What really bothered our circusman is that a Rebbe of "hundreds" of Chassidim really went out of his way to show respect in front of Rav Elyashiv. That he claims to be a betrayal of the mesirus nefesh that Baal Shem Tov ha"K and Talmidov had in founding and carrying on the derech.
Degel Machane Efrayim says in one place that the Oilom says how "Lomdim lernen Yo vechassidim lernen nit". (The word lomdim is used to refer to those who didn't count themselves amongst chassidim). Degel says further that what this really means is that Chassidim learn to be a nothing while "lomdim" learn to be a something.
It's not a secret that most established Lomdim in the times of Baal Shem ha'K and his first round of Talmidim weren't very keen on the Derech. While it wasn't a full frontal assault as later on with Avigdor and the rest, members of the Broder Klause didn't show a whole lot of respect to either Baal Shem ha"K or, as the story is known, to Rebbe R' Mechel for example (until they recognized him as a baal Ruach Kodesh, but that's beside the point).
Yet, with all that said, neither the Baal Shem ha"K nor his acknowledged pupils had any problem showing the very utmost respect, reverence and bittul in front of talmidei chachomim even when the latter weren't of their camp. From R' Chaym Tzanser (not Sanzer Rov but one of the member of the Broder Klause) to R' Sh"Z from Vilno (The Goen), and even later - RY"Y from Lublin and the Eizener Kopp who was described as a "bitter misnaged", all these people respected each other not along the silly lines of "You're a Snag, I'm a Chusid, I hate you"; because the main propety that they learned from the Baal Shem Tov ha"K was the true and real ענוה . Not of the show off kind where people compete whose signature has more "askufa nidreses" instances, but very real and to the core negation of self, which is really hard to attain and even harder to retain.
While I can't say what the Clujer Rebbe really thinks, here it looks like a show of true bittul really ticked someone off.
Back some time ago, another "defender of Jews" ש"ד saw a big problem with how much money is spent on Satmarer Rebbe's seder. In a typical concoction of hate and lie, the creature presents it in the same obsessively vile light that permeats his every word and every breath. Well, no surprise there - his sole agenda is spreading vicious lies, half-truths and other propaganda items that would make Goebbels blush.
But some months lo and behold, comes Chanukah and our very own circusman jumps on the bandwagon and berates his brother the "other" Satmarer Rebbe for what he calls an "ostentatious show of wealth" - apparently, his Chanukah leichter wasn't up to our nebechl's standards. He goes one to repeat the first ש"ד's ruse, except that he does it in a much longer and nastier way, peppering it with gratuitous pseudo-pshettelech and outright libel, taking the shaky high moral ground. Apparently, to get a license to use the "Derech haBaal Shem Tov", one must use a kezays aluminum leichter and a cardboard sukkah (living in a mansion and driving a new Cadillac is still ok).
The two posts have much more in common then what they differ on. And unfortunately, it seems that the posters aren't much better.
Sanhedrin daf 99 and 100 talks about various meanings of Apikoires as per Mishna; amongst others Gemora says that
אמר מר רבא אמר כגון הני דבי בנימין אסיא דאמרי מאי אהני לן רבנן מעולם לא שרו לן עורבא ולא אסרו לן יונה
On the other extreme, Shabbos 23b says
אמר רבא דרחים רבנן הוו ליה בנין רבנן דמוקיר רבנן הוו ליה חתנוותא רבנן דדחיל מרבנן הוא גופיה הוי צורבא מרבנן ואי לאו בר הכי הוא משתמען מיליה כצורבא מרבנן
As they say, Lacuna Ipsa Loquitur ...
P. S. I'm not testifying to the magnitude of any rabonim mentioned here. I'm not their follower, not their enemy and not their personal friend either, as I have no significant connection to either of them. But a fact remains that there are some of the people who carry the title nowadays, they are what we have - for good or not - and therefore I find those who make it their mission in life to denigrate both the living and lehavdil the dead, with half-truths and other questionable methods, to be less then exemplary individuals.
4 comments:
Ok
I just love your blog.
See, that's a lot coming from me, an avowed snag.
I'm a snag but I love emmes and I love an honest debate with some intellect involved.
