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Globes: Israel�s fertility rate was 2.9 children per woman in 2004.
Media Guerrilla: Blog Comments & Legal Liabilities.
Sensor Could Detect Concealed Weapons Without X-Rays (via Defense Tech)
The Advocate: Construction of synagogue [Stamford , CT] halted as leaders cite lack of funds.

Mazeltov to Matisyahu

Photo hasidicreggae.com

Matt Miller MATISYAHU and Tahli Miller (nee Silverman) celebrated a bris to a baby boy today in Crown Heights. First hand reports are appreciated.

Legal bust

Congratulations to David Strachman of Pawtucket RI on the success of his legal strategies in fighting the Arab terror. Tremendous result following the unwavering legal fight. The Boston Globe: Authority's US assets are frozen.

What is in common between TNLR and Rabbi Goldberg

Both think that they serve a life sentence appointed by the Rebbe. Rabbi Goldberg dreams about what if scenarios if he would have gone to Australia to become a Rosh Yeshiva after he was invited by Serebryansky 30 years ago. Hirshel dreams about what if he could have a Chabad House in a place where they care.

Concealment of purpose

I told Rabbi Goldberg that for me 3 Tammuz didn�t happen. Because as far as I am concerned the Rebbe removed himself when there were no private Yhidusim (I thought it was mem aleph but people tell me it was lamed dalet). In any case this was my point if there is no private Yehidusim why have a Rebbe, might as well become a Tosher. Rabbi Goldberg said that we have a right to complain about each of the withdrawals but we have to continue do what we supposed to. To be perfectly honest I find this to be very difficult. But if one assumes that our history is a sequence of concealments then it is logical. Temple, Prophesy, personal relationship with a spiritual guide, death of a spiritual guide, loss of family members, loss of friends, disappointments in love, concealment of purpose.

Sunny side down in camp Shaloh

Hanochy Hecht mixing cheese, eggs, salt and peper


Gabay of the Tosher Rebbe Itzhok Dov Neimann says he looks good in the pictures


Russia meets Hungary


Rabbi Yakov Lazaros of Framingham, MA says he will not post here again


Hechts rent the camp to a Satmar yeshiva for a month. In previous years Satmarers would put all the sforim in boxes and hide them in the adjacent room. Rabbi Goldberg complained telling it is bizoyen for the sforim. So the Satmarers came up with the better idea. They leave the books on the shelves and board the shelves shut with plywood and nails. They also kahser the entire kitchen.


Claude is a dreamer

Did the Maskilim win after all?

Schneur Zalman of NY commenting to the Modern orthodoxy beNusach Chabad post:

The Rebbe Rayatz said over and over America iz nit Andersh. If it was different in secular studies, I would love to know how its not different. My point is that all Lubavitcher in the US speak lashon hamedina. No shliach could function speaking only Yiddish. The shluchim dress modern, give sermons in English, appear on TV and in the media. Please tell me what exactly did the maskillim in Russia want? They wanted Rabbis who spoke Lashn Hamedina, dressed modern, able to communicate with secular Jews and Christians, gave a speech once in a while, etc. Yet secular knowledge does not seem to have hurt Lubavitch in the US?

Bittul HaYesha

770 bocher comments to the theme is pivotal renewal post:
YESHA is an abbreviation of Yehuda Shomron Aza, Aza is gone, Yesh is left.

Vrubel's masterpiece

Mikhail Vrubel, The Seated Demon, 1890, The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

this project blog is drawing to it's end. The connections are not real.

The theme is pivotal renewal

I have to compliment Out Of Step Jew who remained sober and consistent throughout the disengagement. I think his current post is a required reading. He has captured the moment. The events of the summer are felt by many as a catalysis for change. Read it and think!

I will add this:

Inhale the pulse of the people and the theme is pivotal renewal. We are disappointed about the old unarticulated relics who play politicians; they turned this into a farce. Frustrated with the blank peasant faces of the police. Disappointed in the unenlightened Jews who grotesquely compared this to Nazi occupation. Disenchanted with the Rabbis who predicted the disengagement will not happen and urged soldiers to disobey orders. Disappointed in Mashiach that didn�t come. Disillusioned in the CEOs of Lubavitch who never took a position on this issue. Saddened for the messianic wing of Lubavitch who just saw it�s last real cause evaporate, another failure. Distraught for the beautiful gardens that will never bloom again. Devastated for the broken communities and the friends torn apart. Angered at the Gdolim who once again managed not to take a position on a major event in Jewish life. Dismayed for Jew who can�t feel the ominous moment. Exasperated with the punks who painted the soldiers. The theme is pivotal renewal.

Rebbe naming proposal

(check the passports)

Name them as you see them. We can solve a lot of issue in the Chasidic community if we start calling Rebbes by the names of towns they actually have something to do with. The Lubavitcher will become Dnepropetrovsker (was he actually ever in Lubavitch?), Bobovers will be Boro Parker and Fort Hamiltoner or something, Bostoner sons will be Brookliners, future Satmarers will be Williamsburgers (funny). This geographic adjustments alleviate a lot of the succession strife and can enable a smooth transitions. Didn�t Liozner had the idea first, but the problem with him was that he was never in Liozna. Brazilianer have a nice ring to it though:-)

Sexual politics in Lubavitch Chabad

I heard about two African tribes that fought each other for many years. They finally made peace and one of the gestures to seal this peace is to mix blood and allow the daughters and the sons from the different tribes to marry each other.

During the Tammuz farbrengen R. Mayshe Schwartz said that his famous father used to say that intermarriage in our days is shfichas domim or a literally "spilling of blood". He proceeded to describe a conversation that occurred that week between him and a Jewish woman who was on verge of marrying a goy.

