian thing.

"Mussar" Bombshell!

(Rabbonim today have nothing on RHP's robe!)

What some of us knew was very, very common these days among any darshan and mashgiach seems to have been going a long time, according to the article in Mishpacha this week. According to Yehuda Leib Frank, son of the famed Rav of Yerushalayim, who was sent from Eretz Yisroel to learn in Da Mir and lived ah tir tzu ah tir to Rav Yeruchem Levovitz, zt"l, famed mashgiach of Mir, Tanya, the magnum opus of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Chassidic movement, was the primary source for RYL's discourses at the Yeshivah. It should be of no surprise to any of you, but I believe it'll be denied by the family, all ardent misnagdim to chassidus. After all, if THE mashgiach used Tanya as his primary source then why not go to the source itself, rather than a watered down version of the source meant to conceal it and make it look like some original? We know how Rav Dessler's family denies his documented connection to Chassidus and Chassidim, even after a large stack of letters was found recently further attesting to that fact.

Which leads me to wonder as follows: If so, if a simple bochur in Yeshivah at the time knew that the mashgiach's was heavy into Tanya why then did Reb Chatzkel, Reb Yeruchem's replacement in Mir and later Rav Dessler's replacement in Ponovezh, why was he so against Rav Dessler's neo-Chassidic shmuessen and writings? Everybody knows that Reb Chatzkel, himself from a chassidic home, was very upset at what Rav Dessler was teaching, claiming that it's not "unzer derech." But if everybody knew that basing whole shmuessen on Tanya WAS unzer derech why go and revise history at the expense of Rav Dessler?

Twerski gets the message

From Here

According to published reports Dr. Ben-Zion Twerski has withdrawn from any public role in Dov Hikind's crusade against sexual abuse - a very noble cause indeed. He wrote a very long letter to VIN telling of verbal abuse and all kinds of threats he's received over the last days ever since he announced his involvement. In his own words: “I was prosecuted in the street for daring to join such a venture.” To protect myself, my family, and reputation, I decided to withdraw from this project,” he wrote in an e-mail. From this point, I am avoiding participation in any forms of public service. Public life is not for me.” I don't believe this has ever happened before, criminals threatening people who try and help the victims of terrible crimes - at least not in the frum world. It definitely has never happened to a Rebbishe Kind and a professional of Twerski's caliber. I doubt even Rabbi MD Tendler had to put up with this kind of harassment, even at the worst of times, so why does Twerski deserve this? I have a theory, tell me what you think.

We all know how the Twerskis are a shining example of yidden, chassidim, yerei shomayim who despite growing up "out-of-town" and attending prestigious colleges - often Catholic Colleges like Marquette - clung to their traditions to the last details, even some of the more ceremonial ones like the strukkes on the Bekishe. After two generations most of them came "back to the fold" in Boro Park and Flatbush and joined the thousands who live a very secluded lifestyle, a far cry from Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Reb BenZion is one of those who moved to Boro Park and became a full-fledged member of Bobov. His children do not attend colleges and I doubt they're exposed to what their father was exposed to growing up. BenZion Twerski thought all was well - his Rebbishe credentials and professional background would surely of allow him at least to speak his mind and help those who were hurt by those who were supposed to educate them in the Torah's ways, right?

I guess what RBZT did not realize that our society is run by thugs who decide what goes and where. I don't speak of Rabbonim here, I doubt that Rabbonim sent out these thugs to threaten him and his children. I speak of the grandsons of the peasants of Hungary and Rumania and Galicia who somehow think that the fact that they grew up in Brooklyn makes them qualified to dictate policy. They think that they're the ones who decide what goes and who goes in our holy neighborhoods, not the edumacated Twerskis, despite all their edumacation. So what we have here - in my humble opinion - is a life's lesson that the Twerskis may be learning now. The lesson is that they may be Rebbishe kinder and all, and they may have very noble intentions, but they're "nisht kan heymishe." The inmates run the asylum we call Heimishe Mosdos and society and no "moderne mit a shtramel fim Milvokee" is gonna come and tell an all-American from Rikoshen, who's grandfather was a shlepper and an Am Ho'Oretz how to run chadorim and schools, he knows all there is to know....

FYI

I'll say this much, it takes guts to print such a letter.

Seen on the Scene

Chaim Berlin Tragedy commenting on The Boys of Am Echad

News flash!

