While all the "gedolim" of that era, pre-war and post war, said it is
assur to go to EretzYisroel and America, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l flew the American and Israeli flags
together at Camp Mesifta in 1948 after the UN proclaimed Israel a
State!
Aaron Kotler was wrong, the Agudah was wrong, Satmar was wrong, Elchonon
Wasserman was dead wrong! Among tens of others. That's when he sent Rabbi Alexander Linchner z"l, his son in-law, to Israel to "save the sephardic kids from secularism"
...He knew Zionism was imperfect, he chose to improve it rather than walk away from secular Jews. YEHI ZICHRO BARUCH!
15 comments:
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef just visited Dubai (UAE). Here is YY sitting in a "prayer room" with his men davening on the carpet. What's thepeshat? Jews, unlike Arabs, never pray that way! There is also a problem with praying in a room where images of people are displayed. (The fact they put a Temple picture on the wall further proves that they had jurisdiction over the room contents and could cover/remove Arab portraits.) Or does YY need new glasses?
My personal opinion; YY is off the wall crazy!
R' Avrohom Kalmanowitz agreed with RSFM on Sfardim & put his money where his mouth is.
I'm not sure what you mean that R' Aron was against rescuing secular youth. Some early BMG talmidim had attended public school.
R' Elchonon was out of picture long before any of this.
For all of Satmar's flaws, they are very hospitable people who spent a lot of money rescuing Taimonim. And if your car breaks down in Brooklyn you will have a minyan of Satmar chevra running to help you in a jiffy while the Poilisher ponders if it will cost him anything & the Yekkisher ponders oib ess passt if his hands get dirty.
Yoelish flew the coop to EY, while he told his chevra to stay put, same with the Belze/Rokeach!
I'm not sure what you mean that R' Aron was against rescuing secular youth. Some early BMG talmidim had attended public school....
****
He told all who asked --- not to go to the Zionist's country!
https://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/search?q=elchonon+wasserman
https://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/search?q=elchonon+wasserman
On Sunday on the evening of 16th of the Hebrew month of Elul [August 23, 1937], the rabbinical leaders met to discuss the issue of a “Jewish State.” The meeting was stormy, and it dealt with the issue of the Three Oaths. A great dispute broke out in the session, and Rabbi Wasserman expressed pungent words that shocked his listeners. The following is what he said:
“We must emphasize and declare the position of our holy Torah in order to banish any confusion of ideas. Inasmuch as there are Jews who are Torah-observant who say that a Jewish State would be the “beginning of the Redemption,” we must inform them of the position of our Torah that this is nothing less than the beginning of a new Exile! What do I mean? After all, Jews have been living in Exile for some two thousand years, so how can this be a “beginning” of a new Exile? My intention is to expose the so-called Jewish Communists. An Exile such as this has never existed until today. None of us can even describe such an exile, an Exile under Jews! Only Jews from Russia have a slight sense of this situation, even though the regime there is not a “Jewish” one. One of the great rabbis of this generation recently told me that the term “beginning of the Redemption” in reference to the Zionist movement makes his hair stand on end!
In Hapardes (Year 11, Issue 7) Rabbi Pardes describes what he saw at the Convention:
“Rabbi Wasserman, Rabbi Kotler, Rabbi Rottenberg from Antwerp, rabbis from Czechoslovakia and Hungary were unanimous in rejecting any proposal for a “Jewish State” on either side of the Jordan River, even if it were established as a religious state because such a regime would be a form of heresy in our faith in the belief in the coming of the Messiah, and especially since this little “Jewish” state would be built on heresy and desecration of the Name of G-d.
https://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/search?q=elchonon+wasserman
In the summer of 1937 at the third convention of the rabbinical leaders of AGUDATH ISRAEL held in Mariband, which included hundreds of rabbis, heads of yeshiva religious academies and grand rabbis of Chassidic communities from a number of countries, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman stood out from among all of them.
Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Pardes of Chicago, the editor of the rabbinical journal Hapardes, who participated at this convention and who was present at meetings of the Council of Torah Sages that were held during the convention, describes Rabbi Wasserman as follows: “Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman, who stood above all the other participants walked with his face towards the ground. His long beard has turned white, and his fear of G-d preceded his scholarly wisdom. He reigns supreme above all the other members of the Council of Torah Sages and the convention itself. He intersperses his speech with simple metaphors hidden with great wisdom that penetrates the hearts of each person according to his level. He is the major disciple of Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, the author of the halachic work, Mishna Brurah, and every word he utters is spiced with teachings and wise metaphors from his teacher. When Rabbi Wasserman enters the meeting of the Council, everyone stands in respect, and he asked to speak before anyone else.
@ Yankel Litzman: the plann is coming together!
The new British strain of coronavirus, far more contagious than the original, has been found in Israel, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told ministers at a cabinet meeting today as they discuss implementing a new lockdown in days.
The Health Ministry confirms 4 cases of the virus mutation circulating in the UK has been located in Israel.
Three of the cases are people who recently returned from England & staying in state-run hotels. But the 4th person hadn't been abroad & was infected by an unidentified individual in Israel, signaling the new strain could already be spreading in the country. It's not clear if the person came in contact with someone who returned from the UK.
