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Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Who's In Charge?





Who's In Charge?

by Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz - The Yiddishe Licht - June 8, 1923

לא תתגודדו לא תעשו אגודות אגודות - Tractate Yibamos - folio 14

In regard to the question – “Who's in charge?”, we have paid dearly more than once.

In the very early history of the Jewish nation, when our people were in their developmental period, this question of: “Who is in charge” was the one that hindered our further development, and led to our development as a Jewish people. This was after King Solomon died and his son, Rehoboam, was supposed to become king. Then Jeroboam ben Joash went and tore away ten tribes and founded the Kingdom of Ephraim. And according to the Midrash's explanation, it was not a matter of something different, but about the question of “Who Is In Charge.”

The Midrash intends to say with this, that there was no question of principle, or that he wanted to establish a more democratic government, or that he wanted to convince the people, and also not because he wanted to have a different government. No! All of this was no more than to fling sand in the eyes of the people, and in truth, it was only about “Who Is In Charge”. And the chasing after kavod or power of one person, or at most, from a small group of people.

This cost us dearly.

Here, in the breaking-up; when the Kingdom of Ephraim separated from the Kingdom of Yehuda, the fate of the Jewish people was sealed, to what in reality, hundreds of years later occurred –- to being chased out of our land.

The same question of “Who Is In Charge” has already cost us much here in this land, and if it will not reach a conclusion as quickly as possible, it will, God forbid, cost us dearly here as well. I mean this in regard to the four organizations of rabbis with whom, in this land, we have been smitten. There were times when we did not have even one, and now, blessed be He, we have four. But since we have a rule that the Jews cannot welcome both "Good Rabbis" and "Dangerous Ones", the four organizations perhaps can be accepted as the Good Rabbis,[or] perhaps the four "agudas" are possibly worse for us than nothing, considered like the "Dangerous Rabbis".

And if we want to be entirely honest and without any bias, and examine the reason that led to this, that we should now have four organizations of rabbis instead of one, we absolutely cannot find any serious reason that could have led to this. For American Jewry’s tragic division, when there are no principle oppositions, when there is no real difference of opinions among the four organizations, the question is "Yesodei Hadaas"... the foundation of common sense and knowledge. Is not one of the requirements of our religion, "Yesodei Hadaas" the foundations of common sense, not now found nebach even in the smallest tradition of Klal Yisroel?

It is not a question of Orthodoxy, Conservatism and Reform, which must be divided into more camps. It is no more nor less, regrettably, and regrettably once again, about the question” “Who Is In Charge?”

It is sad that one of our own people should find it necessary to accuse rabbis, and among them four elder sages and greats, and I, with such a humble motive in many ways, would generally consider it a chutzpah.

But I think that such a chutzpah is in the correct place, and it is, in general, not from the category of "az panim l'gehinom" but rather separate from the rule, or as chasidim call it "az l'kedusha", brazenness for the sake of holiness, and according to this chasidic lore, is not only not a sin --- it is a good thing, the brazenness of evil, [displayed by the various rabbis], from which, regrettably, we have so much in this land, and thereby gives me the freedom to criticize the behavior of the rabbis for making four agudas or separate divided organizations.

And I openly accuse the rabbis for their handling of this matter this way, dominated by their own small personal interests. [See the Markevet Hamishna in the foreword of the Rambam]

It is like making two Torahs from one Torah. One builds and one destroys...

And I ask the rabbis: can you take upon yourselves the great responsibility that your small interests might, God forbid, cause the entire Judaism to collapse?

And when sometimes you sit by yourself and think about the destruction of Jewry in this land, does not your conscience plague you, that you alone are mostly guilty of this destruction, at the very least in a large part of it? When all the rabbis would be united, it would be easy to unite the entire Orthodox population and miracles could take place.

Dear friends in New York have a completed plan which would be very simple to implement, and it would result in enough money to give decent subsidies for the rabbis, so they would not find it necessary to work with those things that are against the honor of rabbis, and there would be enough money for ritual slaughterers, so they should not be forced to become lowly creations, and there would still be enough money to support a Talmud Torah and Yeshivas on a grand scale.

But this uniting cannot occur as long as the rabbis are torn into parts, and regrettably, the four organizations are the "Arba Avos Nezikin" and not only destroyers who do damage to all of Yiddishkeit in this land, they are also destroyers who do damage to themselves from a spiritual and territorial standpoint. [See Tosefes Yom Tov Bava Kama Mishna Aleph]

And I give myself permission to ask the rabbis of all sides, will this dire situation remain like this forever? Has not the time arrived for you to put your own personal selfish reckonings to a side, and think about all of Klal Yisroel?

Rabbis! The Jewish people appeal to you! Have pity on the honor of the Torah and the honor of Judaism, most especially on your own honor, the honor of rabbis. Remember how much holiness and respect the title of Rabbi once contained!

Remember that the seat of the Rabbinate is also an inheritance from our holy sages and from the highest heights from the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself with Moshe Rabeinu a"h. Moshe Rabeinu wanted to sacrifice himself for all of Yisroel, and you cannot sacrifice for a foolish fleeting second of kavod, for the respect of the Torah and the entire Judaism?

No, I cannot believe that the spiritual leaders of Judaism have sunk so far! No! And therefore, I appeal to you once more. Do not forget! Do not forget Jewish responsibilities! Do not forget that the present and the future of the Jewish people is in your hands. Do not forget that the eyes of all Klal Yisroel are upon you, and which of you will dare to take on his conscience such a great responsibility?

Rabbis, remember your holy mission, that talmidei chachomim are suppose to bring peace to the world , and see to make peace -- "Hashem oz l'amo yiten, Hashem yivorech es amo b'shalom".

54 comments:

Battered Billionaires said...

Change is in the air, at least Warren Buffet knows it when he calls on the US Congress to "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich" (NY Times) and PAY their fair share of taxes. He should know and he's not afraid to say it. The lower class is long gone. It's now all about the mauled emaciated middle class that has collapsed and if change and help won't come soon then the middle class will continue to riot as they have in Europe and Asia and demonstrate in America.

What does it mean when media mogul Rupert Murdoch is humiliated with a pie tossed in his face as he lies to a committee in Britain's parliament over his media companies hacking the phones and Emails of...anyone they choose? Rupert Murdoch Pie Attack (YouTube) And he's then forced to shut down his top paper and withdraw from lucrative TV deals with key staff forced to resign in shame, including the head of London's police!

