Satmarism vs Zionism, Part 1 .... Chabad is Shabsai Tzvi"

Recently, Satmar published a booklet,  שמעו דבר ה׳  a transcript of Reb Yoel Teitelbaum's Shalosh Seudois Torelech given during and  immediately after the 6 day war, in 1967. The booklet is accompanied with an MP3 which is an actual  recording of the Rebbe speaking on Shabbos at Shaloish Seudois.
Notice the arrogant title of the booklet: "Listen to the Words of Hashem," as if the Satmar Shitah is the words of Hashem!

Satmar is feeling the heat on their irrelevant shitah vis a vis the State of Israel, with reality flying in their faces, and  facts contradicting everything they preached and believed. They are in panic mode as they were in 1967, when they saw that the frum world, by in large, laughed at the ridiculous rants and ravings of the Rebbe! 
The reality was just the opposite of what was taught by the Rebbe. 

Now, with the State of Israel, in full bloom as predicted by our prophets, with miracles happening on a daily bases, with G-D protecting the citizens of the State; Hashem's miraculous protection as over 2,000 missiles were raining down on them , with Jews from all corners of the world coming home, they look like a bunch of pre-historic fools. The Chassidim  are realizing that the shita doesn't hold water, and the Chassidim with a smidgen of  brains are questioning their previous Satmar teachings.

Satmar decided on an all out propaganda campaign, to try to keep the Chassidim in the fold, and to answer their questions. 
On a weekly basis, they publish their nonsense in Der Yid, Der Blatt and Dee Zeitung, but it isn't enough, because the Chassidim with smart phones are reading reality and it contradicts everything that Satmar preaches.
So they decided to regurgitate the Rebbes 1967 Shalosh Seudois Toralach in the hope to stem the tide of reality!

I will post some of the Rebbes sayings and I will comment, so that my Satmar readers see that there is another side that actually makes sense, and that has sources in our Holy Torah!

I will feature parts of this sefer every week not in any particular order and translate and comment. 

Today we have part 1 Titled "Chabad Shabsai Tzvi?"
And this I will only translate, since it it so far off the charts, that I have nothing to say!

Page 28

Page 29 

The above two pages, 28 & 29 of the booklet is a direct attack on Chabad, comparing Chabad to Shabsai Tzvi (the false messiah) because Chabad in 1967 went to the front to  encourage the IDF to don Tefillin:

On page 28, the Rebbe first writes that "Evil People" grab on to the Mitzvah of Tefillin as opposed to other Mitzvas to prove that they are righteous????  Hmmm, Okayyyyyyyyyyy?

On Page 29 on top, the Rebbe says it is prohibited to put Tefillin on soldiers because of their spiritual contamination! He adds that FFB"S can put on Tefillin even if they are spiritually defiled, but not BTS???????????????

I will translate page 29 , where the Rebbe writes that he "doesn't believe that anyone does teshuvah just because he put tefillin on,
 and  adds that "Shabsai Tzvi also made Baalie Teshuvois"

"I'm only saying this, because this [putting on tefillin] became a fad.
The frauds and the evil ones' have attached themselves to this particular mitzvah to advertise to the world, "I'm wearing Tefillin."
I don't believe any of this [that this made anyone frum], and even if it should be true, ..... 
Shabsai Tzvi made Baalei Teshuves in the tens of thousands ...
It is brought down from the books of Reb Yaakov M'emdin and others, that there were Jews that distributed their total wealth and went to Shul to learn and they said "Moshiach is already here" and they did Teshuvah!
Reb Yaakov M'emdin writes that by  the Chacham Tzvi, there was a Shabsai Tzvinik, ..... everybody saw that he did Teshuvah, but from this there was tragedy,"
there is nothing to doubt, who can even doubt their Heresy!"

Lipa Schmeltzer Sings for Charedi Troops

Chassidic music sensation Lipa Schmeltzer paid a visit to IDF soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda (formerly Nahal Charedi) battalion, to perform for soldiers as a show of solidarity
.

Schmeltzer is considered something of a maverick; he hails from the right wing Skver Chassidim, and has faced criticism form some within his community for embracing "modern" styles of music.

