Jun 4, 2008
the Admor and the guy with the small kipa
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about how the local rag "Chadash" had run an editorial about some guy with a small kipa was shopping in Aleph and not Shefa and he did not know about the ban but when he was told he said he supports it because he too is hsomer shabbos. The editorial chose to talk about how ignorant the guy was, citing the size of his kipa as proof, yet he still joined the sentiments against chillul shabbos.
The following week, something very unusual happened. I am a big fan of the "Letters to the Editor" section of every newspaper and magazine. It is my favorite part, and often it is the first section I look for. For the first time that I can remember, Chadash ran a letter that was criticall of the magazine.
Usually people sending letters, to frum newspapers at least, I have noticed, start off saying how you have such a great paper, thank you and here is my comment. This letter blasted them for their attitude, similar to what I wrote, claiming how can they say just because his kipa was smaller that he is less frum or ignorant and the like.
This past week's edition ran a letter someone sent in response to that letter.
The writer attacked the initial writer. He starts off claiming that the writer was attempting to disgrace anybody who wants to live the life of mesirus nefesh. Then he says, "while we do not know in heaven who is considered more important than whom - for example a Jew in Siberia who just got engaged to a Jewess (instead of a goy) might be considered very important and get tremendous reward in heaven, while a talmid chacham might have something held against him for having learned only 12 hours in a day and not 13. But that is in heaven. We hold the talmidei chachamim (i.e. all avreichim obviously) as being the level AAA, those that attach themselves to them as being level A and those that do not as being..."
He adds, "If you don't understand that, let people run for brachos to those with small kipas and that will shorten the lines by the Admorim?"
He goes on for a bit talking about size of kipa and the like, but the main part of it is what I recapped already.
When I was in Yeshiva, I do not remember anything ever beign discussed about who was considered better or more important than whom. I do remember that there was an attitude though that yeshiva guys were better than anybody else.
There was this avreich in the kollel I was close with. He was a big talmid chacham and while hew as an avreich in the kollel in my yeshiva, he also taught as a rebbi in a number of other yeshivas and seminaries. I used to go to his house frequently for shabbos meals.
This avreich had a thing that everybody who came for a shabbos meal was asked to say a dvar torah during the meal. I remember one time I said a dvar torah I had picked out of a sefer - I remember the sefer, but I do not remember what the dvar torah specifically was. I do remember it made some drasha on a passuk and went on to describe how sitting and learning Torah is much more important than anything else and people who d so are much highe ron the food chain than people who do not.
I was a good yeshiva guy and when I saw that vort it seemed great, so I said that vort at the table.
This avreich/rebbe started screaming at me how that vort is baseless and not true. Torah learning is very important but people who do so are not a class above others. the Torah compares Yisachar and Zevulun as equals. Yisachar was not better than Zevulun because he learned and Zevulun was in business. People who work and have good deeds, and are koveia itim and support Torah learning are equally as important and on equal levels with people who dedicate their lives to learning Torah.
The author of the letter above reminded me of that incident in the avreich's house.
As an aside, just like people are not running for brachos to people with small kipas, but run to admorim, they also prefer the admorim over the average kollel guy. Does that mean the average kollel guy is no good and not Level AAA? no. It also does not mean the guy with the smaller kipa is not Level AAA.
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After 3 years in israel, i returned to america to go to college and yeshiva. One particular yeshiva, is well known and has a good reputation, and i would have been honored to go there. There was also a secular college in the neighborhood that i was going to, so it would have worked out nicely to go to this prestigous yeshiva in the daytime, and then this secular college at night.
ReplyDeleteIn my interview with the rosh yeshiva, he told me he heard of me (i had recommendations) and that I could go to the yeshiva, but on two conditions.
one - i couldn't go to the secular college. There was tuma all over the place, and you practically had to go to a mikva every time you came out. (How clean i could be...) He went on for about 5 minutes describing the filth, and how if i wanted to go to this yeshiva, i couldn't go to that college.
When he finished, i looked at him for a minute, and then said, "What is the second condition?"
He answered: "You have to get a bigger kipah, one that can be seen from all sides."
I said thank you very much and left, finding myself a different yeshiva and going to the secular college.
Much can be said about his comments and my decision. Ill let the read think it out...
the yeshiva allowed college but not that specific college?
ReplyDeleteThe yeshiva wanted me to attend one of the Jewish colleges, those that are not coed. There was a local one in the area, so the rosh yeshiva recommended i went there. But i valued education, so i didn't.
ReplyDeleteBut i valued education, so i didn't
ReplyDeletethis has been nominated for comment of the week
oh good, i hope i win.
ReplyDeleteyou should post comments of the week every friday.
I am too lazy to do it regularly... and my memory is not good enough to remember all the comments. And there is no prize involved, so it is kind of pointless.
ReplyDeleteBut it seems like an interesting feature. Maybe....
1. do not let R' Harry take this post to his site - his commenters will tear you apart!!!!!
ReplyDelete2. R' Cohen just gave a shabbos drasha on the degalim for parshat bamidbar. he said - a point of the degalim was on purpose to show individuality among the Jews. while normally we strive for wholeness, this doesn't mean we give up who we are as individuals. Therefore, he said, not all are cut out for just learning or just working. Each person needs to find his/her chelek and do the best they can with it. as you said - yissachar and zevulun are equals.
nice vort
maybe send it to RHM and see what they say over there... I am curious...
ReplyDeleteyou go ahead - I won't throw you to the wolves though.
ReplyDeleteI would think most of them there would agree with this post....
ReplyDeleteRafi, if you think the majority of them would agree, then you haven't been reading R'Harry's blog lately.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I should say, the silent majority MIGHT agree, but the LOUD minority will rip you to shreds.
To give you an idea, during the R' Druckman crisis, I replied to a post explaining that I was tired of having to reconvert (3 times total now), each time with bigger and better "names" as my dayanim, just to avoid this sort of mess.
The response I got from the loud minority was that any problem I have re:my conversion is completely MY fault for not having it done "the right way".
When I responded that I also had R. Gedalia Dov Schwartz and R. Tzvi Kamenetzky as eidim on our ketubah (also to avoid this sort of problem in the future), the response I got was "uh-huh, just proves the conversion was no good..."
Ely - I actually have not been reading the comments there too much recently. It gets to be too much and too repetitive and too hard to keepp up with. he is getting anywhere form 100 to 300 comments on any given post - I don't have the time to keep up with that!
ReplyDeleteThey keep making you re-convert? even though it has been so long?
Rafi -
ReplyDeleteNot at this point, but I went through it 3 times, the last two weeks before my bar mitzvah. The first one was done by CRC.
At some later point, we were told that there "may" have been a "problem" with one of the dayanim. So we did it again through the CRC.
Later, the CRC moved their offices and "lost" a filing cabinet. Numerous converts were told to go through it again so there would be new documentation. Since my bar mitzvah was coming up, we decided to wait until then to do it.
Before my bar mitzvah, I went through the process a third time, but this time we didn't use the CRC. The dayanim were R' Tendler (R' Moshe Feinstein's (zt'l) grandson), R. Fuerst (Agudah) and R' Herschel Berger (former Adas Yeshurun, now Young Israel of Northbrook). We figured this time around, we would get the best possible "names" on it so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.
It's also the reason we those Ravs sign as eidim under the chuppah - who will argue with those "names"?
Who indeed? It seems that if someone wants to argue, they will find a way, regardless of who the "name" is.
rafi - don't be impressed with the amount of comments. most of them can be cut and pasted from every other post of his and reused. very little is novel or worthwhile. they almost all boil down to mo is the best - no, mo is the worst.
ReplyDelete