Muska again

770 bochur comments to the name of the Lubavitcher Rebbetzin:

I understand that this post does not fit the general politik of the site, but I will go ahead anyway. With all due respect, the Rebbe referred to the late Rebbetzin many times over using a shin (in speech, there is little room to go wrong there). I would venture to guess that the Rebbe would have some rudimentary knowledge of all the abovementioned.

After all, the first instance of shin and sin getting mixed up goes way farther back than litvishe yiddish. (In fact, it's in the Bible (Shoftim 12:6), where is was used by Gilead in a civil war against shevet Efraim.) So barring total incompetence of a kind that the worst anti-semites do not accord the Rebbe (or the theories on the Lubavitch left that the Rebbe went overboard in '88 already, G-d forbid), this must weigh in on the debate in some way. Am I going wrong somewhere?

Chassidism as a spiritual movement

Selected comment from the Discussion about Baal Shem's revolution? post:

MIB: The Baal Shem Tov once told his Chevraya that in another hundred years (after his life) his Torah will be revealed with a Chiddush. The Rebbe RaShaB related that the The Rizhiner held that he was the Gillui of the Besht and I (the Rebbe RaShab) say I am the Besht!

Reuters, Gil Cohen Magen

Yehuda: The Besht was nifter in 1760. What gilui was there in 1860? The Kopuster Rebbe writes in the intro to Magen Avos that the spring of the Besht's teaching will dry up after 150 years, which is the year of his father, the Maharil's, petirah. It seems that a lot of what Lubavitch claims is the teaching of the Besht is not shared by other Chassidim, including other Chabad Chassidim. But the opinion the spring of Chassidism would last only 150 years was shared by many Polish Chassidim, and by the late Satamerer Rov, R' Yoelish, who held the teachings of the Besht were forgotten.

Schneur Zalman of NY: Magen Avoth writes about 150 years only as a homiletic way of describing the "meyridike " loss of his father Rav Leib the first Kopuster Rebbe who was the son of Tzemach Tzedek. The Kopuster made this statement to draw a sharp contrast to Chassidism in the days of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Mittler Rebbe and the Baal HaTanya and his father and in his own days . As I said its like saying in Yiddish "die velt hot gekummen zu an ende" can we take this literally? Chasidism continues or crawls onwards. These words were written as a hesped for his father immediately after his death. So they are divre Aggada and one is permitted to be megazem in divre dhespeida not nevuah. So to speak, after the loss of his father the ozros hachasidus dried up (Reb Leib was a "kenner" of dach, but obviously not completely as he the Mogen Avos said dach beshefa for more than 30 years afterwards.

Next I speak to many intelligent Satmarer talmidim and they agree with me that the 150 year statement is something that one has to take dak min hadak to understand, no broad generalizations here. I even spoke to rabbi G.S. the chief Satmarer point man on this subject and he basically agreed with me.

The Skverer Rebbe Reb Yankev Yosef became Esh Lohavo at the Satmarer Rebbe concerning the 150 year statement. But I must admit that to many (including myself) Chassidism as a spiritual movement ended with the death of the last Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1994.

-Schneur

Originality in the Charedi world or dozen tomatoes

Schneur Zalman of NY comments to Baal Shem's revolution? post:

What you are writing about is not only true among Lubavitchers, it rings true in all sectors of Charedi world and even in some areas of the MO world. There is little originality left in the Charedi world. If you are an original person, you will be labeled a meshugener and will have issues in shidduchim, etc. I recall Reb Michel Abehsera describing the Orthodox world like a dozen tomatoes genetically produced to look the same color, size and shape.

I suspect that few Chabad young people have the psychological, or philosophical background to internalize any of the chassiduth they are taught beyond Hiskashruth, Frumkeit and Kabbolos Ol. After all they are finished studying in a formal manner before they turn 21. Lehavdil if our psychologists and philosophers ceased their studies at age 21 with no grad school and post doc work. Masters of the mind and spirit need to be trained and have shimush with other great spirits.

That is the case with most Shluchim. They can translate chassiduth into English, but a select few are able to understand the sugyo internally and actually think. And many of the so called Shluchim who do the Chabad House circuit are speaking not about Chassidic ideas but rather they advertise Chassidic ideas. What they talk about is either straight out of the self help genre in Pop Psychology or Religious (New Age) psychology of which there are hundreds of similar books in Christian book stores or they are trying to copy the success of the Kabbalah Centers and teach Kabbalah to control your life, etc. But few teach chassiduth.

One such guru can speak for hours without mentioning the word rabbi, Judaism, Mitzvoth, he has studied the New Age literature well and can use it with the help of some Chassidic catch words to have people who do not know anything, believe they are studying Chabad. He has also been able to adopt the Rebbe's sichoth to conform to the New Age ideas. The first principle of being a mentch: Nit zu naren zich alein, not to fool yourself!

Death to clich�

I have a Korean colleague at work. He complains to me bitterly that he will always be called Chinese in America. This is how I feel about being repeatedly shelved in some Russian category. Most people know as much about Russia or Russian character as they know about Chinese or Korean culture. Incidentally in Lubavitch despite it�s Russian background this habit is pervasive. Just today a Rabbi who barely knows me tried to explain away something I was saying refereeing to me as a Russian. As I said many times on this blog I am interest in anthropological discourse but I am appalled by the dialogue based on clich�s. Death to clich�s, death to mediocrity, death to categories. Hurray to a relationship based tagging unencumbered by the legacy of the cultural prejudice.

A note to Alter Vitebsker or how vandals took the handles

I continue to read Clay Shirky. Another interesting essay: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy. The following passage explains why I dislike people posting anonymously or changing thier names. I will refer to it now and then when the offence occurs:

If you were going to build a piece of social software to support large and long-lived groups, what would you design for? The first thing you would design for is handles the user can invest in.