While I was sitting listening to the sincere and heart felt words of R. Mayshe I couldn't help but think about a different kind of shfichas domim. The spilling of blood of Balley Tshuvas who are invited into the community and then declared tenth class citizens in regards to marriage. Shidduchim politics in general are the most arcane discriminatory and dark part of the traditional Jewish communities. But this is nothing compared to a culture that invites people to be part of the tribe and forgets to tell the new recruits that that the tribal daughters and sons are off limits. Of course there are exceptions, money, lust or even love is the great equalizer. There are tragedies that we know about, Jonathan Alliel joined Chasidim and later killed himself after listening to this song by Guns N' Roses, all because he did run into a wall trying to get married.

But Lubavitch is different. For Chabad to hold back their daughters from the full fledged Jews who joined their ranks upon their aggressive solicitations is dishonest and fatal spilling of blood. And the leaders are ensconced under the layers of good intentions, immune to the imperfections of their own enterprise.

Rabbi Chaim Lieberman

Schneur Zalman of NY remembers Rebbe Rayatz's secretary and librarian Rabbi Chaim Lieberman. Comments to the Barry Gourary file:

Rabbi Chaim Lieberman, RACHAL died a number of years ago. He spent his final years in Eishal Avrohom Home in Williamsburg. A number of Satmarer Chasidim took care of him. I saw him there and he looked well. His mind was razor sharp and he let me have it too... He is buried in Israel. A tragic life, never married, a scholar (his two volume Ohel Rachel is a classic in Jewish bibliography and Yiddish linguistics) and a gentleman. Zecher Zaddik Livrocho!

Reb Chaim never married even though he wished dearly to marry Chana Schneersohn. He was alone after 1950 when his Rebbe and master died. He was alone in his last years in Aishel Avrohom. Only the Gourarys remained his friends. Reb Chaim related many of his zichronoth in a newspaper of yellow journalism that was published as a response to Panim Chadashoth in the 1980's by a renegade Satmar people. While the articles were somewhat jazzed up, they apparently reflect Reb Chaim's tone and agenda in regards the Rebbe vechuli. I have the 4-6 issues that appeared. The attacks were bitter and I will not repeat them.

Jacob Isaackszon van RUISDAEL, Wheat Fields, 1670s, Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

F.R.E.E. for all

Eli Y. M. commenting to the The Rebbe�s brother Yisroel Aryeh Leib post:

This will comment on both this discussion regarding the Rebbe's brother, and also your other discussion elsewhere regarding whether the Rebbe was "introverted" and basically aloof and unapproachable; and in a way it's the same answer: The Rebbe had a very warm and caring relationship spanning many years with my esteemed late in-laws, Prof. Paul and Rivelle Rosenbloom, Z"L. At the Rebbe's behest, my mother-in-law actually founded the organization F.R.E.E.; and initially F.R.E.E. was actually "headquarted" in their apartment on 120th St. on Columbia campus in Manhattan.

My in-laws (and especially my mother-in-law) sent and received back a large volume of correspondence with the Rebbe, and in addition sent and received many messages to and from the Rebbe, principally through the Rebbe's secretary Rabbi Krinsky. And the issues discussed involved a whole range of issues, many quite personal, and the Rebbe's answers always reflected a great deal of warmth and caring, as well as deep wisdom and understanding. Did he "reveal" much about himself, per se? No. Nor would that have been at all expected. Pirke Avos is quite clear in admonishing one to not get too close to a Rebbe. And yet, through the Rebbe's instigation, my in-laws in fact did get "involved" with the Rebbe's brother and his daughter Dalia, and also (and moreso) with Barry and Mina Guary. The Rebbe certainly did (and this is actually captured on a video) ask my father-in-law, who was a Professor of Mathematics at Columbia, to look over a mathematical research paper and assess whether it might be publishable; and initially he wouldn't reveal who had written the paper. My father-in-law looked it over, and told the Rebbe about half the paper contained new research findings, and the other half contained things that had already been published by others, indicating the author was probably out of touch with the modern literature; and he initially suggested that it would be better for the author to update the paper himself. It was only then that the Rebbe revealed it was written by his brother, and that his brother was niftar, so he (the Rebbe) would appreciate my father-in-law's help. My father-in-law in fact did work on and "clean up" the paper, and then had it published under the Rebbe's brother's byline, in a mathematical research publication. And the Rebbe sent him (I have a copy) a very warm letter of appreciation.

All this is fairly well known. What is not well known is that when Dalia came to New York (and it is my understanding that she did see the Rebbe then), the Rebbe asked (through Rabbi Krinsky) that my in-laws have Dalia over for dinner; and they did. They also had an at one time close relationship with Barry and Mina; in fact, for a time, Mina was their stockbroker. I well remember speaking to them at my sister-in-law's chasseneh. That relationship ended rather abruptly after the great book episode. All of which is to say that, far from being aloof, the Rebbe was very concerned with people, per se, and certainly including members of his own family, and expended a great deal of misias nefesh in empathizing with and counseling people on a whole plethora of issues and concerns. And that is what communicated itself so vividly, the fact that he indeed did care very deeply!

The education of Chaim Grade

Schneur Zalman of NY comments to theThe Yeshiva of Tzemach Atlas:

Chaim Grade studied for a while in a small yeshiva a branch of Navaradok, whose Rosh was Rav Gershon Liebman (See the story My Quarrel with Hirsch Rayssiner). He later studied with the Chazon Ish on a private basis. The Chazon Ish did this as a favor to Mrs. Grade a frume yidene who wanted her son to be a yeshiva man.

The only bachurim to study in Brisk were senior people in the Mir and Kaminetz, etc. who were metzuyanim in their late 20's and 30's like Rav Yeruchem Garelik and Reb Michel Feinstein. Brisk was not a yeshiva. Rav Velvele did not run a yeshiva, he had a kibbutz of 20-30 bachurim each zeman who learnt the derech of Rav Chaim from him. This was not for the average Yeshiva mann. They studied only Talmud not Horah, as Rav Velvele did not pasken dinim in Brisk.