What does it mean that global speculator and menace George Soros gets sued by one of his young mistresses from Brazil for not giving her the apartment he supposedly promised her? "Jilted gal pal tells all on bust-up with billionaire Soros" (NY Post) This is reported in the world media that Soros is supposed to have his own way. Soros now has "tzores"!

What does it mean that billionaire hoopla-nik Richard Branson's mega-zillions home in the British Virgin Islands is struck by lightning in the middle of the night and burned to the ground as he and his guests watch helplessly? "Paradise lost: All that's left of Sir Richard Branson's luxury home is a smouldering ruin" (UK Daily Mail) This is the same guy who lords it up with all his "Virgin" enterprises and is "knighted" while his countrymen suffer from economic hardships and deprivations and turn to burning down their own cities.

It's not easy to be rich nowadays and rightly so, because the way things look now, the wealthy are about to join the rest of the overwhelming middle class majority.

itchiemayer said...

Eyepopper - Sadly, and due to Rabbi Lopatin's refusal to speak the truth about Rahmbo's wife Amy Rule, there are actually rumors that Amy has recently been converted (orthodox). I saw this rumor on Reb Harry's blog. I love Reb Harry but he gives virtually everyone from Chitown a free pass, including the Cubbies.

Anyhow, this is careless of Rabbi Lopatin. Besides, how could anyone believe this would be a sincere conversion when they are clearly not shomer mitzvos and Amy Rule is married to a beheima, albeit one supported by R' Harry for Mayor of Chicago.

An Amy Rule conversion would be on par with Yaelkala's.

One of the most carefully worded statements I have ever seen can be viewed on Failed Messiah. It is Rabbi Lopatin's comments to clarify his position on Amy Rule's Jewishness written a few years ago. It's a bunch of fancy gibberish that doesn't say a damn thing.

Anonymous said...

YNet News
24 August 2011

The Nazi past of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of global home products company IKEA, was first revealed in the 1990s.

But these Nazi ties were not a temporary "teenage confusion", as Kamprad had claimed in the past, according to a new book described in a Stockholm News report Tuesday, but an ideology he continued to support long after World War II and despite his friendship and business relations with a Jewish man.

In her book, "Och i Wienerwald står träden kvar" (And in Wienerwald the trees remain), author Elisabeth Åsbrink writes about the life of Otto Ullmann, who came to Sweden from Vienna with a transport of Jewish children, and was placed with the family Kamprad.

There he became friends with young Ingvar Kamprad, who was active in the far-Right "Nysvenska rörelsen" (New Swedish Movement) and for a while also was very active in the purely Nazi party "Svensk socialistisk samling" (Swedish Socialist Unity).

During the war, the Swedish secret police prepared a file on 17-year-old Kamprad and labeled him as a Nazi. The file said he worked to recruit new members to the Nazi party, according to a letter he himself wrote.

Åsbrink claims that Kamprad's relationship with the far-Right party and with its leader Per Engdahl continued long after the war, even when the horrors of the Holocaust became known to the world.

Engdahl was a guest at Kamprad’s wedding in 1950 and the IKEA founder even wrote him a letter, saying he was "proud to be part of the New Swedish circle."

At the same time, Stockholm News reported, the Jewish refugee Ullmann remained one of Kamprad's closest friends and helped him build the global home products company.

Some information about Kamprad's Nazi past was first revealed in 1994, when Engdahl died and his correspondences were published. Kamprad argued in the past that his attraction to the Nazis stemmed from his confusion as a teenager, and that he was in fact more of a fascist than a Nazi.

But according to Åsbrink, Engdahl's party had a Nazi ideology, not just a fascist one. "The Jews are an alien element in the Western public body," Engdahl had written. In 1944, he referred to Hitler as "Europe's savior".

According to the book, after the war Engdahl remained opposed to democracy, and even helped Nazis from Norway and Denmark evade trial.

Nonetheless, in an interview he gave to Åsbrink a year ago, Kamprad stated that “Per Engdahl was a great man. This I will maintain as long as I live.”

Anonymous said...

New details in the murder indictment in the shocking murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira (Baba Elazar) three weeks ago reveal another shock – the killer his the murder weapon with his tefillin, which contain parchments with sections of the Torah and are worn by Jews when praying on weekday mornings.

The indictment, served against Asher Dahan in a Be’er Sheva court, contained a further shock – the murder suspect had taken the 24.5-centimeter (14-inch) commando knife from the room of the rabbi’s son before entering the rabbi’s study.

Dahan allegedly then took the knife out of his tefillin bag and placed it in his pants pocket, under his jacket, so he could pull it out easily and quickly.

The murder suspect, who has admitted stabbing the revered rabbi to death, previously told police that he was not happy with the rabbi’s advice concerning marital problems.

The day of the murder, Dahan checked to make sure that Rabbi Abuhatzeira was receiving visitors that day. Dahan arrived at night and stood in line, taking the knife sometime between entering the rabbi’s house and reaching his study after everyone else had left.

The indictment stated that Dahan distracted the attention of Rabbi Abuhatzeira by handing him a pre-written note. Dahan murmured, “In the name of HaShem (the Creator), we will act and succeed,” a maxim used when attempting something difficult.

As Rabbi Abuhatzeira read the note, Dahan stabbed him with fatal blows to his chest.

Spotlight on the Queens Vaad said...

Weprin was invited to Joel Schonfeld's shul one night this week and was greeted by Chaim Schwartz. After the Vaad was blasted for being on the take from Weprin and supporting him, they tried to pretend to be even handed by allowing Turner to debate him in the flagship VHQ shul. What business do they have using a shul for this purpose? In any case, Spotlight associates were on hand to call Weprin on his lies to the audience.

http://www.cityhallnews.com/2011/08/weprin-faces-backlash-in-orthodox-community/

Insiders say Assemblyman David Weprin, running in the special election for Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat, is facing a revolt among Orthodox Jews – though he himself is an Orthodox Jew – because he strongly defended same-sex marriage during an Albany debate.

In his June 15 speech, Weprin said his own Orthodox rabbi would not marry a Jew & a non-Jew, which he felt was wrong – and that gay marriage was no different.