Now, I say "handles," because I don't want to say "identity," because identity has suddenly become one of those ideas where, when you pull on the little thread you want, this big bag of stuff comes along with it. Identity is such a hot-button issue now, but for the lightweight stuff required for social software, its really just a handle that matters.

It's pretty widely understood that anonymity doesn't work well in group settings, because "who said what when" is the minimum requirement for having a conversation. What's less well understood is that weak pseudonymity doesn't work well, either. Because I need to associate who's saying something to me now with previous coversations.

�If you want a good reputation system, just let me remember who you are. And if you do me a favor, I'll remember it. And I won't store it in the front of my brain, I'll store it here, in the back. I'll just get a good feeling next time I get email from you; I won't even remember why. And if you do me a disservice and I get email from you, my temples will start to throb, and I won't even remember why. If you give users a way of remembering one another, reputation will happen, and that requires nothing more than simple and somewhat persistent handles.

Users have to be able to identify themselves and there has to be a penalty for switching handles. The penalty for switching doesn't have to be total. But if I change my handle on the system, I have to lose some kind of reputation or some kind of context. This keeps the system functioning.

Now, this pulls against the sense that we've had since the early psychological writings about the Internet. "Oh, on the Internet we're all going to be changing identities and genders like we change our socks."

And you see things like the Kaycee Nicole story, where a woman in Kansas pretended to be a high school student, and then because the invented high school student's friends got so emotionally involved, she then tried to kill the Kaycee Nicole persona off. "Oh, she's got cancer and she's dying and it's all very tragic." And of course, everyone wanted to fly to meet her. So then she sort of panicked and vanished. And a bunch of places on the Internet, particularly the MetaFilter community, rose up to find out what was going on, and uncovered the hoax. It was sort of a distributed detective movement.

Now a number of people point to this and say "See, I told you about that identity thing!" But the Kaycee Nicole story is this: changing your identity is really weird. And when the community understands that you've been doing it and you're faking, that is seen as a huge and violent transgression. And they will expend an astonishing amount of energy to find you and punish you. So identity is much less slippery than the early literature would lead us to believe.

Memorial Day

These are some of the photos I took last August in the Fort Rosecrans Military Cemetery located approximately 10 miles west of San Diego, overlooking the bay and the city. A breath taking beauty juxtaposed over immaculate rows makes you think of simple things, like freedom.

Baruch Dayan Hoemes - Gershon Jacobson A"H

We are sorry to share with you the sad news of the passing this afternoon of Mr. Gershon Jacobson at the age of 71.

He is survived by his wife, Sylvia (Tzivia), his three sons, Rabbis Simon, Boruch and Yosef Y. Jacobson, two daughters Freida Hecht of Norwalk, CT and Chanie Krasnianski of NYC, many grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Gershon Jacobson was a true journalist and communicator par excellence. For the last 33 years he was the editor and publisher of the Algemeiner Journal, the largest a weekly Yiddish/English newspaper, which he founded in 1972. For 55 years, Gershon Jacobson, a journalist for some of the largest newspapers, including the �New York Herald Tribune,� the Yiddish Day Jewish Journal and Israel�s largest daily �Yediot Acharonot,� was a faithful witness and documenter of the destruction, rebirth and renaissance of Jews and Judaism.

Born in 1933 in Moscow, Mr. Jacobson began his journalistic career as a teenager in Europe, writing for French newspapers following the war and has been standing at the for-front of public Jewish life for over six decades. In 1953 Mr. Jacobson moved to the United States where he became the front page editor for Der Tog Morgen Journal (The Day Jewish Journal), one of the largest daily Yiddish newspapers. Gershon Jacobson also worked as a journalist for the NY Herald Tribune and in 1964 replaced Eli Weisel as the UN correspondent of Israel�s largest daily, Yediot Acharonot. In 1972 he founded the In 1972 he founded The Algemeiner Journal, which he published till his last day.

Mr. Jacobson was a living record of the most traumatic and exciting six decades in all of Jewish history. From his young years under Stalin�s tyranny, through his youth walking the streets of war torn Europe; from the ashes of a destroyed old world to the rebirth of Israel; from the revitalization of Jews in America to the horror of terrorism � Gershon recorded it all, interviewed the key players, and served as an indispensable guide to understand the world in which we live.

His children are dedicated to perpetuate his work into the 21st century. Above all Gershon was a special soul, beloved by all even those that may have disagreed with him. A true chassid and beautiful Jew, he had the unique ability to blend, with charm and wit, disarming objectivity with deep faith. His vision was global in scope, at the same time profoundly rooted in tradition. A rare breed of a warm, non-judgmental personality coupled with a sharp mind and profound human insight.

A good man of true conviction has passed. May his soul be a merit to his illustrious family and to all of us.

*****

The funeral of Gershon Jacobson will take place tomorrow, Monday, May 29, 9:30AM at the Shomrei Hadas Chapel, in Brooklyn, NY, 3803 14th Ave., corner 38th St. It will then proceed past 770 Eastern Parkway and go to the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Cambria Heights, Queens, where Mr. Jacobson will be laid to rest.

Baal Shem's revolution?

AP photo, Kevin Frayer

Baal Shem Tov�s revolution was to recognize the unique connection a simple Jew has with G-d. Alter Rebbe�s revolution was to lift up and inspire a simple Jew with a word of the new Torah. Paradoxically the hierarchical structure of dominant leadership was not appended but strengthened. Although we know about agricultural projects of the Mitteler Rebbe for example the educational system remained largely intact after the transition to Chasidism and to our knowledge no revolutionary educational steps were taken to elevate the populace �be poyel mamash� so to speak until Tomchey Tmimim came to mirror the Lithuanian Yehsivos (in it�s own way of course).