But he isn't phased, and says he identifies with the soldiers of "Nahal Charedi" - many of whom come from Charedi homes and communities and have faced ostracism for joining the IDF.

"Nahal Charedi puts up two fights. The regular soldier puts up the fight at the front," but knows that when he returns home he will be embraced for defending his county, he said.

In contrast, he notes "Nahal Charedi has to put up a fight at the front, but also has to put up a fight with people who think that shomrei Torah umitzvot (observant Jews) can't join the army," referring to elements within the Charedi community who are openly hostile towards Charedim who serve in the IDF.

"They're doing an amazing job by showing that you can be a good Jew... and be in the army, and that's a tremendous accomplishment."

Schmeltzer explained that he always performs for Nahal Charedi whenever he visits Israel, "not to [visit] Nahal Charedi, I won't feel fulfilled - this is the icing on the cake."

Two police-controlled phone calls calls between alleged victim and Bodenheimer will prove Bodenheimer innocent.

There are no other victims, according to a DA insider, and the 2 phone calls between the alleged victim and Rabbi Bodenheimer will probably prove that he never touched the child, says Kenneth Gribetz, attorney for the defense.

Rabbi Gavriel Bodenheimer, 71, principal of Yeshiva Bais Mikroh, has rejected a plea agreement with state prison time and will fight the sexual abuse charges at trial.

In two recorded conversations concerning sexual acts, Bodenheimer told the boy that he didn't know what the boy was talking about "and he should go to the police if he has concerns," Gribetz said.

"We will be using the recordings at trial," Gribetz said. 

"There will be no plea to any charges."

Gribetz said the rabbi has never been accused of sexual abuse before. He said the defense strategy with co-counsel Deborah Wolikow-Loewenberg will include asking the judge to allow the jurors to visit the school. He said the offices are open and the spaces inside are visible through windows.

Gwyneth Paltrow converting to Judaism

Personally, I think she will become a Satmar Chasidisteh, because not too long ago, she appeared singing  karaoke at a fundraiser for the Palestinian charity, the Hoping Foundation, a front-group for HAMAS and other Islamic terrorist groups founded by Hugh Grant’s Muslim girlfriend Jemimah Khan and some anti-Israel left-wing Jews. 

Paltrow’s karaoke song choice, “Killing Me Softly,” is ironic, since the Hoping Foundation provides money and resources to HAMAS operatives and others running Palestinian refugee camps and breeding and training future killers, who do NOT kill “softly.”

For years she has followed Kabbalah, which has its roots in the Jewish faith.

Now Gwyneth Paltrow is said to be ‘quietly converting’ to Judaism.

The claim was made by the New York Post, which said Miss Paltrow was already raising her daughter Apple, ten, and son Moses, eight, in a Jewish setting after learning about her family history on the US version of the genealogy In the program, Who Do You Think You Are?. Miss Paltrow discovered she came from a long line of influential East European rabbis.

Previously she has joked that she was a ‘Jewish princess’ after learning she had 17 generations of rabbis running through her family tree.

Oh my God, if you saw the amount of food that I do. I am the original Jewish mother. I make meals from these new recipes that look, smell and taste like the food I always cooked, but are also super healthy. That is an additional joy.’

Miss Paltrow was herself raised in a mixed-faith household. Her late father, film producer and director Bruce Paltrow, was Jewish, while her actress mother, Blythe Danner, is a Christian. And she was raised both Jewish and Christian, which she said was ‘such a nice way to grow up’.

Earlier this year Miss Paltrow and her 37-year-old husband, the lead singer with band Coldplay, announced their separation after ten years of marriage.

In a statement on Miss Paltrow’s website, in which she referred to the ‘Conscious Uncoupling’ of their partnership, the pair said they had been ‘working hard for well over a year’ to salvage their marriage.

Last night her spokesman did not respond to requests for a comment.

Ami's Shenanigans

The war in Gaza is basically over, so the "Chief Clown" of Ami Magazine, Yitz Frankfurter,  is back to his old tricks.
In an editorial in this week's issue, titled "Piercing Indifference" he bashes the secular Israelis for not publicizing  the fact that the Lakewood student, Aaron Sofer z"l, was missing.

He quotes an article written by Allison Kaplan- Sommer, that was published in the self hating Israeli  far left leaning newspaper, Haaretz.