“My religion is very important to me personally, but this is not a religious issue,” Weprin said. “I think everyone here would agree that we should not be outlawing marriages between Jews & non-Jews or interracial marriages.”

Weprin’s comment garnered little notice in the wider world. But his rhetoric has since gained wide attention by many in the Orthodox Jewish community, and videos of his speech have rocketed across their websites.

And though the Orthodox population in Kew Gardens & especially in Flatbush does not make up an overwhelming part of the district, the community is full of committed voters who could well make a difference in a low turnout special election.

“What he said in the Assembly has been played over & over on YouTube,” said one well-connected neutral observer of the race. “People were really offended that he said he was Orthodox who was supporting gay marriage.”

During the campaign, some rabbis have refused to meet with Weprin, while the newspaper Hamodia reported that others have refused to be photographed with the assemblyman. Editorial writers for Jewish newspapers & well-read blogs have blasted him.

Weprin met Wednesday with the leadership of the organization Agudath Israel. But he walked out of the room without securing the leadership’s endorsement, despite steering massive Council grants to the group.

...

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) will not support fellow Orthodox Assemblyman David Weprin in the election September 13 to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner. The congressional district covers Brooklyn & Queens & is home to many Orthodox Jewish voters.

Hikind emphasized that Weprin had lost his vote by bringing in his religion to back his vote for the gay marriage law that carried the New York legislature in June. The fact that he backed the law at all cost Weprin Orthodox votes.

"I will not support David Weprin," said the Brooklyn state Assemblyman

"Weprin basically used his Jewish orthodoxy to say gay marriage is OK. He used his orthodoxy to say gay marriage is kosher. That crossed the line," Hikind added.

Spotlight on the Queens Vaad said...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zdiG1iN9CMw/Tk1QOTpS0SI/AAAAAAAAAeE/3_66aE8BiC8/s1600/weprin071211.jpg

Here is the infamous picture of David Weprin marching in the "gay pride" parade while waving the rainbow flag of the militant "gay rights" movement.

The Queens Vaad's hypocrite secret agent Asher Taub had been telling people he was going to look for this picture (as if it's so hard to find in many online newspapers) to expose Weprin. Taub never made good on his word before turning into the chief attack hundt against Weprin's anti-toyavah opponent in the upcoming election.

Rabbonim all over Brooklyn & Queens have refused to even meet with Weprin. The two-faced among the rabbonus just make sure not to be photographed with him. Does Chaim Schwartz have a heter to shake Weprin's hand from one of his "recognized gedolim" whether they be in "Australia" or wherever? The Agudah seems to hold it's mutter bedieved, maybe if taking a shower immediately after to minimize the tumah.

UOJ GETS RESULTS said...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-match-20110824,0,1363334.story?track=rss

Match.com to Screen for Sex Offenders!

Spotlight on the Queens Vaad said...

David Weprin is a dishonest lowlife who will resort to any dirty trick to keep his job.

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/02/17/whitestone_times/news/whitestone_times_newsqqhkotz02172010.txt

When he ran for State Assembly, his opponent was the anti-toyavah Bob Friedrich.

The Weprin campaign tried to hide the fact that they were the ones who mailed out a flyer showing Friedrich with a Nazi swastika for being anti-toyavah. Friedrich is a Yid but they were hoping everyone thought he was German. When Weprin was caught because of an identifying factor they didn't think would lead back to them, he refused to apologize, calling Friedrich a bigot and extremist for his anti-toyavah position.

As this article explains, Weprin's campaign manager Corey Bearak was forced to resign over the scandal but only because of a revolt at the Queens Civic Congress over such a disgusting tactic, not because Weprin is sorry about anything. Congress delegates who are mostly Democrats were threatening mass resignations that would dissolve the Congress unless Bearak resigned for Weprin's atrocious behavior. (This newspaper is very Liberal and pro-Weprin so they left out the gay details, only mentioning a much more minor factor)

Bearak is still an official at the Queens Jewish Community Council along with several Queens Vaad rabbis.

They say there is also someone at the Vaad who will do anything to keep his job.

Observant Jew said...

I'm angry because that report about Mr. Pareve Veggie Burger pushed me past my limit.

What the hell is wrong with Harry Maryles? If he supports Rahm-bo for Mayor of Chicago then he will support Obama's re-election bid.

Rahm-bo and that other traitor David Axelrod told Obama how far he could push against Israel

Mirrer insider said...

Nafla ateres rosheinu

The alter Mirrer adam gadol and adam gadol ad meod in midos tovos specifically, Rav Shamshon Brodsky ztl, has died at 93 years old. He was a mechanech for 60 years including as menahel of the Fallsburg yeshiva way back, even before New Rochelle, when it started in the Bronx.

It pained me greatly that the filthy Leib Pinter always hung around this gadol and paid with his tainted money to have Rav Brodsky's beis medrash on Ave S named after Pinter's shver, R' Yaakov Moishe Shurkin.

I believe that Rav Brodsky did not know the truth about Pinter. I say this because even though R' Lazer Ginzberg does not have the best track record with molesters, he hates ganovim and once attacked some neighborhood ganovim during a derasha. Some other neighborhood rabbonim quickly moved in for damage control and warned people not to repeat anything to anyone even if R' Lazer said it.

Here is a major secret that Pinter probably doesn't want anyone to know. Rav Shurkin changed his name from Shur. He was born in Podobranka, White Russia, the same tiny village as his cousin the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. Rav Shurkin was also the great grandson of R' Zalman Chaikin, the head of another prominent Chabad family that includes another Rebbe, R' Levi Yitzchok Schneersohn. Pinter who tries to impress Livishe gedolim by smearing rabbis with questionable hashkofos does not want anything to do with his cousins. Rav Shurkin by the way is buried close to the Rebbe's ohel.

itchiemayer said...

R' Harry has a soft spot for his fellow Chicagoans and no doubt feels a Brisker kinship with Rabbi Lopatin.

I wouldn't be surprised if R' Harry voted for BHO in '08 but I doubt he'll support his reelection bid.

He recently did state that BHO is a "nice enough guy", and I can't agree with him on that.

R' Harry is a good man and it takes a lot of courage to write many of the things he does write while using his real name.

That he is a fan of the Cubs is what I find distasteful.

Federal Education Dept - school lunch division said...

