Monday, March 21, 2022
Why Pini Lipshutz Editor of US Yated Wears an "Up-Brim" Hat
Two Yeshiva Boys Held Up at Gunpoint on Friday Night in Flatbush
Two young boys were held up by a gunman on Friday night on E. 34th Street between Avenues K and L.
The boys, who were conversing in front of their homes at approximately 1:38AM, were approached by the gun-wielding bandit, who demanded their money. They explained that since it was shabbos, they weren’t carrying anything on them – money or otherwise.
Unconvinced, the suspect grabbed one of the victims by his tie and went through his pockets, which were indeed empty. He then asked the boys who was in the house they were standing in front of, and they intelligently replied that it was full of people, which kept the suspect from trying to enter.
The victims then contacted Flatbush Shomrim, which in turn contacted the NYPD 63rd Precinct, who arrived quickly at the scene. NYPD Inspector Richie Taylor also walked over from his home to assist.
Video footage of the incident has been obtained by Flatbush Shomrim and they are working collaboratively with the NYPD to identify and track down the suspect. Shockingly, a marked Flatbush Shomrim vehicle being driven by an armed off-duty NYPD Officer is seen on security camera footage driving down the same street exactly 4 minutes before the incident.
Through the intervention of Ohel, Dr. Norman Blumenthal spoke to both boys on motzei shabbos to assist them with any trauma effects they may be going through due to the terrifying incident.
Sunday, March 20, 2022
Meet Rabbi Kanievsky's 'successor
Following the death of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the Lithuanian public is hinting at the president of the Council of Torah Scholars of Degel HaTorah and the head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, the 98-year-old Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, as the natural heir to take over the reins of leadership.
Since the death of Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, the Lithuanian community has adopted a two-part leadership in the persons of Rabbi Kanievsky and Rabbi Edelstein.
In practice, however, even though he escaped from the leadership positions all his life, Rabbi Kanievsky was behind many decisions concerning the conduct of the Lithuanian public in Israel. Now, it seems, Rabbi Edelstein will become the leader of the Lithuanian public.
The leadership of the two Rabbis has been characterized by marked differences over the years. While Rabbi Edelstein focused mainly on decisions in the Lithuanian-educational field, Rabbi Kanievsky was required to decide on political issues concerning the entire haredi public.
Although both identified with the Lithuanian idea of diminishing the admor/rebbe title etiquette in issues related to blessings and rebbe-chassid relations, over the years Rabbi Kanievsky's home has become a focal point for Jews of all walks of life to visit for blessings and advice, while Rabbi Edelstein remains less known to the secular public.
There are also characteristic distinctions between them: While Rabbi Kanievsky used to shorten his answers up to only a few words, both in his answers of Halachic responsa and in his responses to all aspects of life, Rabbi Edelstein tends to give lessons that are characterized by length and deal mainly with education and encouraging Torah study and moral laws.
The differences in leadership were also evident during the Coronavirus pandemic. While Rabbi Kanievsky refused to leave the boys' schools closed for extended periods of time, Rabbi Edelstein believed that extra care should be taken to maintain health in all that it entails.
The dominant feature of both leaders has been that both adopted Rabbi Shteinman's decisions in matters of religion and state, unlike the 'Jerusalem Faction' which adopted a much stricter approach which included going out to the streets to protest government reforms on issues related to the status quo.
What will Rabbi Edelstein's leadership be like? Will it be even more pragmatic than Rabbi Kanievsky's leadership was concerning the Lithuanian rabbinical attitude toward the current government? It's too early to tell. What is certain though, is that the longer his leadership will be, the greater his popularity will grow within the haredi community, and especially within the Lithuanian street.
During Rabbi Kanevsky's funeral, Rabbi Edelstein was the first of the eulogizers.
In his remarks, he said that Rabbi Kanievsky "was a great man. There is a lack of leadership in Israel when such a great man passes from the world... The whole world was affected by him, the whole public, the whole world owes him."
Rabbi Edelstein added: "We are a poor generation, an orphaned generation, we lack men of profound wisdom. We lack the influence of a great man like him."
R' Chaim z"l a short bio
The largest funeral in the history of the country, took place for a great rabbi, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, who died on Friday at the age of 94. He was at home, collapsed and died.
Estimates of up to one million people were expected to "attend" the funeral, or at least, attempt to get somewhere near it. Already major roads and highways are closed and will be used for immense parking lots for buses bringing in the mourners from all over the country. Our local Health Care provider just called and with a recorded message informed us that no testing will take place today since they will be unable to get samples to the laboratory. Police have cautioned people to avoid the metropolitan Tel Aviv area entirely.
This was massive.
And so, who was this rabbi that few outside of the Orthodox Jewish world knew or even heard about? What did he do to warrant such a huge funeral?
To begin with, you should know who Rabbi Kanievsky was not. He was not involved in politics, he was not a great speaker (he rarely spoke in public), he may never have ever been interviewed on radio or television or by a newspaper. He was not the head of a yeshiva (higher rabbinical academy) or a some Chassidic sect or the like. He was not the appointed rabbi of a community or city. He held no official position of any type, whatsoever.
Rather, he was acknowledged as the supreme Talmudic scholar whose rulings were considered absolutely authoritative. He was noted for his unusually extensive knowledge of every important Jewish text in our vast library of more than two thousand years of rabbinic writings including the Torah, the Mishna, Talmud, Codes of Jewish Law and all the major commentaries. He was noted for his extreme diligence in what is known as "learning", meaning his exceptional ability to sit and study for hours each day, late into the night, sleeping very little, and his ability to retain to memory all that he learned.
He did, however, publish exceptionally lucid books on Jewish Law, and more. I have one of his sets in my library.
He was the scholar's scholar to whom all questions of Jewish theology and Law were addressed and whose answers were considered "final". He rarely, if ever, was challenged or questioned. (If you want to know who is at the top of a specific profession, ask people in that profession who they consider "the best" and then ask those "best ones", who they think is on top.)
As a person, he was soft-spoken and never argumentative. He lived in small, modest apartment crammed with holy texts. His table was always piled with books which he pored over every minute he could. He received visitors from all over the world who came to him with questions, asking for advice, and requests for help. He would respond, by mail, to inquiries about Jewish Law from rabbis and individuals everywhere. Typically, his responses were surprisingly brief, such as "Yes", "No", "Maybe" or "Check this source for your answer".
He had the good fortune of being the son, the son-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew of other extremely well-known and important rabbis. These things tend to run in families. But, independent of his family connections, he earned his reputation on his own by his dedication to learning and his angelic personality. He had a sense of humor, too, and there are video clips of him enjoying a good joke or story.
What I find interesting, was his response to whomever came to him for a "blessing", something that Jews ask for from great sages and religious leaders. He would simple say, "Blessing and Success". (In the Hebrew, he would abbreviate this even further with "Bu-ha".) Short and sweet. Straight to the point.
You see, what matters at the end of the day is scholarly erudition and modesty. Reb Chaim (as he was fondly known) lived a simple, honest, respectful life. He was a scholar supreme and what we call a "Mensch", i.e. a truly good and honorable person. He served G-d by his Torah wisdom and piety.
It is because he personified these character traits the Jewish world respected him more than any other public figure or celebrity could. He showed us how to behave and how to prioritize our values.
This CNN Amanpour Interview Didn't Age Well
Hey @amanpour still stand by this
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) March 19, 2022
pic.twitter.com/ZSzoNXaKN0
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