Introduction:
I am not a historian, but the information that I intend to share with you in this and future posts, reflect an unbiased and accurate picture of Torah Vodaath post the passing of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz ztvk"l. It is information that I gathered firsthand from people that were directly involved in the yeshiva. It is what a psychiatrist would call repressed memories, that come back to haunt you when certain triggers are set off.
There are no books to sell here, there will be no sensationalism for that end, or manufactured half-truths because of any particular agenda, or outright lies to distort the record. This is the correct historical record for the present and future generations, painting a picture of the distortion of the legacy of Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz's vision for American Orthodox Judaism, fueled by corruption, greed, thievery, incompetence, by no less a figure than one he trusted and appointed menahel of the yeshiva.
There are many lessons to be learned.
First and foremost; the rewriting of history by booksellers must forever be depicted for what they are, booksellers for a profit. Sensationalism, the turning of humans into gods sells; agenda-driven rewriting the lives of rabbinic historical figures, must be exposed for the naked profiteering that has dominated the Orthodox Jewish world for at least the last twenty years. Much of the information will shock many because of the brutal honesty, but there will be no compromise of the facts for any one's benefit, nor am I concerned about creating additional enemies. I don't care now, nor did I really ever care.
This post is not about me, but as I present the facts, please do bear in mind, that ever since I could speak, I voiced my opinion on just about everything; and my life was shaped by the vast array of cumulative unique experiences, not the least being blessed to be born into my family.
Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (RSFM) ztvk"l passed away in 1948, and entrusted Yeshivah Torah Vodaath to four people. Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky (RYK), Rav Reuvain Grozofsky (RRG) as roshei hayeshiva, Rav Alexander Linchner (RAL - the financial rosh yeshiva and secular studies principal - a talmid of the Chofetz Chaim), and Rav Gedalya Schorr (RGS) as menahel of the yeshiva, (Rav Nesannel Quinn was to be the day to day principal of the high school or mesifta.)
Their duties were clear; RYK and RRG were in charge of the Yeshiva and it's policies, whether it pertained to chinuch, curriculum, admittance, and all policies that affected the yeshiva, including Bais Medrash Elyon -- the post-graduate division and kollel in an (obscure) town called Monsey, N.Y., directly or indirectly. RAL and RGS were to take instruction from the two roshei hayeshiva. RRG was to be the rosh yeshiva heading Torah Umesorah and Bais Medrash Elyon. Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky was charged with leading Torah Vodaath, and assisting him was to be Rabbis Linchner and Schorr. All in all, there was no doubt as to whom the leadership of the yeshiva was left to, the two senior Rosh Yeshivas. That was the will Of Rav Mendlowitz.
RSFM's passing left a void in the yeshiva; one person in the hanhala told me it was like coming home to a house after the levaya, trying to avoid the left-over belongings of the deceased. The pain was deep, but the yeshiva had to function in the shadows left by perhaps the greatest visionary of Orthodox Jewry in the United States ever, particularly in the Yeshiva world.(I'm not factoring in the large number of chassidim and the greatness of too few of their Rebbes that immigrated after the War.)
RSFM's greatness of machshava is apparent now more than ever for the "blueprints" that he left, how an American yeshiva bochur should be educated.
The two roshei yeshiva, RYK and RRG were from the same school of Litvish thought and background, RAL was born in America, went to Europe to learn under the Chofetz Chaim, RGS was born in Poland to Gerrer Chassidim, came to America as a youngster and was a student of Torah Vodaath, but traveled to Europe to learn by Rav Aaron Kotler for a brief period in the 1930s and came back to America before the decade was up.
It did not take long for the personalities of three of the roshei yeshiva to begin showing signs of discontent with Gedalya Schorr, the designated menahel.
The first public flashpoint came in a meeting held circa 1956, regarding the deepening financial crisis facing the yeshiva. Rav Reuvain Grozovsky, zechuso yagen aleinu, had a stroke and was immobilized and unable to speak, but attended the meeting.
Benjamin Feldman had recently taken the helm of the board of directors; he was a financially successful rag merchant in lower Manhattan. But nobody ever accused him of being smart.
At that meeting, Feldman proposed selling the house that Rebbetzin Mendlowitz a"h lived in at the time, after he would be sub-dividing it from Bais Medrash Elyon in Monsey. All in the room were shocked at this proposal except Gedalya Schorr, who was aware in advance of Feldman's proposition, and assured Feldman that he would support him.