"But in Israel, the only outlets that have been covering Sofer's disappearance and the search for him are religious publications and English-language media. As a result, the major international news outlets based in Israel haven't focused on the story either. The key question is whether this is merely a media failing or a lack of attention that reflects and could result in, a less than vigorous effort on the part of Israeli authorities to uncover what has happened to him."

Then in a swipe at Mishpacha magazine (his former employer that gave him and his family Parnassah, for years),  that hyped a recent poll, that basically proved that the majority of secular Israelis don't dislike their Chareidi counterparts,
 he wrote mockingly:

"Last Pesach, some in the Orthodox community announced with great fanfare the results of a poll that showed that a majority of secular Israelis don't "hate" their chareidie counterparts ....
"The majority of secular Israelis, however, also seem to be apathetic toward our anguish. That not only hurts, but as I have previously pointed out, may prove the truism about indifference: that it is an even worse disposition towards another human being than loathing. And that stings."

First of all, Mr. Frankfurter, didn't Reb Chaim Kanievski say when Aaron Sofer was missing,  that he "is alive and well?"
So why should the secular press report a Yeshiva boy missing, when he was "alive and well?"

Second of all, are you saying that the "majority of secular Israelis are apathetic toward our anguish?" 
Did I read that right?
What a blatant bald face lie!
The Mishtara when notified 6 hours after Aaron went missing, starting searching immediately, this was on shabbos!

And how many "chilonim" searched in Chevron for the 3 kidnapped yeshiva boys?
Yes, the police didn't get onto it right away, because they thought it was a prank call, but not because they were yeshiva boys or because they were Dati.

And why shouldn't the Chilonim "loath" the Yeshivah Boys. 
Didn't the Yeshiva boys run from Ashdod and Ashkelon at the start of the Gaza War, even though they were told by their Roshei Yeshivah that Torah is "matzel,"  while the modern Hesder Zionist boys, stayed  in Ashdod to help the residents in Ashdod cope?

And now to the most important point!
The whole wide world now knows, how Aaron Sofer died.
In his black jacket dehydrated!
Don't you think that you should have focused your entire editorial on the sheer madness of going on a hike with no phone, hat and jacket and no water bottle?

A Single’s Perspective – An Open Response To Article By Reb Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz

The following letter was written TheYeshivaWorld in response to an article penned by R' Shlomo Rechinitz,

In that article he  mentioned that the chances of a girl, 25 years old, getting married, was 15% - 0!


As I sit here trying to gather my thoughts on the recent shidduch article you printed, 

I can’t seem to alleviate a resounding thought from my head “once a girl reaches the age of 25, her chances of getting married are less than 15%”. 

As a 28 year old single girl in the yeshiva world, I shudder at the thought of this possible reality. 

While my initial reaction to this alarming statistic was fear and sadness, upon having some time to think and reflect, those feelings changed to a strong sense of frustration. While I can sincerely appreciate the fact that there are people out there trying to help and make a change, I think we have it all wrong. I am not saying I have the answers and I am not going to sit here and write an alternative solution, but I want to try and share some thoughts and insights from the perspective of an “older single” in shidduchim.

I have no older siblings, so when I entered the shidduch parsha at the age of 19, I felt both excited and hopeful. My two best friends married the first boy they went out with and I thought I would surely follow suit. I always wanted to get married young – it seemed like the “next step” after spending a year in seminary. 

My first date was a disaster and after coming home crying, it was my first “reality check” that this may not be as easy or painless as I anticipated. It‘s been almost 9 years since that first date and boy have I learned a lot – both about myself and about being part of a society that “expects” girls to be married no later than age 22. Maybe you would consider me one of your “hopeless, helpless and wounded” girls in the parsha, but truth be told, I don’t see it that way. 

B”H I am smart, well-educated, have a good job, a great group of friends and a supportive family. I am attractive, healthy and feel that I have a lot to offer in a relationship. 

So, why is it, that if this is how I view myself, when it comes to the society as a whole the first thing they see is “SINGLE.” I think this is where the problem lies.

