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eventy years are the life of man. When an organization reaches its seventieth year as the spokesman of man's primary mission, it is a time for assess­ L.=::=----_, ment, ·reflection, and dedication. Agudath Israel has lived its lifetime well, superlatively well, It has breathed inspiration and pride into American Orthodoxy. · From its .earliest days· - when the Agudah consisted of a handful of young families with roots at Sinai, eyes focused on Eastern Europe's Torah life, and hands engaged in building loyal homes in America - Agudath Israel stood for Kiddush. Hashem and .unwavering fidelity to Toras Hashem. Then, its voice was tiny and local; today it is resonant and national. But its message is unchanged, and has brought pride and strength to the cause it serves. We are proud of Agudath Israel and our association with it. And we pay tribute to its leaders, its staff, and all those who make itswork possible. May Hashem Yisborach bless them all with good health, long life, and many more fruitful decades of serving Kial Yisroel.

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I the most trusted name in Cholov Yisroel cheese, take pride in congratulating Agudath Israel of America on 70 years of exemplary service to the Kial. About the Cover: Rabbi Dr. Meir Hildesheimer (2nd from the left), member of Agudath Israel delegation to America in 1921, commenting on the state of Judaism in the New World: "We were expected to organize the Jews ofAmerica in three or four months -an impossibility! There are three million Jews .. .4,200 Orthodox shuls ... served by 2,500 Orthodox rabbis, and no one has an interest beyond his oum congregation. Such disarray! Such divisiveness! Yet­ perhaps for that very reason - the ideal ofAgudath Israel may well be more relevant to the Jews ofAmerica than it is to European Jewry."

THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN) 0021-6615 MARKING 70 YEARS OF A.GUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA is published monthly except July and August by the Agudath Israel of America, 84 William Street, 6 New York, N.Y. 10038. Second class postage paid in New York, N.Y. Thinking Aloud Subscription$22.00peryear:twoyears,$36.00; Rabbi Moshe Sherer three years, $48.00. Outside of the United States (US funds drawn on a US bank only) $10.00 12 surcharge per year. Single copy $3.00; foreign Daas Torah $4.00. Send address changes to The Jewish Rabbi Yaakov Feitman Observer, 84 William Street, N.Y., N.Y.10038. Tel: (212) 797-9000. Pr'1nted ·1n the U.S.A. 28 Spokesman in the Halls of Govemment­ RABBI NISSON WOLPIN, EDITOR AnunATH ISRAEL'S EvoLVING Ptrauc ROLE

EDITORIAL BOARD IN SHTADWNUS AND ADVOCACY DR. ERNST L. BODENHEIMER Rabbi Nasson Scherman Chairman

RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS 38 JOSEPH FRIEDENSON RABBI NOSSON SCHERMAN Elimelech Gavriel Tress 7"t-A Hero In Our Time Gershon Kranzler MANAGEMENT BOARD NAFTOLI HIRSCH ISAAC KIRZNER 47 RABBI SHLOMO LESIN Books in Review NACHUM STEIN

RABBI YOSEF C. GOLDING 50 Buslne!IS Manager A Letter and an Essay: Published by Moetza'ei Shabbos Kodesh, Kiev Agudath Israel of America Goldy Rosenberg

RABBI MOSHE SHERER PRESIDENT 51 THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not Letters to the Editor assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product, publication, or service 54 advertised in its pages Poetry: The Traveler and the Princess ©Copyright 1992 Libby Lazewnik

MAY 1992 VOLUME XXV I NO. 4 Rabbi Moshe Sherer

tAgudath Israel of America we being a time for celebration, must be of the role of the American Agudah - frequently refer to ourselves a time for introspective reflection and and no greater danger to its future as as a "broad-based grassroots self-evaluation. a vitalforce inAmerican Orthodoxy­ movement." On the surface, this than the myth that Agudath Israel of characterization may appear to be AS A "MOVEMENT" America is merely "a service agency." just another Madison Avenue-type cliche, a p.r. label bywhich the Ameri­ top any Yanke! Q. Public on the First and Foremost, an can Agudah would like to be recog­ street, ask him what Agudath Ideological Movement nized. S Israel of America means to But in truth there is great depth him, and his response will probably gudas Yisroel is, first and fore­ beneath the four-word surface. As we refer to one or several of Agudath most. an ideological move look back at Agudath Israel of Israel's manifold services for the indi­ A ment, a movement with an America's beginnings 70 years ago, vidual and the community: its effec­ historic mission. The primary goal for when a small nucleus of dedicated tive shtadlonus and advocacy activi­ which the world's foremost Gedolei young idealists founded the organiza­ ties, the chessed programs for men, Torah established the Agudah move­ tion as the American arm of the women and children of all ages, the ment 80 years ago, and to which it re­ worldwide Agudah movement, and Oaf Yorn! and other Torah study mains firmly committed still today, perhaps even more importantly as we projects, hatzolah work internation­ was well summarized by Moreinu ponder the urgent and difficult chal­ ally, to mention but a few of the bet­ Yaakov Rosenheim during his re­ lenges that loom on the Agudas ter-known Agudah activities. marks at the historic Kattowitz con­ Yisroel horizon in the years ahead, we Of course, all of this Is true. ference at which the Agudas Yisroel would do well to reflect candidly upon Agudath Israel of America has been a world organization was founded: the implications of being a "broad­ trailblazer in providing numerous 'The aim ofAgudath Israel is to re­ based I grassroots I movement." A services that touch the lives of many vive an ancient Jewish possession: 70th anniversary, even more than thousands of people and countless the traditional concept of Kial Yisroel Torah institutions throughout the - Israel's collective body, animated Rabbi Moshe Sherer is president of Agudath Is­ rael ofAmerica, and chairman of the World Aguda.h United States and across the globe. and sustnined by its Torah as the or­ Organization. Yet there Is no greater misconception ganizing soul - which we seek to re-

6 The Jewish Observer. May 1992 alize in the midst ofthe civilized world, Translating Ideology Into Action through our Agudath Israel and with the technical means provided by civi­ f course, an ideology must be lization." accompanied by maasim. To achieve this goal, the movement 0 deeds that translate hash­ has been built over the years upon a kafalnto practical everyday life. Oth­ series of basic ideological foundation erwise it fades away lnto oblivion as blocks. These have included: unyield­ mere parlor talk. Furthermore, the ing allegiance to Torah and, corre­ hnshkqfa of revitalizing the concept of spondlngiy, rejection of any move­ a Torah-based Klal Ytsroel calls for a ment or ideology that compromises Torah-directed activism, respondlng any aspect of Torah: total subservi­ to the needs of its communities and ence on ail questions of policy to the lndividuals. daas1brahofGedoleiYtsroel the true Activism - in the sense that the leaders of the Jewish people: concern Chazal tell us" Hafach bah va'hafach for fellow Jews and the problems they bahd'kolabah," everythinginlifecan face, both communally and individu­ and must be dealtwith in accordance ally: and recognition of the critical with Torah - has always been an ln­ Importance of uniting as many seg­ tegral part of the ideology of the ments ofTorah Jewry as possible un­ "The aim of Agudath Agudah movement. Indeed, the char­ der the central banner of a unified acter of Agudas Yisroel as an activist movement. Fidelity to these prin­ Israel is to revive an movement was established at its in­ ciples has helped protect our people ception, when the Kattowitz confer­ against the floodwaters of national ancient Jewish ence proclaimed as Agudah's goal and individual assimilation un­ "the solution of all problems facing leashed by numerous false "isms" - possession: The the Jewish people, in the spirit ofTo­ even as so many ofour brethren tragi­ rah." But we dare not lose sight of the cally became engulfed by these traditional concept of fact that it is the ideology which assimilationist waves. Kial Yisroel- Israel's drives the activities, the principles of These ideological underpinnings the movement which determine the established the unique nature of the collective body, program of the organtzation. Agudah movement from its very in­ Those who are unable to see any ception. At the historic Kattowitz con­ animated and sustained connection between Agudah "ser­ ference 80 years ago, the foremost vices" and the ideological foundations Gedolei Torah proclaimed an Ortho­ by its Torah as the upon which the movement was es­ dox "Declaration of Independence" tablished should look again. Foster­ from ail the deviationist movements organizing soul - ing the growth of Daf Yomi, for ex­ that were attempting to take over con­ which we seek to realize ample, is on Agudath Israel's agenda trol of Jewish life and that were cre­ of activities not merely because Rav ating a new brand of"Jewishness" to­ in the midst of the Meir Shapiro ., .. YT happened to an­ tally devoid of authentic Yiddishkeit nounce his ambitious Torah study "Jews without Judaism." These civilized world, through proposal at the first Knessia Gedolah Gedolim sought to put an end to the of Agudas Yisroel. but because Daf spiritual bondage threatening to our Agudath Israel and Yomi embodies the very essence of overcome even the Orthodox masses Agudas Yisroel: unity among diverse (in Golus bei Yidden, as Dr. Nathan with the technical means segments of Klal Yisroel through To­ Birnbaum described it), and to re­ rah. Those who were privileged a few move the sense of inadequacy and provided by years ago to be among the 20,000 inferiority slowly paralyzing the civilization." people who crowded Madison Square psyche of Jewish masses because of Garden to participate in the 9th well-oiled secularist and nationalist -MOREINU YAAKOV ROSENHEIM Siyum Hashas celebration saw a organizational machines. multitude of Jews from all walks of To guide this movement, they es­ life, brought together in solidarity and tablished that its policy-making gov­ unity for the honor of Torah, a vivid erning body - unlike the typical been honed by total immersion ln the reaffirmation of the vision of practice of having "major contribu­ ultimate source of all Jewish values: Kattowitz. tors" render all final decisions - Hashem'sTorah. It is this institution Or consider Agudath Israel's ac­ would be the Moetzes Gedolei of Gedolei Torah that has consistently tivities on the legislative front. When HaTorah, the leading Torah sages ensured that Agudas Yisroel remains the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah directs whose intellect and sensitivities have true to its ideological roots. us to raise our voice against legalized

The Jewtsh Observer, May 1992 7 abortion on demand, for example, as /soldiers] will pursue 10,000" l\Taylkra revere that legacy-most lmportantly, we did earlier this year in a "friend of 26,8). The Torah is clearly stating that those who mold the minds and hearts the court" brief to the U.S. Supreme when only a handful of individuals of our precious (but all too often igno­ Court, they do so not so much be­ are involved, each is able to capture rant) youth - take concrete steps to cause they expect that our statement twenty of his enemies. However, they correct this failure, lest the vision that will play a major role in influencing are transformed - they become stron­ inspired the giants ofprevious genera­ the outcome of the national abortion ger and more courageous - when tions to create Agudas Ylsroel become debate, but primarily because they they are members ofa larger group.for blurred beyond recognition. feel that k'vod Shamayim demands each is now able to defeat one hun­ My prayer and hope is that that the record publicly be set dred, By the same token, an organiza­ through such corrective and collec­ straight when the secular and Reform tion elevates the stature of every indi­ tive efforts, we will merit our own falsifiers of Torah purport to identify vidual who considers himself part of form of "na'aseh v'nishmd': those "reproductive choice" as a "Jewish this larger group. Joining such an orga­ who today evaluate us by our na'aseh value." Much of our shtadlonus work nization, then, not only makes the or­ - our activities - will also nishma. is directed toward that same purpose ganization more potent, but also en­ will eventually hear the deeper his­ - combatting the falsifiers to en­ dows the individual with the ability to toric meaning of Agudath Israel's hance k'vod Shamayim- a purpose accomplish much more. That is why aims and goals as a movement. that emanates directly from the un­ derlying ideology of the Agudah ASA "GRASSROOTS"MOVEMENT movement. [Editor's note: See Rabbi An ideology must be Nosson Scherman's article elsewhere rassroots," the dictionary in this issue for further elaboration of accompanied by "G says, means "society at this point.] the local level as distin­ maasim, deeds that guished from the centers of leaders." "Kial" Activity -More Than If so, one may wonder, Is it not an oxy­ the Sum ofits Parts translate hashkafa into moron - a s'tira minei u'vei - to speak of Agudas Yisroel as an ideo­ o those who wonder why activ­ practical everyday life. logical movement in which all policy ism is best performed within making authority is vested in an elite T the context of a larger klal Otherwise it fades away centralized body of Torah leaders, movement-Why is the Agudah um­ and in the same breath speak of brella necessary for all these specific into oblivion as mere Agudas Yisroel as a mass, local-level projects? - I offer the following: Any grassroots movement? activity conducted by an individual or parlor talk. The dilemma is by no means lim­ by a group of individuals to fulfill a ited to theoretical semantics. If one particular mitzvais, indeed, a mitzva. were to examine Agudath Israel of But when that very same activity Is America's chart of organization, he conducted within the framework of the Torah describes the counting of a would notice that in addition to the the movement of Agudas Yisroel with group as 'hesias rosh" - literally, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and in ad­ its long-range goals for Klal Yisroel, upUfting ofeach head. dition to the Nesius (rabbinical pre­ then in addition to the good deed, one Proudly I am an Agudist. I was sidium), the organization includes is holding on to a pen that is writing taught Agudism by the foremost several representative lay boards history. That added dividend means Gedolei Torah of this and the previous comprised entirely of "baale battim." worlds - worlds of enhanced effec­ generation. I had the privilege of see­ as well as various lay committees and tiveness, of enhanced k'vod Shama­ ing how such great Agudah askonim commissions that are involved in cer­ yim. Its ideological foundation makes as Moreinu Yaakov Rosenheim and tain specific projects of the American Agudas Yisroel more than the sum of Reb Elimelech Tress translated the Agudah. As much input as these all its parts (Le., its activities) and en­ ideals of the movement into practical baale battim groups have in develop­ dows each individual with much deeds with great historical implica­ ing the programs of Agudath Israel of greater power. tion. As my heart is filled with joy at America, as involved as they are in As Rabbi Alexander Zushe the American Agudah reaching its implementing the policies of the orga­ Ftiedman, one of the great leaders of 70th year, it is also filled with concern nization, they nonetheless recognize Agudath Israel in Poland between the that even many of our "best fiiends" that they are not governing boards in wars, wrote: have yet to learn this lesson of the commonly understood sense of Our Chazal say, "A mitzva per­ Agudism. Frankly, we have not done the term. They understand that formed by an individual does not com­ a good job of educating and inspiring Agudath Israel is different that policy pare to amitzva peiformed by many." the masses ofTorah Jewry to under­ decisions for Klal Yisroel are not This principle gives us insight in the stand and embrace the glorious within the domain of laymen. Torah's blessing: "Five [soldiers] will legacy and hashkafa of Kattowitz. It Yet, despite the apparent paradox, pursue one hundred, and one hunred is important that those of us who do Agudath Israel is quite undeniably a

8 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 grassroots movement. Agudath Israel ASA "BROAD-BASED" ofAmerica is blessed with the largest Agudath Israel is GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT individually-paid membership of any Orthodox Jewish organization in the different, in that policy often marvel at the panoramic United States. Its conventions attract view on display at the keynote more participants than any other decisions for Kia/ Yisroel I session of an Agudah convention: comparable American Jewish event. a multi-tiered dais of Roshei Yeshiva, Its financial support comes primarily are not within the Admorim and Rabbontm from differ­ from the generous donations of tens ent walks of Orthodox Jewish life: a of thousands of private indiViduals domain of laymen. Yet, huge audience of young and old, from all walks of life. Its various Chassidim and Misnagdim, Sefardim projects attract hundreds of volun­ Agudath Israel is quite and Ashkenazim, yeshivaleit and teer activists who lend their time, baale battim businessmen and pro­ skills and talents to carry out the ac­ undeniably a grassroots fessionals, Holocaust-survivors and tivities of the Agudah. American-born (and more recently, Upon reflection, the conflict that movement. the new she'aris ha'pleitah - Rus­ appears inherent in the phrase sian and Iranian Jews who have es­ "grassroots movement" is no caped the spiritual and physical dep­ oxymoronic s'tiraafter all. For just as to try to "do it all" on their own. The rivations of their countries of birth to it is true that "etn melech b'lo am" - fact is, however, that one of the start new lives as Torah Jews in the there is no king without a nation - it Agudah's main functions is to mobi­ United States). So many different is also true that there is no Agudas lize volunteer grassroots kochos, to head-coverings, so many different ac­ Yisroel, no ideological movement get Torah Jews from all walks in­ cents, so many different minhogim so predicated on the theme of daas Tu­ volved in addressing the broad needs many different communities-yet all rah, without loyal members and fol­ of the community under the direction united under the banner of Agudath lowers. The American Agudah thrives of the Gedolei Yisroel. Israel of America. Baruch HashemJ precisely because the Torah commu­ As we mark our current milestone, Here again, however, we face an nity in the United States is blessed, we must realize that our challenge is apparent paradox. We must recog­ boruch Hashem. with tens upon tens to find ways to blend the activities of nize that there exists an inherent ten­ of thousands of men and women who our executive staff with the volunteer sion between, on the one hand, recognize and enthusiastically accept efforts of members of the community Agudas Yisroel's status as an ideo­ the Gedolei Torah as the true leaders - and to do so in a manner that is logical movement that stands for a of the Jewish people. It is that mass both efficient and effective. This is specific set of principles and recognition, and the readiness to re­ quite a difficult challenge. But its dif­ hashkafos; and, on the other hand, Unquish authority to the Gedolei To­ ficulty does not detract from its ur­ Agudas Yisroel's goal to mobilize as rah, which has created the fertile soil gency: it must be resolved, and we many segments of Orthodoxy as pos­ in which our movement has grown, must focus our attention on finding sible under its organizational banner. and which identifies the movement as a solution. If our goal is to create a ko'ach a product of the "grassroots." horabbim how far can we reach out to make the rabbim even greater with­ The Challenge of out breaching our ideological roots? Attracting Volunteers Just as it is true that" ein Unity is typically achieved by em­ phasizing the lowest common de­ ut we do have a problem. melech b'/o am" -there nominator - but when the denomi­ Agudath Israel owes a great is no king without a nator becomes too low, there is a dan­ B measure of its effectiveness to ger that basic principle may be sacri­ its loyal staff. !tis a staff(read: team) nation - it is also true ficed. That price, our gedolim have that has grown over the years in both concluded, is too high to pay- even size and stature, a staff that has ac­ that there is no Agudas for a commodity so precious as en­ complished many wonderful - even hanced achdus. historic - things for Agudas Ylsroel, Yisroel, no ideological Let us consider one particularly for Kla1 Yisroel and for Reb Yisroel. painful concrete example: In 5716/ Nevertheless, this very asset can un­ movement predicated on 1956, a group of eleven of the most dermine the essential grassroots na­ distinguished American Roshei Ye­ ture of our movement. the theme of daas Torah, shiva and Rabbonim, most of whom There is a tendency of many to say: were formally affiliated with Agudath 'The Agudah staff performs so well, without loyal members Israel, issued a halachic decision bar­ they don't really need me under their ring membership in "three-wing" feet. ... " Worse, there may even be an and followers. synagogual and rabbinical bodies occasional tendency ofstaff members such as the Synagogue Council of

The Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 9 America and the New York Board of Expansion Without Compromise Agudath Israel Rabbis. These Gedolei Y"1Sroel under­ stood that to join with such "religious" much as we are mtspallel that of Cleveland organizations would inherently con­ the day will soon come when fer religious recognition upon the de­ ines of demarcation w111 no LBCTURB SERIES viant and destructive movements longer be necessary, the reality that ONTAPB known as Reform and Conseivative there are Torah groups that are not Judaism. The fact that certain Ortho­ part of theAgudah movement should dox groups continue to defy the not be cause for despair. At the na­ halachic ruling of the Gedolei Yisroel tional convention ofAgudath Israel of on this fundamental ideologicai issue America in 1983, Rabbi Avrohom ~~ is a major deterrent to broadening the Gershon Zaks ?"!. the late grandson Serles #1: Halacha L 'Maaseh spheres of unity among the diverse of the Chafetz Chaim ?'Yr, told the fol­ 31 tapes to date groups within Orthodoxy. lowing story: Individually· $6.00; 5 or more- $5.00 Another example, which illus­ After the Chafetz Chaim had re­ By Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld ::; 1. Shiur K'day Achilas Pras trates the unacceptable attitudes of turnedfrom the first Knessia GedoI ah CJ 2. Tzuras Hapesach "Modem Orthodoxy" toward certain of Agudns Yisroel in 1923, where he C: 3. Mayim Acharonim matters of basic hashkafa; The press played a key role despite his ad­ :.• 4, Using Ketanim for lssurim reported some time ago that a well­ vanced age and frail health. he re­ 115. Methods in Talmud Torah C: 6; Koshering the Kitchen (Pesach known member of the Rabbinical ceived several letttersfromRabbonim and all year) Council of America "was credlted be­ that questioned his identification with C: 7. The Seder (What to .tell your cause of his 'Centrist' approach to a "Klal Yisroel" nwvement that did not child) Judaism," for creating an "interde­ succeed in including all groups ofTo­ -~· 8. B'Dikas Chometz nominational" Hebrew high school in ;:: 9. Hand vs. Machine Matzah rahJews. C" 10. Minhagim his Long Island community, "drawing "Do not bother responding to them," :: 1f. Korban Pesach B'Zman students and faculty from Reform. the Clwfetz Chaim told his family. Hazeh Conseivative and Orthodox syna­ "You know that the prophet Malachi •. 12. Kiddush gogues." "Plans call for the school to tells us that before the coming of :; 13. Mussa! C" 14. Census Taking in Israel meet in a different participating syna­ Moshiach. '.Az nidberu yirei HaShem C" 15. Mezzuzah gogue each year. with the local reli­ ish el re'eiyhu vayaksheiv Hashem •::.16. HHchos Rosh Hashana gious school principal to be acting vayishma-then those who fear ::-17. The Avodah on Yom Kippur principal." When "Modern Ortho­ Hashem wiU talk to each other" C: 18. Tircha D'T zibura doxy" under the mlsnomer of "Cen­ !Malachi 3, 16). It doesn't say Kol Yrrei :.·· .19. When One May Say a Lie :::: 20. Jewish Names llist Orthodoxy'" countenances such Hashem - 'all the people wlw fear i:_; 21. Chanakuh an aberration in its midst, this silence Hashem'-only Moshiach can as­ :.::22.s1eep shouts more than a thousand state­ semble Kol Yirei Hashem. AU that the 1 '.:'.~' 23. G Zeira Shema Yaavireno ments - and hinders efforts at ex­ prophet says ts that 'many of the 24. Touring & Living in Egypt 25. One or Two DayYom Tov panding achdus among different Or­ people wlw fear Hashem will join to­ .:: 26. Cooking on Yom Tov thodox groups. gether. •At the Knessia Gedolah many :_; 27. The Jewish Calendar Obviously. there are other ideologi­ people did indeed.join together to bet­ 28. Mishloach Manos cal issues that have tended to set ter seroe Hashem and I choose to be 29. Hilchos Purim them." 30. Kitchen Activities on Yom Tov Agudas Yisroel apart from certain among vs.Shabbos other segments of Orthodoxy, either Our coalition does continue to ··:: ~1. The Meaning of Sefiras by the Agudah's choice or vice versa grow. Baruch Hashem, the ideology Ha om er - most notably, the great diversity of for which Agudath Israel proudly views within the Orthodox camp with stands is winning adherents even in Serles #2: .Lectures respect to Zionism and the State of circles that traditionally have not 4 Tape set· $24.00 Israel. However. rather than belabor been part of the Agudah camp. That By Rabbi Moshe Aharon Stem 1. Sholom Bayis the specifics of these various issues. Agudath Israel of America has been 2. Chinuch Habonim I simply wish to reiterate the bottom able to attract such a diverse and 3. successful Family Relationships line: Where there are profound differ­ broad-based constituency-and, de­ 4. The Persian Gulf War and Us ences of basic ideology, there need to spite pressures. has been able to Check boxes of tapes ordered. be clear lines of demarcation. These maintain unity among all of the ele­ Sehd payment to: lines do not preclude us from servic­ ments of this constituency-is a mb­ AgudaUt Israel of Cleveland ing individuals or groups with whom ute to the unparalleled dedication of P.O. Box504, Wyckliffe, Ohio 44092 we have fundamental disagreements, the leaders of the American Agudah Postage arid Handling included, or from informally cooperating with movement and their commitment to Spansored by Dentique, Inc. them where necessary for the greater keep the spirit of Kattowitz alive even Dr. Jeffrey Gross - Dr, Louis Malamacher good of the Kial Inevitably. though, under the most trying of circum­ demarcation does divide. stances. I. for one, am firmly per-

10 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 their determination to preserve unity Ing efforts of deviationist Jewish As much as we are withtn Agudas Ylsroel. movements to lead the Jewish But we dare not become smug or masses further and further astray mispallel that the day will complacent. When there are still many from Torah Judaism, the devastating Torah Jews who do not identify with toll exacted against Torah values by soon come when lines of Agudas Ylsroel, our urgent challenge the twin plagues of assimilation and Is to reach out, to find ways of expand­ materialism, the phenomenal rise of demarcation will no ing the Agudah network, without com­ the ba'al teshuva movement and the promising one iota of our ideology. It growing strength of our yeshivas and longer be necessary, the is a challenge worthy of the best efforts batei chossidus- never in its 70 year reality that there are of our best people, and I invite the histoiy has there been a greater need readers of The Jewish Observer to join for a strong and effective Agudath Is­ Torah groups that are not In this noble undertaking. rael of America to build broader and broader coalitions. part of the Agudah MOMENTOUS TIMES So long as we remember that we are an ideological movement, not movement should not be ever in its 70 year histoiy has merely a service-agency. a grassroots cause for despair. Agudath Israel of America en movement, which depends on public N joyed greater successes, faced involvement for its very existence; greater opportunities, encountered and a broad-based grassroots move­ greater challenges, than it does today. ment, which must always seek to ex­ suaded that the tangible siyata And in many ways - what with the pand the boundaries of its coalition di'Shmaya with which Agudath Israel tumultuous world events that affect without compromising its ideals - ofAmerica's efforts have been blessed Jews in all four corners of the globe, Agudath Israel will continue to pro­ is directly attributable to the great the alarming rise of anti-Semitism ceed, b'ezras Hashem. from strength self-sacrifice displayed by the Roshei and specifically anti-Orthodoxy right to even greater strength in the mo­ Yeshiva. Admorim and Rabbonim In here In the United States, the ongo- mentous years ahead. •

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The Jewish Observer. May 1992 11 70 years ofAgudath Israel ofAmerica Rabbi Yaakov Feitman

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GEDOUM: A TIMELESS CONCEPT tlons?" This comes to teach us, says tainDaas Torah? . .. Can we knowfor the Gemora, that the leaders of every sure who they are? .. . ne of the most important generation are the approprtate ones 1 quests in our lives is recogniz­ for that generation • There must, ANTAGONISM TO DAAS TORAH 0 ing our true leaders. Just therefore, be Gedolim in every era, knowing to whom to turn on the sen­ and we must be loyal to their teach­ hile the concept of Daas sitive and important issues. both in­ ings. The Torah bere acknowledges Torah as a source of au­ dividually and collectively. prOvides a the natural tendency to reject one's W thority is a fundamental measure of tranquility when facing leadership when compared with that Jewish teaching, some find it trou­ the vicissitudes of life. of previous generations. Many an age bling. For, although many of us live We are fortunate in that we know and era has bemoaned the seemingly by this prtnciple and make the most with certainty that in every genera­ precipitous fall of its Torah leadership important decisions of our lives based tion there will be leaders who can be from former grandeur and splendor. upon it, we are hard-pressed to iden­ and must be followed in the same way However. what each epoch must ac­ tify its mechanism or even define its as earlier generations were endowed cept and come to terms with is that it criteria. with their own leaders: is given the guiding lights-the But before quoting any specific re­ .. And you will come to the Gedolim--that it requtres. The ques­ sponse to those who oppose Daas To­ Kohanim. the Levi'im who will live in tion is not one of greater or lesser, but rah. it is worth taklng note of a teach­ those days... and you shall follow and of need. These Gedolim are of their ing of our sages: .. Avda b'hejkeira adhere to all that they teach you .. era, yet are able to tap eternal wells. nicha lai - A slave prefers a state of (Devarim 17.9). It is their judgments that embody the freedom without restraints.. : the most In an oft-quoted passage, the Tal­ timeless word of the Torah for thetr plimitive insttnct of man is to rebel mud asks: "Could one then consider time, and it is their guidance which against authortty to give himself free going to the leaders of other genera- is DAAS 1DRAH. rein (see Gitlin 13a)... No one is going But, far from an answer, that is to tell mewhat to do," can be rational­ Rabbi Feltman. a well-known author and lecturer, where the questions must begin: ized as an expression of free will, but is Rav of the Young Israel of Beachwood, in Cleve­ Is Daas Torah something old or is it it is actually the natural retrogression land. This article is based on a lecture he delivered a recent innovation? . .. Who has it or into childlike defiance of parents and in his shul. personifies it? ... How does one ob- teachers, even when their inherent

12 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 claim to authortty should be obvious. of piety and virtue, the Chafetz One of the most subtle yet pernicious Chaim, who was the "father of Klal manifestations of this phenomenon is Yisroel," and Reb Elchonon, who gave the often emotional. occasionally out­ his life for his people and Torah, would rtght illogical hostility to the concept crassly and blatantly distort Torah of Daas Tbrah tradition simply to achieve some One of the major crtticisms against power for themselves or their succes­ Venerable Torah sages at the seventh "Daas Torah" results from the impres­ sors? Not only our intuition about Siyum Hashas. Left to rtght: Bluzhever sion that the phrase is of rather recent these sages, but even basic logic, dic­ Rebbe, Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov vintage. (As we shall note, there is tates that this does not make sense. Kamenetzky, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, '"t. some truth to this.) The opponents of Even more bizarrely, one of the trine of Daas Torah, but finds it the very concept of Daas Tbrahdelight crttics of these Gedolim notes that strange that "the group that sub­ in pointing out that although the term since he has no problem with inno­ scrtbes to the notion of Daas Torah" may be found in the Talmud,2 vations in Judaism, he would in prtn­ be the one that rejects any new ideas Rishonim3 and Acharonim,4 it was ciple be able to accept the "new" doc- and incursions into tradition '. never before taken to mean (as a con­ temporary scholar has descrtbed its most common current application) "the authortty ofTorah sages to rule on matters which are not only in the sphere ofrellgion but also upon issues IA SPECIAL HATI I A SPECIAL PRICE I which are inherently political, eco­ nomical or social in nature ... 5 The contention of these crttics is that "the term Daat Torah in its cur­ rent ideological sense seems to ortgi­ nate in the latter part of the nine­ teenth and in the first part of the twentieth century among heads of the Eastern European Yeshivot who were associated with Agudat Israel (e.g., the Haffetz Hayyim and R. Elkhanan Wasserman z.t.l.) as a response to the challenge to and breakdown of tradi­ tional rabbinic authority. It is a well­ known phenomenon that when an institution has lost real power that it QUALITY CLASS I CA makes extreme and excessive theo­ I I retical claims on its behalf." 6 You'll recognize the quality. The world's finest handmade hats These writers go on to try to ana­ made by Worth& Worth. But you won't believe our prices. lyze the "need" for Daas Torah in so­ Take advantage of our special introductory offer belween now and ciological terms and even to compare June 10, 1992. Bring in this ad and we'll take 30% off the regular price. it (lehavdil elef havdalos) to the "de­ And, while you're here, see our special light weight felts and airy straws velopment of the doctrine of papal in­ for Spring and Summer. All at special prices. We' II change your mind fallibility when the authortty of the about what the best handmade hat should cost. pope was waning.'" Reg. Price SALE PRICE In other words, tofiuther their own political (Agudath Israel?), religious QUALITY CLASSICA $ 85.00 $ 59.00 (waning power?}, or other agendas, these sages, it is alleged, created a QUALITY IMPERIALE $120.00 $ 84.00 new and halachically unwarranted QUALITY SUPERLATIVA $160.00 $112.00 hierarchy of authority, with them­ selves at the top of t1lis new spiritual We offer a complete range of hat sizes, brim widths and finishes: smooth and suede. ladder. Although the Chafetz Chaim and CLASSIC HATTERS Reb Elchonon's accusers dutifully IF YOU WANTTO PAY TWICE THE PRICE ElSEWHERE ... BE OUR GUESt Gedolim's add the ?··yr to these IF YOU DON'T... BE OUR CUSTOMER. names, 1n reality they are imputing to them a crtme of monstrous propor­ 47ll 13 AVE., BOROUGH PARK, BROOKLYN, NY l 1219 TEL 718-435-6792 tions. Could it be that these paragons Wrife for our new catalogue.

The Jewish Observer. May 1992 13 of the term Daas Torahortg1nated with those whose lives are defined by being the early leaders of Agudath Ylsroel 9 • repositories of that tradition. So while In fact, it was Reb Elchonon they are correct in not finding the Wasserman who said of the Chofetz phrase in the writings of earlier genera· Chaim, "His ideas constitute 100% lions, they missed the fact that, in pure Daas Torah" 10 And yes, as we truth, the concept is not new, through RIF Rashi Rabbeinu Tam shall see, the imperative to coin a new the use of the term, a time-honored te· phrase did flow from the exigencies of net had simply been reaffirmed. AN ANCIENT CONCEPT the era. But, most importantly, nei· For what many of us, living tn a WITH A NEW NAME ther the Chafetz Chaim nor Reb century polluted by the sputtertngs of Elchonon Wasserman contrived to de· politicians, academics and "experts" nfortunately, the confusing of vise a new form of rabbinic authority. of every type, have forgotten, is that semantics with substance As the critics of Daas Torah themselves for all our history until very recently, Uhere has resulted in a funda· perceive in moments of candor and it was the Torah leadership, and it mental and extremely dangerous er· honesty, it is ludicrous to impute ma­ alone, that was the spokesman for ror. Yes, it is true that the current use jor corruptions of ancient tradition to the people of Israel. It has always

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14 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 been untltlnkable for any major deci­ Vespasian (Gitten 56a, Eicha Rabba sion affecting the nation to be made 115, No. 31) ... Rabban Gamliel who by someone other than a Torah sage. went to Domitian (Ediyos 7:7, And so, the term Daas Torah was su­ Sanhedrin 1 I a, Yerushalmi perfluous because everyone knew Sanhedrin 7: 19) ... Rabbi Chanina that Daas with any other suffix was and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi who an oxymoron. Listening to Gedolim traveled to the ruler in Ceasarea Rambam Ramban Rosh was as natural to the nation oflsrael (Yerushalmi Berachos 5: 1, Bereishis as breathing itself, and therefore we Rabba 78:5). Indeed, the Talmud is Toynbee tried to write the Jewish breathed in their wisdom and guid­ replete with stortes about how the people out of world history, so have ance with the same lack of self-con­ Tannaim and Amoraim deliberated, the secular histortans tried to elimi­ sciousness as inhaling fresh air. To decided and acted, in the most natu­ nate the Torah leadership from their change the metaphor, for most of the ral and expected of manner, in behalf textbooks. Even Josephus, no friend saga ofour nation, the Torah leader­ of the entire nation. The absence of of the Rabbis, was forced to admit ship was looked to as the "eyes of the these facts in secular history books that the sages were respected "even congregation" 11 of Israel; no other proves nothing at all. Just as Arnold against the king and the high prtest. .. perspective would have been consid­ ered for a moment. Although this fact about our his­ tory should be, and to many is, self­ evident, let us brtefly review the gen­ erational chain, just in case there is any lingertng doubt. No one needs to explain that Moshe Rabbeimis entire persona as a leader flowed from the beloved "Rabbeinu" in his title. By vir­ tue of his direct contact with the Giver of the Torah ("Mouth to mouth do I speak to him" - Bamidbar 12,8), he 12 was the very quintessence ofTorah • As for the prophets, the Rambam 13 refers to each of the leaders of the generations from Moshe Rabbeinu until the close of the Talmud as "David and his Beis Din... Yeshaya and his Beis Din... Nachum and his Beis Din" etc. Clearly, the head of each generation was the leader be­ cause he was the outstanding Torah scholar of his time, the head of the * Put down less than $5,000 and enjoy summer in rabbinic court, the voice of... Daas To­ rah. Prophesy was the highest rung your own modern vacation home on a scale of spirttual accomplish­ * Up to 90% financing available ment which included as a sine qua Be part of a group that shares your values non greatness in Torah. Every * prophet was a giant of Torah, and * Minutes from year round Shul, Mikvah prophesy was the crown of years of and shopping toll to achieve ever-growing levels of holiness. * Borders on Camp Morris * Off street parking Millennia in a Moment: A Trip Through Time * Swimming, recreation and day camp areas

n the time of the Talmud, when the UNUSUALLY LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICE nation of Israel needed represen­ I tation to deal with the gentile gov­ $54,990 ernments, who went? Politicians? FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL Diplomats? Ph.Ds in international re­ lations? Not quite. It was Rabban mESORA COP.P. 914-426-1670 DAYSANDEVENINGS Yochanan Ben Zakai who dealt with