A man once told me that a sudden emphasis on �bittul" in Hasidic discourses at the time of RaSHaB was aimed at counteracting the devastating waves of the ideological competitors amongst communists and maskilim. That is to say: if we can�t understand anyway why bother with intellectual and spiritual dilemmas.

I write this at the backdrop of a reality in Chabad where creativity that signals a spiritual worth has been snuffed via canonization of Rebbe�s texts. I am particularly responding to the fact that many Lubavitcher pulpit Rabbis view their divine task in �giving over the sichos�, never venturing into an imaginative line. Modern methods of commucation make Lubavitch homogenous, obliterating beautiful regional traditions and individual character that was always present in the small towns of White Russia. This brings me to my original question. Has the task of Baal Shem Tov to infuse the masses with spiritual worth and value been promoted or sabotaged?

Trojan industrial espionage scandal in Israel

Giovanni Domenico TIEPOLO, The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy, 1773 Oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

Globes has an extensive coverage of the Trojan industrial espionage scandal in Israel: YES, Pele-Phone, Cellcom execs arrested for computer espionage. Globes web site is suspecting that it�s own communications have been also compromised in addition tot the top tear Israeli companies.

What is amazing is that a modified Trojan was undetected by all firewalls and antivirus programs, only because the modified version was not on the list. Makes you wonder how exposed are (windows) computers and how rampant is this type of espionage on a government level.

Blessed be everyone who comes through these gates!

bloghead discovers the fun of google linking: A little insight into human psychology.

I have been looking at mentalblog.com Google and other searches for the past month. There are 1166 different keyphrases and 1479 keywords. Selected pearls of searching wisdom, keyphrases:

reform rabbis child molestation of stepdaughters
blog sex crown heights Chabad
intensive pekin duck raising
email contacts of top officers in italy 2005
was hitler jewish?
1930 s clothing connecticut inexpensive
negative point of view on Matisyahu
going on shmais.com without a license
business planning shimon deutsch
mafia lakewood nj
chanina sperlin & real estate
belorussia putin 2005
eastern european chair designers of the 1940 s
lev leviev football
rebbe alive
speech impediment r
potamkin arrested
top israeli involvement in the diamond trade congo
temple emanuel newton pope
hatafat dam certificate
tintoretto perspective mistakes

Reuters - Gil Cohen Magen (he is an interesting photographer; I already published several of his photos).
Blessed be everyone who comes through these gates!

mentalblog.com links

Knifedge Kvetch: A funny description of Karl�s date.
Seraphic Secret: Seraphic Shabbos.
lgf: our friends in Indonesia.
MobileBurn: Nokia's 770 Internet Tablet.
On Location With Rick Lee: Great photos on the border between molecules and shapes.
YudelLine: Yori Yanover, Threatened by 'Victim Advocate' 'WhistleBlower', Unveils the Anonymous who Roared.
Rua da Judiaria: Hilarious, separated at birth: Peres and Kramer.

Memorial Day on kibbutz in Utah: An interesting article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a Jewish farming experiment in Utah 100 years ago: Early Jewish farmers try their hand in a hardscrabble land.

Following family tradition, on Memorial Day Bruce places flowers on the graves. I nod my head to history and find a dusty agate that buffs to a sheen.

Why smart people defend bad ideas

Insightful and humorous advise from Scott Berkun (I was going to say something smart here, ahem, better not, read it yourself): We all know someone that�s intelligent, but who occasionally defends obviously bad ideas. Why does this happen?

Categories, Links, and Tags

Jan LIEVENS, Portrait of Poet Jan Vos, C. 1630 in Amsterdam, Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

As many of you know there are two major blogging platforms Blogger, owned by Google and Typepad/Moveable Type owned by Six Apart.

Bloggers often mention the ability to categorize posts in the Six Apart platforms as a big advantage over Blogger. Users of GMAIL similarly ask why it has has not folders? A enlightening explanation comes from Clay Shirky who published an essay: Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags. A highly recommended reading. It sheds light on the seminal concepts that are coming to the fore in the information age (for some of the librarians on this blog a required reading).

Abstract expressionist

I went for a spin today with Dov Ber a unique sculptor and a mavin of modern art history.
TA: Dov Ber, what about Mark Rothko. He is mentioned sometimes as a Vitebsker but he is really a Dvinsker.
DB: He started as a surrealist and then along with Pollack became one of the most known abstract expressionist. At the end oh his life he was commissioned a series of paintings for an interdenominational chapel in Texas. He built the canvases and hung them in the space to see what they would look like. And he realized that he can not possibly add to the beauty of white on white.
TA: Didn�t Kazimir Malevich already proven this with his White on White series?
DB: Correct. But Rothko had to paint something on the canvases. He painted dark blues and grays and this triggered his depression. He felt that his art was compromised. A year later he took two sharp knifes under his elbows, he pulled the knifes forward and bled to death. Some say that he has fallen on a canvas, intentionally making it his last greatest painting.

Dov Ber in the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge an hour ago.

TA: Dov Ber, next week we should talk about Anthony Caro, an English sculptor who was a great grandson of the compiler of the Shulchan Oruch.

Lag B'Omer eggs

A mentalblog.com reader writes: My two year-old daughter goes to a Chabad school for toddlers. They recently learned about Lag B'Omer. Among the customs the Rabbi's wife taught them relating to this was painting eggs. I did a little research and found out that this had its origins in Yemen. My question is how did a Lubavitcher wind up doing this? Are you aware of this minhag? Also, do you think it should be continued given its easy comparison to painting Easter eggs?

UPDATE: The Big Boulder of Kurenitz.

