Dus Iz Nies in midst of "Ceasefire Talks" with Satmar

The editors of the three Satmar Yiddish Newspapers sat with the publisher of DIN this afternoon to begin a discussion on  a "ceasefire" that would last at least from Rosh Hashana till after Yom Kippur! After all, it's a time of Teshuvah and Achdus!

Here is the update as of this afternoon 4:00PM Sept 3, 2014

We gave each other hugs, and handshakes, and after devouring platefuls of Herring, Yapchik,  Kishke, and  Slivovic to wash it all down, supplied by the Holy Satmar ladies, the serious discussions started with all attending editors giving their side of what they thought would constitute a serious ceasefire!

So far, all sides are still far apart, except that  DIN  has agreed to stop writing the truth about Satmar, from Erev Rosh Hashana Wednesday September 24, till Sunday after Yom Kippur October 5.

(1) The editor of Der Goy (der yid), the yiddish newspaper published by the Zalonie Faction of Satmar, will still continue never to mention Reb Aaron Teitelbaum, the brother of Reb Zalman, in their newspaper, and will still continue the policy of never  posting any photos of Reb Aaron, as if he doesn't exist. 
They will continue their policy to write hateful articles against their brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel, who don't agree with their outdated and irrelevant positions vis a vis Israel!

(2) The editor of Der Blatt, the yiddish newspaper  published by the Aroni Faction of Satmar, will still continue never to mention Reb Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, the brother of Reb Reb Aaron in their newspaper, and will also continue the policy to never post any photos of Reb Zalman Leib, as if he doesn't exist. 
They will also continue to write hateful articles against their brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel, who don't agree with their outdated and irrelevant positions vis a vis Israel!

(3) The Zeitung, a "neutral" Satmar paper, that  is only "neutral" regarding the Teitelbaum brothers, will continue to hate everyone equally! 

Will keep you guys posted for any further developments!
I need Tums .....

Beheaded Journalist was an Israeli who fasted on Yom Kippur

 Steven Sotloff, a U.S. journalist beheaded by Islamic State militants, also held Israeli citizenship, Israel said on Wednesday after apparently withholding the information in a bid to stem the risks to the captive.

Steven Sotloff z"l

“Cleared for publication: Steven Sotloff was #Israel citizen RIP,” tweeted Paul Hirschson, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.

Islamic State, an insurgent group active in Syria and Iraq, on Tuesday published footage of Sotloff’s execution, which it called retaliation for U.S. air strikes. The video was authenticated by the White House on Wednesday.

Sotloff’s death was extensively covered by Israeli media, which identified the 31-year-old reporter as Jewish and an occasional contributor having withheld such observations since Islamic State announced he could be killed two weeks ago.
“We refused to acknowledge any relationship with him in case it was dangerous for him,” said Avi Hoffman, editor of the Jerusalem Report magazine, which had published Sotloff’s work.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, quoting a former fellow captive, said Sotloff had kept his Judaism a secret from the Islamist insurgents, pretending he was sick when he fasted for the Yom Kippur holiday.

Israeli media reports said the U.S.-born Sotloff immigrated to Israel in 2005 and studied at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, a private college near Tel Aviv.

Satmar bans the "Ice Bucket Challenge" and the "Hastara" Song

So the Satmar Rebbe either used Ruach Hakodesh or  googled the "Hastara" song and found out something very bizzare, known only to him, that the Nazis Murderers, composed this song?

http://youtu.be/16y7SCjT9fl

While the Holy Rabbi  was googling he must have used Facebook to see all the Satmar Tznious ladies pouring cold water on themselves!

No word yet, what the Zalonie Camp's position on this is, but my guess is that he will be pro the "Ice Bucket Challenge" and the song, because once his brother is against it, he will be for it!

See translation below:

דברות קודש מ'מהר"א מסאטמאר היום אצל דינור לטובת המוסדות במאנסי 
בשילוב עם יארצייט טיש של היטב לב זצ"ל: איך האב געוואלט זאגן אזא נקדה, יעצט איז די עולם אויף מיט א נייע ניגן וואס הייסט ואפילו בהסתרה, איך בון נאכגעגאנגען די ניגן און דער ניגן שטאמט פון מקורות זרים נאך פון די דייטשן ימח שמם, אויך דער נייע פירצה פון זיך אנגיסן מיט וואסער וואס מיר האבן דאס נישט געזען ביי אינזער אבות הקדושים, איבערהויפט וועם פרויען מאכן דאס, און דאס איז זייער נישט איידל הן הגשמיות והן ברחניות צוליב וואס די קלייד הייבט זיך אויף ווען מען טאנצט פון קעלט און אסאך טון אויס די בגדים ברבים צוליב וואס עס איז נאס געווארן, און עס האט שוין פארדארבט גאר אסאך בחורים, און איך וועל עס מסביר זיין באריכות אן צווייטן מאל, וועגן דעם בעט איך במר נפשי און איך פאדער שטרענג פון די הנהלה פון די בית רחל עס איז אסור פאר א תלמידה זיך אנציגיסן מיט קאלט וואסער נאר און שויער איז עס ערלויבט, און פאר די מענער וויל איך בעטן מען זאל נישט מער זינגען דעם ניגן.