When I think about what the biggest source of pain has been throughout this process, it is not “waiting for the phone to ring” or watching others move on. It is not the dating process, the singles events, meeting shadchanim, rejection, constantly needing to be “on”, sending out a picture to try and “convince” guys to go out with me or always having to look my best. It is not watching younger siblings or students married with babies. 

The greatest source of pain that I have felt is everybody else’s reaction to my “situation”. I have thought that perhaps I am just being ultra sensitive and had actually planned on waiting to write an article on the topic until I was married so I can be a little more objective. But after reading this article I felt compelled to write something and get the message out there. GIRLS DON’T WANT TO BE PITIED; Nobody wants to be pitied.

I remember going to work (in a secular office) on my 25th birthday and crying at a team meeting. My supervisor came in the next day and said, “I hope I am not being disrespectful towards your culture, but when I came home I felt so angry. I felt angry that a society can make a person feel THAT bad about turning 25.” I thought about what she said, and I think she was right. Why is it that in the secular world, I am viewed as a young adult with my whole life ahead of me and the fact that I am single doesn’t even cross their minds? The secular world doesn’t pity me or think any less of me because I haven’t found the right guy and they think the age of 25 is YOUNG. 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the frum, orthodox world. Unfortunately, in the frum world, with each passing birthday girls are left feeling more afraid, sad, rejected and undesirable. I don’t think this feeling comes from an inner sense of insecurity or lack of self-esteem. I think it comes from the way our society has “labeled” what it means to be an “older single”.

I strongly believe that the reason I am single has absolutely nothing to do with statistics, age gaps, lack of guys or anything else along those lines. And as long as we focus on that being the problem, we aren’t going to come up with a solution. As a good friend of mine likes to put it “this is not a shidduch crisis, it is an emunah crisis”. Everyone has to deal with different nisyonos in life. Being single is one of those nisyonos. Hashem doesn’t work based on numbers or statistics. If Hashem wants, he can send me my zivug today. But clearly, that is not where Hashem wants me to be right now. For reasons I don’t understand, I am meant to go through this painful process. If I truly believed that “less than 15% statistic” I would have a very hard time waking up in the morning and facing the world. Why would I daven so hard for something that seems so “unlikely” to happen? I don’t think Hashem is looking for us to find the reasons behind the challenges he sends us on both a personal level and on a klal level. I think Hashem wants us to take the experiences we go through and become better people. Hashem wants us to grow from these challenges and use them to help and support other people. For any single person reading this article – please don’t listen to the statistics. We are not numbers, we are human beings. Bishvili nivra haolam.

In my opinion, this is the biggest problem. Reading an article like this doesn’t give me chizuk. Reading an article like this reaffirms all my fears – that age means too much in our society, that getting older means getting “less desired”. It is not this way in the secular world and it should not be this way in our world either. 

People need to stop stigmatizing girls based on age. Instead of pitying us, be supportive. Instead of thinking “oy, she’s still not married” think “wow, such a great girl, I am going to think if I know anyone for her”. Instead of labeling us based on age, label us based on our character. Instead of giving us looks of despair, give us looks of encouragement and support. 

I think taking away the strong stigma is a first step in alleviating some of the pain singles have to go through. If age wasn’t such a big deal, such a spoken about “issue”, guys would not be as hung up on it either. As a therapist, working with children who have anxiety, I teach them that the more they focus on their worries, the more their worries grow. The more we sit and focus on age, the more of a “problem” it becomes in the eyes of boys’ mothers and the boys themselves. 

We should help our society see past a number on a paper. Highlight some of the positives that “older singles” have to offer. While I would have loved to get married when I was younger, I feel that the growth I have experienced in these last 9 years has been enormous. Because of this, my relationship with my husband will be that much stronger imyH. Girls who are a little older when they get married are mature, have had life experience, don’t take it for granted when they find the right person, have some money saved up, have depth and insight, have had time to travel with friends and have a strong sensitivity to others who are going through a similar ordeal.

Instead of trying to find a solution to Hashem’s master plan, help promote singles and not make them feel bad for something that is not in their control. Write articles that give support and chizuk, not that highlight and focus on the negative things about hitting the “dreaded age” of 25. We have to work on changing our perspectives. Learn to value us, not pity us. Make us feel accepted instead of rejected. We want to be treated as PEOPLE, not as statistics.