Mainstream ideas

Yori Yanover of USA Jewish had a protracted blogging fight with Jewish Whistleblower and Luke Ford. Miriam claims that the Jewish Whistleblower could not take it and shot down. Miriam writes that one of the reason for the decline in the Jewish blogsphere is not Prozac as we wrote below but the fact that �mainstream media hasn't been particularly inspirational lately� (puts certain obsession with the pop and the pope in a perspective). I am puzzled by this. Why would a blog want to turn itself into a commentary page for the �mainstream media� and the �mainstream ideas� for that matter? A pedestrian task in my mind. The blogs are about supplanting the media, about generating it�s own creative beat. One day the old guard papers will integrate commenting and put � of the blogs out of business.

National Geographic travels to Postville

Via Shmaray who keep his eye on Shechita there is the National Geographic feature about Rubashkinville, and true to the magazine tradition there are interesting photos. It looks like at least 2-3 shots are about Kapores, and nothing to do with the Agriprocessors.

Jews on Prozac

Pernertage of Jews on mood medications, mentalblog.com unscientific estimate, all rights reserved:
Jewish men-20%
Jewish women-45%

I am not arguing about positive effect of these drugs I am arguing about what the effect those drugs have on creativity. No wonder there is nothing to read in the Jewish blogsphere lately. All stale and unoriginal. My old idol Camille Paglia had it right (at the bottom of the page).

RaSHaG's land found in Israel

COL-Chabad On Line: Advocate Nechama Tsibbin has recently discovered that a 40-dunam strip of land between Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat, is the property of the Rashag,

Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary, ob'm, son-in-law of the previous Rebbe and brother-in-law of the Rebbe. The Rashag, who lived in Tel Aviv in the winter of 5695, had purchased this area, which is registered in his name: Shmaryus Gurary. The area, although vacant and unused is worth some $100,000.

Interestingly, this land strip is close to where the government aspires to transfer the Gush Katif settlers in the framework of the disengagement plan. Tsibbin claims that Rabbi Gurary's heirs will have to prove their eligibility to inherit this strip of land in an Israeli court. Other locations in Israel, known to belong to the Rebbe's household are the building on Harav Kook's street in Tel Aviv, which was Tsach's location before it moved to Kfar Chabad, properties in Chevron and an property in Givat Shaul, which has been sold.

Will AGUCH claim that too? Did they time the discovery to the departure of Barry?

Jewish kids with special needs go to St. Petersburg

JTA NEWS: At his first Passover seder, the autistic boy thought the jagged edge of a broken piece of matzah was a freshly cut piece of wood, and that it would embed splinters in his skin. He was afraid, so Misha, then 12, started yelling, disrupting the seder. When his mother tried to remove him, Misha�s screams got louder. Finally, she dragged him home.

New handbook offers women guidance on dealing with Jewish religious courts

JTA NEWS: If you�re a fervently Orthodox woman, as most of attorney Margaret Retter�s clients are, there�s the possibility that you�ve been so terrified of going before a Jewish rabbinical court, or beit din, and so pressured by the man you wanted to leave, that you bargained away what should have been yours just for that get.

Kaliningrad AKA Kenigsberg cemetery saved

FJC News: Historic Jewish Cemetery Discovered, Admitted a Historical Monument.

"Chief Rabbi" of Kaliningrad David Shvedik

Akiva school in Barnet

Evening Standard: Neighbors oppose the Jewish school expansion in London on grounds that it might cause a terrorist attack close to a residential neighborhood and too close to St Theresa's Primary School.

Matisyahu on the verge of stardoom

billboard.com: Matisyahu alignes with Epic Records: Hasidic reggae rapper Matisyahu will release his next album this fall via a partnership between Epic and Or Music, which last month released the album "Live at Stubb's." Having recently demoed two songs with noted producer Bill Laswell, Matisyahu and his band plan to hit the studio in the next two weeks to begin work on the follow-up to that set, which reached No. 2 on Billboard's Top Reggae Albums chart.
A scene from the New Jew in Boston concert.

"A blog like this screams out in big red letters"

Comments to Binyan adei ad or a problem of nepotism:

I was just looking for something on the web and came across this embarrassing site. I use the word embarrassing, not for the chabad community, yet for all of you who actually sit and post on here, back and forth. A few questions for all of you to think about and answer honestly to yourselves.

MA Appellate Court rules in favor of the New England Hebrew Academy

On May 18, 2005 Massachusetts Appellate Court ruled against Dr. Marc Oster vs. New England Hebrew Academy & others, (see our previous post and commenting discussion about this case).

Today we publish this publicly available ruling - PDF. This is a stunning decision with a long term consequences for Jewish schools. Highlights of the ruling:

Religious organizations "are entitled to autonomy 'over church disputes touching on matters of doctrine, canon law, polity, discipline and ministerial relationships.'"

References to court cases against dioceses, etc. follow. The judges chose to equate a school with a religious organization and people managing the school with representatives of a religion. Subsequently all the referenced cases are a pure church disputes. It is unclear why this school case was approached with the same arguments. The ruling continues:

As a result of Oster's attempts to call a meeting, one which seemingly has never been held in the past, a conflict arose within the organization raising the question of whether the corporate by-laws controlled or whether the Academy's leaders controlled. The determination of this question unavoidably raises questions of religious doctrine which civil courts are unable to resolve. Stated another way, Oster's interpretation of the problem as strictly secular attempts to overlook the inherent tension between what is effectively a statutory requirement (compliance with corporate by-laws) and a fundamental constitutional prohibition (free exercise of religion). In a conflict between a statutory requirement and the free exercise of religion, the statute must yield.