Loose translation:
"Holy words from Our Rabbi & Teacher R' Aaron (Teitelbaum) from Satmar, at the Yurzeit Seudah of the Yetev Lev z"l, in honor of the Satmar Monsey Institutions.

I want to bring out the following point:

The community is now enthralled with the new song called "Afilu B'hastara". I researched the song and I discovered that the song stems from the Germans, may their names be obliterated.

Also, I want to talk about the new phenomenon where people take a bucket of ice and pour it on themselves (ice bucket challenge) , that we had never seen done by our Holy Fathers.
Especially, when women do it, it is not classy, both spiritually, and physically, because the dress lifts up as the lady dances away from the freezing water, and many even remove their clothing in public because the clothes are now wet.
Many Bochrim already got caught up with this and it ruined them.
I will explain this at length another time.
Therefore, I beg with a bitter soul, and strongly suggest to the administration from Bais Ruchel, that they prohibit any student to pour cold water on herself, except in the shower.
And as for the men, I would like to request that they not sing this song anymore!"

Righting the wrong before Rosh Hashana

The Short Vort

by 

Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel, Passaic, NJ 

Tip: SK

Today is Sunday the 5th of Elul 5774 and August 31, 2014

*Righting the Wrong*

Today in 1935 Rav Avraham Yitzchok HaKohen Kook Zt”l passed away.
His actual Yahrtzeit was on the third of Elul (which was Friday),
however, the secular date that year was August 31, 1935.

Rav Kook who lived from 1865-1935 was the first Chief Rabbi of
Palestine in the twentieth century.
He was a great Talmudic scholar, halachik adjudicator, teacher,
thinker and a compassionate and kind and beloved Rav.

Many of his followers study his works and attempt to emulate his
personality as seen through his teachings and his students.
However, the tragedy of Rav Kook Zt”l is that through a
‘revisionism' of the past and because of those who resort to
Orwellian techniques to rewrite history, many average Frum Jew when they hears the name of Rav Kook, the image which pops up in their mind is a sandal wearing, perhaps guitar strutting ‘semi-observant' ‘rabbi' who might be sporting Bermuda shorts and whose Talmudic learning is limited to reading translated portions of Gemara in English while trimming his fashionable goatee and wearing a bottle-cap size yarmulke covering his right ear as it tips precipitously off his head.

He is too often portrayed as a Rav who interested in finding all types of questionable halachik leniencies which have minimal if any halachik substance.
He is thought of as a cavalier and careless rabbi who vacillated
between true Orthodoxy and those other denominations whose halachik acceptability is shaky at best.
However, worst of all, is the fact that outright untruths and vicious
lies have been promulgated about him that during his life time, the
‘true' and authentic Torah leaders of his time distanced themselves
from him and dismissed him as second rate rabbi of no consequence.

One gets the impression after listening to these revisionists that if
we would be transported back to Yerushalayim of the 1920s we would find Rav Kook surrounded by a cadre of secular followers with maybe a handful of lukewarm Orthodox ignoramuses sitting and half listening to his far fetched and perhaps semi-heretical ideas about Torah and Judaism.

People have disseminated the ‘fact' that the real ‘Gedolim' of
Eretz Yisroel had no contact with this ‘radical' and they will even
claim that his books were banned because of their heretical content.

*Nothing could be further from the truth.*

*And this is a ‘wrong' which must be ‘righted'!*

Let me be clear, I do not study too often his works because of their
difficult and what I find almost cryptic language.
Let me also disclose from the outset, that my Rabbeim rarely used his Seforim as his scholarly approach to Talmud and Jewish thought was clearly not your standard Lithuanian bent.