The Jewish Observer. May 1992 15 of Kial Yisroel (with notable excep­ gotiate in the court of the rulers."15 tions when the Resh Galusa was out From the period of the Rishonim, of step with the Gaon, similar to er­ we have teshuvos that document how rant kings that defied the prophets, the Rambam, the Rashba, Rashi, as recounted in Tanach). Here, even Rabbeinu Tam and the other great the secular historians report that "be­ commentators of the Talmud were 1abbt (Don} Rabbi Yosef Maharshal side managing the Academy. the the sole arbiters of right and wrong for Yitzchok Karo work of the Gaon included all Jewish our people on all issues-not just the '\barbanel affairs in Eretz Israel.. .. The Gaonim obviously halachic, but what would for the people hearken to every word were recognized by the foreign ruler today appear to be questions of a so­ which comes from their mouth.'' 14 as the representatives of the Jewish cial, political or economic nature. In the time of the Gaonim, it was community in Eretz Israel. ... In case of the Gaon and his disciples alone who emergency. theytraveied [to Baghdad .l\fTer Chmielnicki's Massacres made the communal deeisions for all and Egypt) in order personally tone- ven in the difficult period following the Chmielnicki E massacres, in the midst of the seventeenth century. autonomous Jewish communities turned to their poskim and Gedolim for guidance in announces a full-day program virtually all matters of life. The Bach for boys & girls in Cracow, the Taz in Levov, the Shachin Vilna, the P'nai Yehoshua in ages 3·12 years. Franfurt, the Magen Avraham in Kallish, all dealt with issues affecting • Separate programs for boys and girls the nation and were the acknowl­ • Door to door bus service edged decisors for the people oflsrael. • Playground and swimming facilities as is apparent in their many recorded • Exciting off-grounds trip responsa. • Excellent yeshiva educated staff A striking example of the all-en­ • Reasonable rates· scholarships available. compassing power and influence of Torah sages at this time is the Vaad To register call: Aarba Aratzos, the Council of the (718) 449-1397. (718) 891 ·6245 • (718) 646-4959 Four Lands, which was the central in­ stitution ofJewish self-government in Beth Shifra, 3044 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235 Poland and Lithuania from the Anyone wishing to sponsor scholarships please call. middle of the sixteenth century until 1764. 16 The authority of the Council was described by a contemporary as that of "the Sanhedrin of the Ushkas ~~'{(· , \'i ... SPEND 3 DA!JS !JOM TOV Hagazis [in the Temple),. .. they had the authority to dispense justice to all SHAUUOTH-31il'i!l~ Israel in the kingdom of Poland, to safeguard the law, to frame ordi­ IN A HEIMISHE ATMOSPHERE nances, and to inflict punishment as AT THE they saw fit." 17 Who were the leaders of this body, which was recognized by kings and governments? In the Lithuanian division, the highest po­ sition traditionally belonged to the Lakewood, N.J. 08701 Av Beis Din (Head of the Rabbinic Court) of the city of Brest-Litovsk, (908) 363-5000 ®"'""',.._ known in the Torah world as Brisk. FOR RESERVATIONS e--:=,t- The list of signatories to communal & INFO. CALL TOLL FREE legislation of the time is indistin­ ® guishable from a list of the Torah gi­ 1·800·CAPITOL (227-4865) Maharsha, pi'Tn~? ?N11!1' :i.?n • 11!1::> 1'N?) ants of that era: the the Kli Yakar, the Maharam of Lublin, CATERING UNDER KASHRUS SUPERVISION OF @ the Shel.ah_

16 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 ··------,.. ----··-----.. ------~ On the Threshold ofModem Times THEYITTI. LEIBEL elate-18thand 19thcenturtes ntroduced the post­ HELPLINE TiMendelssohn era, when coun­ A Free Setvice of the Yitti L,eibel Chesed Fund terfeit alternatives to Torah leader­ is ship were being openly promulgated. No>probtem too big ••• No ptobte111 ts too small.,. Facing the onslaught ofalien philoso­ •.. .Is there some terrible. thing happj!ning ill your family that you are afraid phies and spiritual dangers, the Gaon or ashamed to telianyone?? ofVilna, Rabbi Akiva Eiger in Posen, ..• :Are yQu a. t~·ager .or y.,ung adult havlng problems .that are the Chasam Sofer in Pressburg, too .diffkult for you to.handle?? .• ,.Are you single or married, and experiencing personal .or inter•personal Rabbi Yonasan Eyebeshutz in conflicts?? Prague, all continued to lead the .,.,Are you a patent mgr1111dparent sllfferin!! from stress?? people oflsrael by the light of ancient .... Are you simply confronted with a situation that requires you lo find an Torah principles and the force of their objective.listener?? Torah-permeated personalities. SomHfthe Torah community's highly skilled therapists ate available fo The voluminous responsa of these talk to. you on th11 phone1With total anonymity. Many people have already sages is eloquent testimony to their been helped .by them - they want to help you as well! involvement in all matters relating to Jewish life. Theywereconsulted. they H + 0 + U + R + S Daytime: Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM-12:00 Noon ruled and they were obeyed In poli­ Sunday 9,00 AM-12,00 Noon tics, monetary matters, social issues Evenings: Monday thru Thursday 8:00 PM-11:00 PM _- and the entire range of problems to Sundav 9,00 PM · 11,00 PM which human beings are heir. And :Dial (718) HELP-NOW (435•7669) they fought the attempts to relegate In NJ«:al1(908)363-I010 'niilljirqieet lrl!il.bee'll a~ by IH!Jill8 Toi'ah ~utlurrlii&S the rabbis exclusively to the realm of Fof taMS tifpast Xihtlsim contafft Mrs, 'J!erl lit '('718)_ 435~$~3 rttual and ceremony. In the later years of the nineteenth century, Rabbi Naftoli Tzvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spector of Kovno, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch of Frankfurt, the Sefas Emes of Gur, the Avnei Nezer of Sochatchov, the Tzemach TuedekofLubavitch, all added a link in the great chain of Torah-guided leadership, as is recorded In the an­ nals of history. The giants of the tragic but noble generation of the early twentieth cen­ tury-the Chofetz Chaim and the Gerer Rebbe, Reb Chaim Ozer Grodzenski and the Chazon Ish­ continued the battle and recognized the need for Torah interpretation of swiftly moving events; it was then that the Gedolei Torah began to talk of Daas Torah 18 • How ludicrous it is to speak of them having improvised a new au­ thoritarian structure! From every word they wrote, from everything that we know of their lives, each of them was engaged in the holy task of sav­ ing not only their generation, but Knesses Yisroelfor all future genera­ tions. The institution that they chose to strengthen and revitalize was the time-honored one of "Emunas

The Jewish Observer; May 1992 17 dizing decision, nor an insignificant the elements that connect the Daas one. With the challenges arising from Torah of Rabbi Akiva to that of Rabbi social and political revolutions, the Aaron Kotler, the Vilna Gaon to the concept that "only a Torah interpre­ Chazon Ish? What is the thread that tation of Kial Y'isroers destiny has va­ can be drawn unbroken through the lidity" required a new lexicon, anc' generations? "he Shach Rabbi Yonasan The Gaon called for the re-emphasis on ancient Eyebeshutz ofVilna tradition-how to define hashkafa BEGINNING WITH BASICS questions, how to pose them and to Chachomim "-trust in and reverence whom, and how to heed the answers. et us begin with the basic ques­ for the acknowledged Torah leaders of If, then, Daas Torah is actually tion: Why should Torah sages, the day. This was not a self-aggran- part of a venerable tradition, what are Limmersed as they are in the seemingly other-worldly universe of the Torah, be able to render judg­ ments on the complex issues of a the perfect SHTENDEK* /BOOKSTAND world so apparently alien to their "U.S. PATENTPl!NOING own? Are they, so to speak, compe­ Designed for. the yeshiva student and his tent, concerning the "real world"? father for use at home or bais medrash. To answer this, we need first to re­ mind ourselves where the world itself for maximum and Created visual comfort came from: Nr.t>v N'1:11 Nl'1"11l'O ?:int>~. perfect posture. "G-d looked into the Torah and cre­ 19 Recommended by top health advisors. ated the world" • Thinking of all the professionals Adjustable Height. we usually seek out to build a house, j------.155/8" high would one hire an architect who ' by doesn't know a blueprint from a blue­ Adjustable Height. Perfect for Your Little Masmld bird? Who better, then, to consult ~ about problems with the house than 15"wide the greatest expert on the blueprint? . I - by fO"highl One must conclude that it is only 291/i" I to Torah sages who can truly under­ 42" I 29'h" stand the world. Not only is the To­ to 42" rah the sole lens through which to l21 112" view the world around us accurately, I to 30" but even the granting of the Torah to mortal man is predicated upon its role as the practical guide to every as­ e--- I "",7"•~90 ' Moshe Rabbeinu 17" deep ,,_~[by pect of life. When Model A Plus Shipping 17"1eep $68 L 135/s" w1cteT went up to receive the Torah, the an­ by gels attempted to dissuade G-d from ModelB Plus Shipping 11 '/C deep $53 giving it to such spiritually fragile ModelC Plus Shipping creatures as mere mortals. Our sav­ • Wood ftnlsh top -Tubular steel, rigid construction ing quality, however, was our obvious • Allows wide variations In height synergy with the Torah Itself. !tis only • Comfortable foot rest man who can honor his parents, eat • Rubber bumper pads on bottom properly, wind tejillinon his arm, rest on Shnbbos, and rruse a family in the •Ideal.for homework for boys and girls 20 Torah way • • A real space saver Moshe Rabbeirnis triumphant ar­ • 111e perfect gift for choson. husband. bar mltzvah. etc. gument was clearly that the Torah was meant for those who live, who engage DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE ON LARGE QUANTITIES in all the normative requirements of Available at local Judaica stores or from distributor: human life: eating sleeping, family life, and so on. !tis obvious that life implies KETERIMPORTERS ·&MFG,. INC. social relationships, as well. If the To­ 3720 14th AVenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218 rah was meant for creatures who form Telephone N'o. (718) 436-6598 !"ax No. (718) 972-'13'78 societies, interact with each other as Exported By RoJlll] BMB Company, Bnal Brak, Israel individuals and collectively, then it is a given that the Torah must provide

18 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 direction for these activities. Other­ Torah study lishma-for its own wise, Moshe Rabbeinu's position sake-is granted many would have been strangely limited tbings ... and people benefit from him counsel and sound wisdom" only to a small area of mankind's ac­ (Avos6,l). tivities, a poor argument, indeed, if it were so. But Moshe Rabbeimis victory The Maharal of Prague explains had to have been based upon the prin­ that one who studies Torah for its The Baal The Chasam RabbiS.R. ciple that the totality of Man's activi­ own sake becomes one with the To­ HaTanya Sofer Hirsch ties-not just limited segments-is rah and the power of Torah becomes meant to be governed by Torah. There his power. But one who studies the comes with Daas Torah is the reward must therefore be an ongoing mecha­ Torah for ulterior motives remains and the result, never the goal. Thus, nism for discovering what the Torah separate from the Torah and so gains immersion in Torah for decades even­ teaches concerning every area of hu­ none of the charactertstics of the To­ tually achieves that metamorphosis man endeavor. rah itself. Indeed, one of the most dra­ of the mere scholar, erudite though Thus, it should be most natural matic personifications of Daas Torah he might have been, into the "ever­ and far from surprtsing that the one in our time-the Chazon !sh ':nn­ flowing spring'' descrtbed later in the most engaged in Torah should have whose advice on medical, personal above passage in Avos. gained the wisdom required to navi­ and national matters was known to gate through the byways of this be almost miraculously unerrtng­ CONSTANTLY PREOCCUPIED world. Even more importantly, there had decided on his Bar Mitzva day to WITH TORAH are many ways of obtaining data and henceforth studyTorah solely lishma. 22 forming conclusions. But when the for its own sake • he idea that one should con­ source of that knowledge is in the By its very definition, Daas Torah stantly be preoccupied with ortginal design, it is that much closer emerges when Torah knowledge is T Torah study never withheld to the essence of truth itself. pursued lishma. The authortty that Torah leaders from being activists as The story is told of Rabbi Meir Simcha Hakohein of Dvinsk (the Ohr Same'achJ who was informed. during World War I that surrounding commu­ nities were hiding the bulk of their Sifrei Torah in a centralized place far behind the lines, deep in Russia, in For a short !1'"::1 v::111p H !') fear of the advancing German troops. time only! n•v1' N 1'n•1p Reb Meir Simcha refused to follow suit. Eventually, when the Bolsheviks buy any tape .1'J N 1''tl took over Russia, the Torah scrolls with any p17>n l"i' 1'111'l from the other cities were discovered in the storage house, and desiroyed. book ,)))7))11 for $!2 1'tl1j?NJ When asked how he knew what to do, 99 he replied, ''Learn Parshas Vayishlach ONLY iNn i•N and you, too, will understand. There, the Tb rah teaches us not to put all that is most precious to us together in one • THE !lN WORLD depository" {Bereishis 30:8-9). In our own day, Rabbi Moshe '!l'N Feinstein 'justified" his own halachic • u?vn ivi decision-making process and value • IN v'n "'V11 n1in ivi system in difficult areas by declaring: "My entire outlook stems solely from • ':i v'n "'vn n1in ivi Torah knowledge with no mixture of extraneous influences whatsoever."21 • 'l v;n "'vn n1in ivi Children Love It! Parents Love It! The ''TorahLishma" Factor Teachers Love It! f we search for a source that To­ AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL JEWISH BOOKSTORE rah study yields proficiency in For the time of rhis special offer, the series Will only be sold as a combinolion of any book With any tape. I seemingly disparate areas of knowledge, we need look no further nWl:Jl!J 1N) ll!:I PN '.:»:YU >"T 7"n l''"lN \:>!:>NI"\ than PirkeiAvos: '!1 ,'N "~ll" i"tn ill"t tl'liN "~lp l'l'tl i)l~ll jN) "One who involves himself in COMING IN FALL: THE MIDOS WORLD IN ENGLISH

The Jewish Observer, May 1992 19 well. It simply meant that no matter their moving about, speaking to what else one was doing, the mind people and involving themselves in was to be occupied by "thinking in apparently run-of-the-mill activities. leruning," where feasible. This teach­ At the same time, he would give them ing was transmitted to the family of a Torah problem to consider while Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk in they were performing their duties, :zbbi Chaim The Chafetz The Belzer an interesting pedagogic way. Reb which they needed to report on imme­ ioloveichik: Chaim Rebbe Chaim would assign his sons specific diately after their mission was com­ tasks to be carried out which required plete. In this way, Reb Chaim trained his children how to keep the mind constantly involved in Torah, no mat­ ter what else was happening around them. 23 DafYo.ml-'fractateYebamos Although much has been written about this absolute immersion in To­ Aclear arid concise commentary on Gt!tnoro, Rilshi and T<>safos fa;:::...;.--...,Jl rah study as the hallmark of the Daas "BIKKURE1 YEHUDA" ON YEBAMOS Torah personality. this immersion A learning J>Jeasutefor theoeginner and talmudist alike must be accompanied by an addi­ tional element: "... he. did not leave any hard part of the Gemoto, Rabbi Mordechal Gifter, Rosh Rashi.& Tosafos till he fully explained it." Hayeshiva ofTelshe, points out that RabbiMoshe Siem, Dl!breziner Rav Daas Torah ls measured not so much by the amount of knowledge gained Available in'. major bookstores or throug!Uhe lluth0r from Torah as by the on-going yearn­ RllbblYehuda Leichtag(718) :l87•2704 -:----=::~/ ing, striving and effort to uncover ever In Canada: (416) 782-1962 •In England: (01) .$06-7947 more of what he calls "the mystery of the Torah." That mystery, explains Rabbi GiJl:er, Is not Kabbala or eso­ teric wisdom, but the constant pro­ cess of uncovering and revealing more of what one has not yet under­ 24 AN ORPHANAGE CATI.ED GREYTOWERS. stood • In other words, a Daas Torah In THE SINISTER AGATHA GRIMSHAW. stagnation is not Daas Torah at all. It is not merely a function of accumu­ A PAIR OF PRECIOUS lated facts and figures or even once­ attained spiritual levels. It flows di­ SHABBOS rectly from perpetual renewal in the CANDLESTICKS . ... refreshing well ofTorah study. Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel Kanlevsky, the Stelpler Rav ?"lit, was once asked a When young Miriam Aronowitch is question which he deemed to require sent to the orphanage at 1 a Daas Torah perspective. "Go to Greytowers, she is robbed of all Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach vestiges of yiddishkeit N"~ ... he suggested, "for he learns Only her inner strength and much and can decide through the power of his Torah. Because of my devotion can save her-and the weakness, I can no longer learn more other Jewish girls held hostage at than a few hours a day and so can­ Greytowers. not decide this matter." He also sug­ Set in Victorian England, this rich gested going to Rabbi Elazar Shach. and moving novel for teens by Eva RoshHayeshivaofPonevezh, adding Vogiel and Ruth Steinberg, paints a similarly that "he learns much and 25 vivid portrait of a courageous girl's can decide this." Interestingly, the triumph over adversity. Chazonishsharplyrebuked someone 252 pp., H.C. $13.95 P.B. $10.95 for not hearkening to Daas Torah. re­ "'. Ava Hable at all JB\Vish books_tores: Or direct ftom: ferring to the Gedolim who have this V FELDllEIM PUBLISHERS Visa & -Maste:rCard-a_ccepted authority as rl717lcr.wmunrrnm~ l;j 200 Aitport Executive Park, Sprlng Valley, N.Y. 10977 Send fut your free copy "the sages of the Torah and those who I".J T.et {914) 356-2282/Toll 1re., 800-237-7149 of our 1992 catalog. engage in her study day and night. "26

20 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 ·----·--·-·-·------~ ~l(okein·~ Syrrilioli·Dfl)aas Wra:h /(rdliJff.~ttlogylor:R;ahbiChaifn 0Zf!Y .Gtodze:;skt~·fr bq]fabblYqfei(D()JJifa,leivlS.oloveit:/tik,13.qst()n·. ···11osh Y:~hiva; YeshivasRabbiYit~ch()kElc~o11on; (Prinledin f:!cipardeS,74:7, 194oJ

Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski With the advent of rapidly changing events, the concept that only a Torah interpretation of Kial Yisroef s destiny has validity, required a new lexicon and the re­ emphasis of an ancient tradition-how to define hashkafa questions, how to pose them and to whom, and how to heed the answers.

To understand what Daas Torah really is, to comprehend its singular process and outlook, one would need to live on that rarified spiritual plane. As Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, ':>"~. described It, speaking of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, "I can tell you with cer­ talntythat even given the little that we understood of their greatness and comprehend of their wisdom, their discernment and sagacity were ut­ terly astonishing. Their Intellects lit­ erally plumbed the depths of the un­ fathomable, and certainly people like us could not comprehend their sys­ tem of thinking and reasoning ."