In an amazing swoop the court declared that governing by-laws by which the nonprofit organization have been incorporated do not matter, they are "statutory requirement" only, and the choice given to the religious school to ignore the by-laws as a matter of "free exercise of religion". Barabum-Barabam, Holley Molley!!! (file this under supra-rational please) The judges continue:

In this instance, if we were to require adherence to a set of "secular" by-laws, it would undoubtedly raise the possibility, if not the probability, that the basic tenets of the Lubavitcher movement would be subordinated to the requirements of corporate law. We are in no position to make such a determination. So an annual meeting to give representation to parents who�s primary objective is quality religious, specifically Lubavitch education for their children is against the �basic tenets of the Lubavitcher movement�? The decision continues: The thrust of Oster's argument is founded in public policy: if we do not compel the Academy to comply with its statutory by-laws, members and their "contractual right to rely upon such bylaws" are left unprotected, which "would leave all religious organizations dangerously vulnerable to deleterious takeovers by rogue leaders." In essence, he equates the Academy with any other nonprofit organization in which the directors owe a fiduciary duty to the organization, and for which the law provides a grievance mechanism for members to ensure that the directors are acting in accordance with the best interests of the organization. This argument misses the point in this case: the only parties who are qualified to determine whether the leadership of a religious organization is acting in the best interests of that organization are the leaders themselves, not the courts. The best interests of a secular nonprofit corporation, on the other hand, are not embedded in religious faith and doctrine, and are therefore ascertainable by the civil courts.

G-d Bless the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts! Not only the court concludes that the school is not bound by the statutory by-laws of a nonprofit organization but it states that potential "rogue leaders" are the only parties who are qualified to determine what is the best interest of a religious organization. And these leaders remain in essence above "fiduciary duty to the organization"? I am getting dizzy. Who are the leaders of Lubavitch today? Particularly in light of the fact that we already established that even 15 years ago this was not a question with a simple answer. (see was the Lubavitcher Rebbe a closet Kotzker?). Did Massachusetts Appellate Court just endorsed nepotism as we know it in the Lubavitch institutions of New England and beyond? Wasn�t the point of Berke Gourary case that the leader, the Rebbe himself owns nothing and it all belongs to Chasidim?

We hope the Dr. Oster finds his courage to follow through to the Federal Supreme Court. But it seems that the court is reluctant or uninformed about the nuances of the conflict. Indeed the courts prefer not to rule against a party that is perceived to represent a religion in a dispute. It is reasonable to conclude that there will be no judiciary relief for the parents.

Inevitably one hears an argument that the information about this case should not be leaked to the public to portray Lubavitch in a bad light. We disagree indeed glasnost does not negate the ideals of the movement. Simply put the highest goal of the Lubavitcher Rebbe was Jewish education. Today we witness how Batey Din and now Courts refuse to intervene on the side of the parents. In order to break the logjam on the path chartered by the Lubavitcher Rebbe the only remaining alternative is glasnost.

Many institutions are in possession of an appreciated real estate and substantial funds. It�s safe to assume that in 9 out of 10 cases the funds are raised in the name of Jewish Education. Therefore it would be logical to conclude that the "leaders" who are entrusted with the funds have a "fiduciary responsibly" to the Jewish people in addition to their own families or even to the �basic tenets of the Lubavitcher movement� to use the courts language.

Finally to paraphrase Roger Rosenblatt the following situation will present itself to you over and over: There is a friend, a relative, a colleague who will ask you in the name of unity to revive organization with 40 year track record of failure. This person will tell you that if you rationally convince a "leader" to implement a commons sense policy "A", followed by a commons sense policy "B", this "leader" will appreciate your input and will be forever grateful to you for your contribution. We implore you: forgetaboutit. When the muse of pseudo unity whispers in your ear, swat it, take a long walk, a cold shower, and clear your head. There has not been one person in history that voluntarily reformed or changed when challenged for a 0.0001% of his power. The only rational course of action is glasnost and competition and to use the court�s language glasnost and competition are "consonant with the highest ideals of American citizenship" and today it is the key to the advancement of the "basic tenets of the Lubavitcher movement".

Ten guidelines for choosing your rabbi

Dear Tzemach,
I'm happy to forward what you requested. Brocho ve'hatzlocho bechol hainyonim, and a good Shabbos.
Yours always, Lazer Brody.

Rembrandt, Moses with the Tablets of the Law, 1659, Gem�ldegalerie, Berlin

Ten guidelines for choosing your personal rabbi and spiritual guide:
1. Has this person been ordained by recognized scholars of high moral stature?
2. Does this person invest the bulk of his time in Torah study, prayer, and spiritual development?
3. Does this person have a simple, spiritual-oriented (as opposed to material-oriented) lifestyle?
4. Does this person possess positive character traits, and does he practice everything that he preaches?
5. Does this person display love and compassion for his fellow man, regardless of station or status in life? In other words, is he just as kind and compassionate toward the neighborhood street sweeper as he is to the wealthy members of the community?
6. Does this person understand you, and recognize your individual strengths and weaknesses?
7. Can you love, trust, and respect this person even when he reprimands you?
8. Do you have access to this person, and do you feel comfortable asking him questions?
9. Do you feel that this person gives you worthwhile advice and helps you succeed? Do you like hearing what this person has to say? Do you feel uplifted when you take this person's advice?
10. Does your spouse trust this person as much as you do?

The more you answer "yes" to the above questions, the greater your chances of success. Choosing a family rabbi and spiritual guide is in many ways more critical than choosing a family doctor, lawyer, or CPA. Be careful, because the wrong spiritual guide can cause you untold anguish, heaven forbid, while the right spiritual guide can help make your life heaven on earth.