One must realize that at that time the Brisker derech was just beginning to conquer the yeshiva world so the best talmidim went there to study from the kli Rishon Rav Velvele.

Brisk had a less famous local yeshiva ketana I believe run by a Rav Sokolovsky but this was basically a local school where people like Rav Shtainman Shlit'a studied. Chaim Grade left the eylam hatore at an early age probably 18 and Chaim Grade became Chaikel Vilner a member of the Yung Vilna literary group. I met Grade and had the zechus to speak with him for over 1 hour.

From conversations I had with my alte father A"H. I gleamed the following. Many bachurim from chasidic homes studied in Navorodok schools because there were many of them and they were FRUM. The Pinsk branch attracted many bachurim fromt the western White Russia region. My cousin Reb Shmayrahu Alperowitz HaYaD studied there and later became the Chabad shochet and Metz in Radishkovitz White Russia.

-Schneur

morons and idiots R us

mentalblog.com reached an important milestone. With praise to the Almighty G-d we are delighted to announce that this blog secured the coveted top search ranking for morons and idiots.

The Lamentations of Nissanit

10 of AV, 5765. Residents of Nissanit in the northern Gaza Strip weep in the arms of Israeli soldiers during the dismantling of the town's synagogue.


Reuters - Gil Cohen Magen


AP - Tsafrir Abayov


Reuters - Gil Cohen Magen


Reuters - Gil Cohen Magen


Reuters - Gil Cohen Magen




AP - Tsafrir Abayov


AP - Tsafrir Abayov

The Yeshiva of Tzemach Atlas

To find out more about Tzemach "Ach Tov Le Yisroel Sela" Atlas and his student Chaykl Vilner, who is an autobiographical description of the greatest Jewish writer of the past century Chaim Grade, go, no run into your local library to get a copy of The Yeshiva. The original Yiddish version of the book is called Tzemekh Atlas.

The Rebbe�s Uriah moment

REMBRANDT, David and Uriah, 1665, The Hermitage, Leningrad.

Chaykl Vilner: I read on your blog and all the discussions surrounding Barry Gourary�s library case. For example Schneur Zalman of NY wrote about the "non human" family�. By the time you add up all the facts about the only nephew who was as close to the Rebbe as his own son, beating of the Rebbetzin Chana, etc. if you a honest person you have to say that it was all supra natural (see A Rebbeshe Zach or a third way of looking at the Barry Gourary controversy).
Tzemach Atlas: I think that for the Lubavitcher Rebbe as for Dovid Hamelch this was his Uriah moment. Before this picture was published one might have though that it was a punch, but no, this was a beating to kill. One can only inflict these wounds after repeated sustained punches. So one has to sit back and ask if the building, the library, the siddur is worth murdering an old woman who was a daughter of the Pervious Rebbe? This is your fundamental Dostoyevsky question.
Chaykl Vilner: You mean that if you are the Rebbe than you have to ask yourself if the Previous Rebbe (who was alive at the time) approved of an attempted murder of his daughter and a fight with his only grandchild, all in the name of a building in Brooklyn and some valuable books? We know there were more valuable books stolen on the day of Rebbe�s wedding in Warsaw (see RASHAB's books and the Rebbe).
Tzemach Atlas: Exactly. And then suppose you discover that this terrible beating has been perpetrated. Is your first instinct to hide the person who beat the Rebbetzin so badly? And then the question that we will never know the answer: did they ask the Rebbe, as Chasidim should, before the bocher was shipped oversees in the middle of Shabbos?
Chaykl Vilner: Perhaps it was his Uriah moment.
9 of AV, 5765

UPDATE: Schneur Zalman of NY comments to the Rebbetzen's older sister post:

The whole issue of the bad beating of the daughter of the Rayaatz by a Lubavitcher bachur - a Tommim - no less on Shabbas has never been dealt with by the elders of the Crown Heights community. Let�s forget about the books, but the etzem fact that this could happen on Shabbas by a Tomim against the Rebbe's daughter an old lady in 770 as the Rebbe called the building Beth Aguch has never been dealt with in terms of a cheshbon hanefesh, by all Lubavitcher chassidim world over. The fact that the bachur has never been sanctioned, etc. does not add to the kavod of Lubavitch either. I must add that the whole war against Mrs. Gourary, Barry, etc. is not the finest chapter in Chabad history. The facts that the beating happened on Shabbes in 770 committed by a tomim against Rebbetzin Gourary close to 90 years old can not be denied. Instead of all sorts of billboards and other PR tricks, perhaps Lubavitch today should take stock, do a cheshbon hanefesh on this matter. So far I only sense denial.

Middle of the earth

Tzemach Atlas and his famous student Chaykl Vilner enjoy summer afternoon next to the Trakai Castle and the lakes, about 50 miles from Vilno.