If anyone is going to Otisville prison for visiting day, they should ask Pinter if baloney & cheese sandwiches are a Lubavitcher minhag.

Rubashkin truck driver said...

Don't forget that one chaplain at Otisville until he was arrested last year was "Uncle Milty" Balkany. So the baloney component is either Agri or Tevya's Ranch.

Rubashkin truck driver said...

And the cheese component is probably from Ahava Dairy under the Crown Heights Beis Din.

Like Pinter told Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzmann who was investigating complaints: "kosher meat plus kosher cheese equals a kosher sandwich!"

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20110716/NEWS04/707169973

Idled Kosher Dairy Plants in New Bremen and Ogdensburg Default on Nearly $135,000 in Milk Payments;

Anonymous said...

itche meyer, if harry calls obama a nice guy then he's certainly not good in my book

Chaim Berlin = My Way or the Highway said...

http://kevarim.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/rabbi-yaakov-moshe-shurkin.jpg

At least back in the 60s, the Shurkin-Pinter family also couldn't decide if they wanted any association with Chaim Berlin because they left off Rav Shurkin's matzaivah that he was a long time Chaim Berlin rosh yeshiva

Monsey said...

I agree with blogger Yossi Izrael that Harry is a loser who stays up all night thinking what to write for his next post.

Old Torah Vodaas said...

There are more really strange molester connections to the Malochim.

The molester brother of Berel Levy from the OK hashgocho who committed suicide was a nephew of the Malach himself. The Levys did really horrible things to deny the almana her husband's share in the business after he died and even tried to take away her kids as if she was the criminal.

The Williamsburg Malach of today giving hashgochos is Meyer Weberman of Nesivos Oylam beis midrash. His son is the scum Mordche Wolf Weberman of Neturei Karta who may have been part of the delegation that kissed Ahmadinijad yemach shmo in Iran.

Does R' UOJ have any comment on the difference of opinion between Rav Quinn and the Webermans as to whether they were actually thrown out of the yeshiva?

itchiemayer said...

That's just plain mean...not to mention unnecessary and ridiculous.

Spotlight on the Queens Vaad said...

http://www.queensbp.org/clients/queens_images/041411_PassoverFoodStopShop.jpg

Here is a picture of Chaim Schwartz at Stop & Shop supermarket in his dual role as Queens Vaad Executive Drecktor AND board member of the Queens Jewish Community Council. QJCC in case you were wondering counts every Reform and Conservative temple in the borough in their membership roster. Seems like things haven't changed much since Schwartz was in Boston.

Schwartz was there to thank City Council Speaker Christine "mayseh eretz Mitzrayim" Quinn for providing kimcha dePischa to aniyim. Who knew that the Pesach needs of heimishe Yiddelach were provided in cooperation with an eager VHQ by the top gay "marriage" advocate in NYC?

We assume that Chaim Schwartz cleared this with one of his "recognized gedolim". Interesting how he attacks all his critics as "apikorsim" or modern orthodox "madahniks" when he is always at the beck & call of the real McCoy.

Baltimore Putz and Thief said...

MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY CHARGES MARYLAND FOUNDER OF "SAVE A TORAH" CHARITY WITH FRAUD

Defendant Allegedly Fabricated Stories Of "Rescuing" Torahs Lost Or Hidden During The Holocaust To Steal Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and RONALD J. VERROCHIO, the Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service ("USPIS"), announced today the arrest of MENACHEM YOULUS, a founder of the "Save a Torah" charity, which purported to "rescue" Torah scrolls lost or hidden during the Holocaust, for allegedly defrauding the charity and its donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars. YOULUS, who billed himself as the "Jewish Indiana Jones," fabricated detailed accounts of having found Torahs lost or hidden during the Holocaust in Europe, including in Auschwitz and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and in other places around the world. He then used those false accounts as a platform for soliciting contributions to Save a Torah, some of which he embezzled by diverting them directly into his personal bank accounts. In other instances, YOULUS allegedly submitted inflated and doctored invoices to Save a Torah to increase the amount he was reimbursed by the charity for the "rescued" Torahs, which, in at least some instances, he had simply purchased from other Torah dealers.

The case is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys NICOLE FRIEDLANDER and JANIS ECHENBERG are in charge of the prosecution.

Q said...

Can anyone let me in on the details of R' Hutner firing R' Yaakov Moshe Shurkin, and RYMS's subsequent heart attack and death?

Paul Mendlowitz said...

The Webermans were misfits that were tossed out of YTV. Binyomin Wilhelm attempted to persuade RSFM to keep them there to no avail.

Eventually all the Webermans became hostile to RSFM and mishpocho.

Baltimore, the City that breeds said...

http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/local_news/rabbi_menachem_youlus_arrested/26418

Youlus is facing up to 40 years in prison

Anonymous said...

One of the Flatbush rabbis who tried to stop people from repeating R' Lazer's attack on crooks like David Schick is a talmid of R' Zelig Epstein. I once asked R' Zelig about this guy because of a different meshigass he was doing. R' Zelig raised his eyebrows and otherwise indicated his talmid is a dray kop. Another time I spoke to R' Zelig he was very clear that he had no affinity for a mishpuche of ganuvim who have been stealing for at least three generations, the Abramcyzks, some of whom were long time neighbors of Leib Pinter.

Anonymous said...

But didn't R' Shraga Feivel hold of the Malach himself even if the Webermans were weirdos?

Mirrer, Mirrer on the wall said...

Rav Brodsky zl was a long time rosh yeshiva at Birkas Reuvein which was the chief competitor to R' Tuvya Goldstein's Emek Halacha. One of his talmidim in the rabbonus was probably the gorem to get Mondrowitz fired from the Jerusalem technology college he taught at. This rov wrote them a letter demanding to know how they could employ a child molesting fugitive from US Law Enforcement. Mondrowitz was canned by the college shortly afterward.

Mirrer, Mirrer on the wall said...

It took a long time until someone apprised R' Shmuel Berenbaum of Pinter's geneivos but when he found out, he had Pinter's desk removed and banned Pinter from hocking around or even stepping foot in the yeshiva's office. Pinter ignored the Mirrer yeshiva for 30 years that was only like 500 feet from his house. One day Pinter starts thinking, gosh I should start raising money for them and that way I can make my son a Mirrer yeshiva high school rebbe even though a lot of people don't think he's rebbe material.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Initially, for some years he did.