- Lazer
(first posted on the former Lazer Beams site on March 14, 2004 at 12:00 AM)

Schneur Zalman of NY adds more qualifications:
1. Tolerance. A good Rav should be tolerant of different halachic types of Judaism. I think a Rav can not keep on giving drashoth just taking Torah from the Rav (Rav Joseph Baer of Brisk Boston) or the Lubavitcher Rebbe. A Rav should be willing to expose himself and others to all manners of Halachic Judaism.
2. A good Rav in the US must have some sort of secular knowledge (need not be college)
3. A Rav can not be a psychologist, but he must know the essentials of counseling in terms of marriage counseling etc.
4. A Rav must have training or knowledge of Jewish history ancient medieval and most important modern Jewish history. Even better would be some knowledge of Hebrew Literature, Kabbalah, Midrash, and Jewish philosophy (again lav davka on a graduate level.
5. A good Rav must be able to talk intelligently about Israel (Zionism), the Holocaust, Jewish attitude towards Sexuality Jewish Medical ethics, and must be aware of non-halachic trends amongst the Jewish people.
6. A good Rav must be aware that Rabbanut is not a profession, but an ol being an eved hashem. Thus constant talk of contract renewals, family days, off days, vacation days, sabbaticals, not to speak of major pay hikes etc are in my opinion a bit foreign to this field. Of course a normal Shul must understand that a Rav is also human and has material needs.

Dr. Fishel Schneerson

Shaul Shimon Deutsch writes in Larger than life: The life and times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson on page 125:

The Rebbe began studying in Berlin in the spring of 1928, even before his marriage to the Rebbetzin. The Rebbetzin came to Berlin after their marriage, and studied mathematics at the university. In Berlin, they met other Schneersons and family members with whom they would remain friends for years to come.

Dr. Fishel Schneerson was just such an individual. A descendent of the Schneerson dynasty [Kopuster Rebbe grandson] he was the son of Rabbi Schneur Zaiman Schneerson, the Rabbi of Homel. Fishel was born on June 26, 1887 in the city of Kaminetz in the Ukraine. As a young boy, he went to cheder and yeshiva and was ordained as a rabbi at the young age of sixteen. However, his heart was set on medicine. After completing school at a gymnasium in Homel, he enrolled at the University of Berlin to study medicine. Upon becoming a doctor, he opened a medical institute in Petrograd and in 1920 became a professor at the University of Kiev. He began to explore other areas of knowledge and opened a department of psychology as a new division for the university. He edited a Hebrew journal, Kedimah, which dealt with questions of philosophy and psychology of Judaism. He also published a two-volume study of the psychology of children. In 1921, he left for Poland, where he established a center to study children's behavior. He also published various articles in the Hebrew publication, Tarbut. In 1922, he moved back to Berlin and together with Professor David Koigen and Professor Hilker, Dr. Schneerson established the quarterly periodical Ethos.

It was during this time that Dr. Schneerson published his historical novel, Chaim Gravitzer, about a fallen Chabad Chasid who became disenchanted with Chabad and went to study in Volozhin, the center of the Mussar movement, to try and synergize the Chasidic and the Mussar way of life. Many observers believed that Fishel was fictionalizing some of his own struggles in his novel. (It is also interesting to note that it was the Rebbe's classmate and cousin, Avraham Shionsky, who translated this novel into Hebrew. Dr. Samuel Dresner believes that it is no coincidence that while the whole world was trying to get Shionsky to translate their literary works into Hebrew, Shionsky chose Chaim Gravitzer, a novel of a fallen Chabad Chasid - a reflection of Shionsky's own past.)

Fishel visited America in 1927-28. Although Fishel did not dress or act like a typical Chasid, he still remained close to the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson. In fact, various letters between the Previous Rebbe and Fishel have been published in recent years. These letters shed light on the relationship between Fishel and Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak. In one letter Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak begins by addressing Fishel as "... my honored relative the wise man who is renowned, ...G-d fearing man, our master our teacher Fishel, may he live a long life, commonly known as Professor Schneerson." This clearly indicates the tremendous respect Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak had for Professor Schneerson.

Schenur Zalman of NY comments:

I spoke to my friend Bere Gourary about Dr. Fischel Schneerson.

I had read his novella CHAIM GRAVITZER and I found it most impressive. An account of the internal spiritual struggle of a real Chabad Chassid, his neffilah so to speak. Actually the novella reads like a Maamar Dach so to speak. The theme is Ein Eyd Milvade. (There is none besides HIM). An unusual story. Pt. 2 of the novella describes the protagonists spiritual journey to the Chages Velt (Chernobil) and Brisk (The Lithuanian Teyre world). Pt. 2 I found weak. Bere told me the following that Dr. (or Prof. as he was known) was admired by his grandfather and in Otwock he came to see the Rayaatz often. He was a shomer shabbes Yid and a very spiritual person who liked communing with nature like davening mincha in the Otwocker forests. Its unclear how close Fishel was to the Rayaatz , certainly not a member of the inner circle.

His only child, a daughter became a well known flamenco dancer in Spain and Argentina, so I remember Barry telling me. His brother was a Ish Chashuv "Rabbi" Isaac Schneersohn the Rabbi of Czernigow and later a activist in Paris. His published memoirs are a fascinating account of pre war Jewish life in White Russia and the Ukraine. His father in law was none other than Rav Mordechai Dov Twerski of Hornestaypel the son in law of the Divre Chaim. That�s all I remember of our discussion about Dr. Fishel Schneerson.

From conversation into interpretation

Schneur Zalman of NY comments to the zal is no longer the only forum in which Lubavitch teens are educated:

Sometimes I wonder if I am living in the same universe with other people on this blog. Times changing is outrageous. No times do not change there was no Holocaust, no fall of the Iron Curtain, no creation of Israel, its all just in my mind ! No modern technology, no cell phone era, no communication revolution. All this did not affect the way we live. You know what if you told the Rebbe that he would laugh at you, because he was the master in detecting these changes and using them to benefit Judaism. These events have no effect on anyone?? Was there a sexual revolution in America in the 1960's and did it effect the moral condition of America? Did the 6 day war have a major impact on Jewish identity in the US in its aftermath? Well I choose to remain outrageous.