His approach certainly bordered more on the Chassidic and on the
Kabbalistic and neither of these important disciplines were part and
parcel of your typical Lithuanian styled yeshiva curriculum in which all of my Rabbeim were educated in (and are still not).
therefore, I am not advocating the study of his works per se, as I
am no equipped to make that determination.
However, what I am advocating is the following.
Irrespective of his unique and semi-Chassidic/Kabbalistic approach to Torah and Judaism 

*one wrong must be righted./*

And that is the clear and unchallenged fact that he was considered in his lifetime as a true and authentic Gadol.
Indeed, ‘the righting of this wrong' is one of greatest testimonials
to truth that a person can contribute to today's misunderstanding of
this great and beloved and respected Gadol HaDor.

Please do not take my word on the issue.
Please allow his ‘peers' to do the talking for me and then you can
decide on your own.

Here is a list of ten ‘authentic' Gedolim and what they said or
wrote about Rav Kook Zt”l.

1. **The Imrei Emes *
/(HaRav Avraham Mordechai Alter (25 December 1866 - 3 June 1948), also
known as the *Imrei Emes*, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948. He was one of the founders of the Agudas Israel in Poland and was influential in establishing a network of Jewish schools there. It is claimed that at one stage he led over 200,000 Hasidim. Wikipedia)/
He refers to Rav Kook as an *“Ish HaEshkolos”* which is a title
reserved for someone who contains ‘everything' (Torah, Mishna,
Talmud, and Aggadah). (See Shir HaShirim Raba 1:60).
It is title given to some who has Torah, Middos and Chesed (see T.B Temurah 15a and T.B. Sota 47b).
It is a title reserved for Moshe Rabbeinu and Rabbi Akiva!
And it is the title which the Gerrer Rebbe referred to Rav Kook with in an open letter to his Chassidim in 1924 (page 78 “Osef Mechtavim of Admor M'Ger”) 

2. *Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski* : 
"Our friend, the Gaon, our master and teacher, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, shlita" and "The Glory of Honor, My Dear Friend, Ha-Rav Ha-Gaon, Ha-Gadol, the Famous One... The Prince
of Torah, Our Teacher, Ha-Rav Avraham Yitzchak Ha-Kohen Kook Shlit”a..."

3. *Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz*:
 "The true Gaon, the beauty and glory of the generation, the tzaddik, his holiness, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak, may his light shine, may he live for length of good days and years amen,
the righteous Kohen, head of the beis din [court] in Jerusalem, the
holy city, may it soon be built and established"

4. *Rav Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn of Lubavitch*: 
"The Gaon who is renowned with splendor among the Geonim of Ya'akov, Amud HaYemini, Patish HaChazak..."

5. *Rav Chatzkel Abramsky*: 
"The honored man, beloved of Hashem and
his nation, the rabbi, the Gaon, great and well-known, with breadth of knowledge, the glory of the generation, etc., etc., our master Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, shlita, Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel and the head of the Beis Din in the holy city of Jerusalem"

6. *Rav Yitzchok Hutner*: 
"The glorious honor of our master, our teacher and rabbi, the great Gaon, the crown and sanctity of Israel,
Maran [our master] Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, shlita!"

7. *Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer and Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein*: 
"Our honored friend, the great Gaon and glory of the generation, our master and teacher, Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen, shlita"

8. *The Brisker Rov- Rav Yitzchok Zev HaLevi Soloveitchik*: “To his honor the Rav, the great and famous Gaon, and the honor of the generation…Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim…”

*9. **The Satmar Rebbe- Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum- *
When asked why he refused to meet with Rav Kook- the Rebbe answered: “I certainly won't be able to influence him, and on the contrary, /I am afraid that he might influence me/.” 
(The Rebbe; Rabbi Dovid Meisels; page 43).
From this honest admission from the Satmar Rebbe we see how even he realized how great and persuasive and what erudition Rav Kook possessed as the Satmar Rebbe was not known as a man to back away from his position.
(One has to question how honestly the Satmar believed in his own
worldview if he refused to meet with someone who would and ostensibly /could /change his entire worldview; however, that is for another discussion.)

*10. **Rav Zvi Pesach Frank -* Rav of Yerushalayim. 
As is well known Rav Frank was active in establishing the office of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and was instrumental in appointing Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook as the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.
I believe these ten Gedolim speak for all of us (or certainly should)
in establishing the fact that even if many of the aforementioned
Gedolim did not necessarily embrace the views of Rav Kook,
nevertheless, they respected him and accepted him as their peer and
their fellow Gadol.

If there is one aspect of Teshuva we can all engage in during this
month of Elul as we prepare for the Day of Judgment and we all desire to be judged fairly, let's begin by ‘judging' someone who deserves the reverence and admiration that our teachers and great Torah leaders accorded him during his life time.