RSFM invited him to speak at YTV as well. Then certain cult behaviors started having a negative effect on talmidim. They stayed up all night for example after a melave malka, and they would not show up to shiur or davening.

The talmidim spent too much unaccounted time in the Bronx. They started drinking...and their learning was seriously affected.

Anyone that knew RSFM, understood that he was not going to let his talmidim confuse chassidic varmkeit and spirituality, with extreme behavior and dress.

Anyone that came to the yeshiva had to retain the dress code of their families, meaning no talis koton over the shirt, and no change of the livush.

Mirrer, Mirrer on the wall said...

R' Shmuel Berenbaum had concerns about R' Don Segal that were similar to RSFM's concerns about der Malach. Bochurim who didn't learn well were in gantzen excited that they sang by R' Don's tish as if that was the ikkar. One fanatical talmid of R' Shmuel took things too far though before the mashgiach departed. He trashed R' Don's office causing a lot of damage.

MOETZES RESIGN! said...

Apple’s ailing chief executive Steve Jobs is officially stepping down from the helm of the company, a historic shift that hands the reins to chief operating officer Tim Cook.

The company said Mr. Jobs submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Wednesday and “strongly recommended” that the board name Mr. Cook as his successor. Mr. Jobs has been elected chairman of the board and Mr. Cook will join the board, effective immediately.

Follow the money said...

As I did not see the article, I'm not sure what Rav Eidensohn was referring to exactly when he recently mentioned that Mrs. Bracha Goetz was guilty of behavior similar to Pinny Taub in suddenly turning about face from victim advocate to attacking Agudah critics on behalf of the Agudah.

http://www.artscroll.com/Books/safeh.html

It seems that Mrs. Goetz has been rewarded handsomely for her switching alliances as she was chosen to write the offical Agudah book about abuse, published by Artscroll.

Let's see if this book manages to be even more dishonest about the molester problem than Agudah puppet David Mandel at Ohel.

Ich bein ein Chaim Berliner said...

Q,

it's very difficult to keep track of the various stories for each rosh yeshiva that was turfed out of Chaim Berlin. That's like asking what Dr. Well did to the various roshei yeshiva who made a pit stop in Skokie.

Perhaps the most interesting story however was that of 9th grade rebbe Chaim Kaplan who was kicked out of Chaim Berlin after taking his shiur to the zoo.

Fartscroll said...

Those fakers Scherman & Zlotowitz refused to publish Rav Eidensohn's sefer on abuse with the phony excuse that no gedolim were backing him up. When Rav Eidensohn came back to them with haskomos from virtually all the gedolei eretz Yisroel, the two faced cowards said well, we are going to have problems if you don't get the American Agudah rabbis to sign.

This is Scherman who tried a Monday Morning Quarterback move that he "tried to stop Kolko". He tried to stop Kolko just as hard as he gave Eidensohn a fair shot.

If you want an honest book, buy Rav Eidensohn's sefer. Check it out at the Daat Torah blog.

Anonymous said...

http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2008/04/torah-vodaas-through-ages.html

I was asked to write about YTV, and the ensuing splits and breakups, so I'll give it a shot. I welcome any and all corrections.

The truth is I'm not that familiar with all the details; There may too many to count, really. I'm sure some people were angry that the school opened in the first place; there was RJJ just across the bridge, on the Lower East Side, so why the need for another Yeshiva? "You think you're better than us, Mr. Wilhelm? Our school is not frum enough for you? Your boys can't cross the bridge like everybody else does? I can imagine the screaming going on somewhere in Williamsburg. But Mr. Wilhelm held his own and the school was opened. Then, when "Mr. Mendlowitz" came to town the school really picked up, although most kids still went on to eventually become Mechalelei Shabbos anyway. Such were the times. They started a high school, a mesivta if you will, and the first fruit were soon to be soon on the streets on Willy and the rest of New York. There were boys that became men, and they continued to practice as Jews, even while all their buddies left the fold. All thanks to the mesivta.

Then the first troubles began. It all began when a (Hungarian) lawyer named BenZion Weberman made an innocent-looking trip to the Kantrowitz Hotel in Woodridge, New York. That's where Jews would spend the hot, pre-air conditioning summer days, in one of the many Jewish-owned hotels in the "Borscht-Belt." When BZW announced that he had found a Rebbe, an old man with a long white beard, a Malach. BenZion had seemingly been looking for a Rebbe for himself and his kids, and had been disappointed with the slim pickings available in America. I'm not sure what kind of reception he got from the old man, since the old man didn't like clean-shaven men in modern clothes, but BZW didn't seem to be fazed by that, he still was very much intrigued by him, and wanted his kids to be educated by him as well. He soon found out that the old man is the Rabbi in a nusach Ari shul in the Bronx, and lives there as well, so he began to send his kids there, to be taught the holy texts by the holy man, and the change was soon visible in all of them. Soon, together with the change in dress came the change in theology, and that's where the first splinter happened.

Anonymous said...

http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2008/04/torah-vodaas-through-ages.html

yoshe kalb said...
According to Jerome Mintz in his "Hasidic People - A Place in the New World" it was Mr Mendlowitz himself who brought some of his students to the "malach" in order for this Amerikaner boychiks to get a feel for an old world chossid.Subsequently the "malach" became sort of a mashpiah for many TVD talmidim teaching them the exact opposite of TVD's (Hirschian)ideology. Ultimately this lead to thr relegation of the "malach"s followers from TVD in 1931.

Anonymous said...
why write about issues of which you obviously didn't do much research- the R' Dovid Liebowitz etc. was before the malach and if you are trying to get to the chabad angle-well the malach didn't see exactly eye to eye with the rashab-why dont you dwell on that aspect!

schneur said...
Tzig The Malach came from Western White Russia and spent time in places such as Ilya and Kurenitz. In Kurenitz a farzaytike Yid a very frum man was called a malach. My father relates this as does Reb Yankev Landa in his article in the Yizkor buch of Kurenitz.
There were any number of Heilike Yidden in Kurenitz and I presume other White Russian towns with the appelation Der Malach. This because of Rabbi Levine's frumkayt etc he too was known as DEr Malach.
Clean shaven attitudes. The first question the Rayaatz asked my father in his 1st yechidus in the 1930's in Postov was about how my father shaved. That was a general Lubavitcher attitude.
I guess it has changed in recent years.