Tzemach Atlas: Chaykl, where do you think is the line between respect and disrespect towards the Lubavitcher Rebbe?
Chaikl Vilner: Most Lubavitchers even in the anti Mashichist camp are conditioned to see the Rebbe as void of human attributes. So if you say that the Rebbe was in a bad mood or even in a good mood or he loved his wife Mousia with all his heart, it might be interpreted as "disrespectful".
Tzemach Atlas: So you would say than that any factual biography that treats Rebbe objectively, meaning a narrative void of emotional attachment, is disrespectful?
Chaykl Vilner: Many see the Rebbe as part of their families. Instinctively we defend our own. My aunt was telling me the other day a 50 year old story about a distant cousin who was involved with in some crime. I quickly changed the subject. I can see that he was destroying the positive image of my family and I would rather not know about it.
Tzemach Atlas: There is lot of mystery about the man, he was the most publicized Jewish leader, yet his private life is virtually sealed.
Chaykl Vilner: Yes, there is actually more in common between the Kotzker and the Lubavitcher. I think they were both extreme introverts.
Tzemach Atlas: But the style if very different, the Kotzker literally locked himself up and the Lubavitcher was involved in the outside world.
Chaykl Vilner: Yes, but we can see that even back in Leningrad people considered Mendel Schneerson as introvert compared to his brother Yisroel Aryeh Leib . For first 50 years of his life the Rebbe purposely avoided living in a Jewish community. Even when he was in Paris he lived outside of the Jewish Quarter. In 1929 when Rashag and Rayatz went to Israel he refused to go along. Even in NY his legendary seclusion in Crown Heights perhaps is the result of the introverted character.
Tzemach Atlas: Are you saying that an introverted man stood at the epicenter of the most extraverted movement in the history of Jewish people?
Chaykl Vilner: A bit of a mystery. But this might not be a contradiction. Extroverts and introverts have to function in the world so they cross into each others territory. Introverts go out to parties once in while and extraverts sometimes do sit alone doing the homework. Some of the post Jungians ventured to say that an introvert who operates in an extrovert�s territory does so with a greater intensity compared to a natural extravert.
Tzemach Atlas: Why?
Chaykl Vilner: The premise was that you are conscious about your strong side but your weak side lies submerged in the realm of subconsience. Therefore when you do breach into a �foreign territory� you discover deeper emotions and the intensity is jacked up. Incidentally this how people who are good writers fool themselves into becoming scientists. They feel rush of an unexplored when they venture into the opposite. This is also how a mathematician for whom calculation is not a big deal might feel elated when painting for example, to the point of actually selecting a wrong professional path. But we digress.
Tzemach Atlas: So what is that in relationship to the Rebbe?
Chaykl Vilner: I am saying that we assume that the Rebbe was a strong introvert that we have to say that when an outside event breached into his world like �a force of nature�, the heightened intensity brought up all the subconsience leanings with a tremendous force.
Tzemach Atlas: He was certainly a man who lived in inner seclusion. We now know the �caliber� of people who surrounded him. Mishna documents the conversations of equal giants. And here the only person who might have been close tom him was his wife. From his childhood he didn�t have a regular schooling and continued on his solitary path. Think of it, for 50 years of his life the man lived outside of the major Jewish communities by choice and then his legendary seclusion in Brooklyn.
Chaykl Vilner: And his speeches, you have a sense that the man was talking to himself. All the flowery slogans, repeated again and again in the middle of those nights. One had a sense that he was not trying to convey ideas or information but he was in the midst of a private trans. And then the dollars, so terribly impersonal. Again this is realm of mystery but wouldn�t it been more important if the Rebbe could have spend 15 minutes with 5 people on Sunday instead of 15 seconds with 5 thousand? This was such a heart breaking, awfully detached ritual.
Tzemach Atlas: I don�t think there is single person who can claim a personal relationship with the Rebbe. You see sphere of Malchus dwells in this world and when it is aloof and detached the Yesod can�t establish a connection and tragically it all stops. And as far as the Rebbe is concerned you can feel all the energy boiling like middle of the earth and it is all chained and tragically contained.
Chaykl Vilner: And yet there are thousands who think he is a part of their families.
Tzemach Atlas: An ancient contradiction perhaps.
9 of AV, 5765

blogroll announcement

Blogs on my blogroll that don�t link back here will be taken off the blogroll. The reason they are on my blogroll in the first place is because I like what they do and I would think the appreciation is mutual. Clean up time.

Are they for or are they against?

A Rabbi speaks in Ofakim. AFP - Roberto Sshmid
Amazing pictures from the disengagement rally in Yerushalayim: Chabad On Line, Kotel Rally (thanks Aussie Echo). A question to all the "Gdolim", really can they explain or excuse not having an opinion about this?

Synagogue in Netzarim, in central Gaza Strip. AP - Lefteris Pitarakis

Ulysses S. Grant and R. Hayim Tzvi Schneerson

Smooth Stone published an account of a meeting between Rabbi Hayim Tzvi Schneerson, a grandson of the Alter Rebbe (and a grandson of the infamous Rav Maishe, see Schneersons in Australia post): He was received at the White House in 1869 by the newly inaugurated President Ulysses Grant.
(I believe the meeting was begrudgingly sponsored by R. A. Shemtov, who complained bitterly that Rabbi Hayim Tzvi Schneerson was not a real mekushar)

Lo and behold: what happened of that Sicho?

Dispel Fantasies comments to The Liozner Rebbe, take two post:

The Sicho on Motzet Shabbos Terumoh 5748, a short while after the passing of the Rebbetzin OBM (22 Shvat), the Rebbe said a Sicho for over a half hour (I think) and spoke about "cheshbonoy shel olom" "Shel odom" and a story by the Tzemach Tzedek about it. This pertains to an era after 3 Tammuz (when the Tzadik is nistalek) and the Rebbe was giving clear provisions and directives how to go about it.

The Rebbe said then we saw by the Previous Rabbeyim how they too did certain activities of the sort, for those who pay attention would notice how they would do activities of the sort. The Rebbe said that if and when such era comes about, they should consult and ask Chassidishe Rabbonim and speak to them, and have their opinion (all of them or the biggest of them).

He stated clearly that this is in addition to the other directives that the Rebbe gave at that time (for instance: 15 Shvat at the end of that farbregen the Rebbe was saying how a person should consult medical advice for medical issues and "yedidim mevinim", etc.). He repeated over and over, how it should not leave any sofek (doubt( than "cheshbonoy shel olom" shuld be asked by the Chassidishe Rabbonim who are well versed in Nigleh and pasken halochos based on their knowledge of it and so by their possek halocho according to their knowledge in chassidus. The Rebbe used in that occasion the expression of "Moshe Kibel ...Umessoroh Lyhoshua" and as mentioned before: he said that this is an inyan in "Hiskashrus".

Low and behold: what happened of that Sicho?