The Tzig is a chitzoin shebachitzoinim that censors any real challenge.
The guy you called a klippeh has obviously seen the dark side of the frummeh, and hates them with a passion,BUT, he allows comments and does not censor unless it goes way beyong reasonable.
(there probably should be a discussion about making people frum and than not being there for them.The klippah was good for Lubavitch/other frummeh as long as he was a pound of flesh, nobody set him up with a shiduch while bringing him from a lifestyle that allowed relationships etc.You have to understand the frustration and anger.I've heard this from many BT's
rebbe leben, thank you for kind comments.
the shin-daled that I mentioned isn't just another victim of botched kiruv process. It's not big news that the frum world in general and FFB-"BT" relationships in particular are far from ideal, and shidduchim are tough etc etc. But his case isn't about that. First of all, given what the man is churning out day after day, he's just a psychopath, a misanthrope who refuses to see anything good even when it's shoved into his face; he's hell bent on turning every piece of "news" into a tool to perpetuate his agenda. Frankly, it doesn't come as a surprise that few women, FFB, "BT" or even stam a shiksa would not want to commit to a lifetime relationship with such a creature. Whatever the case may be, I find attempts to blame the environment - parent, school, rabbis, kiruv handlers - whatever - for anyone's continuous string of failures and subsequent joining the "other camp" to prove a point - to be silly. It's like when serial killers justify their acts by saying that their mother didn't hug them enough.
In the future, I'll address the issue of this "kiruv rechokim" business and the warnings that the classic works of Chassidus bring down. This creature is a case for the books of someone who would be so much better if he was left alone to rot wherever he came from. All this fake do-goody agenda he dances around is just a grotesque show; he doesn't care for the Ethiopians, or for the kashrus of Rubashkin's cows, or for how much taxes does rebbe ploni paid or didn't pay; he cares about creating a somewhat plausible ruse on record that paints the entire history yiddishkeit - from the times of Prophets and till today - with the worst possible palette. Not a tinok shenishba, not a mumar leteovon - he's the about as close to be the worst kind of a "min" as one can get. Thus, I would never contemplate commenting on his blog, and I think that anyone doing so is doing a big mistake, for a few reasons. First of all, it builds up an appearance of an honest dialogue and makes the whole forum more attracive (one of his pet posters is Ariel Sokolovsky; enough said). Then, unfortunately, attempts to defend whatever the victim du jour may be are usually carried out by well meaning but not too well informed or eloquent gentlemen, and that too adds credibility to one side of this pseudo-dispute. And then, there is the good old inyan of just not engaging to these kinds of people; it is just harmful on so many levels.
The other one that you mention shares a lot but not all with the shin-daled; but for a period of time he appeared as a well meaning person trying to do a good thing. But when the true faces surfaced, I figured that it's better to just withdraw.
About the "BT" frustration and anger - I personally know about as many FFB's as BT's. Both have it hard. Yes, it's harder to get a shidduch when you're a BT. But it's doable, and most people stabilize and get a life. Life in general is hard, but most of us cope and don't start shooting people around them at random - literally or virtually. All these fringies - the currently defunct MB, the shin-daled mentioned above and this whole company of shkutzim - they have nobody to blame but themselves for their failures.
Thanks for answering.
I'm curious to know which of the nebech'ls post made you change your opinion of him?
I have a couple but want to hear from you first.
And yes, I'd love to hear you address the bt/off the derech problems.To be honest you sound a bit harsh ala the misnaged way of thinking and though I'm a snag, the one aspect of Lubavitch I like is their more positive/less judgementalism.
Joe, no particular post did it. Rather, the overall tone and atmosphere of that clique; especially the partisan paranoia where everyone has to be conscribed to camps and parties, and these people do it for you.
But one of the more bothersome things there are attempts to paint those who don't agree with them as enemies. If anything, I admire and respect Chabad - the people (not just the old stock, but many in the young generation have a bright future too), the Rebbe, the great deeds. So when a newly baked gang of "gevoreners" try to corner everyone who doesn't agree with their very own and very narrow interpretation of some issues that may or may not be controversial, it's reasonable to say that nothing good will come from contributing to that conversation. May he live biz hindert zwei 'n zwanzig ...
Post a Comment