Anonymous said...
Hirshel
In the new book Mipyam imipi Kesovim Monroe 2008 there is interesting new inf on Rav Levin from his son of Albany

reader said...
"But Mr. Wilhelm held his own and the school was opened."

The tale that Wilhelm founded YTV himself is not true. See Artscroll's Reb Shraga Feivel book for more info.

An important player in the beginning was Mizrachi leader Rabi Zev (Wolf) Gold, who was a Rav in Williamsburg in those days, who reportedly gave YTV its name, which is the same name as the short-lived Yeshiva of Mizrachi leader Rav Yitzchok Yaakov Reines z"l in Lida had, before it closed in the WWI era. Not a coincidence I'm afraid. They had limudei chol there as well as limudei kaydesh (Lida I mean, as well as NY later), hence the name Tayreh and daas, similar to the Torah umadda slogan of another maysed.

YTV (NY) in the early days was ivrit beivrit (or maybe ivris beivris), as Helmreich reported.

psol said...
"The tale that Wilhelm founded YTV himself is not true. See Artscroll's Reb Shraga Feivel book for more info."

Regardless of these facts about which I know nothing, you would be advised not to believe everything you read in an Artscroll biography. In fact, it may be wiser to believe nothing.

Twistelton-Twistelton said...
Many people were involved in the founding of YTV. The Zimmermans were early supporters. rABBI gOLD WAS VERY PROMINENT IN YTV until the 1930's. He spoke at any important event, dinner, etc

Anonymous said...

From mentalblog:

Berel Levy's grandfather was Malach's brother. The Malach was Berel Levy's inspiration. Don Yoel Levy writes:

"Growing up in America in the 1920's, outside of New York City, was not conducive for someone wishing to be an observant Jew. Consequently, at the age of ten, a young Berel decided to leave home and move in with his uncle. The move enabled him to attend the Yeshiva Torah V�Daas. The subway ride to Torah V'Daas was over an hour and Rabbi Weiler, a Torah V'Daas teacher, would accompany my father and learn with him each way.

Berel Levy's uncle, Avrohom Ber Levine, was known as "the Angel". He was recognized as an extremely devout and brilliant person. In those years, assimilation was becoming a real problem for the Jewish community. Thus, Rabbi Mendelovitz, the principal of Torah V'Daas, asked Rabbi Levine to teach Chassidus to some of the older students. He included his nephew, young Berel, among his students. Rabbi Levine had a strong influence on these students and many of them refused to continue their public high school education. Rabbi Levine was a man of impeccable habits. His desire to do the correct thing, no matter what others would say or do, deeply affected my father at that time and for the rest of his life. There were times in those years that my father, having no other place to sleep, would spend nights on a bench in the shul.

Even without much previous religious training, my father utilized his prodigious capabilities to their fullest to become an outstanding student. When he was sixteen, his uncle passed away. My father's spiritual guide, Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson, gave him constant guidance and, at his suggestion, my father decided to leave Torah V'Daas to go to the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Otwock, Poland. He received no money from his parents and raised the money for the journey himself."

An Ailmesher said...
I understand that there exists a picture of the Malach. Could someone scan it and post it?

Also, could someone describe in a not-partisan manner what exactly was the machlokes between the Malach and the Rayatz (the machlokes with the Rashab seems to have been a biproduct of this).

r said...
Hebrewbooks.org has teshuvos Emek Halocho.

R. Yehoshua Baumol was a Galitzianer Yid who came to the USA after WWI, became a Rav in Williamsburg and was involved with YTV, the beginning of the Mesivta vichulei. He was also involved with Agudath Israel of America in the early days.

He was also the zeide of lihavdil, zol zein gezunt, Rabbi Dr. Lamm, RY and Chancellor of YU. In fact you can even see teshuvos to a young Nochum Lamm in his zeide's sefer. As an aside, the young Nochum Lamm attended YTV before moving to RIETS/YU. He learned under Rav Pam zt"l and others.

Anonymous said...
I think its simple, He created a rift between the father and the son, he claimed that the son was seen reading Secular Books

An Ailmesher said...
Anonymous,

I asked for a non-partisan description. I already know the partisan lines.

The Rasha"b refers to the malach in one of his letters as ידידנו so the Malach was no קטלא קניא.

It's in the אגרות הרש"ב. I don't remember which volume, but go through the indexes of each volume and look for R, Chaim Avrhohom Dov Ber Levine

Frum Libertarian said...

The Orthodox Community in Winnipeg, Manitoba, placed my Aunt and Uncle into a de facto Cherim because my family went to the Police instead of the Beis Din to expose Ephraim Bryks Molesting kids.

Q said...

Ich Bin CB:

Funny, I never thought Chaim Berlin was infamous for it's obscene ka'naus, just for its outrageous arrogance and nepotism. Well, I guess they go hand in hand.....

The incident with R' Carlebach, and the way R' Moshe Feinstien handeled it, to me, is the final word on CB.

Monsey said...

http://bocesjustice.blogspot.com/

This is the horrible story of a ger tzedek in Monsey becoming the victim of political correctness in academia. He was expelled from a college for expressing his opinion OFF CAMPUS that faygelach are chayav misah al pi haTorah.

Liberal students and faculty fabricated all kinds of lies against him to punish him for his views. He was even detained by police who searched his body and vehicle looking for a weapon.

Every action by the college against him was a violation of his Constitutional rights.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nZv76VrNZYk/TClebJ9yPII/AAAAAAAAjfc/Ml86J0qMWQw/s1600/DSC00722.JPG

R' Dov Greenbaum, the eidim of R' Shraga Feivel was megayer this choshuva Yid.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nZv76VrNZYk/TCrFBPCGn7I/AAAAAAAAjg8/gKHYi5fxIn4/s1600/DSC00730.JPG

He is a big talmid chochom who learned for many years in Kollel Chazon Ish. He has semicha from Rav Karelitz.

Anonymous said...

chaim berliner was obviously half joking about chaim kaplan because although it was sad that the zoo excursion was the beginning stages of his mental breakdown, chaim kaplan was the most humorous, witty and geshmak meshugenna you could meet. the bochurim in lakewood, including the hard core briskers had a blast with him, or at least most of the time

Iggud Haganovim shakedown said...