The Jewish Observer, May 1992 21 THE TOTAL PERSONALITY

any people became highly The doctors said she had accomplished Torah schol­ M ars. but never were recog­ A ·.ti{h,i~ti/{f :ChedVh .2:if 11¢ffui!f~~~ nized as Gedolim. To achieve this dis­ ;,Chedm:rr?.f Shemiras tbut days .HA:.fushun~~ tinction, one must also be exceptional in his refinement of personality. Thus, it has been axiomatic through­ to live' ... out our history that each Torah leader, every Gadolworthyofthe title, was also worthy of having stories told SO CHEDVA ZILBERFARB about his exceptional personality and character traits. The twenty-four­ DECIDED SHE WOULD thousand disciples of Rabbi Akiva who died for a sin of interpersonal be­ CHANGE THE WORLD, havior " are the most eloquent testi­ mony to the irrevocable bond be­ AND SHE DID! tween Torah study and personal de­ portment. Their greatness in Torah A NARROW BRIDGE study per se is undisputed. But their failing in the realm of personality per­ IS HER TRUE STORY. fection left them unfit to transmit To­ rah to the following generation and to READ IT ONCE. be considered leaders of Israel. As Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe 29 points out, REMEMBER IT ALWAYS. 248 pp., H.C. $16.95 P.B. $13.95 G-d's own trait of "greatness" is de­ fined by the midah of goodness: :Available at all Jewish'books.tOfes.. or direct from!' -p·n.nTTr.l 11 1'71lr1N, and therefore one FEJJDHEIM PUBLISHERS Visa & MasterCard.accepted cannot achieve the status of a Gadol 200 Airport E-xetutive·P&rk1·Spnng·Valiey, N.• Y. 10977 Send for. yoUr. free copy Te1(914)356.ZZ82/Tollf

We need your help to ensure p~oper delivery of the /0 to your home. Please he vast Torah knowledge and attach current mailing label in the space below, or print clearly your address exemplary character and con­ and computer processing numbers that are printed above your name on the T duct of the true Torah leader address label. must be built on the foundation of yiras Shamayim, which is so much a ADDRESS CHANGE FORM (Affix label here) part of him that it radiates from his mere presence. Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe"" illustrates that fear of G-d is the me­ dium through which the Torah be­ comes part of a person, to rearrange the molecules of a soul, to create a utensil for pouring out G-d's wisdom Name ______and teachings. Thus, the leitmotif of Torah leaders has always been "Sod Address------­ Hashem liyerei' av-The secret of G-d City, State, Zip------­ isforthosewhofearHlm. and His cov­ enant is to let them know," the process Date Effective------by which the complete Torah person­ Please allow 6-8 weeks ford!! changes to be reflected on your mailing label.\\/£ \'\/!LL NOT BE ality becomes the source for advice, RESPONSIBLE FOR BACK ISSUES MISSED unless you notify us B weeks prior to your move inspiration and direction. 31

22 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 ACHRAYUS: THE SENSE OF THE COMMUNITY OF RESPONSIBILlTY PROPHETS--THE FEU.OWSHIP OFGEDOLIM hen describing the Chofetz Chaim. Rabbi Chaim Ozer nother way to know the W Grodzenski and Rabbi sources of Daas Torah is even Chaim Soloveichik in their delibera­ A more simple, yet at times elu­ Rabbi Avrohom The Ohr Rabbi tions, Rabbi Dessler alerts us to an­ sive. The model for all revealed and Mordechai Alter Same'ach Aaron Kot/I; Gerer Rebbe other criterion which is distinct from intuitive Torah knowledge is proph­ the intellectual and even the spiri­ esy. To be sure, we are no longer privi­ an opinion that a prophet who does tual loftiness we associate with leged to experience it, yet the pro­ not reveal his prophesy receives Gedolim. "It was awe-inspiring to phetic phenomenon can teach us mfllkos Oashes). "But who is there to witness," he relates, "the profound much about the giants to whom we warn him?" asks the Gemora. The sense ofresponsibility that was writ­ should tum today. The Gemora cites answer. says Abaye, is "his fellow ten on their faces. As they went about their discussions with the ut­ most gravity, it was obvious that the Shechina rested in their work. In­ deed. whoever was not fortunate enough to see their response to achrayus has never truly seen this magnificent trait." 32 Thus another tool, delicate though

it surely is, for detecting the true voice A Summer Camp experience~ for "frum" girls ages 11-17 at the magnificent Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim. of Daas Torah is the sense that here D'vora Zelman has joined a world renowed resort, in Israel to bring you the best in is a person who thinks, speaks and an Israel Camping and Touring experience acts for the good of Klnl Yisroel No For information and application, please call D'1.10ra. 623 Cortelyou Road • Brooklyn, New York 11218 • Phone: 718·282-6350 • Fax:# 718-282-8913 ego, no wish or need for publicity, cer­ .______Business Manager: Rabbi Y. Yaan' ______...... tainly no narcissistic self-promotion. Using this standard on a practical basis brings to mind the Kotzker Rebbe's pithy answer to an apposite tllb!I• 11!)'01.) question. The Rebbewas asked: Our 'With DlAGRA!'v.!S :'n'~n ~f ''~')) sages teach regarding the verse. "For tl'i,!Ul:i i,l1 l:l1'1tllll3 tll''llllll'I the lips of the Kohein preserve wis­ 7ll '111"1>:11 ,~'l>Nbnl '"\111 ':1111. .. dom and Torah should be sought 11.NinJ::Y ':Ill n~mi 1!lt>J::Y 0>;111tln from his mouth" (Malachi 2.4): If the )ll'lltl Jl 'l!li1 Rav may be likened to a heavenly an­ ':lf•lll il'Z>Nbt)n ll'l>?N '1 gel, seek Torah from his mouth: if he :>"lll il'kl-l:i'vll/1>:111 i't.i;n is not, do not.33 '1!1tl. '1l:IMl3~ ·· l"IJ3"!y:t 11Nb ·. Asked a Kotzker Chassid, "But ,in\!I!> no '::iir .ni,n~ Rebbe, I have never seen an angel, so 11:i:il> 1y111 ti\l>h i1:i>n:i •nnns1 how can I know if the Rav is similar 1N1J' Jllr.i; nllll'Tvn 1mm1 •n to one?" Said the Rebbecrisply, "You i1pbn ll!J1n>1 nNi n::i1:1r.i:i b.~ns. may not be able to recogniZe an angel tl>l"I 1NJ1r.i>1 o»n o•r.m when you see one, but you will surely .oml!llll!:> know who is not an angel." lL x 8"112 D>11!l)l 224 !>>:>):) i!l1'n It may be difficult to measure the l:>JIN $13. i!ltlh.. i>nl:l level of someone else's absolute devo­ o>i!lt:> >1:»b tion to Am Yisroel But often in our histoiy we are granted opportunities to witness one person's absolute self­ lessness in attending to the needs of Oavid:Sputt~:_61t·Bedf,ohi AVe~ Klal Yisroel. while someone else is Btookl)'t>, N,Y. 11:1.11 clearly fulfilling his own personal agenda. Despite the latter's brilliance, f?i'Whotes ..rue: Aii'SJi.tdaicir Treasure, oratoiy or influence, the sense of the ·4514 N:ew Utt,«ht;Ave;.'Bt~kJyn, f:J:Y, 11219 nation is almost always that the T<>l. !118) '438-5:!00 former emerges as the repository of out-of state toD·fiee: i..S00:3S9~5s78 Daas Torah of his generation.

The Jewish Observer, May 1992 23 prophets." Still. persists the Gemora, Prophesy, sadly to say. is no longer Creator's gifts to us that in every gen­ how do they know? Answers Abaye. with us, so there is no reason for any­ eration, there is a sense of transmis­ "G-d does not do somethlng unless he one to be able to recognize a prophet. sion, where the sages symbolically lay reveals the secret to his seivants, the But the Gedolim do know and recog­ their hands upon the leaders of the prophets." 34 nize each other. It is one of the next era. Once. whentheChofetzChaimand the Chazon !sh were in the home of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski. the n111l '):>)n~? 1)')~o Chafetz Chaim turned to the young Chazon !sh and directed him to begin :l"l\!Jl1 :tN/'l~l1-0')?\!J11') "asswning the burden ofleading Kial 35 Yisrael • " ... In 5668 (1908), when TORAH EDUCATORS INSMUTE Rabbi Aharon Kotler was sixteen Registration is now open for .fue summer program of 5752 which Will be held IYH in years old, he met the great Gaon, Yertlsholayim. Once again, the program which has been recommended and endorsed by Gedolei RabbiMeirSimchaofDvinSk?"lll, the Yisroel, Will •present an intensive course of study,· prepared for Bnei Torah to enable fuem authoroftheOhrSame'ach, who was to develop fueir full potential as Mechanchim in Yeshivos and Day Schools. visiting Kovno. After speaking with the Our dedicated staff of Roshei Yeshiva, professional Rabbeim, and prominent Mechanchim, yowig scholar. the Ohr Same'ach de­ .will present the full range of subjects vital. to the success of .fue rebbe in the classroom. clared, "He wilt be the Rabbi Akiva 36 We invite motivated individuals possessing higher Yeshiva and (or) Koll el education, to participate Eiger ofhis generation_" in this program. This scenario is repeated countless Scholarships Are Available times in our history, each time seiv­ ing a dual purpose. It is the most fool­ Recognized for a Yeshiva Teacher's License proof method for Kial Yisrael to obtain For furfuer information contact the correct address for Daas Torah, RABBLH!LLEL MANDEL, .Dean RABBI NACHMAN ZAKON, Administrator and it also seives the continuum of NY (718) 8()5-1191 Jerusalem 02-518-826 Jewish history with that formal link of the Mesora process. Ever since Sinai, continuity has been the watchword of the Torah leadership process. When explaining Dilauryl Thiodiproprionate. the relationship of the Gaonim to their predecessors, the Rishonim write, It may be in your food, but "... for they sat in the Yeshiva of Rav Ashi and in his synagogue they is it kosher? prayed.''37 Just being in the Yeshiva of the Amoraim, praying in the same In IS IT KOSHER? by Rabbi halls where the rabbis of the Talmud Eliezer Eidlitz, the complex flourtshed, gave the Gaonim a mea­ world of modern food sure of their Torah authority. Torah scholars who sat for decades at the technology iS ~din terms that every ko'mier feet and in the yeshivas of the consumer can understand. Gedolim of the previous era have al­ ways had priority in being considered Chapters include: Basic the Daas Torah of the new generation. concepts. Kosher symbols and As Rabbeinu Yonah wrttes, "This is superviSion. Laws of kosher the process which is described in the meat. Dairy foods. Passover. beginning of PirkeiAvos... and contin­ Bakeries. Beverages. Products, ues unbroken until this very day." ingredients, and procedures relating to kashruth. Checking TORAH AUTHORITY for insects. And much more. IN EVERY GENERATION

IS IT KOSHER? iS a vitaJ ne point. constantly raised by reference book for every those who do not wish to 2os pp., H.c. n2.ss JeW1Bh home. 0 submit to any Daas Torah authortty, Is that we no longer have 6 itilit.'D:,n:ru~u:s VJsa&M-~~ established bodies of rabbinic au­ If\ 200 Airport; ExeolltiV!'l Park, Spring Valley, N.Y.10977 Bond for yoonree oopy thority, such as the Great Sanhedrin, t'.i Tel (914) 366-2282/Tollfree: 800-237-7149 of our 1992 ca.ta.log. which can impose their will on the

24 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 nation as a whole. Here, too, a mis­ the partition of Palestine. Rabbi take has been made concerning the Elchonon Wasserman and Rabbi source ofTorah authority. The fact is Aaron Kotler opposed endorsing the that. although we pray thrice daily for Peel Commission's plan for partition, the return of the great formal systems while the Gerrer Rebbe, the Imrei of jurisprudence, nevertheless, the Emes, felt that since, in his opinion, jurisdiction of Daas Torah continues partition was inevitable, it should be Rabbi Elchonon Rabbi Reuvain The unabated throughout the ages. accepted; all that could be done to Wassennan Grozovsky ChazonJs, Rabbi Moses Feinstein, in a major enhance the religious quality of the address delivered at a convention of the Agudas Harabbanim and later 38 published in a Torah journal , de­ clared that the poskim and Daas To­ rah representatives of every genera­ PINCHAS MANDEL tion "have the same decision-making Over 40 Years Experience in Kvura in Eretz Yisrael power in regard to psak and takanns •Dedicated to Kavod Haniftar with personal (halachic decisions and ordinances) responsibility throughout service as the Great Beis Din that sat in the •Highly recommended by Gedolai Hador Ushkas Hagazis." -Here and in Eretz Yisrael- WHEN GIANTS DISAGREE 1569 - 47th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11219 Day & Night Phone (718) 851-8925 an there be a disagreement Honesty - Integrity - Reliability among Gedolim, each of c:l-!ESED '-ilif:L f:MFS ,i~ undprqood and practiced by one anive in the mdu~try more than half a century. Cwhom would individually be Taharas Haniftar Should Never Be Commercialized considered Daas Torah? One can say with certainty that the concept "these and those are the word of the Living G-d" applies to all disagreements between Torah giants, for that is an integral part of the To­ w~~Jir.••:1t••·J.J.l\'.Z~1-t£Jr~;rqq~ rah transmission through the ages. Jtsouf)Otbanniv~rsa1:Y:year;.t.elel:>ratingadecad.· e.····o·f···<:le· tn .•.. 1:1¢11./.·.·. '.·. The Ritva, one of the major Talmud­ interest"fteeloansin~e~Yi$t()elto~ < ·. · .·.·•· ical commentators among the Rishonim, explains, "When Moshe ·~·'#·•··· ~"'!!~. "l'f·~r~! ·41«.•···'··.•.... ~.·.~.f!~ti~ went up to receive the Torah, he was ji?,aifl'C•·~ ~t.74 '74&<¥#flJ'f!~Je-.'l shown 49 approaches to forbid and Nine vqturit~~taffE1cf bt<1i)chesflltrl fours~(l~ott int~ f~~ol~irlg 49 approaches to permit each ques­ toe1ns,per~tu<1l·aid,. V(i~h ~igni~)"·t(j·l!IJ)en~Iess nurribl:lr of tile•·. ·•· .. ·· tionable issue. When he asked G-d popr,.but pl"()utl and.Uie<:rf$i:s-sttitken. about this, he was told that it would '• .· .. : / '".·;' ...... ·...... •' '" ,..., ..... , J, '" ' be up to the sages of each generation to make a determination as to which Y911rSt1ppol'~ 15A\!lil~9ii>~~ib1~J · of these heavenly-validated methods to apply."39 Hof<:ivClt~i~P.Sc11Mn~~r~;····· \2•i•··. > ;\ It is therefore not surprising to dis­ H~t1<>nitr~JJ>sid.(!fl.t.•••···· ·.. •.• ... · >· :...•. •.• cover disagreement on many issues ~ ffof av lyl• GJfte~ . .•••·~· Jlo.(ca y~,f~l!l >;~•·. lfif'J~'fl¥..:/ro~~~1?1~1ti among sages of equally great stand­ • fforav D•Singer ··.-: ! ing. But. of course, one does not al­ lf.ol'flV.if!:~te~ri, ... Hqrav~.\l(~fn.l;tJ.tS" •~HaraV;Ovdlt;iia Y"QSf!l• · ·· · · ways have the luxury to say, 'You're both right," since quite often one must take a stand or follow a specific path. Here a practice has been sanctified by time, rooted in basic halacha itself, and taught by our Gedolimeven when it meant submitting to an opinion they themselves did not espouse. During the Third Knessia Gedolah in Marienbad, in 1937, the Moetzes GedoleiHaTorahdebated the issue of

The Jewish Observer. May J 992 25 was well known that BEYOND PERSONAL he took the same po­ INVOLVEMENT sition as Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman ith all this in mind, the and Rabbi Aaron query arises: Why is there Kotler. When the W such antagonism to Daas Moetzes voted, the Torah? If it is actually so obvious as Brisker Rav's silence to who the purveyors of Daas Torah surprised his chil­ are, and even how to resolve conflict­ dren. They asked him ing opinions, why doesn't everyone about this, and he see it? Again, we turn to that embodi­ taught them a lesson ment of Daas Torah, the Chazon Isrc Members of the American Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah at a which is actually for ... There is another spiritual malady National Convention ofAgudath Israel ojAmerica (l. to r.}: all time. which the Evil Inclination has con­ Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, "The Moetzos cocted to sway peoplefrom C'r.01'1l"ll1l:lN Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Baruch Sorotzkin, ?~r. Gedolei HaTorah is (trust in Torahscholars), and that is the the Bets Din of Kial canard that they are not ocyective.41 future state should be done. Yisrael. Once the body has spoken, The Chazon Ish goes on to ex­ Eventually. when the prospect of 'Hashem imo-G-d Is with it.' After plain that the true Torah scholar's partition became an immediate issue, G-d gives His consent to the Beis judgment (Daas Torah) will not be the Moetzes voted formally not to op­ Din's decision, no individual has the clouded by personal involvement. pose the emerging state, in effect fol­ right to voice any contrary senti­ The fact that a judge who is a rela­ lowing the position of the Gerrer ment." The Brisker Rav then brought tive or is personally involved cannot Rebbe. an original proof to his words from serve on a Bets Din is a clwk, a stat­ The Brisker Rav, Rabbi Yitzchak Tanach, shOwing that when Daas To­ ute that supersedes reason and 'Zev Soloveichik, was not a member of rah is in conflict, one must follow the logic. Imagine, says the Chazonish, the Moetzes and had not participated majority if it has ruled in a body such a poor talmid chacham who owns in it deliberations. Nevertheless, it as the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.40 but one cow, and his entire liveli­ hood is dependent upon her. Yet, if he must judge whether she was slaughtered properly or not, he is permitted to do so. Only In a Beis Din situation, with two litigants, is there a gezeiras hakasuv (Scrip­ tural decree) that invalidates him, but this has nothing to do with his ability to remain Impartial under all circumstances. 2 ENDORSED·BY LEAJ)ING RABBON1M RosHEI YESHlVA The Chofetz Chaim ' • too, speaks & of the yeitzer hards special efforts to convince us that the Gedolim are no Sumutatirtg LirnudeiKodesh prograrnclirectedtoward acqtliring longer great enough to be listened to or that we simply don't know who practical skills,lifelbng interest in Torah, and Nurturing exdt~ they are. The Evil Inclination's prodi­ tnent and. "G