We shouldn’t have to dread going to social functions because we don’t want to deal with the “nebuch” looks and comments we are inevitably going to receive from others. We shouldn’t have to feel we have anything less to offer because Hashem didn’t send our zivug at age 20. We shouldn’t have to feel that with each passing birthday we become less desirable and our chances of getting married significantly decrease. We shouldn’t have to feel “inferior” because of our age.

There is one last point I would like to make, and I think it is an important one. One of the positives that has come out of reading this article is that it has strengthened my emunah and connection to Hashem. 

Let me explain. If I were to absorb and internalize all of the comments both in the article and in response to the article, it would lead me straight down a road of despair and depression. If I were to walk around feeling like a statistic, thinking “is this a life worth living” it would be extremely difficult for me to remain hopeful, positive and self-assured. It would be difficult for me to feel “worthy” of a great guy if these damaging thoughts pervaded my psyche. 

Instead, I read the article and looked over some of the responses and all I could think was “where is G-d in this equation?” If we had full bitachon, we wouldn’t be questioning “why”. We wouldn’t be blaming singles or casting them in a negative light. We wouldn’t be coming up with statistics or asking if this is a life worth living. We would be davening for each other, working on ourselves to be better and strengthening our connection with Hashem. 

By using this nisayon as an opportunity to grow and change for the better, while putting in our hishtadlus, hopefully Hashem will answer our tefillos and send the yeshuos we are all looking for.
It is my fervent hope, that with siyata dishmaya all the singles out there find their zivug and don’t have to go through any more pain. In the meantime, stay strong, don’t give up and keep your head held high because you ARE worthy and imyH some lucky guy will get to see that very very soon.

Please feel free to contact me at shidduchim101@gmail.com

Name withheld upon request.

Joan Rivers dies at 81, No Joke

Joan Rivers, the raucous, acid-tongued comedian died Thursday. She was 81.

Rivers was hospitalized last week after she went into cardiac arrest at a Manhattan doctor’s office following a routine procedure. Daughter Melissa Rivers said she died surrounded by family and close friends.

Rivers — who opened her routine with the trademark “Can we talk?” was born to Jewish Russian immigrant parents.

Comedy was not only her calling, but her therapy, as she turned her life inside out for laughs, mocking everything from her proclaimed lack of sex appeal (“My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on”) to even her own mortality.

“I have never wanted to be a day less than I am,” she insisted in a 2013 interview with The Associated Press. “People say, ‘I wish I were 30 again.’ Nahhh! I’m very happy HERE. It’s great. It gets better and better. And then, of course, we die,” she quipped.

With her red-carpet query “Who are you wearing?”, the raspy-voiced blonde with the brash New York accent also helped patent pre-awards commentary — and the snarky criticism that often accompanies it, like cracking that Adele’s Grammy wardrobe made the singer look like she was sitting on a teapot. Rivers slammed actors at the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes for E! Entertainment. In 2007, Rivers and her partner-in-slime, daughter Melissa, were dropped by their new employer, the TV Guide Channel, and replaced by actress Lisa Rinna. But they found new success on E! with “Fashion Police,” which Rivers hosted and her daughter produced.

No performer worked harder, was more resilient or tenacious. She never stopped writing, testing and fine-tuning her jokes.

“The trouble with me is, I make jokes too often,” she told the AP in 2013, just days after the death of her older sister. “I was making jokes yesterday at the funeral home. That’s how I get through life. Life is SO difficult — everybody’s been through something! But you laugh at it, it becomes smaller.”

She had faced true crisis in the mid-1980s. Edgar Rosenberg, her husband of 23 years, committed suicide in 1987 after she was fired from her Fox talk show, which he produced. The show’s failure was a major factor, Rivers said. Rosenberg’s suicide also temporarily derailed her career.

“Nobody wants to see someone whose husband has killed himself do comedy four weeks later,” she told The New York Times in 1990.

Survivors include daughter Melissa and a grandson, Edgar

Sotloff the Beheaded Journalist was a "Brotherhood" sympathizer and loved Islam

Steven Sotloff (in beard) in Traditional Yemeni Muslim Dress (second from right) 

I was debating if I should report this at this time, while the family is still in Shivah! 