The room broke out into a war zone. Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky stormed out, Rabbi Reuvain Grozofsky could not speak but tears flowed out of his eyes while his body trembled. Rabbi Alexander Linchner and Mr.Binyomin Wilhelm confronted Feldman, and Wilhelm to his everlasting credit, smashed Feldman over the head with a chair. Feldman was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
To be continued....
211 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 211 of 211There is a woman Nancy Cuevas Guzman who identifies herself as a Marrano who needed giyur lechumrah.
She has been complaining in blog posts about a giyur institute in Israel called Ohalei Avraham Vesarah that is affiliated with Tropper.
At the one for women, Ohel Sarah Imeinu, she claims the people running it are former Southern Baptist giyoresses who are ultra-paranoid that anyone joining the program is a spy for Christian missonaries. She says that Nochum Eisenstein, in cahoots with Tropper, is forcing women to go only to this organization and not any other like Aish, Shearim, etc.
Even worse, she says they are forced to pay the Ohel exorbitant sums of money and that at the end, many of the ger candidates are kicked out of the program by Eisenstein-Tropper for no good reason without getting a refund. Eisenstein is accused of pressuring all other organizations not to work with these ger candidates.
Others accuse one director of Ohel Sarah of being kicked out of communities like Emmanuel because her husband is a sexual predator.
Tropper's gang is also said to be trolling the Yahoo group "Orthodox conversion".
But Cuevas Guzman may also have a suspicious agenda as she is promoting the troublemaker Seth Farber who claims to be a modern orthodox advocate for gerim but has krum hashkofos going to the other extreme.
A federal judge, Shira Scheindlin, has ruled that Morgan Stanley, Moody’s rating agency, and McGraw-Hill's S&P rating agency must defend themselves against fraud charges that have been filed against them for their AAA ratings of sub-prime mortgage packages sold during the height of sub-prime mortgage financing for housing.
While some defendants, including Bank of NY Mellon, have been left off the hook, this ruling opens the door to future and already pending suits against hedge funds and other investors, who reportedly “hyped” these investments as high quality investments to collect massive fees, while hiding the risks involved in these investments.
It’s about time that these companies and rating agencies are held accountable for their ratings of questionable investments. Perhaps this will lead to more responsible ratings in the future.
This weekend is the third Yahrtzeit of the collapse of Shevach Meats.
Titus HaRasha dreamed of destroying and uprooting Judaism, yet all it took was one tiny buzzing pest and the mighty Titus was killed.
Moish Finkel was a man firmly entrenched in the power and politics of Monsey. Feared by all, yet respected by none. He deluded himself into thinking that he was invincible. All it took was one little buzz by a little pest and the house of cards came tumbling down.
How many more delusional people with grandiose self images have to be torn down before society learns that you can't abuse a smaller person and expect to walk away whole?
There is a price to pay.
The Radicalization of Obama's 'Green Czar'
FOXNews - 2 hours ago
Van Jones was arrested in San Francisco in 1992 for participating in a demonstration following the acquittal of four LA police officers accused of beating Rodney King.
At least one congressman, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., has called for Jones' resignation.
Democratic strategist and FOX News contributor Bob Beckel predicted that Jones would be out of a job by Labor Day, and he wondered how Jones got the "czar" post in the first place.
"He's got every right in the world to be a self-avowed communist, but the Secret Service would no more allow a self-avowed communist into the White House as they would Charlie Manson, so that's what I don't get," Beckel said.
"There's something more in here about the breakdown of the system. Yes, it broke down with the Obama administration, but it also broke down with those people who are responsible for doing the background check," he added.
-------------------
White House tight-lipped about Obama adviser
The Associated Press
Rangel: 'Prejudice' Toward Obama Halting Health Care Reform
Rep. Charles Rangel, the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and a chief health-care negotiator, said that "bias" and "prejudice" toward Obama are fueling opposition to health-care reform.
First it was Gov. Paterson. Now the dean of New York's congressional delegation has played the race card -- and just as the governor did, he's using President Obama to do it, the New York Post reports.
It's great that my good friends David & Dina Wein-Reis can host events in their home before it is actually seized by the Justice Dept or foreclosed on by the banks:
http://excitingjudaism.com/
Breslov Learning in Manhattan, Tuesday, Sept 8
We will be learning from Rabbi Nachman of Breslovs' Lekutai Moharan.
Tonights class might be the two Most Mind Boggling Torahs of Rabbi Nachman.
Chapter 67
" Occasionally. the soul becomes weary by praying without heart,
which in turn, makes it grow distant from its Mother, the Glory.
This prayer without heart, in turn, also causes wisdom to depart from the elderly."
( Showing honor to an Elderly Talmid Chacham, will revive both.)