Those of us "on the outside" who have been wondering from a distance what ever happened to Isaac Hersh after he was rescued from Tranquilty Bay in Jamaica, finally got a small answer. Seems, last week he was at the chasunah of the Kamenetsky Family.
So thanks to a public photo, Isaac Hersh shows up in person in the YATED NE'EMAN of 5 Elul 5768/September 5 2008, Center p. 17. Wow! Months have passed since the rescue of Isaac Hersh from Tranquility Bay, and the uproar that surrounded the whole fiasco, and since his return it's been quiet with people scratching their heads. Last heard, an agreement was reached and he was in the "custody" of a friend of the family in Brooklyn. But now, in the colorful center page of the latest YATED, in the bottom right page, "At The Kamenetsky-Rosthstein Wedding" is none other than "Isaac Hirsch" (sic) in between Rav Sholom Kamenetsky and Rav Moshe Feurst, who is next to Rav Tzvi Basch.

I always look at the photos of the YATED and MODIAH very carefully, in the spirit of "Kremlin watching" because they often reveal more than most of the articles, in the spirit of "a picture is worth a thousand words". I had to do a double take. Was that really THE Isaac hersh that split the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah against RAS? I looked closely. Who else could it be in casual wear, blue leather yamulka and the face that matched all the ones I had seen of Isaac Hersh till now. Yup, it was him alright. But what was he doing at the wedding of Rav Mordechai Kamentesky's daughter's wedding, with the entire Kamenetsky clan? Out of six photos devoted to this wedding in the YATED, three of them have several Kamenstskys in them. There is Rav Binyomin Kamenetsky, brother of Rav Shmuel and father of Rabbi Mordechai. RSK is not pictured. One connection, and it is intrigueing is that Rav Yacov Lipschutz who is also pictured is also a zeidah of the kallah, and he is the father of the YATED's editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, so that it seems that the Lipschutz family shares both family and perhaps even some communal concerns with the Kamenetsky family and that PERHAPS Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz is doing has share for making "shalom beYisroel" in keeping with RSK's open warfare against, and defiance of RAS on the Isaac Hersh matter. And it therefore seems that RSK does not stand alone and that his entire family, and by the implication of these latest pictures in the YATED, RSK's extended family and some of their mechutonim and family friends support him (RSK) to the hilt against the hard line views of RAS who backed the father of Isaac Hersh in exiling Isaac Hersh to Tranquility Bay in Jamaica in the first place.

So this is it then, the Kamenetskys have been healing Isaac Hersh it seems. Maybe he is going to one of their yeshiva day schools. The one that was founded by Rav Yaakov ztk"l and is headed by his sons Binyomin and grandson Mordechai is the Yeshiva of South Shore, part traditional yeshiva and part modern Jewish day school, a perfect kiruv yeshiva that bochurim like Isaac Hersh could use if they could fit into it and make it work. (Interestingly in the same edition of the YATED there is no photo or mention of RAS, but on the other side of the Center page, p. 16, top left, there is photo of Rav Shach's son, the known Religious Zionist educator Dr. Efraim Shach at a family wedding. Have to give the YATED credit for doing some interesting things and for making the "Kremlin watching" worthwhile!)

Meanwhile, over at the recent edition of the HAMODIAH, in what may a be a case of grand scale divine co-incidence, on the front page of the Wednesday, September 3, 2008 edition, there are two photos, one of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and an inset of its Rosh Yeshiva RAS under the heading "Beginning of the Zeman" with the caption: "The bachurim of Yeshivah Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin listen as Hagaon Harav Aharan Schechter, Rosh Yeshivah, delivers a maamer in conjunction with the pesichas hazeman. (Inset) The Rosh Yeshivah speaking." So as the green lady in the Wizard of Oz said: What a world! The YATED, takes pride in finally show-casing Isaac Hersh to the world surrounded by the warmth of the Kamenetsky family, and the HAMODIAH showcases Yeshiva Chaim Berlin and RAS in the same week's editions. There must be some Divine irony in all this. Maybe Moshiach is closer than we think. A Kesiva Vechasima Tovah!

Chap Arein A Mitzvah

Donate To A Very Worthy Case of Chesed Shel Emes

Brooklyn - Otwock - Paterson

Harav Meir Greenberg passed away last night. He was a Gaon Otzum who was a talmid choviv of the late Rav Shlome Heiman, zt"l in Torah VoDaas and then went on to learn in Tomchei Tmimim in Otwock. He never forgot his former Rebbe or his shiurim, and made mention of them at every opportunity. Much of Reb Shlomo's shiurim were written by Reb Meir, and his own sefer - שיעורי גיטין - was full of mention of RSH. You might say he was one of a very select group of Reb Shlome's talmidim alive today. I had the zechus of seeing him sit and learn in the zal of the yeshivah in Morristown where he would come once a week and give a shiur. He would come in, sit down, and never take his eyes off the daf he was up to in gemoroh, unless you went up to him and asked him a question. He was a true example of Shekidoh, Hasmodoh and good middos, he didn't let his brain get in the way of dealing with other people.