It is high time that all of us when we mention the name of Rav Kook we should do it with the same love and respect we show to all the Gedolim of the last generation.

In the merit of ‘righting this wrong' and judging he who truly
deserves respect and love and reverence ‘fairly', may Hashem judge
all of us with compassion and mercy.

/“If Not Now- Then When?”- Hillel/
Ron Yitzchok Eisenman, Rabbi, Congregation Ahavas Israel, Passaic, NJ

Chodosh Ellul is here: Bobov 45 questions the Hechsherim of Tartikov

Rosh Chodosh Elul arrived in full force, and I guess, teshuvah is for the regular zhlubs like us. The Rabbis, since they are the Tzaddikim and have Ruach Hakodesh, don't need Elul! 
Elul for the Rabbis is a time to strangle your opposition!

 Last week, Reb Mordechai Dovid Ungar, lost the psak din against his uncle Reb Benzion,  and can no longer call himself Bobov, he has to preface the Word Bobov with something else, for example, "Shmendrik Bobov" ,"Satmar Bobov" or TuchesLeker Bobov"

Obviously, he didn't take it too well, so the "sore loser" came up with a brilliant idea, "why don't we boycott all products with  the Hashgacha of the Rabbi who sat on the Bais Din that favored Reb Benzion?"
This will teach everyone that goes to a Bais Din, a lesson, not to pasken "al pi Torah' but "al pi intimidation"

So the "chachamim" of the big "talmud chochum,"  Reb Mordechai Dovid Ungar, got together in a Chelm-like meeting, and came up with the idea to plaster all of the tri-state area with posters questioning that particular  Hashagacha. 
And so that it doesn't look like they are advocating a "boycott" (Chas V'esholom) they write that "this is not a boycott, just a reminder to check the hechsher"

and so the Bobov saga continues....
Reb Shlomo Bobover, where are you?

Satmar Attempts to Annex Parts of Monroe while Israel adds 4000 dunams in West Bank

Ha Ha Ha, LOL, Ha,Ho Ho 
I can't stop laughing while I'm writing this post..... the sheer irony!

One of the Satmar "complaints" against the State of Israel, is the Torah Violation of "Hisgarois B'umois," which basically means that we shouldn't do things to antagonize the gentiles. Satmar's chief complaint is whatever the State does, antagonizes the world, so they should basically all live in shelters and allow the Hamas murderers to rain missiles down on all of Israel! 
The fact that the State of Israel must defend itself, means absolutely nothing to those who live in their comfortable homes in Williamsburg, Monroe and now Bloomberg.
Satmars' shitah is that the very existence of the State, violates this "prohibition." 

I can't wait to read this weeks Satmar Newspapers berating Israel for adding 4000 Gush Etzion dunams in the West Bank, to eventually build much needed settlements!

Now, this violation of "Hisgarois B'umois"  does not apply exclusively to Israel, but in fact this violation was actually put in place in the Midbar in Chutz L'Aretz, it may not even apply to Eretz Yisroel.

So what do the Satmar hypocrites do? 
Ahhh! You took the words straight out of my mouth.
They filed a petition to the Monroe Town Board to annex land to expand Monroe!

Read this:

" A standing-room audience waited more than two hours to address the Monroe Town Board Monday night at the latest packed board meeting since tumultuous town elections in November and then the prospect of a major expansion of Kiryas Joel through an annexation petition property owners filed in December.

Speakers vented frustration with limitations on public comments, the failure to fill a board seat vacant since January and other issues. But Laura Rainoff of Tuxedo drew the loudest applause from the frustrated audience when she raised the annexation prospect that has stoked strenuous opposition at Monroe's raucous board meetings."

Personally, I'm all for Satmar annexing much needed land in Monroe, and the hell with the neighbors. But, I'm also for Israel annexing much needed land for their citizens.

So what is the difference if Satmar violates the dictum of  "Hisgarois B'umois," or if Israel does it?

Slonimer Rebbe Says that except for 17 year olds, everyone must report to IDF induction centers

Last week it was reported that the Slonimer Rebbe, instructed his chassidim not to report to draft centers, adopting the fanatical policy of Rav Shmuel Auerbach. 

A clarification is now being announced.

The Rosh Yeshiva of Slonim, has now issued a clarification that the restriction prohibiting one from reporting to an induction center applies only to bochrim, not to the older talmidim and avreichim. 

The Rosh Yeshiva explained the fear is that 17-year-old talmidim reporting for a first induction order may be “damaged” or persuaded by military authorities and therefore the Rebbe prohibits them from doing so. 