26 171e Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 FOOTNOTES: 1683), quoted in EncyclopediaJudatca.. vol. 5,, p. proved to be a timely defense of Daas Torah and 1004. the need to recognize its authority in all ages. 18 See Chofetz Chaim on Torah {ed. by Rabbi 39 Chidd.ushei HaRitva to Eruvin 13b. See also, 1 RoshHashana.25b; see TorahTemtmato Devartm Greineman), p. 30: Ohr Elchanan. vol. 2, p. 97~98; Maharsha to Yevamos 12a, Derashos HaRan, 5 17,9. Rabbi Elchonon Wassennan, Kovetz Maamarim. and 12 and Maharshal, introduction to Yam Shel 2 Chulin90b pp. 102:24, 140: and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Shlomo. 3 Rambam-Moreh Nevuchim. p. 209; Responsa Grodzenski, CollectedLetters, vol. 1, p. 291; etc. 40 Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, The Jewish Ob~ Rashba. (attributed to Ramban 2:33, 3:25. ' 9 Zohar, Teruma l6Ia: see, also, beginning of server, December, 1981, p.30. 4 See Introduction of Netziv to Haamek Davar to Bereishis Rabba 41 Ch07..onishalEmuna Ubftachon, 3,30. See, also. Shemos. 20 See Shabbos 88b-89a the explanation of these words in Pac had Yitzchak s Dr. Gershon Bacon, ~ Daas Torah V'chevlei 2 1 Igros Moshe, EvenHa'ezer, vol. 2, no. Il See also, on Shavuos, Maamar44.6. Moshinch," Tarbitz, #52, 1983.I am indebted to the statement by the Chafetz Chaim in footnote 7 42 Chafetz Chaim. Hilchos Issurei.LashonHara, 8,4. Rabbi Moshe Kolodny, Director of the Agudath Is~ above. rael Archives, for providing me with this source. 22 SeePe'erHador,vol.1.p. 165. This article ls dedicated to the memory of: 6 Lawrence Kaplan. in Tradition, Fall, 1980, page z.1 Rabbi ShlomoWolbe, AleiShur, vol. 1, p. 235 Tl'O ':iiP!ll, ?"r ~ li'Oil'!Pi'~PV" P 'mir.w., 'r1lr.l 'llN 248, notes. 24 Rabbi Mordechai Giller, Torah Perspectives, p. 7 Bacon. page 502, note 26. 20. -YAAKOVF'EITMAN 8 Kaplan, ibid. 25 Rabbi HoroWitz. Orchos Rabbeinu. p. 213. 9 See, for instance, the Hebrew version of the 2(iPe'erHador, vol. 5. p. 53. speeches ofMoreinu Reh Yaakov Rosehelm, vol. I, 27 MichtcwM'Eliyahu. vol. 1, p. 75 p. I 05, where as noted by Bacon, the Hebrew term 2sSee Yevamos 62b ;rnnmnis used. 29 A lei Shur, vol. 2. p. 62. Jo See Aaron Sorasky, OhrE!chanan. vol. 2, p.94. 30 ibid. p. 490. )! ShirHashirimRabba 1,63. 31 2 See TehUUm 25,14 and commentaries. For a l For a halachic explanation of this concept. see study of this concept, see Rabbi Nisson Wolpin's Margoliyos Ha'Ywn to Sanhedrin 82a, No.29 and intm1uctlon to The Torah Profile. TzqfnasPa'ane'achtoShemos 19, 19and 25.10. 32 Michtav M'Eliyahu, vol. 1, p. 75 13 Introduction to Mishneh Torah 3 -~MoedKattan 17a 14 Josephus, Antiquities. XII, 10,5. 34 Sanhedrin 90b is EncyclopediaJudaica, "Gaonirn," page 322. :is Rabbi Y Diskin of Pardes Chanah. quoted by 16 There were actually two separate bodies, the z Rabbi A. Wolf, Rabboseinu, p.100. Vaad Aarba Amtzos. which controlled the affairs :IB Marbitzel Torah Umussar, vol.3, p. 220. of Polish Jewry, and the VaadMedtnasUta, which 37 See Ramban. fiMUchamos," end of Rosh Has~ was the sister organization for the Lithuanian Rosh to RoshHashana4:I3: Mahruit., Yoreh De'ah grand duchy, which was associated With the Pol­ 11. ish Crown. 3ll Hapardes Anthology, 1939. Rav Moshe's words 17 Rabbi Nathan Nata Hannover (passed away in

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The Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 27 Rabbi Nasson Scherman

SPOKESMAN IN THE ~LS OF GoVERNMENT 'J .udath Israel's Evolving Public Role in Shtadlonus and Advocacy

gudath Israel's plaiform. es­ years ago. It wasn't a founding and it progress of the organization in the tablished by its founding wasn't an organization. It was noth­ 20's and 30's would be brief but not A fathers 80 years ago in ing more than a group of young men disheartening. Its mere existence Kattowitz, has always remained un­ on the Lower East Side - working was an act of defiance against the changed: "to solve all problems of the men with families - who decided that laws of survival in the New World. individual and society in accordoftce the best way for them to escape the And it not only survived, it grew. with the Torah." But circumstances golden melting pot was to join in the More branches were formed. Youth change and with them. the challenges evenings for Torah study under the groups were started. They drew in­ weface as Jews. And so must the tac­ banner of an organization that was spiration and direction when the tics we employ. Perhaps nowhere in still trying to pull itself together in great rabbinic leaders of Europe vis­ the 70 year history ofAgudath Israel post-war Europe. Undoubtedly there ited the United States in support of ofAmerica has this tactical shift been were other such groups. What made their struggling institutions ... fulfill­ more pronounced than in the areafor this one unique was its choice of ing their mandate in their way. which Agudah has always been rec­ Agudath Israel as its role model and Shtadlonus was not even on the ognized: shtadlonus, effective advo­ parent. agenda. But changes were on the ho­ cacy on behalfof Jewish people, Jew­ In an environment that was osten­ rizon. ish interests, Jewish values. sibly Jewish but spiritually anemic, American Jewry at that time had that group of young men on the East its own leaders and spokesmen to VALIANT BEGINNINGS Side was convinced that smvival for represent its needs, but their ranks themselves and their families de­ did not include Orthodox Jews. Or­ ven a skilled public relations pended on allegiance not only to the thodoxy in general was considered man could not have made a Torah itself, but also to the people the weak sister of American Jewry­ E story of the founding of who embodied its ideals. Thus was not in numbers, but in influence. Agudath Israel in America seventy born the Agudath Israel of America. There were great rabbis in the United Technically, it was not even an States in those days, men with Shas Rabbi Nosson Scherman, noted author and lec­ Agudah-it was a ZeireiAgudath Is­ and Shulchan Aruch at their finger­ turer, is general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publi­ rael, a youth organization - actually tips, but very few of them had chil­ cations, edits Olomeinu (forah U'Mesorah's maga­ a forerunner of the American parent dren who followed their example. Zine for children). and senres on the Editorial Board of The Jewish Observer. He spent many years in ye­ organization. A tour through the Their sons became experts and au­ shiva education as both a Rebbe and a principal. Agudah Archives to chart the thors of texts and treatises in canst!-

28 The Jewish Observer, May 1992

(

P·U·B·L·· New 10rk · L,

} i·H·E·R·S m ·Jerusalefll_,

Committee of Z.eirei Agudath Israel ofAmerica, 1927. Seated (left to right) Nathan Horowitz, Charles Fogel, Fishel Eichenthal, Hirschel Berliner; standing (left to right): Joseph Fogel, Abba Gleicher, Joseph Weinrib. tutional law, but not Talmudic law. Orthodox young people - following if they had the temerity to espouse Jewish doctors and lawyers were le­ the guidance ofsuch rabbinic leaders causes of their own, which they trted gion and legend, but mothers who as the newly-arrtved Rabbi Aharon to avoid - they sought to gain sent their children to yeshivas were Kotler, Rabbi Reuvain Grozovsky and crumbs of frtendship and support taunted by their well-meaning Rabbi Avrohom Kalmanowitz, Cl1"Cl from the non-Orthodox. fiiends, "You want to make from him ~?-persisted in sending pack­ The Zeirei Agudath Israel activists a rabbi?" As for Agudath Israel. it was ages. The Jewish establishment ful­ couldn't care less. Their agenda was toojrum, too old-fashioned, too "anti­ minated. There were angry articles to save lives, and they would achieve Zionist." It had no role to play outside and editortals in the Yiddish press, their goals by unorthodox means if the ghettos of the Lower East Side and Agudath Israel offices were pick­ need be. They did not play by the and Brooklyn. eted by Jews. The mood was ex­ rules when they scrambled frantically pressed by Dr. Joseph Tanenbaum, for "newly-discovered" relatives to UPTOWN OUTRAGE AT head of the Joint Jewish Boycott sponsor refugees fleeing from the Eu­ DOWNTOWN MOXIE Committee, who descrtbed Agudath ropean inferno, for shelter in Israel as a "sickly weed" transplanted America. Young activists like Irving t is not surprtsing, therefore, that in the free soil of Amertca from back­ Bunim and Elimelech Tress, and the the Jewish establishment reacted ward Eastern Europe. Rabbonim who guided and inspired I with outrage in 1941 when the The accepted spokesmen for the them, did not pursue conventional young activists of Zeirei Agudath Is­ Jewish community were not the rab­ means to achieve their hatzala rael, galvanized by the unforgettable bis and not the observant. The Jew­ agenda. For example, they incurred Reb Elimelech Tress at their helm, ish "pope," as he was often descrtbed the rage of the elite by working with persisted in sending food packages to by non-Jews seeking a familiar the anti-establishment "Bergson the Polish ghettoes in the face ofBrtt­ simile, was Stephen Wise, an attrac­ Boys" and by establishing their own ish and Amertcan calls for a boycott tive, well-connected, eloquent New contacts within the administration. ofGerman-occupied terrttmy. Typical York Reform rabbi. Wise was the But - whether by subterfuge or side of their attitude whenever negligible president of a long list of Jewish or­ doors - they pursued their goals. assistance was proposed for starving ganizations and a power in New York And Jews were saved. and dying Jews, the Allies argued politics. And Stephen Wise was a per­ that the Germans might confiscate sonal friend of Roosevelt, as governor THE "WISE" REACTION such morsels to feed millions of of New York and, later, as President. TO THE CALL FOR HELP troops, Red Cross receipts to the con­ The other representatives of our trary notwithstanding. And super­ people, too, were Reform, secular, stark example of the Jewish patriotic secular Jews speedily acqui­ and assimilated Jews. Generally, Or­ establishment's self-con­ esced, lest they be accused of dual thodox Jews did not plead their cases A scious weakness came during loyalty; only the relative handful of directly with government. Instead - those very years. On August 18,

The Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 29 1942, Gerhard Riegner, the represen­ tative of the World Jewish Congress It is not surprising that the Jewish establishment in Geneva, sent his famous cable to Wise and to Sidney Silverman, a reacted with outrage in 1941 when the young leader ofBiitish Jewiy and a member of Parliament. In it, Riegner revealed activists of Agudath Israel persisted in sending food for the first time that there was a plan to exterminate millions of Jews with packages to the Polish ghettoes in the face of British poison gas. Hoping to keep a lid on the stoiy, the State Department did and American calls for a boycott of German­ not send the cable to Wise, but Silverman did. It reached Wise on occupied territory. August 28, but not until September 2 did he forward It to Sumner Welles, the Under Secretaiy of State. Welles strenuously insisted that the news be truth be known. It was not until No­ asked Wise to keep it secret until the kept secret until Sumner Welles au­ vember 24 that the State Department State Department could verify its con­ thoiized its release. The State Depart­ authoiized Wise to make the news tents - and Wise agreed. ment questioned the accuracy of the public, more than three months after On September 3, Moreinu Yaakov cable - even though, as histoiians Riegner sent his cable. Rosenheim, President of the World have proven, it knew most if not all of Those that thought they needed Agudath Israel, received similar, but the truth. Wise added, as he did over the Wises to speak for them, had more detailed information from and over again at similar junctures waited. And if Wise was mute, they Yitzchok and Recha Sternbuch. He throughout the war, that the Jewish were effectively powerless. immediately came to Wise, and community should not embarrass Its fought unrelentingly for the urgent good fiiend, the President. He earned THE CONTINUINGLY intervention of Jewish leadership to the day. EVOLVING ROLE seek the help of the Administration So Jews in Europe were gassed and alarm the media and Jewish and their cousins in America were at incident with its tragic public. Wise agreed to inform a cho­ uninformed, until the team of Welles mplications illuminates the sen group of Jewish leaders, but and Wise were ready to let the ghastly Tiifference between the public

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30 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 and governmental perception of the tions? (2) If so, do the interests of the Jewish community then and now. Orthodox community require that Then Orthodox leaders, imbued with they take a position and fight for it? mesiras nejesh, surprised the holders (3) Even if there is no direct impact on of governmental power with their per­ Orthodox interests, or no realistic sistence and passion, and dismayed chance that Orthodox advocacy will LECTtJRE SERIES the establishment with their results. change public policy, does k'vod ·oNTAPE But their brand of shtadlonus, by un­ Shamayim nonetheless require that fortunate necessity, had to be prac­ the Torah View on an issue be made ticed outside the established coni­ known? dors of political and communal Most of the time, these consider­ power. ations overlap, and it is not the pur­ Today, while it is still true that a pose of this article to analyze a long ··~ great deal of shtadlonus activity is list of issues in terms ofwhich of them Series #3: How to .Get the Biggest • done through unofficial channels, apply and how. However, positions Beng for My TZJ1l/aka Buck Orthodoxy does have the ability to and actiVities regarding various ma­ CJ 7 Tape Set/9 Lectures - $35.00 enter by way of the front door where jor issues in recent decades illustrate ti t. Why S_hOuld I Giye appropriate. It has gained the respect the sea change in Jewish life in By Moshe Kaise.r CJ ..:!, How MuchSnouldf Give and attention of major figures in the America, as represented by Agudath . . ByRabbi Chaim Twersky government, establishment organiza­ Israel's spokesmanship for Torah t:i 3. Wha!Qoafrfies? Whal tions and the media. Tilis is due to the causes, based on the above criteria. -Doesn1t? revitalization of American Orthodoxy .. By'l'labbi Baruch Hirschfeld - thanks to the influx of European REUGIOUS EDUCATION O 4. ls _If Ever Appropr"rate Not To Give? . . . . Jews and the maturing of the Ye­ ByRabbi Moshe Tuvia Ueff shiva-trained populace - and in no he Jewish establishment's CJ 5.Yissac:ner • Zevutun small measure the result of the knee-jerk reaction to educa­ By Rabbi Shau/Kagan growth ofAgudath Israel and the acu­ tional policy in this country 0 6. Wilfs & Bequests T Ey Rabbi YaakovFeitman men of its leadership, as well as the has always been that any suggestion o 1. How is My Tzedaka Buck involvement of other Orthodox that the state might abet religious Being Spent? groups and individuals. schools, or permit the teaching or ByRabbi Moshe Einstadter even the expression of religious val­ CJ 8. What Qualifies? What THE CRITERIA FOR ues in public schools, is a dire threat Doesn't? ByRabbi_Reaven·Drucker CHOOSING ISSUES to the Republic. Organizations like O 9. ToWhom Should I Give the American Jewish Congress, the What? hen a movement such as American Jewish Committee, the By Rabbi Shmuel Irons Agudath Israel becomes in B'nai Brith, the United Synagogue of Series #6_: . Torah Views on Women W valved in a large array of America (Conservative), and the o 4 Tape Set • $24.00 actiVities, it puts its ideology at risk. Union of American Hebrew Congre­ By Rabbi Yaakov Feitman The spotlight focuses on getting gations (Reform) have devoted enor­ Serles #7: ..Dlkdllk • How To Say things done, and ideology simply as­ mous resources over many years in Sh'ma D.1t"J"ape Sel-$50.00 sumes wallflower status in the more leading the battle against various By Rabbi Meir Zanltzky glamorous company of headline­ forms of public support for students fJ Serles #8: Shmoneht!isray: In- grabbing achievements. Moreover, an in religious schools-including pro­ Depth Study agenda of accomplishments can al­ grams entirely secular in content, 40 Tapes• $200.00 low pragmatism to compromise ideo­ such as remedial math and speech By Rabbi Zet Leff logical purity, especially in results­ therapy for educationally handi­ Ser/es #10: H//chos Nlddah for oriented Western societies. For these capped children, and loans of secu­ Mlrn ·-Refresher Course reasons, Agudath Israel's complete lar textbooks and other educational o 3 Tape Set· $18.00 reliance on its rabbinical leadership materials to religious school stu­ By Rabbi Yaakov f'eltman to determine its overall goals, and to dents. This Writer has seen first-hand Sanes #11: Dftla Cle'MalchllsliDina approve of its day-to-day methods of how book after book has been re­ Torah.View of American Law !'.l 11 Tapes - $30.00 pursuit of these goals, is truly crucial. moved from, or been rejected for in­ By Rabbi Yaakov Feltman The Moetzes GedoleiHaTorah and clusion in, New York State's approved the Nesius of Agudath Israel of textbook list because of innocuous Check boxes of tapes ordered America are guided by three consid­ references to the existence of a deity Send payment lo: erations when issues of public policy or to basic religious beliefs. There is Agudath Israel of Cleveland arise: (1) Does Torah Judaism have a no question that the Jewish P.O. Box 504, Wyckliffe, Ohio 44092 position that is either not expressed establishmenfs crusade against pub­ Postage and Handling included. by or contrary to the public policies lic support for religion has had a great S{ionsorod-by Presque Isle Otthopedie Lab of the mainstream Jewish organiza- hand in this sorry state of affairs.

7he Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 31 1>· ~117:~~~zw,~~""~,•~A1.·•~~t·- tHE-:-;sew_-,-:-Yo~K ,'tfI~tES,;::-r}lL'RSD,AY:_:A1~J~llC:t:"J -\30,,: -_1_961~:

The first breach in thewallof"Jew­ ish" dogmatism in this regard came in March 29, 1961, when Rabbi Moshe Sherer testified before the House of Representatives on Presi­ dent Kennedy's landmark education bill. That bill made certain services available to individual children even if they happened to attend religious schools - and the scandal of an Or­ thodox rabbi presuming to speak for Jews was such a "man-bites-dog" story that 111e New York Times gave it even more front-page space than it had given in 1942 to the confinnation that at least two million Jews had al­ ready been murdered. Rabbi Sherer's testimony was in support of an Ad­ ministration initiative that eventually became Jaw, a success that helped Agudath Israel solidify its new claim to credibility.