I was told by some who claim to know that he had a close relationship with the Litvishe Yeshiva that was located in Paterson, that the bachurim there - supposedly top of the line - would come and red in lernen with him. They were apparently impressed by a Lubavitcher elderly yid knowing how to learn - it wasn't what they expected, it wasn't what they were taught. Reb Meir's son Heschel is a former shliach and current independent Rabbi in Buffalo who is very much like his father in learning. They say that Rabbi Greenberg senior was pretty radical in his beliefs regarding Moshiach and the identity thereo, even to the extent of writing "Yemos Hamoshiach" at the top of his letters. Reb Meir will be sorely missed by all those who merited to bask in his light, myself included.

Truth Squad In Action

This was not the intention of the anonymous blogger who sent me the question, he seems sincere, but his question was influenced by the kalte vasser that gets poured on anything and everything Lubavitch by certain elements. Everything is suspect when it comes to Lubavitch, and the only people that are trusted are outsiders with agendas like Friedman, Assaf and Erlich, Zechusom Yogen Aleihem. It's sort of like what Conservatives and Republicans in America have to go through on a daily basis. They're always at the mercy of the intellegentsia and the left-wing, and they always need their approval - which they never get. Every once in a while they get a bone thrown to them, sort of like here. but only after aan unaffiliated man agrees to the claim.


"Totally off topic, but could you post about the following, which I read at The new Seforim Blog:

"Since I have mentioned R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg a few times, Rabbi Miller called my attention to the new book, Admorei Habad ve-Yahadut Germanyah, pp. 103ff., where R. Avraham Abba Weingort, who is completely trustworthy (and far removed from Habad), records the testimony of two other reliable people from Switzerland who knew Weinberg well. Although there is probably some exaggeration in the details of the story they tell, they report being told by Weinberg that he indeed gave semikhah to the Rebbe, and the circumstances of how this came about (including requiring that the Rebbe come to some of his shiurim at the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary). I can now better understand why the Rebbe's contact information given to the University of Berlin was the address of the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary. From now on, whenever I am asked if the Rebbe received semikhah from Weinberg, I will reply yes." Ad Kan from Seforim Blog.

The blogger is not happy with this proof and goes on to ask me: "So did the Rebbe have semicha or not?" I'm not בתוך הענינים now so I don't have the answer, maybe some of you would like to continue the conversation in the comments section.

Here's what our old friend Schneur had to say:
Except for curiosity of what matter is it if the Rebbe had semicha or not. He was a rebbe not a rav and a good number of famous 20th century gedolim never bothered with Semicha. Given the fact that the Rebbe promolgated the minhag of Bais Horav to obtain semicha and the fact that Mendel Horenstein also did such, its a sure thing the Rebbe had semicha. I hope we are not going to enter a dispute here if the Rebbe could learn Gemora and Shulchan Aruch.

Blow It Loud

Like Reb Moshe Edrei does.

You people here tell me that I don't have the fear of G-d in me, that I mock and poke fun, and that I'll pay for my terrible cations one day. Let the sounding of the ram's horn - albeit recorded - prove you all wrong.

Moshe is of Moroccan descent, yet he looks and blows like a Lubavitcher Chossid from Nevel. Well, almost, that Shevorim was a bit shvach. He was educated in Lubavitcher Yeshivos in Israel just like hundreds and thousands of others who found most other Ashkenazic Mosdos closed for them. I guess some of you might say that they robbed him of his heritage and made him become a bland Lubavitcher, one of the masses, right? Just like the old Soviet Union where all people were moved around the Union and were forced to speak Russian and often made to forget the language and culture of their people, right? What an awful group of people those Lubavitchers are... But before you agree remember this: At least they didn't make them wear the Hungarian hats that the Satmarer put on their Teimener converts. The fedora is something that all Sefardim adopted in Israel, the tsholent tup is not. Also, Sefardic culture thrives in Chabad centers in Israel and abroad, with Sefardic minyanim and Selichos from Rosh Chodesh Elul onward. There's even a Baba Sali Hillula, as well as one for the Or haChaim HaKodosh.