At that time it is understood that no one wanted to hear from it. I remember vividly how everyone was very "ongetzoigen" (sorry don't have the exact translation at the moment). They (including myself with everyone else) did not want to print this Sicho at the time. But unfortunately 3 Tammuz happened and you would expect that the first thing to follow the Directives is to examine and analyze *this* sicho. But instead: We have had (and have...) fights about Rebbe = Moshiach, Hiskaashrus means negating any mention about any possible authority and the rest is history...

UPDATE: The video of the Sicho:

This was said in Rebbe's house? I think I remember listening to this from 770? Could someone find or write an English synopsis for the readers?

A complete trust

The Chiefs in Kremlin. Berl Lazar with Metropolitan Kirill.
Reuters - Sergei Karpukhin.

IDF snipers, are they ready to shoot jews?

Following the objections by Out of Step Jew to the �lible� against the 'duvdevan' unit in the Ministry of Justice post, The Source in Israel responds:

I realize that from the US it all seems to be surreal. Let me explain few terms. In MDA (Magen David Adom) classification, there is an automatic way to determine the level of severity of the injury. Basically, anything that is not in a vital area, where the injury can be potentially life threatening, would be light or moderate. If the location is lower extremities, it is automatically not vital. Therefore anything less than bullet wounds or suspected loss of the extremity is considered to be "lightly injured." When the prospective diagnosis is "moderate condition" with reference to lower extremities, this automatically means injury caused by shooting, and definitely not a limb broken by a club. If the wound is in the area of head or chest - it is automatically moderate, unless it is superficial. If it is a shooting wound in chest or head - it is automatically severe condition. For example, when I was shot in hand [by an Arab terrorist], my condition was considered "light," since it was only in a palm of the hand. When they performed amputation on my fingers, it was somewhere between "light" and "moderate." When the Shaliach in Gush Katif was wounded, since the injury was in the spine area, this was critical, when this danger passed, even though his legs were still paralyzed temporarily, this was already considered to be "moderate condition."

Newspaper reports about snipers trained towards the Disengagement: Yediot Achronot.
Ma'ariv.
In English (12th paragraph): Times Online.
The graves of Gush Katif, Rreuters - Goran Tomasevic.

The Rebbe�s brother Yisroel Aryeh Leib

Shaul Shimon Deutsch's writes on page 134 of the 2nd volume of the Larger than life: The life and times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson:

The last years [in Berlin] the Rebbe spent with his younger brother, Yisroel Aryeh Leib. As explained in Volume 1, Yisroel Aryeh Leib had left Russia in the middle of 1930 to escape the communist oppression of dissidents. When he arrived in Berlin, he was very sick with typhus. Escaping Russia was no easy task. At times, the group of escapees literally faced death. In the process, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, who left Russia using the passport of Mordechai Gurary, became ill.

The Rebbe's nephew, Sholom Ber Gourary, remembers how the Rebbe and his aunt took care of Leibel.

"I remember that in one corner of their apartment was a bed for Leibel. There was a net-like material which hung over his bed. I was impressed by the devotion and care they showed to him during his illness. Despite the fact that typhus was very contagious, they took him into their apartment."

In Berlin, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, who now referred to himself as Mark Gurari, followed in his brother's footsteps and enrolled at the University of Berlin. He was a student there from 1931-33.

Although the Rebbe and his brother had similar facial features, their appearances were quite different. As the Rebbe's nephew describes:

�The Rebbe and his brother were two opposites in appearance. While the Rebbe walked around Berlin in a beret and a well-tailored suit, his brother wore a pair of slacks with his shirt out. While my uncle's hair was short, Leibel's was long and wild. However, it was clear that they really cared for each other. Besides hiring a taxi and going out together with my aunt [the Rebbetzini on Monday nights, the Rebbe and his brother would also play around like brothers. I remember that both of them were physically very strong and would challenge each other by locking their arms on one another's shoulders and wrestling with each other for long periods of time. After it had lasted for quite a while, my aunt would come and break it up.�

In 1933, when Germans began to crack down on the Jews, the Rebbetzin risked her life for the Rebbe's brother.

Although the Rebbe and his brother were still close in Berlin, they realized that they had grown apart. Yisroel Aryeh Leib was no longer religious and began courting his future wife, Regina Milgram. Regina, the Rebbe's sister-in-law, who is still alive and lives in London, is vehemently anti-religious. In a phone conversation, she called Chasidim "religious fanatics". She is the only one who spells her name "Gurari" in the London phone book. As the book went to press, I learned of the passing of Regina. She was buried along side her husband in Israel.

Regina Milgram was born on September 29, 1910 in Lodz. At that time, Lodz was part of Russia. Later it became part of Poland. Her parents were Hirsch Meyer Milgram, a Jewish merchant, and Sarah Jaffe. Both her parents were killed in the Lodz Ghetto. In our phone conversation, the Rebbe's sister-in-law told me that her brother-in-law, the Rebbe, was the one who filed the information about her parents with Yad Vashem.

As a young girl, Regina attended primary and secondary schools in Lodz from the age of seven to the age of fourteen and then moved with her parents to Danzig, where she continued her education in a private school until she was 19 years old. She then attended the Institute of Hygiene in Danzig for two years. In 1931, she went to Berlin and worked as a laboratory technician at the Hufeland Hospital. This hospital was just a few blocks away from where the Rebbe and his brother lived. It was in Berlin that they met, and she stayed in Berlin until 1933. When the Nazi crackdown began, she returned to her parents' home in Danzig. Shortly afterwards, both Regina and the Rebbe's brother emigrated to the land of Israel.