The Precedent Continues

hat precedent has continued for nearly thirty years. Re­ T cently, Chaim David Zwiebel, counsel to Agudath Israel, was one of only four witnesses to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing about President His novels enrich us. His Haggadah Bush's "America 2000" plan, which, inspires us. Now among other things, calls for pro­ grams of "educational choice" - Le., marvel at his publicly funded vouchers that could be used even at private religious commentary to schools. Equally impressive is the identity of his three fellow witnesses: Pirkei Avoth. Lamar Alexander, the Secretary of Education; Albert Shanker, president Begun by Rabbi Marcus of the American Federation ofTeach­ Lehmann and completed by ers; and Dr. Theodore Seizer, of Eliezer Prins, here is a compre­ Brown University, a nationally recog­ hensive, deeply satisfying nized leader of the educational reform commentary on Avoth. It movement. Clearly, Agudath Israel contains a wealth of Talmudic has become a major factor on the na­ and Rabbinic wisdom, historical tional educational policy scene; no­ insight, lively discussions, body makes the mistake any longer of and practical guidance for characterizing the American Jewish everyday living. community as being monolithically opposed to public programs of sup­ A truly monumental work. to port for children in religious schools. turn and return to, year after year. Similarly, in 1990, Agudath Israel Includes the complete text of was a major actor in a significant gain for Orthodox parents and institu­ Avoth in Hebrew and English translation. 496 pp., H.C. $19.95 P.H. $15.95 tions. The issue of child care had Available at al] Jewish bookstores or direct from: swept the country - in part because 6 FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS Visa & MasterCard-accepted ofa spate of well-publicized cases in­ 200 Airport Executive Park. Spring Valley, N.Y. 10977 Send for your free copy volving real and alleged child abuse, ffi Tel. (914) 356-2282/Toll freeo 800-237-7149 of our 1992 catalog. in part because working women had

32 111e Jewish Observer. May 1992 become a powerful political constitu­ executive order. least as important as the victory. The ency, and in part because of a genu­ But Agudath Israel did not blink. Agudah had proven -in the uncom­ ine need for more and better day care Rather than compromise its beliefs, fortable glare of publicity - that an programs - and a multi-billion dol­ the Agudah decided to challenge the Orthodox Jewish group's own bottom lar legislative program was proposed. mayor in court, thereby putting at line was not on a financial ledger but Included in this favored bill was a se­ risk nearly $2 million annually in ln ahigher set of books. As one of the ries of prohibitions that would have city-funded programs that benefitted City's deputy mayors told Rabbi excluded from the program parents large numbers of men, women, and Sherer after the Agudah's challenge who required a religious setting for children. And. after a setback in the was filed, "After Mayor Koch had is­ thetr children's care. Breaking ranks lower courts, New York's highest sued the order, we calculated which with the secular Jewish establish­ court upheld the Agudah's legal po­ organization in the Jewish commu­ ment, Agudath Israel fought against sition - thereby demonstrating that nity would fight us on principle, and the exclusionary provisions; and, you can fight City Hall. we felt that if anyone would, it would while it would be unrealistic for it to The principle, however, was at be Agudath Israel." claim credit for the defeat of most of such onerous provisions of the bill, it cannot be denied that its role was sig­ nificant in the successful battle to • Special "early starter • Modem residence amend the legislation. As a result, 8th grade program facilHy with full states will be obligated later this year to provide needy parents with vouch­ supelVision ers they can use to help pay for day • Home transportation care in religious institutions. tor n:iui to Monsey, NY • A n~in atmosphere One might argue that financial considerations were the sole factors (for 8th through 10th imbued with the nn in these stands, involving as they did grade only) ··.i--i::.._z of ourYeshiva government aid in the form of reme­ community dial help for students or vouchers for •. Dedicated, parents. In other instances, however, The Mesivta the Agudah has given ample proof hlghtyquaiified • NVS approved, that it stands for principle, first and experienced for the i1n~ two-track secular foremost. staff of ll'~in!l who really studies program CHALLENGING THE MAYOR'S EXECUTIVE ORDER • Leaming pro­ wants • High school gram stresses diploma he case of Mayor Edward I. Koch's Executive Order 50 is l'li:in and n\N"p:i t~ grow in three years T well known, but it is wortb re­ viewing to demonstrate how ideology •Special in rri1n • Choice of NYS over-ruled pragmatism. The Mayor issued an order requiring all city con­ emphasis on Regents or tractors to give equal employment nmo nii!l and blli! nli'1' non-Regenfs·diploma rights to gays, and to establish pro­ grams for recruiting them. Koch's or­ • Limited scholarships avail· der set off a tidal wave of concern. As •·· Locdted in the scenic in virtually all American cities, private Catskills all yearround able for eligible students and religious organizations contract with the city to provide govemment­ funded services, such as health care, THE ENTIRE LEARNING PROGRAM 15 UNDER job-training, senior citizens centers, THE PERSONAL l'Tm:t.t OF THE n::fllll'ln 'lUIN'1 child care, and so on. Huge amounts N""'"1 'l»1'1D~tar:si ,,;It :S~l'I and lt"~I ""tel N:Slt :sin of city funds were at stake for reli­ gious and religiously-guided organi­ For lnfotmotion ond opplicotlOn please eon or write to: zations that claimed allegiance to Biblical precepts. Many religious ser­ YESHIVA GEDOLAH-ZICHRON MOSHE vice providers - including, sadly, MESlVT A HlGH SCHOOL DIVISION many in the Jewish community - Laurel Park Rd. I POB 580 I South Fallsburg, NY 12779 blinked; they acceded to the Mayor's 914-434-5240 Fax: 914-434~1009 demand and pledged to abide by the

The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 33 JEWS, TOO, ARE PRO-LIFE Could we permit it to be said. as the -A STAND WITH A MESSAGE spokesmen of a number of secular It is essential for Jews to Jewish organizations and of Reform, gudath Israel has taken a siini­ Conservatism and Reconstruction demonstrate that we Jar stand for principle in the were intimating, that Judaism advo­ A abortion wars. An entire cates a woman's freedom to do as she stand for things and we Amelican generation grew up on the wishes with regard to the unborn? gospel that only the Catholic Church Daas Torah autholities ruled that we are not ashamed to say was against legalized abortion and should not remain silent, because to that the entire Jewish community fa­ do so would permit a false picture of so, even if they are vored so-called choice - until Torah law to be ratified by silence. Agudath Israel began speaking up for That same perspective has Jed unpopular with powerful authentic Torah Jaw and followed up Agudath Israel to speak out on a with "Fliend of the Court" bliefs in whole range of "moral" issues, even elements of the political opposition to abortion on demand. where they do not necessarily directly This position reveals another as­ impact Orthodox interests. The mod­ and cultural pect ofAgudah decision-making. Un­ ern-day equivalents of Stephen Wise like school aid. child care. and Execu­ present themselves as the leaders of establishment. tive Order 50, where Orthodox inter­ the secular Jewish establishment ests were clearly involved, Agudath and Reform Jewry. Now, as then, they Israel's constituency had no stake in tend to stand for everything that is an "alternative lifestyle"; full First the abortion issue. Observant fami­ fashionably liberal and progressive, Amendment lights for pornography; lies would use the option only tf it was so that today's agenda for many of distlibution of birth control informa­ halachically sanctioned, in any case. these leaders includes a broad range tion and "protection" to school chil­ But did we have a light to act in such of issues that are incompatible with dren. No doubt the list could be a way (as the author of SMaK said in Torah values: support for feminism lengthened. As a result, many main­ another context) that would make no matter how bizarre its mantfesta­ stream Americans perceive Jews to gentiles say that "Jews have no G-d"? tions; gay lights, as a recognition of be a people without religion, as reli­ gion is generally understood by those who take it seriously - a chilul Hashem of the highest magnitude. Agudath Israel's public dissent from THE B/66EST UITLEST the secular Jewish establishment on these fundamental social issues BIRTHDAY CME ii cauie lo,. serves to dispel those perceptions, and to restore k'vod Shmnayim.

ce/ehl'afion. THE PEYOTE CASE AND THE MECHlTZA

Mimmy and Simmy fans aking a stand on issues to can finally relax. Their project an accurate image of favorite neighbors 'from T Judaism has gained Agudath opposite sides of the Israel credibility in the battle for reli­ boulevard' are back, and gious freedom. The urgency of the thinking about how to battle was heightened by a recent Su­ preme Court decision in a case that make each other's birth­ initially attracted almost no attention, day 'something special.' but has now become recognized as perhaps the most significant religious They're both in for quite a lights ruling in decades of Constitu­ surprise and so are young tional law. readers of The Biggest Although the case and its ramifi­ Littlest Birthday Cake. From award-winning author YAFFA GANZ; cations are complex, a blief summary delightfully illustrated by HARVEY KUNEMAN. He $9.95 is in order. Alfred Smith, an Orego­ nian Native Amelican, was fired from Available at all 'Jewish bookstores or direct from; his job for violating Oregon's anti­ FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS Visa & MasterCard accepted drug law by ingesting peyote, a hal­ 200 Airport EXecutive Park, Spting Valley, N. V. 10977 Send for your 'free copy lucinogenic plant. the use of which is Tel. (914) 356-2282/Toll free: BOQ.237.7149 of our 1992 catalog. part of his trtbe's religious practice.

34 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 When he sought to collect unemploy­ Life Committee expressed concern that would remove abortion from the ment insurance benefits, he was told that a broad statutory reading of free protections of the Jaw, thereby pre­ that he was ineligible for such ben­ exercise rights could provide a new cluding the possibility that women efits because he had been fired for basis for legal abortion. To satisfy might obtain legal abortions under yiolating the law. Smith responded these groups, Congressman Christo­ the rubric of freedom ofreligion. that his conduct was protected by the pher Smith of New Jersey introduced Faced with a choice between these First Amendment, which protects the a competing religious freedom bill two bills, Agudath Israel came out tn "free exercise" of religion. the sort of claim that had routinely been upheld by the courts. Smith took his case to court. and the dispute see-sawed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where a 5-4 majority ruled against Smith. The key to the high court's logic was that since Oregon's Judaica Press' anti-drug law applied equally to all citizens and was not specifically di­ Mikraoth Gedoloth rected against the practice of religion, Books of the Prophets and Hagiographa­ it could not be interpreted as a re­ The Holy Writings is now complete in strtction on free exercise. twenty-four volumes. These volumes in­ 'Th.is ruling actually overturned the concept of freedom of religion as it had clude the original hebrew biblical text to­ always been understood. Under the gether with all the classical Mikraoth Gedo­ new principle, for example. a state loth commentaries in Hebrew. In addition to could legislate that no public meeting the complete translation into English of the could be held on Saturday mornings. text and all Rashis, this edition includes a a law which would not be specifically directed against religion, but which comprehensive and carefully selected digest could prohibit convening a minyan for of the classic commentaries into English· Shabbos tejillos. Or it could legislate including Mezudoth, Redak, lhn Ezra, prohibitions against all forms of gen­ Targum, Malhim and Abarbanel. der discrimination - a Jaw of general The concise and probing treatment given to the applicability that might be construed often difficult material, with a special emphasis on to prohibit separate seating in shuls or Halacha, provides a proper study companion as well any of the other distinctions that To­ as an incentive for further learning with the guidance rah requires us to draw between male of the indispensable meforshim (commentators). and female. These and many other Tllis series, edittd by Rabbi A. J. Rosenberg, potential pitfalls could flow tnevitably has earned the unstinting approbation ofRabbi Moshe Feinstein 1":n from the Supreme Court's chilling ad­ monition: "We have never held that an Just Published '39.90 individual's religious beliefs excuse Special Gift-Boxed Sets Available As Follows: The f''ive Megilloth Shp -Cused, him from compliance with an other­ ~35.90 shnnk-wrapped, 2 vol set Presentation Set wise valid law prohibiting conduct that Early Prophets· 6 vols. ($101.70) the state is free to regulate." oshua, Judges, Samuel I, Samuel II, • Volume One, Kings I, and Kings II. Esther/Shir Hashirim/Ruth ...... $17.95 • Volume Two, aUer Prophets-8 vols. ($135.60) Eichah/Koheleth...... $17 .95 saiah, .Jeremiah, E7.ekiel, The Solarz Bill he Twelve Prophets. The following 24 volumes are now available in a durable oly Writings. 8 vols. ($135.60) hardbound edition only-$16.95 (Megilloth $17.95) per vol. n response to this extremely dan­ salms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, The Books of! Joshua• Judges• Samuel I• Samuel Il • Kings I· zra, Nehemiah, Chronicles I, Kings Il • faaiah, Vol. One • Isaiah, Vol. Two• Jeremiah, Vol. One• gerous development, Representa­ hronidcs II. tive Stephen Solarz of New York Jeremiah, Vol. Two• Twelve Prophets, Vol, One• Twelve Prophets, I Five Mcgillolh (2 vols.)-($35.90) Vol. Two • Proverbs •Job• Psalms, Vol. One• Psalms, Vol. Two• introduced the Religious Freedom Three• The Complete 22 vol. set-($372.90) Psalms, Vol. Ezekiel, Vol. One• E1..ekiel, Vol, Two• Daniel, Restoration Act, which would restore (Except fur T/te Ffre Megilfoth) E1.ra. Nehemiah • Olronicles I • Chronicles Il •The Five Megilloth in Two Volumes the interpretation offree exercise that had been accepted before the high At Your Local Jewi

The Jewtsh Obseroer, May 1992 35 favor of the Solarz version - even recent decades. Through the 50's and our fight. but it sometimes seems as though. on the surface. the Smith al­ 60's. American anti-Semitism con­ if their support lacks the intensity of ternative embodied the pro-life view­ sisted mainly of the subtle discrimi­ their fights for issues like abortion point that Agudath Israel had so nation that kept Jews out of the in­ and church-state separation. The lib­ forcefully championed In other con­ fluential countiy clubs, WASP law eral causes are their causes, viscer­ texts - because there are instances firms. commercial banking. and the ally so; the particularly anti-Orthodox in halacha, rare though they may be, like - the type of anti-Semitism that twist that pervades much of today's when abortion is a matter of religious made it harder for Jews to assimilate anti-Semitism tends to be. for them, principle and it may be necessary to into the broader American culture. relatively abstract. They don't want a advance a "free exercise" claim to The secular Jewish establishment bearded, yarmulkaed Jew to suffer, abortion. In opttng for the Solarz ap­ took note, and fought hard. but they would be happier if he proach, Agudath Israel alienated al­ In contrast, today's anti-Semitism shaved, coiffed, and became less in­ lies. confused friends. but won the seems to be directed primarily sular. Their intellect is with us. but admiration of those who appreciated against Orthodox Jews. especially not their passion - which is why this Its position of principle. As a spokes­ those who are visibly so. The issues particular area of civil rights law has man for a major secular Jewish orga­ are Sabbath observance, yarmulkas, become a special concern of Ortho­ nization stated at a press conference and beards; the rights of Orthodox dox groups like Agudath Israel. announcing support for the Solarz bill. families to move into neighborhoods An example that is a bit further the real stoiy in this tangle of religious that would rather "preserve their afield is the fight for religious exemp­ freedom bills is Agudath Israel. character"; the ability of Orthodox tions to laws ordaining that death oc­ Jews to survive in inner-city urban curs with so-called "brain death." The THE NEW ANTI-SEMITISM areas where they tend to be easy tar­ issue has been discussed at length in gets for the explosive frustrations of these pages. but one comment is rel­ nother arena where Agudath deprived minority communities - in evant to the theme of this article. Al­ Israel has been forced to be short, the type of anti-Semitism that though there has been some sporadic A come active is in combatting a makes it harder to be distinctively Jewish establishment support for the particular manifestation of anti­ Jewish. In such cases. the establish­ principle of religious exemption in the Semitism that has come to the fore in ment organizations. too. will support "time-of-death" debate, Agudath Is­ rael has not had enough company in spearheading the fight to convince the states that their laws should ac­ 'Teaching' is the last thing Tamar commodate those whose religious be­ liefs do not accept the brain death wants to do-but she needs definition. It is fair, if uncomfortable, to wonder whether other Jewish or­ the money. ganizations are embarrassed by a po­ sition that puts Jews out of step with New-from Sarah progressive thought. Schleimer-author of Despite the relative indifference of other groups, Agudath Israel's strong One Good Tum and defense of its time-of-death position The Tables Are Turned has had some notable successes - most iropressively. a religious exemp­ ... and so begins a school year­ tion built into the New Jersey brain full of surprises-but where every· death statute. But there are other ways body learns something! of measuring success as well, as illus­ trated by the comment of a NewJersey Tamar comes to a better under· legislator to the Agudath Israel repre­ standing of herself and others, while sentative who testified on this issue: "I her 12 first-grade students develop a still disagree with you, but 1 have new true love for yiddishkeit. respect for your position. You spoke Young readers will delight in this with integrity and intelligence." funny, thought-provoking story-the TRUST: THE CURRENCY OF newest title from our Young Writers GOVERNMENT ACCEPTANCE Division. 176 pp., H.C. $11.95 P.B. $9.95 e above quoted statement is Visa & MasterCard '"i\Cl!p\ed ·.·. t the essence oftheAgudah's $end for,your,free __ eopy accomplishments. Thanks to of our 19')2 i:ai•~' Ti the pioneering, statesmanlike efforts

36 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 thin. Agudath Israel needs to place The establishment greater emphasis on mobilizing grassroots volunteer activitists, and organizations' intellect is needs to develop a better and more efficient means of utilizing their tal­ with us, but not their ents. But aside from Agudah's re­ sponsibility to do this, what about passion-which is why the community's? Where are the volunteers? A gen­ protection of Orthodox eration ago, for example, we had rela­ tively few attorneys in major law firms rights in the workplace or successful private practice, but a good number of those who did hold and in housing has such positions made themselves available for public service projects become a special for the benefit of the Torah commu­ nity. Today there are large numbers concern of groups like of such people in many fields, but the team spirit seems not to be as great. Agudath Israel. The task of advocacy falls upon too few shoulders, even though the num­ ber of people capable of cariying the load is growing. of its leadership and staff, Agudath The same is true in the field of Israel has won a reputation for hon­ chinuch. The Kolle! fellows of 30-35 esty and good judgment. In all years ago were committed to serve branches of government, trust is a Kla1 Yisroel and though they were few most important currency. Execu­ in number, the percentages of those tives, bureaucrats, and legislators who entered chinuch and the rabbin­ will go out on the limb for someone ate - for at least a few years of ser­ they trust. But let him once deceive vice - was far higher than it is today. them and cause them embarrass­ Volunteers are needed in outreach, in ment, and his influence is measured chinuch projects, in helping our newly purely in terms of power. He will arrived Russian brethren - in a vast never get the benefit of the doubt, array ofTorah projects. and when he is down he will be Another unpleasant outgrowth of trampled. Most people operate that success is that so many people and way; it is basic human nature. Be­ groups who benefit from the activities cause Agudath Israel is recognizable ofAgudath Israel - and are not bash­ for its principled stands, it has been ful about asking for its help -will not able to get cooperation from the sup­ join as members of the movement, posedly anti-Jewish State Depart­ and will feel free and even duty­ ment, Influential congressional lead­ bound to criticize it. One's conscience ers, state and city governments and is often soothed by biting the hand eveiy manner of agency. that feeds him; somehow it proves that the critic is uncorrupted by feel­ THE PRlCE OF SUCCESS ings of gratitude. Human nature has a need to criti­ uccess breeds its own prob­ cize its establishments. Today's lems. One of them is that the Agudath Israel of America, success­ S public takes it for granted, ex­ ful beyond the dreams of its few pio­ pects it, and fails to realize that it neers, in certain ways has become must contribute more than money to the establishment and, therefore, a achieve it. target. But if Agudath Israel is to We tend to take the Agudah and continue to grow, continue to accom­ its staff of professionals for granted. plish, continue to uphold k'vod A key word is professionals, for we Shamayim, it is vital that the com­ have come to rely on the career munity that identifies with Its goals shtadlonim. But there is too much to join in the work that makes these do and they are stretched perilously goals a reality. •