Did we "make" it yet?

(Ed. note: The ad pictured here appears on COL for quite some time now. I have not been able to blog as often as I wish lately due to lack of time.)

If the ad/picture to your left will allow it, the picture should display the name Zundel Berman Books. Although not owned by old man Zundel anymore I'm sure his nephew, the current owner, paid a pretty penny to keep the old name intact. I'd go as far as saying that most people may not know that Z no longer works there, which leads me to the point of the story here.
There was a time way back when the name "Zundel Berman" was synonymous with Snag. Before you say "there he goes again with the Snag talk" hear me out. Some Lubavitchers dub every non-Chossid - from the MO guy to Reb Chaim Kanievski - a "Snag." I'm not that uncouth; I realize the differences, me being extremely observant and noticing the nuances when it comes to things like that. Which makes me wonder: when did the term "snag" come into use in Dor Hashvi'i Chabad? Did it come together with the Chabad Talis and Surdut/Sirtuk? Maybe Schneur can answer that.

Why do I single out Z? Although I usually refrain from the heavy Loshon HoRah Z is special and deserves some of the negative attention he'll get here. He's special because the dislike for Chabad that this man has running through his veins is unlike anything I've ever seen. You'd think a man with a good business would be past that and wouldn't run around on his bike tearing down Chabad signs in Boro Park like some young hothead in Williamsburg does. You'd also think that a grown man in his 60's with grandchildren wouldn't walk half a mile to daven in a shul that he's never davened in just because he heard that some Lubavitchers moved in there and plan to "take over the shul." And I don't mean just daven there, he went there to stir up trouble and "save" the shul by any means necessary, even if it meant time and money spent for the cause, just so that the darn Lubavitchers shouldn't get their hands on it. A guy like that seems to have it in for Lubavitch. Maybe he had a Lubavitcher melamed back in Yerushalayim as a kid that rubbed him the wrong way. Who am I to judge? The Lubavitchers have gone on to bigger and better things, but the memory of Zundel and his antics at the old shul in Boro Park live on in infamy for those who witnessed it.

Some of us in Chabad are always wondering whether or not we're accepted among the true Jews of Lakewood and Bnei Beraq. It bothers us and we try hard to change that perception that we're different and not authentic. We look for every little sign that maybe the tide has turned and things have begun to change. Be it a no-name Rav or Rosh Yeshiva who makes an appearance at a Chabad event, or a Chabad yeshiva class that gets farherred at the home of a prominent Rav, those of us who care get very excited over events like those. So if a prominent seforim seller like Zundel, to whom Chabad is like a red kerchief for a raging bull, although no longer under his ownership, chosses to advertise on a Chabad site like COL just so that Lubavitchers and their centers should shop there, this is cause of muted celebration.

IN NO WAY IS THIS AN INTENTION TO C"V HURT THE BERMAN BUSINESS. I, MYSELF, WAS A FREQUENT CUSTOMER WHEN I LIVED IN BROOKLYN AT BOTH THE BP AND CONEY ISLAND AVE STORE. THEY HAVE A GREAT SELECTION AT UNBEATABLE PRICES. HANDS DOWN.

אלה גדוליך ישרא-ל

When we think of Rabbonim and Tzaddikim the term איידלקייט usually comes to mind - or at least should. We take it for granted that the fact that this Yid sat and learned Torah for decades and "worked" on his middos made him something special, somebody we can all learn from and strive to grow up to emulate. Yet, for some in theJewish world what makes a Tzaddik is if he has the "breitkeit" to attack and belittle other groups of yidden. The above announcement was featured in the Israeli Yated this week and condemned another Israeli paper, which to the Yated readership is considered not as frum because it doesn't answer to the Gedolim like the Yated does. It condemned the paper not because it went and wrote about a non-kosher issue, or condemned Rabbonim for lack of action on issues, no. It condemned the BaKehilla Newspaper for going to the above Godol and asking him questions about the upcoming Elul Zman, stuff like how to instill Hasmodoh in bachurim, terrible stuff really....