Tzemach Atlas:

Schneur, the proud claim in Chabad is that they use the latest technology in the name of G-d. They also train to manipulate some of the technology at YU but non of it addresses the fundamental question of the integration of knowledge with the Torah. It is one thing to treat a calculator as a branch form a tree or something you can use, it is another thing to internalize the history of thought on G-ds earth including cybernetics, philosophy, alchemy, etc. that had it�s crowning moment with the invention of a calculator.

At the time of Talmud there were no divisions between the ideas at large and understanding of G-ds ways. Talmud is a conversation centered on a curiosity and interpretation of then current state of science within the G-d�s law. Exile populates detachment form this tradition. Departure from conversation into interpretation snuffed creative spirit from the generations of Jews. It looked for a moment that the Rebbe, who was exposed to the advanced philosophical and scientific pursuits of the western civilization could have become the reintegrater of the traditional Jewish quest for knowledge into the sacred conversation. But alas this did not happen. In fact the use of the latest gadgetry and clever letters to scientists will not camouflage this fundamental breach. There is no one today who can even attempt it.

Leadership of a mystical nature

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to the Satmarer challenge:

Chazal inform us "ein chochom kebaal nisayon". History is the best yardstick by which to measure something.

In the time of the Alter Rebbe and the Tzemach Tzedek there were clearly tens and tens of thousands of Chabad Hasidim throughout Russia (perhaps as many as one hundred thousand). The next generation saw a weakening in numbers. Yet even so all the sons of the Tzemach Tzedek who were Chabad Rebbes (4) had large followings as described by contemporary maskilik accounts. Yet by 1898 and the founding of Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch and certainly by 1918 Chabad had been seriously reduced in numbers and in influence in Russia (as had all of the orthodoxy). It clearly failed to act as a bulwark against modernity, Haskala, Zionism, Socialism and other trends in modern Judaism. In fact many Lubavitcher send their children to the new Lithuanian Yeshivas as there were very attractive to many religious Jews in Czarist Russia. Many of the most famous Yiddish literary critics and writers (Shmuel Niger, Moshe Kulback), Zionist leaders (Zalman Shazar, Kaddish Luz) and others were children of Chabad Chasidim.

By and large most of the great grand children of the Tzemach Tzedek were modern people and their children were no longer religious. The same process occurred with the Chasidim themselves. Except for Lubavitch, the other branches of Chabad died out as the children of the Rebbes refused to take on leadership of a mystical nature and remained either Rabbis or in most cases lay people.

In all of Lubavitch today there is only one Schneerson family (a father and 2 married sons) who are frum and Chabad. Most descendants of the Alter Rebbe in Chabad today are from a line that immigrated to Palestine in the early 19th century not the Schneersohn family that remained in Russia.

The RaShab created his yeshiva because he saw Chabad crumble before his eyes, i.e. the Limud of Chassiduth and Tefillaas an avoda were rapidly becoming a matter of history. Thus he created a yeshiva in a valiant attempt at preserving Chabad. Truth be told many of the scholars at Tomchei Tmimim were also Nischametz, although a majority grew into quality Chasidim. My guess is that by 1918 there were not that many serious Chabad people left in Russia under the age of 75 except for the few hundred Temimim and their families. This being true, I wonder what it is that makes the Chabad of today so confident that it has the philosophy and derech to stem intermarriage and the forces of assimilation in world Jewry today?

Waiting for Moshiyach in Toronto

The next Lubavitcher Rebbe is waiting for Moshiyach in Toronto


Rebbe is watching the next Rebbe ole le Teyre

Early rumblings

Domenico FETI, Moses before the Burning Bush, 1613-14, Oil on canvas, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Chabakuk Elisha commenting to the Satmarer challenge:

For a while now, I have noticed that there are a variety of personalities that we come in contact with here, since I began perusing this blog:

There are some Lubavitch haters � of the �Hungarian-leaning chassidishe� variety � lurking around the web (like vultures in the air, or sharks in the sea, hunting for blood) just waiting for an opportunity to pounce, and attack anything & everything about Lubavitch. These individuals, aside from having no life & surely violating their communities standards vis-�-vis the internet, claim some sort of higher ground as they speak ill of Jewish leaders and Jews for no productive purpose � Therefore engaging in pure Loshon Hara at best and Rechilus at worst. One of these frauds in particular amuses me, as he personally cut off the beard, and personally beat up, a Lubavitcher Chossid who is exactly the type of yid who represents old-fashioned Chabad chassidus (and is not of the type that they criticize as lacking in Torah, etc.).

There are also many frustrated Lubavitchers, or yidden who care about Lubavitch, that have not buried their heads in the sand. They have a forum to converse about their frustrations and perhaps even come up with a solution or two. This is very inspiring; as these are the early rumblings of real change for the better that will surely, Bezras Hashem, take place.

In addition, there are also �holy rolling true believers� that come in and take a swipe, like a tiger in a cage who thinks he may be able to reach you through the glass or bars. They are just individuals who have not yet reached the point of the previous group I mentioned � sort of like the age old adage �a liberal is just someone who hasn�t been mugged yet.� I hope that they too will become frustrated and thus hurry the changes & improvements so desperately needed. When they join the ranks of the frustrated, change will be a reality. Unfortunately they tend to display an ego and self-righteousness that is hard to break down, but I hope that one day a perek Tanya from Chitas will sink in and that may change.