Edelstein said officials are now less optimistic the strain hasn't infiltrated the population.
Channel 12 said health officials fear a significant spike in infections in the Haredi population in recent weeks is the result of the UK strain. 12 said officials are investigating test results to check the theory.
The mutation's more infectious — up to 70% more, as per British PM Boris Johnson. It's not clear if vaccines deployed around the world are effective vs the new strain.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, virus czar Nachman Ash warned deaths could double in 2 months, for a death toll of 6,000+.
Since the start of the outbreak in Israel there've been 3,136 deaths.
“If we continue the policy of ‘sit & do nothing,’ morbidity will continue to spike at a much more dangerous, sharp rate & in 2 months we reach another 3,000 dead,” he said.
“Understand there's no choice but lockdown. If action was taken as per recommendations 2 weeks ago, this may've been avoided. As we predicted, morbidity rose significantly, including morbidity of the seriously ill,” he said.
Bibi echoed the warning, that both serious cases & deaths will rise sharply “if we don’t act immediately… We'll pay a heavy price.”
Health officials call on ministers to approve a 25-day lockdown of the entire country.
The Health Ministry proposes shutting all education except special ed, all non-essential business, no visiting other homes & limiting travel to 1 km of home. Public transport goes down 50% & gatherings limited to 10 indoor, 20 outdoor.
A new lockdown would come before Israel fully exits its previous lockdown begun in Sept.
The warning from Ash & increasing pressure from officials for lockdown, came as new diagnoses surpassed 3,000 a day for the 3rd day in a row, with Health Minister Edelstein saying yesterday Israel entered a “3rd wave” of virus. “We're in a critical situation. We wasted precious time & the infections mean we have no choice but lockdown,” he said.
A new virus rule was to take effect in hours: 10 p.m. tonite, all Israelis arriving from abroad must quarantine at specifically designated hotels. Previously, Israelis requiring quarantine from countries with high infection could self-isolate at home.
Israel’s previous lockdowns brought down infections, but morbidity ballooned again as closures rolled back.
Though Israel in recent days began mass vaccinations, experts warn it'll take 2-3 months for inoculations to start mitigating the pandemic.
As rising morbidity & the new virus strain create new uncertainty, Israel was plunged into fresh political chaos yesterday with the Knesset dissolved & new elections coming up.
Today the Health Ministry announced 3,251 virus cases were confirmed the previous day, bringing infections since the pandemic began to 383,385.
The ministry said 5.1% of tests were positive yesterday, a new high not seen in long weeks.
R' Aron ztvkl held very shtark to never publicly criticize the Medina. So while not engaging in Satmar hooliganism, it is a legitimate shita that he preferred the sheiris haplaita come to America instead of pre-beeas Goel Israel.
A BMG kollel guy was thrown out in the early 90s for joining a Satmar anti-Israel mechuah in Manhattan.
Without challenging the greatness of RAK, how many Yidden could have gone to EY but didn't because of his anti-Israel stance? The ones that could not get visas to the US would have been welcomed by Israel. Klapei Shomayim, not to me, will he have to give a cheshbon. I don't think he can "talk" his way out of the grievous error in judgment. The neshomos he that never made it on his say-so, and the doros of Yidden that would have been alive today if not for this krumkeit!
And...since when is NOT being a hooligan, or speaking loshon hara on millions of Yidden a big deal?
R' Aron encouraged everyone to escape through Asia which logistically speaking was probably the wiser choice considering the British blockade of Palestine, Nazi U Boats & Soviet submarines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_disaster
Many Yidden perished en route to EY, sometimes by the packed to the gills shipload.
R' Aaron himself first went to EY!
UK says South African strain even more infectious than its own new variant
British health minister warns latest virus version ‘appears to have mutated further than the new variant discovered’ in the UK
By Agence France Presse
LONDON — Britain today introduced restrictions on travel from South Africa over the spread of another new variant of coronavirus, UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said.
The restrictions, applied with immediate effect, were introduced following discovery of 2 cases of the virus strain in Britain.
“This new variant is highly concerning, as it's yet more transmissible, appears to have mutated further than the new variant discovered in the UK,” Hancock said, referring to a strain in Britain also found to be more contagious.
The health minister said all individuals in the UK who contracted the variant originating in South Africa were placed in quarantine as well as their close contacts.
In addition to travel restrictions, Hancock also asked anyone in close contact with someone who'd been in South Africa in the last 2 weeks to quarantine.
“They must restrict all contact with any person whatsoever,” he said.
In response to growing numbers of cases, Britain ordered a series of restrictions.
50+ nations also imposed their own travel restrictions on the UK, including France.
A ban on cross-Channel freight to Europe wrought havoc around the key port of Dover & led to fears of food shortages in supermarkets due to paralysis in supply chains.
Hancock today announced expanding strict lockdown across further parts of England to contain the spread of the disease.
With more than 68,000 deaths from the virus, the UK is one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe.
R' Aron went cross-Siberia to Japan but did not continue to Shangchai because he qualified for one of a tiny handful of American "special visas" which askonim managed to wring out of Foggy Bottom anti-Semite Dulles for the biggest name rabbonim only.
I think R' Shneur who was just a bochur was initially stuck in Israel.
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