However, it seems like the fact that it was published in a newspaper somehow - according to the warped logic that's seems so prevalent in Bnei Beraq these days - makes his words impure and unholy and deserving of such ridicule. Words like "a pig who shows his split hooves." Very nice. I know very little about this Rabbi Weintraub, he's not one of the big ones, and it seems like not many others heard about him either. Here was one of the responses on the popular HydePark forum BeChadrei Charedim as to why we need to care about what this man says, despite the fact that many think that the fact that he's been practically blind for many years would probably preclude him from making statements about newspapers, unless he's got "people" feeding him all kinds of lies:


אולי לכמה טיפשים שאינם שייכים לציבור החרדי הרב וינטרוב אינו מוכר אבל מי שחי בתוך הציבור החרדי ב20 שנים אחרונות יודע בדיוק מי זה האיש
הוא האיש שלחם בגבורה נגד חב"ד
וזהו האיש שלחם נגד כת נדל {בני שכינו}
וזהו האיש שבכל בעיה השקפתית בציבור שלנו תמיד הוא היה הכתובת
וזהו האיש שכשיש מחלות וסיבוכים הוא הכתובת האחרונה
וזהו גם האיש שבקי בכל חדרי התורה נגלה נסתר בעומק עצום שבסתמא לא היה לזה אח ורע במאה השנה האחרונה
וזהו גם האיש שלא נהנה מעולם הזה כלום כלום
מלאך ה' צ'
ולכן אינני מאחל חיים קלים לאלו שבזים לו כאן אנא לטובתכם סורו מהר לביתו לבקש את מחילתו שלא יאונה לכם רע

His first claim to fame is that he fought Chabad. In Bnei Beraq that seems to be enough to qualify you as a Godol. I wonder if they write that on Matzeivos too. Like "Shliach of the Rebbe."

חסיד (או חרדי) בלי דת

YNet examines Leil Shabbos in a pub in Israel.

There are those that say that the fact that Charedism/Chassidus has seen such a boom in the post WW2 world means little. It's all about the culture, they say, there's very little G-d in anything most people do, it's just that people are sooo afraid of what others will say that they stay in their own little worlds, often miserable and unsatisfied. The proof - they say - is in the fact that you see people doing very little in the realm of Torah and Mitzvos, yet they hold on to trivial things like certain aspects of dress for dear life, often to the extent of near Mesiras Nefesh. I'm not even speaking of elements of dress that could be confused as Inyonei Kedusha, just things picked up in our travels across Europe over the centuries. The above article seems to give credence to that cynical argument; namely that in today's world it's mostly cultural, and we shouldn't get so excited about the boom of yiddishkeit in Israel and the Diaspora. If Schneur has taught us one thing here over the years it's the fact that decades of accomplishment can be scoffed at in an instant, and statistics - real stats - can be discredited in the bat of an eyelash.

The article speaks of a group of boys and girls from chassidishe yeshivos and schools get together on Leil Shabbos in somebody's apartment and discuss the events of the week. These are Chozrim B'Sheylah, the antithesis to Chozrim B'Tshuvah if you will. They make Kiddush, eat gefilte fish, sing zemiros and have a grand ol' Jewish time, each doing his thing just like they did it where he grew up. The Belzer makes kiddush like they do in Belz. The Vizhnitzer sings zemiros with a vareme Vizhnitzer niggun, and so on. They talk about who got married and who got engaged, and whatever else is going on back in Bnei Beraq. When they're done they head out to a local pub to do what people do in pubs and bars. They seem to have it all; they have the trappings of a shabbos complete with Koh Ribon and Koh Echsof, and they have a Friday night like the rest of the world knows how to have, complete with all-nighters. Kind of like Chulent here, but in a more "in-your-face" kind of way. Friday night.

So here we have the first signs of a new generation. A generation where the culture is firm, yet that's all there is. And they hold on to what they've been taught with commendable devotion, nusach and all. Of course we can't learn a lesson from the behavior of those on the fringe, can we? The foundation is strong, we tell ourselves, just look at the number of Shtreimlach and Kapotes and Black Hats, and how they're growing by leaps and bounds! But any real introspection will tell you that the trappings are there but not much else. When was the last time you saw an average, simple man crying on Yom Kippur or any other davenen for that matter? When was the last time that were it not for a major tragedy that you saw people express any emotion during a Tefilloh or a Mitzvah? Yes, people are more acceptive of others, and they don't have the silly, deep-seeded disdain for foreigners and anybody not from their circles they used to have in the old days, but what did we gain in the trade?

Loves Company

If there's anything that bothers people like me it's the fact that we think that we're the only ones left that have stayed somewhat true. We look around and it seems that the rest of the frum world has morphed into one identical bloc with the only difference a different hat or the color of socks. So, after a while, you begin to wonder: אפשר בין איך משוגע און זיי נארמאל? Maybe everything I've been taught is Takeh wrong and everybody else is right? Didn't Reb Chaim Brisker once say that אף א גלייכע וועג טרעפט מען מענטשען? So if I'd be on the Glayche Veg I'd probably find other people too, no? You see my friends, Chassidus isn't brainwashing after all, it allows one to rethink his priorities at any given time and to leave if he so pleases. Most people just choose not to. Anyway. Every once in a while you hear pisgomim and vertlach from chassidim of other Rebbes and you say to yourself "I'm not so bad after all, just look at what these guys believe and in whom they believe!"