No one, no matter how learned one is, is prepared for this Torah.
Chapter 17
" The blemish of the Altar is perfected only through those
who have converted to Judaism."
"Only Jewish Converts can repair the Altar's fallen Holy Sparks".
( Improper eating is synonymous with a blemish in the Altar.)
Lekutai Moharan English / Hebrew Copies will be distributed.
All invited,
At the home of David and Dina Reis.
322 West 75 St, corner Riverside, Entrance on W 75 st.
Start Please at 8:15 pm, Sharp.
Refreshments.
FREE
Suggested Donation $2.00 for the printed lessons, which you may keep.
Thank you David & Dina Reis
President Barack Obama's adviser Van Jones has resigned amid controversy over past inflammatory statements, the White House said early Sunday.
Van Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.
The resignation comes as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.
Jones issued an apology on Thursday for his past statements. When asked the next day whether Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones "continues to work in the administration."
The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones' name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officers had allowed the attacks to occur.
"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
Isn't that convenient.
Wein-Reis is hosting a shiur on the kedusha of gerim when she met her own Hispanic husband under non-kosher circumstances at Brooklyn College.
Who did that seemingly improper gerus? Tropper?
Email and/or fax the English weekly HAMODIA to protest their re-writing of history and the whitewashing of crimes against humanity by posting a photo of Michael Hersh, condemned kidnapper of Isaac Hersh, on its gedolim picture pages:
Editor@hamodia.com
Letters@hamodia.com
Photos@hamodia.com
Fax: 718 853 9103
Context and caption:
"Community: Page C18, 13 ELUL|Photos of the Week|SEPTEMBER 2, 2009: R-L: Michoel Hersh, father of the bar mitzvah bachur; Yehuda Hersh, bar mitzvah bachur; Harav Aharon Schechter; Harav Pinchos Kahn"
Protest to the English language HAMODIA how can they overlook what happened a year ago when the young Jewish teen Isaac Hersh was kidnapped by his own father with the consent and blessings of his rabbi Arone Shechter and then they both fought to keep the boy on Tranquility Bay camp in Jamaica, Bahamas against the will of other family members (grandparents), rabbis and community activists.
Only after a three person rescue team (Rabbi Wolbe from the Houston Kollel, his father from Monsey and Dr. Pelcovitz of YU) took the initiative to fly down to Jamaica and rescue Isaac, with the help of a human rights organization filing suit in Federal Court, and even an appeal to Senator Hillary, was Isaac finally rescued.
The fallout was huge. It was reported in the Jewish and general media. Michael Hersh was fired from his high-paying office job at Hatzola of Flatbush, and a split in Agudath Israel's Moetzes erupted when Shechter refused to back off his backing of Michael Hersh and the imprisonment of Isaac and the censure of Hersh to release his under-age son, leading to Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky calling Shechter a "rotzeach" to his face, and R. Dovid Feinstein refused to back Shechter while people from the Lower East Side were key in pushing the rescue of Isaac from Tranquility Bay/Michael Hersh/Aroin Shechter. The Chaim Berlin Yeshiva crowd stood by cowardly as one in their midst was dragging their name in the mud as he pulled the wool over Shechter's eyes.
Now the HAMODIA has the audacity and chutzpa to publish a photo of Hersh and Shechter rejoicing together as if "all is well" and as if nothing ever happened, counting on public amnesia.
Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twersky and Dr. Pelcovits signed a full-page warning in the Jewish Press against the events that took place in the imprisonment of Isaac Hersh and that under no circumstances are any Jewish parents to ever send their child to a facility like Tranquility Bay for ANY reasons whatsoever!
Email and/or fax the HAMODIA to protest their re-writing of history and the whitewashing of crimes against humanity:
Editor@hamodia.com
Letters@hamodia.com
Photos@hamodia.com
Fax: 718 853 9103
For reference, this was the context and the caption that followed:
"Community: Page C18, 13 ELUL|Photos of the Week|SEPTEMBER 2, 2009: R-L: Michoel Hersh, father of the bar mitzvah bachur; Yehuda Hersh, bar mitzvah bachur; Harav Aharon Schechter; Harav Pinchos Kahn"
Having a hard time with the way you are describing someone of Rav Schorr's caliber. They did not like him simply because he was chassidish? He was a genius in learning.
This is ridiculous. I simply do not believe what you are implying about Rav Schorr. Rav Schorr was a gaon of rare distinction; he was also a close talmid of your grandfather. Those who knew Rav Schorr and were privelged to learn his Torah know who he was. And you can never change that.
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