When she arrived in the Holy Land, Regina worked for two years in a pharmacy in Tel Aviv. In 1935, she became a laboratory technician with Dr. Walter Kahn of Tel Aviv and continued to work there for 15 years. The couple finally got married in Tel Aviv on August 15th, 1939 (Rosh Chodesh Elul 5699). Like his brother, the Rebbe, Leibel never received a degree from the University of Berlin. After emigrating to Israel, Leibel worked at a local library in Tel Aviv. He then opened a clothing store, located on Nachlos Binyamin #3 in Tel Aviv. The store was open on Shabbos as well. Various Chabad Chasidim who prayed at the Chabad Shut at Nachlas Binyamin #23 (known as "Chasidei Chabad Hamerkazi") tried to convince Leibel to close his store on Shabbos. However, this was to no avail. Rabbi Binyamin Althaus related:

"My father [Reb Pinchas] repeatedly tried to influence him to return to Judaism. However, it was a lost cause. Leibel was not only irreligious, he was anti-religious. He would deliberately walk in the Tel Aviv bus station on Shabbos with a cigarette in his hand. I also remember that in 1948, my father had visited New York for the High Holidays and when he returned to Israel, he brought back with him letters from the Rebbe and his mother addressed to Leibel. The following evening, Leibel came over to our house to pick up the letters. Rabbi Nochum Goldshmid, one of Leibel's childhood friends, seemed to have the most influence on him. Reb Nochum did manage to get Leibel to come to some Chasidic Yud Tes Kislev gatherings. However, that was the extent of his involvement with Judaism."

Rabbi Beri Chaskind, another famed Chabad Chasid, also tried repeatedly to influence him and bring him back to Judaism. However, these efforts were fruitless. In fact, many Chasidim related that "Leibel would deliberately walk in front of the Chabad synagogue, about the time that prayers were ending, with a cigar in his hand". Eventually, his store went bankrupt. Nachlot Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv still has one store owner who remembers Leibel well. The owner of Robinson Books, located at Nachlat Binyamin #31, relates: "I remember Gurari well. He had a major problem; he was very unorganized. His store was always a mess and every day he would open his store at a different time. I would tell him to clean up the place. Then one day he just had to close. He couldn't pay the rent." He then began working in a bookstore. As Verdina Shionsky related (see Volume I, Chapter VII), she would meet her cousin, Leibel, in the bookstore quite often.

However, Yisroel Aryeh Leib was not happy with himself. He did not feel accomplished. Leibel's dream was to finish his education. In his spare time, he would delve into mathematical problems. With the help of Zalman Shazar, he went to England to continue his studies. Leibel arrived in London on May 8, 1950. He traveled to Bristol University to discuss some of his independent research work in the field of physics with Professor Albrecht Frohlich and Professor Heilbron, both of the Department of Mathematics at Bristol University. With their help, Leibel became an external science student at the University of London. Based on his independent research work, he was awarded a B.Sc. in Special Mathematics in June of 1951.

Dr. Albrecht Frohlich, who had helped the Rebbe's brother to be accepted at the University of London, helped him once again. His relative. Dr. Herbert Frohlich, held the Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool. With his help, Leibel filed an application with the Faculty of Science at Liverpool to write a Ph.D. thesis in Theoretical Physics. The subject of his dissertation was Theory of Electrons in Solids. The Faculty of Science minutes for October 8, 1951 show that the dissertation was approved. Besides working on his dissertation, Leibel also worked in the Theoretical Physics math lab to help struggling physics students. This allowed him to earn some money while working on his Ph.D.

The Rebbe's brother lived in close proximity to the Liverpool campus. The Liverpool phone book for 1952 lists him as living at 56A Croxteth Road, Liverpool 8 in Sefton Park. The Immigration Department records also list this location as his address. Yisroel Aryeh Leib had been struggling for years with financial woes. The Rebbe hoped that his brother might finally have some peace and a successful career by receiving a Ph.D. In a handwritten note which the Rebbe had written to his father-in-law [this must be a typo as Deutsch wrote that Regina�s parent perished in Lodz] several years earlier, he says:

"I want to awaken mercy from the source of mercy and forgiveness on behalf of my mother, Chana, daughter of Rachel, that she be inscribed for a good and sweet year in all her endeavors. May she have a long, healthy and happy life. She should not have any hardships or worries. She should only know happiness. My brother, Yisroel Aryeh Leib, son of Chana, should be written and signed for a good and sweet year. He should organize himself in the best circumstance for him. He should be able to make a good living peacefully. Only goodness, kindness should meet him in all of his days. Good which is visibly good. His wife Gina should be written and signed for a good and sweet year in all ways. Only goodness and kindness should meet her. Good which is visibly good. Their daughter, Dalia daughter of Gina, should be written and signed for a good and sweet year. Her parents should raise her in a comfortable environment. May they have much happiness from her in all ways."

The Rebbe's brother, who had a hard life, did not live to complete his Ph.D. He died on May 8, 1952 in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Dr. Herbert Frohlich, who helped the Rebbe's brother so much since he had arrived in England, gathered together some of Leibel's notes and published them in Philosophical Magazine, in March 1953.

UPDATE: A reader writes: �The attached appears to be the Yad Vashem filing for Hirsch Milgrom, the father-in-law of the Rebbe�s brother�. [filed by Dalia Rotman not the Rebbe as per Deutsch]

Not trampling on religious territory?

Interesting post in The Patry Copyright Blog: Copyright and Religion. William Patry writes regarding Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Inc. v. Otsar Sifrei Lubavitch dispute about the Suddur:

"There also was a challenge to the court's authority to hear the dispute, since a religious court (bet din) had made a determination, but binding on only one of the parties. The court noted that both parties were corporations, and that the federal judiciary could apply netural secular law (the Copyright Act) to resolve the dispute, thereby not trampling on religious territory."

For the court to rule in a dispute about the ARI�s siddur is "not trampling on religious territory". Yet MA Appellate Court refused to rule on the authority of corporate bylaws in Marc Oster vs. New England Hebrew Academy because "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."

Nu, nu...