That's very interesting that Belsky has Hungarian blood in him. Yetzt farshtait men some of his behavior.

Anonymous said...

The ger in Monsey belongs to MENSA & authors some interesting blogs. On one of them he offered a $500 bounty if someone provided proof of any orthodox Jew besides Yigal Amir that was convicted of murder in the 1st.

Someone mentioned Feuerwerker from Ohio. The blogger checked it out and although it was a shvacha example, it technically met the criteria so he ponied up the $500.

Feuerwerker became a BT in college. After an acrimonious divorce, he says he was attacked by his policeman ex-father-in-law who was brandishing a pistol. He says in self-defense he managed to disarm & shoot him but that the jury did not believe an orthodox Jew against a cop and sentenced him to 30 years.

(Asher Dahan who stabbed to death Baba Elazar hasn't been convicted yet. And please, no idiots who want to claim that Martin Grossman is orthodox)

Old Torah Vodaas said...

Correction. The Levy molester was the son of Berel Levy and brother of Don Yoel Levy. Not Berel's brother as I mistakenly wrote.

Berel was no angel either. He was caught red handed in the 1980s using treif coloring that he knew R' Moshe Feinstein and any legitimate posek assers. The yeshivos stopped using OK for a few years until his passing when his successor Don Yoel promised to discontinue the practice. To this day, Berel's rebbitzen, "Bertha" I think her name is, hot groissen taynos oif der Misnagdim, who she remarkably accuses of putting Berel in his grave. Bertha may have also been more nasty to the victimized almana than the molester's brothers were.

Sick said...

VIENNA – An 80-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of locking up his two mentally disabled daughters in a small room for 41 years, sexually abusing them, and beating and threatening them to keep them subservient.
Alois Lissl, a senior state police official, said the father -- from the Upper Austrian village of St. Peter am Hart -- is suspected of assault, torture or neglect of defenseless individuals, threat to life or physical condition, rape and other sex crimes. The man had been at liberty and living in a senior citizens' home.
Lissl said the man will be questioned by an investigative judge within the next 48 hours, who will decide whether to keep him confined.

March 19, 2009: Josef Fritzl stands in the courtroom prior to the proclamation of the verdict at the provincial courthouse in St. Poelten, Austria. The liquidator of Josef Fritzl's estate says the basement of the house where Fritzl imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter for 24 years will be filled up with concrete.

Police said the man's daughters -- now 53 and 45 years old -- have accused him of repeatedly raping them at their home between 1970 and May 2011. The women said their father repeatedly warned he would kill them if they resisted, occasionally threatening them with firearms, said Lissl.
They also said that their mother, who died several years ago, was also repeatedly abused by the suspect.
The father has denied the accusations, said local police commander Martin Pumberger. Police have not named him or the alleged victims.
The Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten newspaper reported that the women escaped from their father's custody when he fell and was unable to get up after the older daughter pushed him during an attempted rape. It said the victims were also beaten with a stick and a pitchfork.
It was unclear why it took for so long for the allegations to surface.
Police were initially quoted as saying the daughters did not tell anyone about the alleged abuse until weeks after their escape. But authorities later said that a social worker who discovered the father two days after he fell went to police shortly after with her suspicions. The man was moved to the senior citizens' home after he was found.
The allegations evoke chilling parallels to the case of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter in a windowless cellar for 24 years and repeatedly raped her, fathering her seven children. Fritzl was sentenced to life imprisonment two years ago for that crime and for responsibility in the death of one of the children.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/25/austrian-probed-for-sexually-abusing-mentally-disabled-daughters-for-41-years/#ixzz1W4NRCJYe

Just Another Supported by Hopfer and Heinemann said...

Rabbi who likened himself to Indiana Jones busted as leading man in lucrative international scam
BY Robert Gearty • NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A Baltimore rabbi was busted as the leading man in a lucrative international scam: "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Dupes."

Menachem Youlus, 50, who billed himself as the Jewish incarnation of Harrison Ford's big-screen hero, pocketed a small fortune by claiming to rescue Holocaust-era Torahs, prosecutors said Wednesday.

"His alleged exploits were no more real than those of the movie character he claimed to resemble," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Wednesday.

Youlus fabricated his tales of derring-do to solicit donations for his "Save A Torah" foundation - and then siphoned "hundreds of thousands of dollars" into personal accounts, said Bharara.

He was charged with wire and mail fraud, and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Youlus claimed to have personally rescued one Torah in 2004 from the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp. Travel records show he left the U.S. once that year - to visit Israel.

Youlus, in another dubious claim, said he located a Torah in the floorboards of a Bergen-Belsen concentration camp barracks, feds charged.

Youlus sold the "Auschwitz" religious scrolls for $32,000 to billionaire investor David Rubenstein, described as "contributor-1" in the criminal complaint.

The complaint says Youlus tried to hit up contributor-1 for a $250,000 donation for his charity, but never got the money.

Rubenstein donated the Torah to the prominent Central Synagogue in Manhattan, and then worked with Holocaust scholars when questions were raised about its authenticity.

He then found a Holocaust-era Torah whose provenance could be proven and donated it to the synagogue as a replacement. Rubenstein declined to comment through a spokesman.

Magistrate Judge James Francis released Youlus on $100,000 bond. Youlus was given a nitroglycerin pill when he complained of chest pains after his arraignment.

Defense attorney Paul Rooney said his client had a heart attack a couple of months ago.

Q said...

I saw Youlous speak at an elementary school a couple years ago. He handed out Megillos which he claimed were from the 16th and 15th centuries. I watched him handle these things as if they were tissues, by grabbing a bunch at one time, and handing them out to little kids to touch. I thought then that theres no way anyone sane would handle new Megillos like that, and for sure expensive antiques.
I personally lained from one of the Sifrei Torah he said to have rescued. It was in the Pearlstone Retreat Ctr outside of Baltimore. The letters were messed up, and there were huge brown spots on the parchment.
Who knows where he got that.

Q said...