The Jewish Observer. May 1992 37 Gershon Kranzler

LI ____ _ Reb Elimelech Tress, in UNRA unifonn, on his retwn from a mission to D.P. Camps in Europe, pleading for the needs of the newly liberated European Jews, February 10, 1946, in the Hotel Pennsylvania (NYC). Seated, from the left: Rabbi Dr. Herbert S. Gold..c;tein, 7't and Yibodel Lechayim, Rabbis Moshe Sherer and Eli Karp.

t is now twenty:five years its and limitations of their personal world Jewry as a movement reck­ since Divine Providence saw ambitions and goals to assume re­ oned with by those in power. The I fit take you unto Him leaving sponsibilities far beyond their age. youngsters proudly partake in the our world bereft of one of its most regional and national learning con- dynamic movers and builders. Yet, • • • tests, and they and their elders ap­ to all who had the privilege ofgrow­ preciate the Mishnayos and Shas ing under your guidance, of walk­ Yet, at this time when Agudath Siyumim that provide them with ing and working with you, of ac­ Israel is celebrating the 70th anni­ renewed incentives to future quiring a sense of missinn and a versary ofits founding in this coun­ growth. Similarly, thousands are heightened awareness of the chal­ try, the youth of today may recog­ privileged to atiend the (1Tl1111a/ con­ lenge ahead, you will always re­ nize your name, but they can not ventions of Agudath Israel, when main a powerfeL motivating pres­ possibly know you the way we do. outstanding Gedolim, Roshei Ye­ ence. For your enthusiasm, your They never witnessed the singular shiva, Rabbonim and Rabbeim, strongfaifll. and your constant con­ role you played in making Agudath scholars, professionals, and lay­ cern for others sparked them at a Israel a poweiful reality, a move­ men gather to take stock and to crucial time oftheir being and com­ ment that under your direction evaluate the historical dimensinns ing. They readily accepted your waged a ceaseless battle on behalf ofthe challenges thatface our time. challenge to grow beyond the lim- ofthe needs and concerns ofTorah Yet, neither the youngsters nor Jews and Yiddishkeit. To the most of the adults can realize how Dr. Gershon Kranzler, educator, author of a number of children's classics on Jewish young, as well as to the adults, you gave your very heart and soul themes, as well as Williamsb~a sociologi~ Agudath Israel is an accepted fact (until the last breath ofyour all-too­ cal study, was an active member in Zeirei whose glorinus fimctions they are short life) to make Agudath Israel a Agudath Israel in the late 30's and early 40's. eryoying. For it gives broader mean­ vital factor of Jewish life in this He is currently a professor of sociology in ing and an extra dimension to their country. I will atiempt to share my Towson St.ate College and Johns Hopkins Uni­ versity in Baltimore, Md. His article on Mr. being, their learning, and thinking, memories-so very alive even Tress's wartime activities, ~Setting the Record when they atiend the mass gather­ now-with those who were not Straight,~ appeared in JO, Dec. '71. ings, andjoin the ranks ofOrthodox privileged to know you.first hand. I ---- ______J

38 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 BREAKING THROUGH save a handful ofvicttms ... to rescue the credit that is due Reb Elirnelech THE WALLS OF INDIFFERENCE some of the Gedolim, the Roshei Ye­ (or "Mike," as we called him in those shiva, the foremost Rebbeim, schol­ early years) will not be lost on the e were all with him-his ars and leaders whom the Hashgacha youngsters and the parents of today chaveirim, the Pirchim, had chosen to escape and continue who are now enjoying the fruits of his W Zelrim, and adult members their work in this country. The flood labor. of Agudath Israel-as we struggled to of desperate telegrams, calls, and let­ break through the walls of indlffer­ ters that inundated our offices as he REB ELCHONONWASSERMAN'S ence, if not outright animosity, to turned our chaveirim. young and old, FINAL MESSAGE reach out and to extend a helping into his most effective assistants, his hand to the growing masses of Jews associates in his heroic struggle for eople who know of his work who turned to us in desperate search rescue... while the large and powerful ask; how did he grow in stat­ for affidavits of sponsorship, as organizations with the means and P ure and effectiveness to be­ means of escape from the countries contacts that were necessary to open come a hero of rescue, a verttable gi­ darkened by the sinister clouds of the doors and channels of effective help, ant to the masses who turned to him gathering storm, I remember how a were standing by idly. for help and direction are asking? group of the listeners of our first mass The stortes and facts, the records What and who were the main In­ meeting chased us down Bedford Av­ that could fill rooms are now being fluences that motivated Reb enue, enraged by his attempt to gathered, and soon, a comprehen­ Elimelech Gavrtel Tress to grow be­ awaken their sleeping conscience! Yet sive, full portrayal of how he wrought yond himself and transform all those only months later, they were among near-miracles with the limited re­ with him into an effective organiza­ the hundreds that flocked to the sources at his disposal, will be pub­ tion that stepped in where other, doors of our modest offices which he lished. Then our present-day youth more powerful movements remained had established in our then-proud and adults-and the world-will inactive, when the challenge for building at 616 Bedford Avenue, learn how one courageous young emergency help was greatest? pleading for counsel and assistance man gave up his thrtving business Can anyone unravel the complex to help their relatives and whole com­ career, used up his personal fortune, web of strains and strands that pro­ munities caught in a maelstrom of plunging himself and his growing duce such an unusual persona, or as evil that was systemically chewing the family into poverty, while he trans­ he would rather have had it, a pre­ very heartland of intensive Jewish life formed all those about him into a cious neshama so rare, so imbued and scholarship in Eastern Europe, strtke force for the salvation of our with bitachon and mesiras nefesh? It was then that Reb Elirnelech al­ people. Yet, as the memories reach back most singlehandedly made Agudath Yet. this moment is too precious. across the decades, there is one Israel a beacon ofhope in a world con­ As the twenty-fifth Yahrzeit of his scene, one experience that stands out fronting the raging fires of the Holo­ petiraand the 70th anniversary of the as perhaps the most significant that caust. Indefatigably, he worked day foundingAgudath Israel coincide, the can help us explain what turned him and night, knowing neither rest nor flow of memortes and images open into the leader the Hashgacha had sleep, fearing lest the next moment once more, so I share them, 'ere time chosen to accept a challenge that may prove to be a moment too late to and distance make them fade; so that dwarfed the potential and inner

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The Jewish Observer. May 1992 39 strength of anyone of lesser stature and personallty. Reb Elimelech Tress, as Reb Elchonon had called It happened at the very time when the foundations of the world were him, was never to be the same after his personal, shaking under the impact of the tragic events that were beginning to emotional appeal. Those words had forever changed undermtne and destroy the pillars of society, of morallty, and human de­ him and-through him-those with him. cency. We had brought Reb Elchonon Wasserman ?"::IT, one of the word's foremost Torah sages, to the boat, af­ yet clear eyes in that worry-drawn After this final exhortation and ter he had spent a few months in this face turned to Reb Elimelech, and desperate charge to him, the gentle country to gather the urgently needed with determination he looked into giant of Torah scholarship. with the funds to carry on his work in his ye­ his face, and in his succinct, pithy slightly rounded back, bent from shiva in Baranovich. Yiddish, he sald: years of incessant study, turned, and We, and so many others, had tried "Stop pleading with me, I do impervious to our last attempts of to dissuade the great scholar from not eount. I have to go back to my holding him back, walked up the returning to Europe, from going yeshiva, to my talmidim and plank into the ship that was to take knowingly to the lands threatened by share with them whatever Divine him to London. From there he went the fires that were to consume the Hashgacha has in store for us. back to his yeshiva in Baranovich, to But remember, you young people most important bastions of Torah here in America have personally share the fate of his talmidim, al and Torah study, the mighty com­ a tremendous task, a challenge Kiddush Hashem munities that had blossomed for that you must heed, come what Reb Elimelech Tress, as Reb centuries. Yet, all our efforts of im­ may. This Is no time to live for Elchonon had called him, was never pressing him with the importance of yourself. You must act now so to be the same after this personal, what he could achieve here, ifhe re­ that you will be ready when the emotional appeal. Those words had opportunity for decisive action him mained to transplant his inexhaust­ will come. Hashem will be with forever changed and- through ible storehouse of knowledge and in· you. He will give you the strength him-those with him. That final sight into a fountainhead ofrenewed and will guide you and show you charge had imparted to him the huge scholarship, were in vain. His tired, what must be done! .. responsibility, the urgency of the time

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40 The Jewish Observer. May 1992 and the challenge to devote all his ef­ personality in and around Mesifta asm and sagacity, he gave us insight forts to prepare himself and organiza­ Torah Vodaath. Reb Elimelech-and and understanding of the work of Di­ tion of young people into a ready we all-were deeply influenced by his vine Providence in the midst of the strike force. This became uppermost unforgettable classes, his shh.nim in great catastrophes of Yisroel in Galus. in his mind and motivated everything PirkeiAvos, in Bi'urTejilla; his teach­ Reb Elimelech became one of the he was. ing of Derech Hashem turned into close co-workers of Reb Shraga masterful lectures on Galus and Feivel, who had long before realized OTHER MAJOR INFLUENCES Ge'ula, through which he gave us a his great potential for leadership. Like sense of understanding of the history so many of the high and mighty, as ere had, ofcourse, been other of the Jewish people. Everyone of well as the ordinary men and women mportant influences that us-even the well-known industrial­ and children, he too turned to Reb Tielped to mold him. his think­ ists, professionals, and intellectuals, Elimelech for help, when the requests ing and his work, for Reb Elimelech who sat at his feet during their visits for aid and means of rescue flooded had already proven his leadership in to Camp Mesifta--drew inspiration his office. He guided and advised Reb fusing the sundry groups of Zeirei and love for Torah, for the People and Elimelech as his work for hatzala and Bnos Agudath Israel in the vari­ the Land of Israel, from him. With broadened, and he brought some of ous Jewish neighborhoods of New tears in his eyes, and with enthusi- the world's most famous Roshei Ye- York, into a functional organization. There was first and foremost our chaveir, Reb Gedalya Schorr ':>"llT. Ever since his return from the BETH JACOB TEACHERS' Knessia Gedolah, the World Confer­ SEMINARY OFMONTREAL ence of Agudath Israel in Vienna, in 1929, as the representative of the American Agudah youth, he had de­ Rabbi S. Aisensta:rk Rabbi P,. Hirsch13rung . Dean · Chief Rabbi of Mimtreal voted much of his time to learning, President teaching, and guiding the discus­ sions of Zeirei Agudath Israel-even W£ ARE ,M'ORE TllAN JUSTA Si3,M'lNAR.Y!! before he went to spend those pre­ • WJth fully accredited rourses given in a Torah true envltollment cious years as a YWl!]erman in Kletzk, • Supervised dasS!tlOm teaching of the highest calibre under the guidance of Rabbi Aaron ~ Seven week educational trt.tp. to Israel and Eastem Europe Kotler ':>"llT-to transmit to the Zeirtm • Prtlgrrurts irt Computerized Btiokkeeplng, and Graphic Art op.tional the inspiration and Torah ideology of Agudath Israel. And when he came .COME /OIN Us .FOR A YMR YOU'LL Nm!ER FORGET!! back to us from Kletzk, at the very Call or wrtte now: last moment before the war broke Mrs. S. Aisenstark, Director out, at the very time when we had 1750 Glendale Ave., Montreal, Q_uebe~, Canada H2V IB3 moved into our own building at 616 Tel. 514·739.,1003 •Fax 514·739-0172 Bedford Avenue, he again became our Rebbe and chaver. teaching shiwim, and directing our education and personal growth, together with "Mike," until his growing responsi­ bilities as Rosh Yeshiva at Mesifta the hat rack Torah Vodaath demanded all of his time and energies. Under his guid­ 5416 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. ance and urging. Reb Elimelech be­ came active and assumed leadership --~(718) 871-2278 in our movement; and as ever more r: newcomers joined our ranks, he made them feel welcome and at . home, and helped them adjust to the · -" -~-\ t;=[(s=rE=r=so=N'~J] ( .,,\, .;"!' " '=====!! requirements of a new world and strange life styles. - -:J'r:•,,;:.',,: ~ • ~ Then, of course, there was Reb Shraga Feivel Mendelowitz ':>"llT, the great sage and educator of genera­ , KANGOL • LONDON FOG tions of bnei Torah, of professional CAPS• TIES and lay leaders .. ., of all who came j under the spell of his extraordinary

The Jewish Observer, May 1992 41 shiva and Chassidic Rebbes to this ers and disciples of Reb Shraga country. Through Reb Shraga Feivel, Feivel, and who gladly opened their Reb Elimelech-ond we he was able to call on the wealthy and hearts and pockets to Mr. Tress, powerful who had become the admir- when their help was needed most. all-were deeply inAuencecl by Reb Shraga Feivel's unforgettable classes, his tl)l!>l"I Tl)I ,,N; N::!>. l'l"''Ol"lt)ll ;i?5'n:i nii!:ll' oi~~,i' shiurim in Pirkei Avos, in Bi'ur Tefilla; his teaching of Derech Hashem turned into n,'O)l l"lm:>'O n;.!>nr.i )l"P ;::i ')I "'O!>l"I ,,-i 7)1 'O,,,!>• tJ'l),f'lN) tl>l)'ON"l 1Y.llY.l l"l;!>n:i l"ll"::i; :m::!)I ;'O ;,,l "'P''* masterful lectures on Ga/us N""''W 1W l,l"l 1,Y.l l 11l"ll:l'O"I nr.i::itm tl)I and Ge'u/a, through which :'r.!i,t lN o>-,!11) '"l~1r.> ;~N ~"Im; )tl>) Rabbi Mayer Birnbaum he gave us a sense of 405 Yeshiva Lane Ilalt, Md. 21208 understanding of the history $6 inc. postage (less for bulk orders) of the Jewish people.

THE NEW-COMERS WHO GUIDED US ALL

nd then, there were so many others, especially among the new-comers, who turned to him for help, but who became impor­ tant co-workers, guides and con­ science to him because of their knowledge. experiences, and insight into what were the most urgent of the constant calls for help. He was able to work with all of them, giving all of them their due respect, the Rebbes, CAMP N'VAI ASHDOD AT BEAUTIFUL YAD BINYAMIN Roshei Yeshiva, and famous heads of •Hurry to join a group of heimisch, fun-loving girls from Orthodox communities organizations and institutions and of throughout the world. the world ofToral1 scholarship. • Six memorable, thril1ing weeks experiencing Eretz Yisroel in a true Torah way We remember how Moreinu through the most extensive, most carefully planned professional fun-filled Torah Yaakov Rosenheim 7":in, the world program. President of Agudath Israel since its •Live on the beautiful grounds of Yad Binyamin, in the very heart of the country founding in Kattowitz, moved his of­ - spacious grounds, modern dorms, all sports facilities, olympic-size pool on fice to this country for the war years, premises (day & nite swims). until he settled in the Holy Land. And •Exclusive private non-crowded facilities. the delegations of the great scholars • Daily Shiurim ... Guest Torah Personalities. and leaders of Agudath Israel who •Camp N'Vei Ashdod is known throughout the world for its experienced and came to us to America to enlist Reb professional personalized attention, warmth and caring for each camper. Elimelech's help and cooperation for • Head Counsellor Raizie (Gruenebaum) Ringer their projects. There was Reb Moshe Under direct supervision of Rabbi Meyer Fendel Blau, Reb Itche Meyer Levin, the brother-in-law of the saintly Gerer IN NEW YORK CALL: 718-972-3347 or 201-472-8230 Rebbe, n:i-o'; tlll1::>t, who became a or write to: 686 I Selfridge St., Forest Hills, NY I l 375 member of the Knesset and holder of IN ISRAEL CALL: 02:518517, 02:345-057, 08:259508, Fax 02:527353, a cabinet post in the State oflsrael. or write to: P.O. Box 3238, Jerusalem. Dr. Yitzchak Breuer, ';·:n the brilliant

42 The Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 ~ MALOHN L=IJ MIFAL VISITING NEW YORK?? Beautiful rooms, with kitchen facilities. in heart of Baro Park by day or week. Near Shuls. take-out foods, etc. Profits to Mifal Torah Vodaas. Call (7181 851·2969 NO T.V.'s

Reb Elimelech Tress and Zeirei Agudath Israel members readying packages for shipment to Europe. ideologue of Agudath Israel, and Even as he reestablished the Nitra Rabbi Meir Karelitz, ?":it the brother­ Yeshiva in Mt. Kisco, NY, he contin­ in-law of the Chazon !sh-they all ued his intense efforts to direct came, worked with him, guided him, Agudath Israel and other organiza­ and in tum received the help they re­ tions in the listeners' efforts to help quired; he became their confidante the survivors of the concentration easily, as he had worked so success­ camps and of the DP camps, until the fully with the Pirchirn and Zeirim. to whom he had been "Mike" .. ., and whom he molded into active mem­ Advertisement bers of our movement. Then, of course. there arrived Gedolim whom the Hashgacha had spared to continue their great tradi­ Modern Tools for tion, which eventually blossomed into the vaunted Renaissance of Torah and of Orthodoxy in this once "treifene medina." There were Reb Daf Yomi Review Elya Meir Bloch and Reb Motte! Katz, n::ii::i? cm::it, carriers of the proud Our sages speak of the importance of re­ available for tractates Shabbos, Eruvin, Telshe tradition and scholarship, viewing Torah learned as many as 40 times or Pesachim, Shekalim, Yuma, Sukah and who had always been active in even 100 times to make sure the material is Baitza. New tapes are recorded every few retained. weeks. Agudath Israel, and who with Mr. Yet, given the quick pace of the DafYomi, The tape series comes on the heels of Tress's help reestablished their Ye­ many students have yearned for a method to another very successful review system, shiva Gedolain Cleveland. There was review a few weeks of Gemorah in a short founded by Moshe Goldberger of Staten Is­ the unforgettable Reb Michoel Ber amount of time. land. His written review sheets, which in­ Weismandle, the noted scholar who A number of years ago, Yosi Heber, Direc­ clude a few weeks worth of dafim, offer a quick capsule review of the daf yo mi material. became one of the foremost leaders of torofMarketingfor the Dannon Yogurt Com­ pany, created a tape system that enabled him Subscribers receive sheets every two weeks. rescue efforts. plotting to destroy the to review the Daf during the 45-minute drive Both systems have been supported by the railroad tracks that brought train­ from his Queens home to his office in White Daf Yomi Commission of Agudath Israel of loads of victims to Auschwitz. After he Plains. America,Dial-A-DaffforahCommunications had pleaded in vain with the mighty As word spread, the system eventually Network, and Torah Tapes. and the great of the free countries, he developed into the Daf Yomi Mesechta Re­ Information about the tapes are available view. through DafYomiTapes, P.O. Box 260, Brook­ came here to continue his desperate lyn, NY 11219. A ten tape subscription is$35. efforts to help the unfortunate victims Today, students from aU over the world are able to benefit from Heber's 60-minute Moshe Goldberger's review sheets are of Nazi brutality. He became their cassettes, which feature highlights from 20 to available from Daf Yomi Review, P.O. Box voice as he travelled around. address­ 30 blatt. The tapes cover the key points of 82, Staten Island, NY 10309. A one year ing our mass meetings. and shaking each major topic on the daf and are currently subscription is $25. the listeners' conscience into action.