The Liozner Rebbe, take two

Reuters - Ronen Zvulun

Comments to Women united for whatever:

Schneur Zalman of NY: Many of us would like to love Lubavitch and forget about the active and in my opinion misguided Messianism of many Lubavitchers. But then come posters and billborads to remind us that something is "rotten in Denmark". Mida Keneged Mida: David Berger's book has just been published in Hebrew. Please expect articles in Haaretz and other media outlets about the issue.

Chabakuk Elisha: The Moshiachist phenomenon, and the extent of their activities, is very upsetting. What are people like me supposed to do, if we align ourselves with Lubavitch, but do not think that the Rebbe is Moshiach? Schneur, any advice?

Schneur Zalman of NY: A shtarke kasha... Rather than go negative, the non-Messianists should organize (slowly) their own Mosdos like a Cheder and a yeshiva ketana, later a BM and Kollel. All the while not attacking other Chabad people, but building a new positive community. This group is not against but FOR Torah, Chassiduth and Klal work. A Rav would be needed and I bet that after 5 years some CH Lubavitchers would also join in, and who knows in 15-20 years a new sort of Lubavitch would exist. It would not be anti-Messianic, not anti AGUCH, just a different group of Anash with some Mosdos. In years past hanging around a "failed experiment" in starting a New Chabad Mossad, I met many people in BP who have had a relationship with Lubavitch and a positive one at that. This includes people from the Bronx who went to the school there. Out-of-towners, BT's, ex Lubavitchers of all stripes, Russian Jews, etc. In this my second experimental proposal , the COMMUNITY of the faithful would act as the magnet rather than any individual Rebbe or Rav. Any thoughts out there?

Ministry of Justice

AP - SebastianScheiner. Israeli policemen training for the expulsion in Gaza.

A source in Israel reports:

1. Manager of Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva told in private conversation that he received a directive from the Police Headquarters to be ready to receive 400(!) wounded daily in moderate condition in their lower part of body. Being so specific, this diagnosis makes one to think that the police knows where the wounds are going to come from, and in what manner they are going to be inflicted. This information overlaps with earlier publications in media that the snipers from Special Anti-Terror Unit "Duvdevan" are being trained to shoot protesters in case they will show fierce resistance against the expulsion forces.

AP - SebastianScheiner

2. The Army instructed the Welfare Department to send all the available SWs to Gush Katif, in order to handle the children that will be taken from their parents during the expulsion. According to the officials, by the very fact of being in Gush Katif together with their children, these parents are deemed to be endangering them. Whether to proceed afterwards with revoking legal custody and placement from the parents is still debated in the Ministry of Justice.

UPDATE: Out of Step Jew comments: I can pretty much guarantee you that no-one in 'duvdevan' has been trained to shoot Jews. That is a libel against some of our best soldiers in the country who have been responsible for capturing more terrorists than the US Marines.

Expulsion memoranda

Last night the IDF issued two letters to Gush Katif leaders of every community. According to media reports, the community leaders refused to deliver them to Gush Katif residents. (See the original in Hebrew)

1. Letter from Commander, Southern Command to citizens of the State of Israel, residents of Gaza

According to the law to implement the disengagement program, 2005, and in accordance with decisions of the Israeli government and orders issued by the Prime Minister, your are commanded to evacuate your homes and to leave the area of the Gaza Strip by the end of Tisha b'Av, (14.08.2005) at 12 midnight. At that time the stage of 'voluntary evacuation' will end and all the entrances to Gush Katif will be closed, and entrance to civilians will be forbidden, (excepting solely exit), for from this time, on 14.08.2005, at midnight, remaining in the Gaza Strip will be illegal.

On the 10th of Av, 15.8.2005, security forces will arrive to evict you from your homes and will instruct you to leave the Gaza Strip. Over the years, the IDF defended the communities in the Gaza area, with a feeling of cooperation, responsibility and national mission. This assignment will also be implemented by us with a feeling of cooperation and understanding of your deep pain. With that, the IDF, as the army of a democratic state, which is subordinate to the law, will implement this mission in full.

From the 12th of Av, 17.08.2005, from one minute after midnight, the stage of forced eviction will begin, when security forces will arrive and evict residents who have chosen to stay and who will force the security forces to confront them, with the goal of fulfilling the law. I am sure that your obligation to the rule of law and responsibility and for the unity of the people will guide your protests.

I pray for the peace of all of us, citizens of Israel and residents of the Gaza Strip, the IDF and the Israeli Police.

With honor and admiration,
Dan Harel
General Commander, Southern Command

2. Eviction Procedures 15-16/8/2005

Following the 9th of Av, when Am Yisrael cries for the destruction of our Temple, and with hope and prayer for its rebuilding, and with faith that, in fact, from within the calamity will sprout the redemption, and from the ruins will blossom the desert, on Sunday night, following the 9th of Av, the Gaza Strip will be closed to Israeli civilians, and of course, no movement between Gaza communities will be permitted, (Gaza communities will be closed and movement between them will be controlled).

On the morning of 15.08.2005, security forces will arrive and deliver eviction orders to your homes. Residents who choose to leave by midnight, 16.08.2005, will receive assistance, as much as can be provided, in order to ease the organization and departure. You will be provided with the opportunity to request assistance to pack your houses and belongings, with the help of soldiers and packing companies. Those who choose to leave during voluntary eviction will be able to depart in their private cars. In addition, those choosing to leave during voluntary eviction will be able to choose the manner in which they will part from their houses (ceremonies, etc.)

The property packed in your houses before 15.08.2005, and during the 15-16.08.2005, will be concentrated in a "room center." The IDF will make efforts to remove all private property without consideration for number of containers or trucks needed. For this you will not be charged more than the amount allocated for moving and reorganization in the disengagement law of 2005. During the packing of the homes and moving the property into containers, the heads of families will be able to enter and assist in packing the containers.

vFrom 17.08.2005, and afterwards, security forces will arrive and evict the remaining residents. Afterwards, property will be packed by packing companies, at a maximum of 2 containers. Residents leaving after 17.08.2005 will not be given the opportunity to return to their homes and assist in packing, in accordance with the law for implementing the disengagement, and will lose a substantial part of their financial privileges.