Case in point: There's a chassidisher vort (not Chabad) that's Nogeia LeMa'yseh that goes something like this: "Besser Unzer Binyan Vi Zeyer Minyan", which loosely translated means, if you have the choice of davening in either your own shtiebel BeYechidus, or in another Chassidishe shtiebel with a minyan, daven alone in your own shtiebel. I guess the idea is that if you start wandering elsewhere, even if just for a minyan here or there, there's no telling where you'll end up. You might find that the other group is better than yours, has more Lomdim and Yerei Shomayim than yours, or (gasp!) their Rebbe is greater than yours, and that we can't afford. So they tell you that somehow the fact that you daven in your Rebbe's shtiebel makes up for the lack of a minyan, even if the Rebbe is like 6,000 miles away. Oh kayy. Sounds weird, no? Now, truthfully there are Lubavitchers who find it difficult davening elsewhere, as do I, but I push myself, even if it's not easy to do, either because I have a guilty conscience and realize that G-d wants me to hear Kaddish and Kedushah, or because of my kids.

Far Di Kinder.

Hear him Wein

Believing in Hashgochoh Protis is a good thing. Were it not for that I might never have listened to the Berel Wein tape I found in the car my neighbor was nice enough to loan me while mine was in the shop. Much of the conversations on the tape centers on the Jewish of Eastern Europe during the last 3 centuries and what they had to endure, including pogroms, induction into the Czar's army and so on. This may not come as a surprise to many of you, but RBW seems to be straddling the fence when he speaks about life in the shtetl, this despite him being a Rav and frum Jew. He almost seems to apologize for the millions who left the fold at the outset of Communism, Socialism and Haskalah, as if they had all the reason in the world to do so after being sold out by the frum establishment all those years. You may have a wayward youth speak that way, or an amateur student of history that has trouble with some his recent findings, but a Rav?!

Once thing's for sure, the man is open and honest about almost everything he talks about, even if it makes him and his co-Religionists look bad. You might even say that he takes his information directly from secular and anti-Religious books and texts. When he speaks about the Cantonisten he goes as far as blaming the Rabbonim, Shochtim and Roshei HaKohol for sending off the kids of the poor when they were required to furnish the army with an amount of kids from their town. Never would you hear that when growing up and hearing that from your sixth grade Rebbe, they made it sound as if kids were grabbed by soldiers who would burst in to people's homes and grab kids from their mother's arms. Which makes you wonder, if Rabbi Wein is part of the Rabbinic establishment - at least the MO eastablishment - why would he condemn the leaders of yesteryear like that?

But wait! there's more. When speaking about the founding of the great Lithuanian Yeshivos and Reb Chaim Volozhiner he keeps on mentioning the fact that the Yeshivos were founded solely for the elite. Yes, he says, the idea was to save Torah SheLo TishtaKach MiYisroel, but it was only for the elite. At the height of enrollment there were only 450 students from all of Lithuania etc., with the average enrollment somewhere around 300 men. Out of hundreds of thousands of young men 300 were allowed in to those hallowed halls. One might say that they succeeded in saving Torah at the expense of the millions who left, and that it was the right to do it. I'm not here arguing that point and if it was right or wrong, the approach just sounds really elitist and not one you can build generations on. Try telling that to your average student today, or to the descendant of Jews who left the fold, I'm sure he'll be happy to know that his GrandPappy was collateral damage...

יש תקוה

(L-R) Yudi Tzeitlin of COL, Pinchas Lipschitz of Yated and Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie of Chabad in California)

They all get it, do you?

We can all learn a thing or two from the editor of the Yated. He seems to know when to drop the "ideology," especially when the livelihoods of so many people are at stake, and when people seem to have lost their minds. Kudos to PL for taking such a firm stand and for speaking out when others were afraid to. Maybe there's hope for the rest us too.

?מי האנשים האלה

(Reb Mendel or Reb Yisroel Chaim Kaplan, perhaps?)



Seriously. I need to know for a friend who these 2 gentleman are. The first one looks familiar, I know I've seen it before. The second one I've never seen.

Thanks.