And then there are those of us who harbor a love-hate relationship with the Chassidus, the movement and the Rebbe� I won�t venture into that group at this time�

-Chabakuk Elisha

The zal is no longer the only forum in which Lubavitch teens are educated

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to Chabakuk Elisha - a snapshot of his Chabad Shule:

In fact Horav Schneur Zalman Schneerson of Flatbush - Paris a close associate of the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe opened up the sort of institute I suggested in the 1960s in Brooklyn. It was called Shevet Yehuda institute of Technology (SYRIT). It was designed to train sub -academic engineers and technicians as well as other skilled para professionals. It also had a full morning limude kodesh program. It obviously failed as no group supported Rav Schneerson. I am not talking college with football, co-eds, frats etc. I am talking of a serious Orthodox technical school designed to train bachurim to make a good living . May I also note that the world changes, it does not remain static. The 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe and his father the Rashab were rabid anti Zionists, the 7th Rebbe was not. The Zemach Zedek was a posek the other Rebbes were not. The Rebbe was opposed to college. On the other hand the Rebbe, his brother, his nephew, etc. all went to college and to grad schools in many instances.

Here at YU we have employees who are Satmarer, Lubavitch (Alter Metzger), Skver, Yeshivish (Rav Aron Kahan) Charedi (Rav Yosef Weiss), Hirschian (Rav Fulda). No one here forces anyone to abide by any narrow hashkafic framework. There are clearly many Lubavitcher students here (YU) there are others at Touro and Stern. Still more in Hunter College, vechuli. This is the reality. The zal is no longer the only forum in which Lubavitch teens are educated.

Vandalism at Vostryakovskoye cemetery

Exactly a week after Malachovka Shule next to the Malachovka Jewish cemetery was burned a new vandalism at the largest Jewish cemetery in Moscow proper, Vostryakovskoye. 15 gravestones broken (news in Russian). This hits too close to home�

Also: Khodorkovsky is set for a guilty verdict tomorrow.

REUTERS photo by Alexander Natruskin

The Satmarer challenge

Grose comments to the Shlichus or bust:

Let me attempt to address a concern many of you have: mentalblog�s brain noted this concern, namely, who has the power to create a movement as big as the Lubavitcher Rebbe did? I picked up this concern from between the lines of others � that you think the shoes of "Rebbe" are too big to fill and that, besides, you are too small to have impact. Know this:

1. When the Meraglim went to Eretz Yisroel, they came back and said, "We were like grasshoppers" and we learn that it was wrong of them to have that feeling of inferiority � that it was their own esteem of themselves as "KaChagavim" that made them see Eretz Yisroel as insurmountable. So enough of this "shtus" that you are just a wind that will pass, and other such things that make people think they cannot accomplish for HaKadosh Boruch Hu.

2. When Dovid HaMelech first started off in life and Malchus, who were his followers? He did not have a "worldwide" following; In fact, it was more the discontented "riff-raff" who flocked to him for direction. It is okay to start off with the few, those honestly searching for direction � because Malchus Bais Dovid started off that way.

AP Photo by Oded Balilty

3. In terms of a "world-wide" movement, I don�t know if such movement pays off in numbers. Take a comparison of Satmar and Lubavitch (I know, everyone is cringing at having to do this comparison). Lubavitch went out to influence others, welcoming them into their ranks. Satmar entrenched themselves and shoulder-to-shoulder tried to block out others. Today, the demographics indicate that trying to get influx does not change population growth trend. In fact, according to historians and sociologists, Lubavitch numbers roughly under 50,000 Neshamos, and Satmar a bit over that. Let me give you another angle of seeing this. There is someone on the West Side who is very involved in Kiruv � he has made hundreds frum. He never got married and never had kids. On a visit to Monsey, he looked around and said, "I thought I was accomplishing by spreading awareness of Hashem in the world. I would have produced the same results (number of folks serving Hashem B�Shlaimus) or even more results had I gotten married and had a huge family that I brought up right. Because, if I would have many children, who had many children, who had many children, the numbers on whom I had impact would be greater than now. So, to those who want to start a "worldwide" movement, set it off by building large families dedicated to truth. That is how Klal Yisroel started, that is the secret of its sustainability and eternity. There is a reason why Satmar has the most children in its school system.

4. There are countless times in the Torah where we are given a clear directive to have a Rav. Asei Lecha Rav is not up in the air, open for discussion. See in Devarim "Asher Beyamecha" that you should never be looking at past leaders for guidance, but at BEYAMECHA someone living in your time to answer which way to live life.

So, in closing, I say, pick a Manhig, don�t worry about numbers and demographics of your new/old Lubavitch, and pass the torch onto hundreds and hundreds of children by picking schools good for them and not good for the Chassidus. They will retain the "bren", if you do this right.

-Grose

ChineseFoodLovin' Mama

Commenting to the United States of Lubavitch in New Haven, CT ChineseFoodLovin' Mama writes:

Nu, any word on if the Chinese place has opened yet? I guess I could just drive by, but finding out ahead of time would be quite helpful.

As far as the comments on Bi-Cultural in Stamford, I can personally attest that, after 9 years there, it *does not* prepare you for any yeshiva high school, whether it be Ramaz, Westchester, Frisch, etc. One needs to have supplemental Judaic studies if they are going to pass the exams to get into a Jewish high school in the New York area. While I was educated there in the 70s and 80s, I believe not much has changed. Sure, there may be a few more frum kids there than when I attended, and the student population is larger, but this doesn't mean they've done much to beef up on their Judaic studies program. Why else was it called "Bi-Cultural" in the first place? The founders of the school knew that in Fairfield County, at the time, a school with the word Hebrew or Jewish in its name wouldn't do well. At least that's what I have been told. And, speaking of the school leadership....well, I won't go there.

I will say that I received a terrific secular education there as I was blessed with excellent math and English teachers, depending on the year.