To receive additional details, at telephone (972)8-9902666, the office of Southern Command, and (972)8-9927272, Center for moving and information of Home Front command.

With much honor,
Guy Tzur
Brigadier General, Head of Operations, Southern Command

I am speechless�

AP - David Guttenfelder

My Obiter Dicta, Hilkhot Gerush: "Jewish Pride and the deep and abiding conviction in the justice of our cause demand, in my opinion, that the exile from Gush Katif (should it come to that) be greeted with the utmost dignity. The exiles should depart with their heads held high. Each town should gather in its center. The Sifre Torah should be taken from the Aron Kodesh. Ashes should be placed upon each Sefer and upon the heads of every man, woman and child. They should tear Kri'ah (as we all will) and recite Tehillim and swear 'Im Eshkahekh). They should walk, with heads high, out of the Yishuv, led by their Sifre Torah, singing Ani Ma'amin. If they have a Bet Almin, they should carry their dead out at the side of the Sifre Torah. Somewhere it should say, 'Qiyymu eleh, mah she-katuv be-Eyleh.' "

Rashi's daughter?

Literati brought to my attention a surprising entry in Wiki on Rashi. He writes: "While the first few paragraphs were pretty much common knowledge, my heart skipped a beat when I read the last line in this paragraph:"

Rashi did not compose commentaries for every tractate of the Babylonian Talmud. Some of the printed commentaries which are attributed to him were composed by others, primarily his students. In some commentaries, the text indicates that Rashi died before completing the tractate, and that it was completed by a student. This is true of the tractate Makkot, the concluding portions of which were composed by his son-in-law Rabbi Judah ben Nathan and of Bava Batra finished (in a more detailed style) by his grandson, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (also known as the Rashbam), one of the prominent contributors to the Tosafot. Some believe that his commentary on Nedarim was composed by one of his daughters.

Does anyone know why Nedarim?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a graduate of ESTP in Paris

In regards to the ongoing conversation on this blog about the Rebbe�s years in Berlin and Paris. I was emailed a link to this long forgotten article in the Haaretz in PDF hosted on Bar Ilan U. (we thank American Jewish History for the tip). For the benefit of our readers we turned it into a .doc file. Most of the Berlin information was already written up in the Larger than life: The life and times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But let�s talk Sorbonne for a moment. This is a post script to some of the arguments we been having regarding the veracity of Rebbe�s studies in Sorbonne. (those were the days when the Alter Vitebsker was huffing and puffing and Dr. Rigg commented). Schneur concluded then by saying:

Shimmy [Shaul Shimon Deutsch] has not even reached the Paris period in his proposed multi volume biography. I can only tell you that he has done research on that and has documents including report cards, etc. proving either that the Rebbe went to Sorbonne or he did not. I will let him publish the book. I have seen these documents and they will make everyone happy.

OK, we can�t wait for the Liozner forever. Here what Professor Menachem Friedman discovered about the Paris period:

Friedman called his, friend, Jules Cappell, a comparative religions scholar with connections in the intelligence community. Perhaps he went to a private university, said Cappell. They checked, but came up empty-handed. An old Jew spoke to them over the phone. He said he knew where the rebbe had studied. Then he got scared and claimed to have forgotten. He was just a feeble old man, he declared. Friedman begged him to reconsider. "All right," he said. "It's called ESTP, a technological college for construction and industrial engineering on Boulevard St. Germain in Montparnasse." [ESTP in Paris]

"A lot of baloney," thought Friedman. "I'm sure Jules will tell me there is no such place." He took his wife and went to sit in a local cafe. At three o'clock, he returned to the hotel. An urgent message was waiting for him. "Yes!" shouted Cappell. "He did study there! Tomorrow at nine we'll go down and check the records." Friedman could not sleep all night. At eight thirty in the morning, he was at the school office. A file lay on the table. "Finally I met the Rebbe," he said. "I saw his picture attached to the top of the file. I was so excited I nearly lost my mind." He begged the secretary for permission to take a photograph. She said no, but eventually gave in. He pulled out his pocket camera and snapped page after page. Then he dragged the whole file over to the photocopy machine. Here he is! The Rebbe himself! In flesh and blood! Mendel Schneerson. Soviet citizen. Grades: Not outstanding, but not bad. Diploma: Licensed to practice electrical engineering. Address: Aha! 9 Rue de Boulard, 14th arr. No wonder he was nowhere to be found in the Jewish Quarter. Friedman raced from the school to Rue de Boulard. Quite a way, he thought to himself. I wonder how the Rebbe walked all this way every Shabbat. In the wintertime, he asked to leave early on Friday afternoon. A note was appended: permission granted, on condition that all tests are passed.

In February 1996, Friedman returned to Paris to check out the building on Rue de Boulard. At the Paris archives, he obtained a full list of tenants from the 1930s: Tchi Que, Chinese. Bruno Rani, Italian. Alexander Muzamin, Russian artist. Another Russian. A journalist. A French waiter. And Menachem Mendel, Russian student. Immediately following, Hayah Schneerson. Friedman put the list down. These are the neighbors the Rebbe studied Talmud with? Never mind, he consoled himself. At least I've found him.

Rebbe Rayatz's daughter Sheina (in the middle) with her groom Mendel Horenstein and his sister Sonya. Sheina and Mendel were with the Schneersons in Paris.

UPDATE: The house of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Paris.

Women united for whatever

Berl of Crown Heights posted a fascinating and poignant commentary about the lack of visual literacy amongst the �Jewish Women United for the Redemption�. If it was any consolation, Jewish Women United for the Redemption understand something about PR, in fact they know that they look best next to the Intrepid :-)