UOJ, I personally know that over 1500 Sifrei Torah were rescued from nazi cellars and are now sitting in some storehouse in George Washington University, rotting away. I have seen them. But this Youlous, tells stories about him going all the way to Poland and finding treasure maps.
When I saw him speak that time a couple years back, I heard him say one of the most non-believable things I've ever heard. He was talking about a time he once went to Poland, and a Polish farmer saw he was Jewish and sold him a treasure map for 1,500 $. He bought it and followed it into an open field, obtained all the permits that day (!) to dig there, and according to his story, rented a bulldozer, and started digging.
He continued, he dug up a mass grave there, and in the hands of two of the skeletons, was a Sefer Torah. I kid you not.
L'ehalacha, it's ossur to be Mevaze a Mes because you think there might be a ST with him.
What a piece of human sewage.

Hashem Yirachem said...

LI housekeeper kidnaps baby after being fired by rabbi
By KIERAN CROWLEY and DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN • New York Post

A deranged housekeeper kidnapped a five-month-old girl from the Great Neck rabbi who recently fired her – and planned to take the baby with her to Uruguay, Long Island authorities said today.

Silver-haired Gloria Suarez, angry over losing her summer job Monday as a maid for Rabbi Yitzchok Hayempour and his eleven children, told cops she took baby Esther because "the baby would get more love and attention from me than she would ever get from (the Hayempours)."

"I know that they say the baby is theirs, but I know that the baby should belong to me," Suarez told cops.

Hayempour allowed Suarez, 55, to stay in their home until Wednesday, which is the only time the maid said she could get back into her Manhattan apartment, said Tammy Hayempour, 42, Esther’s mother.

Instead, cops said the baby-crazed maid spent two days honing her plans to abduct Esther by buying baby supplies, clothes and apple juice.

On Wednesday morning, Suarez asked if she could spend time with the baby before she left, Tammy said.

Unbeknownst to Tammy, Suarez used her goodbye time to change Esther out of her pink clothes and into a blue boy’s outfit – with sleeves long enough to cover a distinct birthmark on the baby’s forearm, the mom said.

Suarez then took the baby in her arms and fled the house on foot without the baby’s stroller, cops said.

Rabbi Hayempour was driving back from a bris he was attending when he saw Suarez walking with his baby, and he stopped his car to ask the woman where she was going.

"I said ‘we’re going to CVS,’" Suarez told cops.

Suarez eventually hopped a cab to the Roslyn Railroad Station in Roslyn Heights, where as she waited for a NYC-bound LIRR train. Meanwhile, Esther’s frantic family contacted cops, stopped buses, and reached out to every local cab company – and located the company that took Suarez to the train station.

Suarez was arrested at the station, but not without a fight.

"I fought them off and would not give her to them, but they were eventually able to get her," Suarez told cops.

Esther’s relieved mom said she never thought Suarez would be the kidnapping type.

"She wanted a child and she told me many times. I should have been suspicious," said Tammy.

At her arraignment at Nassau County First District Court this morning, Nassau prosecutor Melissa Lewis said Suarez intended to "take the child out of the county. . . and out of the country to Uruguay."

Suarez was arraigned on charges of kidnapping and resisting arrest. She is being held without bail.

David Mandel is the same old liar said...

http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/49471

DM is trying to save his ass after the Leiby Kletzky murder.

Anonymous said...

I've known, or thought that I've known Menachem Youlous for years. If you had told me back in the day that he would one day be looking at 40 years in the slammer, I'd have laughed you all the way back to Monsey. Those of us who grew up in Silver Spring are still in disbelief. What has the world come to?

Anonymous said...

I hope the flooding in the 5 Towns is not too bad, but I'm worried about how the local "frum" newspaper 5 Towns Jewish Times, who some area residents half-jokingly refer to as "The Bible" is stumping for David Weprin, hoping to make him the only "orthodox" Jewish member of Congress, and one who is outspoken in his belief that intermarriage & gay "marriage" are more than acceptable. In his twisted views, they are a chiyuv.

I have not heard a single area rov speak out in public against this even though most of them very vocally spoke out to support a convicted criminal like Rubashkin. One area rov, Aryeh Ginzberg, was even paid by the paper to write attacks on rabbonim who were not pro-Rubashkin enough. Those rabbonim are grada the biggest talmidei chochomim in the 5 Towns who refused to endorse the pro-Rubashkin rally because it is a chilul Hashem to support a willful criminal in such a manner.

Not a single area resident wrote a letter to the editor Larry Gordon blasting him for supporting Weprin. It took someone all the way in Cleveland to do so.

Larry Gordon is continuing his dishonest agenda to empower pro-gay David Weprin at the expense of anti-toyavah Republican Bob Turner. 5TJT ran an article this week hyping a Weprin endorsement by Kirsten Gillibrand (do most people even know who she is?). The article including not one, but many headshots of Weprin scattered around showing him with his prominent Adolfian moustache.

Larry Gordon & his 5TJT are completely ignoring as if they don't exist, the endorsements of Bob Turner by such figures as Rudy Giuliani & Peter King.

They have also run another disgusting piece by Asher Taub which will addressed on it's own.

I worry for the 5 Towns. Der Eibishter zolt hitten because when Bill Clinton expressed support for gays in the military, the Mississippi saw the worst floods in over a century. The last time a hurricane made a direct hit on the 5 Towns was almost 75 years ago. Experts say this hurricane is strong enough to permanently alter the landscape. New inlets could be formed they say that will permanently erase various properties & homes. The oylam should to teshuvah.

Boruch said...

Be'chasdei Hashem the hurricane has done very little of the damage it was projected as being capable of doing. That's not a sign to ignore future warnings by any means. It's not a sign to think that D'ass Torah knows more than a meteorologist. Both know very little of Hashem's ratzon.
Now let's get real. The derech is haTevah not haToeivah. Again, we know very little of Hashem's ratzon to go running around stating with conviction why things happen, earthquakes and hurricanes for example, at certain times. For all of those who rant publicly about the knowledge of the cause of the Holocaust - don't you think you look as ridiculous when you know why the hurricane slammed the East Coast? After all how many Orthodox Jews are there on the Outer Banks in North Carolina that have a chelek in all of this? If Hashem wants, he can spring up a hurricane in Jamaica Estates and leave it there.
Hashem gave you reason - which is why I cringe when it's not used. Saichel is an eydeleh zogt, zogt Reb Shlomo Freifeld and very little is done to prove that statement wrong.

Shea Fishman said...

The worst flooding is coming with the tide tonight that's not just high. It's astronomical!