But then I thought that it's best to report the truth, so that other "bleeding heart liberals," don't make the mistake of thinking that if only we gave the Muslims back some land, all Arab terrorism would go away. 

If only Israel would stop building settlements in their own country, Arab and Jew would live in harmony!

If only we understood the Arab mind, that all they want is peace, then all would be great!

(Now this should be a lesson to Satmar and the crazed Litvisher Yeshivisha way of thinking, as well ....)

Listen fools, I got news for all you " liberal Obama supporting Jews," 
Steven Sotloff disliked the State of Israel and loved the Arab Brotherhood Terrorists, and got his head handed to him anyway!

In an article [undated, roughly 2013] Steven Sotloff, for the Word Affairs Journal, refused to listen to reason that the Muslim Brotherhood, described by the CIA as the mother ship of all terrorist organizations, was a cruel and extreme terror organization. 

Instead Sotloff argued that this barbaric terrorist organization that murdered any opposition, raped women for refusing to be fully covered, and commit mass executions, had “valid grievances”. 

He proved in his own article that he was simply ignorant, a stubborn islamofacist and unwilling to listen to any reasoning and basically asked for what was coming his way as we now know it:

“…When I told my Egyptian friend Ahmad Kamal that I wanted to go to the Muslim Brotherhood protest camp in Nasser City, a pallid look gripped him. “Don’t go there!” he pleaded. “They are fanatics who hate foreigners. Americans like you are in danger there.” 

After an hour of fruitless conversation over endless glasses of sweet tea, I rose, shook Ahmad’s hand, and headed straight to the lair where he believed I would be devoured. “

“But when I arrived at Nasser City, the picture Ahmad painted of long-bearded, club-wielding extremists bent on roughing up secular Egyptians was just as devoid of truth so much else in this divided country. 

Coups depicted as revolutions, peaceful protesters painted as fanatics, and disgruntled citizens hailed as revolutionaries have transformed Egypt into a circus where the main attraction is the uncertainty of heading into the unknown. …”

“His avowals were not enough to assuage my friend Ahmad’s fears that the Brotherhood was a violent organization bent on reestablishing itself through force. “They are lying to you. Look at the weapons the police captured at their headquarters,” he said referring to the arsenal of small arms and birdshot the security services seized there.”

“… Ahmad refuses to countenance that the Brotherhood and its supporters have legitimate grievances. Such stubbornness is blocking the path to reconciliation Egypt desperately needs to extricate itself from its security and economic woes. And until Egyptians like Ahmad extend an olive branch to those in Nasser City, Egypt will continue to be mired in a zone of uncertainty"

More about Steven Sotloff from friends and journalists who knew him and his love of Islam:

Steven Sotloff Deeply Love Islamic World, Committed to Arab Spring, Respectful of Islamic Culture:

“Steve Sotloff lived in Yemen for years, spoke good Arabic, deeply loved Islamic world,” tweeted writer Ann Marlowe, who met Sotloff during the conflict in Libya. . . . He was, she said “committed to the Arab Spring and very respectful of Islamic culture.”

 Steven Sotloff’s Sympathies Were with Arabic Culture, Not Jews or America:

His sympathy for Arab culture was despite his own ancestry – he was the grandson of Holocaust survivors. He attended a Jewish school [DS: a Reform Judaism school] in Miami.

 Sotloff Moved to Yemen, Where he Lived for Years, Lot of Respect for Muslim World:

“He went to study Arabic and ended up staying,” said Ann Marlowe, a fellow journalist and friend. “Yemen has about a 20-person expatriate community; you go there for full immersion. It is not that many people’s idea of a whole lot of fun. He loved being in a traditional society. He struck me as someone with a lot of respect for the Muslim world.”

Steven Sotloff, Friend of Muslims & Arab Spring Breaker:

“Every Muslim who knew (Steven) is probably mortified and horrified that someone who really was a friend of the Muslim and Arab people has met his end this way,” said Ann Marlowe, a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute who worked alongside Mr. Sotloff during Libya’s 2011 revolution. “He believed in the Arab Spring. He believed in democracy,” she said. “He believed that Arabs and Muslims deserved the same opportunities we have in the West.”

Check out 
GotNews’ Charles Johnson’s 

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.