UPDATE:
I erred. Please see http://rygb.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-erred-in-my-assumption-that.html. Evidently the question of why this is apparently not a "Kinus Klal Yisroel" should be addressed equally - if not more - to the "askanim" on the "left." And, one we are asking that of them, we must also ask them why they are apparently taking an "ostrich" approach?
Excellent question.
But I have a better question.
Why is Klal Yisrael not at Kinus Klal Yisrael?
On the basis of all I have read concerning the Kinus Klal Yisrael, I would have to conclude that Klal Yisrael extends from Lakewood on the left to Skulen on the right.
Satmar was extended an invitation, but as of the latest news they have decided to boycott. That's those to the "right" of Skulen.
But those to the "left" of Lakewood were never extended an invitation. To many - if not most - of them, to whom no reach has been extended, the event is not on the radar screen.
Are my ti'erer talmidim from MTA not part of Klal Yisrael?
Are they and their families - yerei'im u'sheleimim - not a matter of concern for the organizers? Why are the Chassidim concerned with the Misnagdim and vice versa - but only if they are the right kind of Chassidim and the right kind of Misnagdim?
Or, perhaps, they will be "following the entire event on screens via a live audiovisual hookup" (as an "askan" asked about the ladies was quoted as replying) in Teaneck, in Wesley Hills, in Hillcrest, in Fairlawn, in the Lower East Side, in Brooklyn etc. - just like the ladies? (Yeah right, and there is this bridge in Brooklyn you might want to buy from me, a great deal...)
Does a person (quoted in the article) who speaks of "40,000 Jews from all sectors" realize how hurtful (and inauthentic) is his remark?
And no one in the Lakewood-Skulen "Klal Yisrael" shhould be fooled by the artificial and arbitrary boundaries. They are utterly and completely porous. (As they should be.) If you are not concerned with the entire real spectrum of Shomrei Torah u'Mitzvos, you will never be able to cope effectively with the issues.
MTA (and many more such schools) are producing Bnei Torah - and true Gedolei Yisroel must sense, feel and express an acharayus for all Bnei Torah. If the Ichud ha'Kehillos l'Tohar ha'Machane places large segments of Shomrei Torah u'Mitzvos me'chutz la'machane, I cannot believe that HKB"H will grant siyata d'shemaya to yet another venture that ends up causing more pirud - v'he lo titzlach.
It's not too late, of course. I look forward optimistically to seeing posters and placards in our building at MTA - the building in North America in which Torah has been taught to tzi'erei ha'tzon longer than any other still in use today (since 1928) - inviting the talmidim and their families to participate, and including those of us who are just as much - if not more! - involved in the Avodas HaKodesh of Chinuch as the Menahel of the Yeshivah Ketanah of Lakewood quoted in the article - in seeking to pave the derech through the jungles and swamps that endanger all of us together.
This assifa is being ridiculed by the very people they are trying to attract. It's hard to believe that Rav Salomon has lent his name to this event. Don't they realize the harm this is doing to Kavod HaTorah?
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this on my blog today.
Harry:
ReplyDeleteRav Solomon shlita didn't just "lend his name" to this event. Rav Solomon and the Skulener Rebbe are the two primary organizers and hosts or this asifa.
YGB:
All of Klal Yisroel is invited. No one needs a poster on their wall to come. And if you do, you can post it on MTA's wall yourself. There are no formalities required.
DC:
ReplyDeleteLet's not be naive here. This gathering is being organized and promoted by a group of "askanim." How many of them do you think are parents in MTA (or a similar school)? How many of them do you think live in Teaneck? I have a hunch...
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ADI0E303ZZU/T3DiSrrSBRI/AAAAAAAACW8/AL0uVi9oQX8/s160/P1070484.JPG
ReplyDeleteDC,
If you can please clarify that the form pictured at the link above was sent to MTA, to shuls in Teaneck, etc. - then I will concede your point.
Do you know that this form was distributed to all shuls and yeshivas in Flatbush?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am disturbed by the cavalier dismissal of actions or statements by gedolim, by attempting to attribute them to "askanim". This asifa is being organized at the initiative of HaRav Matisyahu Solomon shlita and the Skulener Rebbe shlita. If you have any complaints about it, they are easily reachable without an appointment.
Another thing. Without even knowing the size of MTA's student body, my hunch is that even if you plaster announcements of this asifa all over MTA's walls, you wouldn't need a full hand to count the parents who actually attend this internet asifa organized by Rav Solomon and the Skulener Rebbe. And its promotion would subject the administration, as well as the organizing gedolim, to mockery.
1. In the current ad, which admonishes us to "heed the call of the Gedolei Yisroel," no Gedolim are pictured or mentioned - but fifteen "askanim" are listed.
ReplyDelete2. There are certainly ways to get MTA parents on the bandwagon - every parent has a problem nowadays. The organizers didn't even make the slightest effort.
Why would they seek to invite talmidim from a Rebbe who uses the internet to pronounce dishonor and disrespect for Gedolim (ie Satmar Rebbe)
ReplyDeletePeople like YOU are the problem
Here's the bigger problem: the essential content of the Asifa and all it will contain can be summarized in two sentences:
ReplyDeleteThe internet is evil.
Only use it with the permission of your local Godol.
So the real question is: how does the Agudah justify spending all this money to create a social event when a simply 8 1/2 x 11 poster with those two sentences on it would accomplish the same end?
This is more of a question than a comment:
ReplyDeleteDo the people on the left see this as an issue at all? Would they even consider showing up? Or would they just laugh at the whole stupid idea?
You don't expect Satmar to invite RZ of America to a Machaah against nituchei meisim. That's obvious practicality, not ideology. Correct?
No one was invited to this asifa and if someone is waiting for a personal invitation good luck
ReplyDelete