This does not apply to anyone other than these bochrim, fearing the latter may be influenced by the surroundings due to their young age.

The Rebbe’s words were disseminated in the chassidus by his son, Rosh Yeshivas Slonim.

 The Rebbe is a member of the Moetzas Gedolei Torah of Agudas Yisrael.

Shas takes Ethiopian Shul while the Ethiopians were serving in Gaza!

When the heads of the shul serving the Ethiopian community of Kiryat Gat returned from Operation Protective Edge they were shocked to learn their Beis Knesses was given away to a chareidi nonprofit, affiliated with Shas. The shul leaders were among the tens of thousands called up to emergency military service and when they returned it became clear to them that they lost their shul.

According to a Srugim News report, Moshe Solomon, a leading figure in the city’s Ethiopian community  received a notice, a couple of months ago, for a 70,000 shekel debt to the electric company.
 “The building is the city’s and the latter is responsible to pay the electric bill. After a few days, without any notice, the electricity was turned off”.

Moshe and his colleagues tried their best, turning to Israel Electric Company to get the power turned on. Officials explained to them they did not initiate the cutting off of the service to the shul but a request was received from Kiryat Gat City Hall to turn off the power.

Moshe then turned to City Hall in the hope of reaching the truth and having the power restored. He also asked to have the building transferred to the nonprofit that runs the shul since the structure was built to serve as a shul for the Ethiopian community. 

Moshe explains, to his sorrow, that nothing was done to assist him and the kehilla. He explained that the community could not raise the funds to pay the electric bill since they just used the money they had, to refurbish the shul.

Moshe adds that Deputy Mayor Shulamit Salu is a member of the local Ethiopian community but she too did not appear willing to assist him and the kehilla. He insists she signed the letter that was sent to Israel Electric asking to have service cut off. He accuses her to spearheading the campaign against them because she has “her own agenda”.

“At the end, we paid the debt with 10 post-dated checks of 10,000 shekels, hoping we would raise the money one month at a time to cover the checks."

However Moshe’s troubles did not end. He explains that a day after the electric debt was paid, the shul was handed over to a chareidi nonprofit affiliated with Shas. He admits they learned of the city’s actions too late and were therefore unable to take action to prevent it. Letters went unanswered and they found themselves without anyone of authority willing to assist.

Moshe emphasizes it did not end there, for city officials arrived to change the locks to keep Moshe and his kehilla out. 
“We arrived for minyan and we couldn’t get in” he explained. “I simply cannot understand the hate, davka now, in Elul”.


When asked to comment, Deputy Mayor Salu told Srugim that the shul was unable to pay its electric bill which it was responsible to pay and this compelled the city to act. She denies allegations of prejudice or hate towards the local Ethiopian community. She added that the shul had many other problems pertaining to the proper running of the shul, seeking to justify her actions.

BDS against SodaStream backfires as headquarters moves to Southern Israel causing 900 Palestinians to lose their jobs

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) campaign against West Bank based company SodaStream, backfired as it announced the move of its headquarters to Southern Israel.

While the BDS crowd will be happy with this move, since SodaStream will now be based in an area of ​​Israel that is not disputed by the Palestinians, there is a very real possibility that the 900 Palestinians employees will lose their jobs as a result.

The company will move its entire factory sometime next year, and while it will continue its practice of equal opportunity hiring, there is a high probability that the Bedouin and African communities in the region will be the lucky recipients of employment in SodaStream instead of Palestinians.

SodaStream produces home carbonation systems that enable users to convert tap water into sparkling water in more than 100 flavors.

A Palestinian worker slammed the BDS movement, saying that the group is only harming Palestinians by causing them to lose their high paying jobs at Israeli companies operating in the West Bank.

Unlike Satmar, Abbas Blames Hamas For 2,100 Dead, 10,000 Injured, 50,000 Homes Destroyed

It seems that Abbas is moving away from the Satmar Shita, that the Zionists were responsible for  the war between Israel and Gaza.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of needlessly extending fighting in Gaza, causing a high death toll.

Abbas told Palestine TV in remarks broadcast Friday that “it was possible for us to avoid all of that, 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses (damaged or destroyed).”
Israel and Hamas terrorists fought for 50 days before reaching a truce on Tuesday.

More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians. Seventy one people on the Israeli side, including six civilians, were killed.

Several Egyptian mediated cease-fire attempts failed. Hamas eventually accepted almost the same truce offered at the beginning.

Abbas’ Palestinian Authority formed a unity government backed by Hamas earlier this year. Abbas questioned the future of that arrangement in the interview.