Rabbanim Who Are Banning Rav Melamed's Halacha Sefarim Are Still Allowing Monster Walder Books

 

Many readers have emailed me wanting to know my take on this.

 My readers know that I have the utmost respect for Rav Eliezer Melamed Shlitah even though I disagree with him on many of his ideas. He is a great Talmud Chacham and brilliant Poisek. His halachic rulings can be found on Sefaria online for free and many of his rulings are in English. All agree that his halachic rulings are very clear, thought-out and scholarly. 

The following is a description in Sefaria on the Peninei Halacha.:

“it includes a range of sources, explanations of the spiritual foundations of laws, differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi practice, and footnotes at the end of every chapter with elaborations and additional sources.”

Banning holy sefarim is nothing new in the frum world as they banned the Rambam and the Mesilas Yesharim. Even the Rabbeinu Yona went and traveled to many different shuls to announce the ban (he later retracted). I'm not even talking about the Rambam's "moreh nevuchim," I'm talking about the Rambam's Mishna Torah! Know that  R' Moshe Chayim Luzzati the author of the Mesilas Yesharim was put in cheirum by the "gedoilei hador" in his generation. 

It was not too long ago that the Chareidie world went on a major attack to discredit Harav Avraham Yitzchok Kook z"l and removed all the haskamas that Rav Kook z"l gave on countless sefarim (read "changing the Immutable" by Marc Shapiro) . Recently the publisher Magid, released a book by the murdered Rabbi Eitam Henkin הי"ד  (Studies in Halakhah & Rabbinic History), where he writes essays where you clearly see how the Yeshivisha world not only discredited Rav Kook z"l but actually lied about him.

In addition these Chareidie liars and scoundrels (whom I will not name) write 500 page pamphlets defaming and  rewriting Kook history and claim that Bio writers like Simcha Raz made it all up . Some of these writers  that are defaming R' Kook z"L  are not necessarily Chareidim, some of them are actually leftist professors well  known in academia who also despised R' Kook z"l because R' Kook fought against Chillul Shabbas etc., so they denigrated him for their own leftist agendas. The "Chareidie  Kook Defamers" in order to bolster their credibility  add footnotes that quote these leftist Chilonie professors. Incredible! It's like writing a book on Rav Eliyashiv to defame him and using footnotes from an Arab Professor from Hebrew University. 

 The bios of Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Harav Eliyashiv z"l leave out the fact that Harav Kook z"l was their Mesader Kiddushin. You would never know that Harav Shlomo Zalman had Rav Kook z"l be the Kohein at his son's pidyan haben.

We have actual letters from the Chazon Ish z"l to  Harav Kook z"l, where the Chazon Ish addresses Rav Kook with "Harav Hagoen Hatzaddik etc).  To that "problem" the Anti-Kooknikers answer that "The Chazon Ish was forced to write this because he needed something from Rav Kook, and they add the absurd claim that Harav Kook demanded that the Chazon Ish address the letters like that. So they are actually saying that the Chazon Ish was רח"ל  a liar. 

Not one of the Rabbis that signed the ban on Harav Melamed Shlitah banned the books of Monster Walder who raped and molested married women. I was in Bnei-Brak just recently and saw Walder's books displayed up front. Even in the Feldheim's Beit Shemesh bookstore they still sell Walder's books. 

I would take this ban with a grain of salt as these rabbanim unfortunately are not looking out for Klall Yisrael but for their own interests. 

Its interesting to note that while the rabbanim who signed the "fatwa"  looked at the Taharat haMishapacha volume, the Rabbanim relied upon hearsay to ban his other books and did not take into account the broader political issues that have put Rav Melamed at odds with some of the other Rabbanim in the Dati Leumi world. By doing so, they have gone beyond what even those Rabbonim had said. The Bnei Brak Rabbonim said that not only the Taharat haMishpacha should not be relied upon, but NONE of his books should be used. That is NOT what most of the Dati Leumi Rabbonim said, even those who were against the Taharat haMishpacha volume.

The hearsay aspect is interesting because the Bnei Brak Rabbonim only refer to (and rely upon) the Rabbonim who oppose Rav Melamed, not those who support him and Peninei Halacha, which happens to be an extraordinarily fine and unique series.

This is also interesting because Peninei Halacha is the most popular set of halacha seforim in Eretz Yisroel and has been for perhaps two decades, with more than a million copies in print.

Objections to it only began recently, due to the Taharat haMishpacha volume and Rav Melamed’s stance on other issues (Giur, dialogue with Reform, and (most importantly in order to understand the political opposition) Rav Melamed’s support for dismantling the kashrus structure of the Rabbanut, which families of many Rabbonim get jobs from.

So, seforim that are in every Dati Leumi shul and every Dati Leumi home for two decades and have been praised by its Rabbonim are retroactively treif because of what Rav Melamed said in 2021 and 2022? Interesting.

One reader on another blog put it very nicely:

mitnachel

 2 days ago

. I am a proud owner of the Pininei Halacha. Every one of R’ Melamed’s Piskei Halacha come with the source. I have asked him many Sha’alos personally and trust me, he is no meikal but he will give a Psak when most writings will say “probably but better not” in order not to annoy anyone. Let’s all try and remember this is election season in Eretz Hakodesh, again, and Degel Hatorah is clearly losing votes to Smotrich/Ben Gvir and R’ Melamed and his father are authorities of the Daati Leumi/Religious Zionist movement. The timing of this ban smells to me but what do I know, I only live here 🙂

The news story:

Six prominent chareidi poskim have published a letter in which they call on the public not to use the Peninei Halacha series written by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed. This is the first time that the controversy regarding Rabbi Melamed’s books has been addressed by chareidi rabbis, as previously it had only involved members of the Religious Zionist community

The declaration was signed by the heads of the Bnei Brak Beis Din- Rabbi Sariel Rosenberg, who is also the rabbi of the Ramat David neighborhood in Bnei Brak and Rabbi Yehuda Silman, who heads the Beis Din and is also the rabbi of the Kehal Chasidim in the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood in Bnei Brak. The letter was co-signed by **Rabbi Azriel Auerbach, son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and rabbi of the Chanichei Yeshivos community in Jerusalem, Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern, rabbi of west Bnei Brak and disciple of rabbi Shmuel Wozner z’l, Rabbi Avrohom Zvi Hakohen, Rabbi of the Kehal Chasidim in Shikun Hey, Bnei Brak and Rabbi Moshe Shaul Klein, Rabbi of the Ohr Hachaim neighborhood in Bnei Brak.

** Reb Ezriel has turned way to the right after his late brother's (R' Shmuel) followers violently protested in front of his home and threatened him and his family after R' Ezriel had ruled that hafganas should not block traffic.