7he Jewish Observer. May 1992 43 very end of his life, of his pain-racked THE MYRIAD OF body and soul. ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM And then there was, of course, WIDCHWEARE BENEFITING Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz, ?"::n, the founder of the Mirrer Yeshiva in t would take many more pages to \" ' Ameiica and head ofVaad Hatzolah, do justice to all that Reb Ellmelech the master orator and scholar who I Tress achieved over the years, Fl·NE••f\l\E~t~ ... could move mountains, and who with benchmark accomplishments from ..• CLG):fF11·1NGi ciies, pleas and fainting was able to which we all are benefttting. One has ·.. >_'<'.·: ,,>_'_ Y, :.;;"·:,_'-\"":. :·».":» ..:' open the closed doors of the hostile only to think of the time and effort it W~er.,.~cic~ cu~tp.rni;fif ffept~i:l State Department so that Reb took him to make Camp Agudah a re­ · os,9µ1 qnly,~µsl<:im~rr · Elimelech, Rabbi Schorr, and their ality-from the ranks ofwhose camp­ co-workers, were able to pry open the ers, waiters, counselors, and direc­ • A11\f:v'ool•.Cpo~•.Sla~ks sorely needed avenues of help. tors have come some of the foremost • $p()rls dockets • . Rqil'\Y'(~or And, lastly, there was, of course, leaders of the Jewish Day School the dynamic, spiritually towering movement. and other vital institu­ 1{69 $1,.~t.,ar.o.oklyn, MY personality, Rabbi Aaron Kotler ?"::11, tions and organizations that trans­ tzi a~ ss4ci 1<16 with whom we had been in touch formed Jewish life in this country. ' "· ... ' when he was still in Kobe, Japan, One has on]y to think how he estab­ Ooilyl):OOAM~?:QO P:M:. ;.. ·; and whom we brought to this coun­ lished the one and only Refugee ·frt :&·:Mot.z~l Shobbos. i:>Y o:ppt~·· · try, early during the war. His Home, in Brooklyn, at theveiy begin- talmidim and the ning of the war, large group of the whose residents he outstanding schol­ Reb Elimelech almost guided, supported, ars from the Mirrer and provided with Yeshiva, who came singlehandedly made the means of sus­ here and to the Holy Agudath Israel a beacon tenance, with edu­ ~ :!'?5'11'~'~ Land, from Shang­ cation, and with hai, where one of of light and hope in a the opportunities our chaveirim, to establish them­ Frank Newman, world darkened by the selves in some hired a ship to take sinister clouds of the realm of business ~ AUTHORS & t\RTISlS ~ them to America. in this country. Here and in Israel gathering storm. Under his guid­ they became the ance, Mr. Josef authors and artists to submit foremost Roshei Ye- Rosenberger was manuscripts and artwork for shiva, educators, rabbonim, and able to break through the ignorance evaluation. We seek manu­ heads of institutions and organiza­ and disinterest of the Ameiican Jew­ scripts in all areas of Judalca tions-in great measure due to Mr. ish community to establish the publishing with originality, Tress's untiiing efforts. But it was Shatnes l..aboratoiy, making a forgot­ creativity and high literary Reb Aaron ?"::n, more than anyone ten mitzva an integral part of Ortho­ standard. Our editors develop else, who threw himself into feveiish dox Jewish life in this country. and highlight the Individuality activities, to establish his Kollel in ofthe author and our graphics Lakewood, which became the model ould that this were the time department gtves each book for so many others. Some of his main and place to sketch some of t its own identity. efforts were devoted to working with the most valuable contribu­ fl. We welcome the opportu- I• Reb Elimelech, and to become the tinns you made in the few decades of nlty to work with you. guiding force in the vast networks of your life as a leader. innovator, creative rabbonim artd Roshei Yeshiva who organizer and director of people and 0 were devoting themselves to the prqjects in this countJy, and war-tom ever-growing needs of the hatzala Europe dwing and after World War II. work. Equally important, he joined This will have to be left to those re­ Rabbi Reuvain Grozovsky ?"::n in en­ searchers who will make the portrayal Nn!Yod!.· Ltmiai ·.Jtnistrlem-, I• listing other Roshei Yeshiva, includ­ ofyour life and work as comprehensive ing Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky and asposslble.forthebene.fitofthegenera­ 180 Park Avenue• lakewood, 1iJ 08701 ' Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, to form the tinns oftodny and tomorrow. May they, In UK 01-800.3723 Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, the su­ too, dmw inspiration and strength.from .,: In Israel 02-53&935 preme institution of authoiity in all it to conjrunt the challenges that are ly­ • matters of policy and halacha of ing ahead ofthem. with the help of the ~ .,,.~,. ~ Agudath Israel. L-rd. as we did in our time. •

44 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 THE PROFESSIONALISM OF MADISON AVENUE MEETS THE YESHIVA WORLD. Dinners. Groundbreakings. Events! gifted, he seemed naturally drawn to this field. The Yeshiva world has entered the modem age of Always creative, always the idea man, he combines marketing, advertising, and communications. his artistic flair with excellent planning and organi­ tv\ounting a dinner has become a challenge. The zational skills. His work is noted for its mark of calendar fills up with the dinners of many worthy originality -every Citicom event stands out. Dedi­ Yeshivas and organizations. And people pick and cated to excellence, he has pulled together talented choose which to attend. writers, artists, and creative directors that have The success of a dinner is measured helped Citicom quickly establish a reputation for not only in the dollars pledged and professionalism and integrity. collected, but also in the number of Citicom has carved out a niche for people who came and participated, itself in the marketing field. In organiz­ and made that personal commitment to ing an event, they plan everything from be involved. It is from this involvement concept to cleanup. Mordy Mehlman that the base for future support is built. has earned the respect and appreciation For a dinner to be successful, it must of his clients. They have responded by have an ambience and a unique feeling recommending his services to others. that makes people want to come back New yeshivas and organizations, again. It has to become the event that eager to get "on the map,' turn to the one won't want to miss. expertise of Mordy Mehlman and Executive directors are faced with Citicom. From the recent Informational the overwhelming task of organizing Breakfast Meeting for Pesach Tikvah/ and planning a dinner, while mounting Door of Hope, to Yeshiva Ateres Tzvi's vigorous fund-raising activities. Where can they Dedication Dinner and publicity campaign, they tum for the professional help that can handle all the personalize the event to reflect the unique identity details of the event and, at the same time, have a of each organization. dear insight into the special needs of a Yeshiva? Baseball cards may be traded in schoolyards Where can the Yeshivas find the creativity, inge­ around the country. But in Yeshiva playgrounds, nuity, the modem technology, and the organiza­ Gedolim cards are the rage. ABC Evening Eyewit­ tional skills that will meet their needs? Where can ness News featured the trade in Tor ah Personalities, they do this without compromising their principles and Mordy Mehlman helped arrange for that. to the trends and ethics of Madison Avenue? Citicom is now engaged in major marketing A new generation has grown up in this country. efforts for several hotels and businesses, and is They are young men and women who have a deep continuing to provide the Yeshiva world with the commitment to the Torah values with which they professionalism and expertise they demand. Under were raised. They are also products of a modern age. the leadership of Mordy Mehlman, Citicom has They have learned how to utilize the age of commu­ developed the contacts it needs in the media that are nications to communicate their own values. They essential for public relations. They have provided have mastered the art of advertising to sell kosher the creativity that is translated into effective graphic products -and, even more important, kosher ideas. design. They have become a full-service communi­ They have developed organizational skills second to cations firm, able to mount and manage any event, none. And they are now prepared to put those skills no matter how small or how complex. They have and abilities to use in the service of the Yeshiva world. developed the unique ability to turn every project Mordy Mehlman, president of Citicom, an adver­ into a memorable event. tising.lpublic relations/marketing firm, epitomizes CALL MORDY MEHLMAN AT CITICOM FOR A this new generation. Ayoung man, charismatic, and FREE CONSULTATION. (718) 692·0999. • n":i Dear Friend, He saved hundreds Founder of So many tragedies happen all of lives in Israel - around us that it seems as if until his life was ended first-aid Hatzolah nothing can shock or move peo­ ple any more. by an Arab terrorist! squad in Jerusalem But we must be shocked The following great rabbis in Is­ murdered by at the horrible tragedy of rael {listed alphabetically) have Zvi Klein's murder. And we created a special relief fund for Arab terrorist must be moved by the plight the widow and her eight or­ ofhis a badly injured widow phans. and her eight forlorn or­ Rabbi Shlomo Z. Auerbach phans. Rabbi YosefS. Elyashuv Rabbi Moshe A. Freund Zvi Klein was an organizer of the volunteer First-Aid Hatzolah Squad in Rabbi Pinchus Scheinberg Jerusalem. He was on call day and night. He tended hundreds of people Rabbi Avrobom Shapiro, and saved countless lives. Chief Rabbi Then came the "accident". The fund is closely Zvi was driving his family on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv administered in Israel hy: highway when an Arab driver forced him off the road. Zvi's Rabbi Moshe Y. Miletzki car went out of control. Rabbi Eliyahu Brand Crashed. In The United States the follow­ His wife suffered broken legs and internal injuries. Four ofhis ing special committee oversees children suffered serious injuries. The others, too, were hurt. the raising offunds: But they all suffered the worst Joss of all: Zvi, the man who New York saved so many lives, was dead. Rabbi Moshe Wolfson And then - another shock. The "accident" was murder! Rabbi Yehudah Oelbaum Rabbi Nosson Scherman After an intense police investigation, it was ascertained that the Arab driver was a wanted terrorist who had made a California bloody career ofcausing Jews to crash, to die, to be maimed. Rabbi Yakov Krause Rabbi Chaim Schnur Mrs. Klein was the only child of Holocaust survivors. She has no Rabbi Avrohom Teichman parents, no brothers, no sisters, no close relatives. Only shock, injuries, pain, traumatized children, poverty, and awful loneliness. Toronto We can't bring Zvi Klein back, but there is much we can and must do. Rabbi Moshe M. Lowy We must show her and the orphans that they are not alone. We must Detroit provide funds for medical care and therapy, for food and clothing, for Rabbi Shmuel Kaufman child care and tuition, for household help while her bones mend, for Miami loving care for the children. Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer On top of all their suffering, they are poverty-stricken - and we can do something about that! Checks can be made The great rahbis of Jerusalem have created a relief fund for Mrs Klein payable to: and her 8 orphaned children, and they plead with us to contribute generously. Keren Hachesed Please - therefore - let us open our hearts. She is our sister and the Relief Fund orphans are our children. Let us guarantee that they will not suffer from and sent to: want, cold, and hunger. Rabbi Moshe M. Lowy In the merit of our generous contributions, may we and our loved ones Rabbi Nasson Scherman be spared from pain and suffering, and may we have the merit of being c/o Keren Hachesed "partners" of the Father of orphans and the Protector of widows. 4316-10 Avenue The Committee Brooklyn NY 11219 page after page. Despite this differ­ ence tn presentation-and it should be obvious that there is room and need for both approaches-the simi­ larity of the message is striking: our Books in Review times call for a change in course---0ld ideas (e.g. secular kibbutz-Zionism) have proven bankrupt, materialism has led the world to a dead end. and only teshuva, a return to the undytng values of Torah, provides a solution and can bring the Messianic redemp­ tion. Rabbi Tauber stresses that he momentous historical up­ ays Are the prophets predicted to the last heavals that have marked the Coming, by detail what would happen if G-d's T twentieth centwy and have, in D Rabbi Ezriel teachings were ignored, and how particular, focused on the Jewish Tauber, adapted and the redemption and the realization people, inevitably call for heart­ written by Yaakov of G-d's plan for the world would searching of the most serious kind: Astor (Shalheves, come about (the second part of the What does G-d want to tell us? What distr. by Feldheim, book traces the four exiles under­ does He want us to do? A quarter cen­ Jerusalem-Spring gone by the Jewish people down to twy ago the late Rafae!Eisenberg?"lll Valley, 1991, $15.95 our present time of challenge). His published a major work, East-West h.c.) is a work moti­ warning agatnst the materialistic Conflict, in which he traced the vated by the same indulgence of our time leads him sources of social and international factors as Suruival, as shown by its toward the conclusion that the reader conflicts to the disregard of G-d's subtitle, "Rising to the Challenge of should cut himselfloose from the de­ teachings. Several other works fol­ History's Most Crucial Time"; but it structive impact of the contemporary lowed, and now his widow. Mrs. Ilse tackles its theme in a very different media and their influence-at first. Eisenberg, and Abraham Sutton have manner. Whereas Survival presents for a trial period of forty days. published Survival - Israel and its thesis tn a systematic and compre­ "Chances are you will find yourself Mankind (Feldheim, Jerusalem­ hensive scholarly exposition, Rabbi thinking more clearly ... and you will Spring Valley, 1991, $12.95 p.b.). a Tauber-as in hls earlier works­ see how much beauty you really do comprehensive presentation of his clothes his ideas in narrative form, to possess inside." ideas, updated in thelightofthetrau­ emerge from the give-and-take dia­ rophecy and Providence, the matic events of the last decade. logue of the story's personae. Thus Fulfillment of Torah Prophe­ The author was a remarkable per­ the reader absorbs the author's Pcies in the Course of Jewish sonality-a bustnessman who was a points almost unwittingly as he reads History, by Rabbi Meir Simcha thtnker and scholar, totally tmmersed tn Torah-and he drew a panoramic view of our world, sickened by the curse of materialism. He traced the political, philosophical and scientific developments which led to this de­ plorable state, but at the same time pointed out that the need for rem­ Large Selection Of edies, which they could not furnish. • BORSALINO tn effect opened the gates to greater o BILTMORE G-d-consciousness that could be the •STETSON basis of a new world order, which it • PANIZZA was the mission of the Jewish people o RAFFAELLI to propagate. While this is not a book • SCHIAPARELLI to which one could do justice by just leafing through it, it Is written in a very readable style, and buttresses its WE ALSO DRY CLEAN & BLOCK HATS matn thesis by offering the reader a -- All Work Done on Premises - clear tnsight tnto a wide range of cru­ cial contemporary issues, from evolu­ DAILY 11:30-7, Sun.10:30-6, Tues. 2:30-7 463 East 9th Street tion and the rise of the State oflsrael (block of Torah Vodaath) to the function of the Jewish home (718) 469-7420 and the final Messianic redemption. Eve. 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The Jewish Obseroer. May 1992 47 Sokolowsky our past, as well as the future that sic tenets of the Jewish faith. But how (Feldheim, Jerusa­ lies ahead. In Part One of the book, does the author go about it? lem-Spring Valley, the author shows how the Biblical He starts out by giving examples 1991, $14.95 h.c., Tochnchos were realized in the de­ showing that the mathematical and $11.95 p.b.), an ex­ struction of the Beis Hamikdash, scientific knowledge of the Rabbis cellent translation of the expulsion from Eretz Yisroel was limited. 111is has been said before a work that origi­ and Jewish suffering in exile. Part (e.g. by Rabbi Abraham ben nally appeared in Two is devoted to how the Divine HoRambam, in his letter printed in promise of the eternity of Torah the Eyn Yaakov); however, Landa ~~~~=~n ~~t~~~~~ #§ __ _ and Israel were fulfilled to the full­ goes to extremes and brushes off any prophecies we find est. Finally, Part Three shows how effort to explain rabbinic statements in Tanach, and how they have come our age clearly fits the description of as correct. 1 The fact, stressed by true in the most remarkable fashion. the Ikvesa d'Meshicha, and in par­ Maharal, Rabbi Moshe Chaim We find here the most persuasive tes­ ticular that great thirst for G-d's Luzzatto, and others, that many rab­ timony to the divinity of the Torah teachings which, we pray, should binic statements are allegorical and that anybody who is in any doubt bring the true, ultimate redemption. figurative, fraught with deeper mean­ could desire. But, beyond this, the It is not possible to go into details ing, is not considered here. Instead, prophecies here outlined throw a within the framework of a review, but he pours ridicule on sages of the Tal­ light on the fundamental aspects of particularly noteworthy is the mud like the Amom Shmuel (a brag­ author's observation that the tragedy gart, he states on p. 250, out to im­ ~ ' '! 'ti of the Holocaust (which is used by press the rabbis). ~ THE secular thinkers as a challenge to our But all this is only preparatory to faith) is actually a testimony to the the second part of the book where the VISUAL metaphysical nature of Jewish his­ author turns to fundamentals ofJew­ IMAGE tory; in no other way is it possible to ish belief, such as creation and the The finest in explain such an extraordinary event origin of life and of the species. Since ~ Video Production and how it came to pass. the sages were so ignorant of any­ thing scientific, he maintains, their ~-°'." FW>ron cently, principals of Day understanding of what the Torah Schools were invited to pur­ says about these happenings, must ruhase copies of a new book as also be discarded, and the Torah's for YOUR graduation gifts for their students statements have to be reinterpreted FUNDRAISING or and for use in their classes. Regret­ in line with modern scientific theo­ PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN fully, this reviewer must express the ries. These, after all, he considers es­ CONSIDER a hope that the offer was not accepted. tablished facts! CUSTOM DESIGNED The volume in question, Torah and 111is reviewer does not want to go Science, by Judah Landa, seeks to into the details of his presentation al­ LUACH or DIARY show that there are noirreconcilable though it is highly tempting to do so'. (7 l 8) 851 - l 3 14 confllcts between science and the ba- Instead, let us quote some comments on Torah and Science by Dr. Lee Spetner, a noted scientist. The author misleads the DIGEST OF MEFORSHIM reader as he tries to convince DON'T him that evolution is a fact. He 't'1pr, ,n:i 'tiipr, cites mutations that grant in­ DELAY! sects immunity to DDT, and that ':>"ll'l "1ll'O':>K ':>Km1V Vi1"1t"ll:J grant bacteria immunity to peni- Available at Now is the i LEKUTEI 1 • E.g. in connection with Nidah3la, he states cat­ clo Yitzchok Rosenberg time to ioin the egorically that "extensive studies have repeatedly 10 West47th Street, Room 503 1 indicated no pattern of boys being born- from con­ New York, NY 10036 • '1K11!l' lTT1lN l1!l l11' "mu t1"1ln ception after ovulation-yet in reality the connec­ (212) :"'19-1717 -Agudist Bene\dent Society. Inc. tion between ovulation (and the resultant alka11n­ ity) and the birth of boys has been amply docu­ Volumes on Turah, Perek, • Fr.;ll Bo.mo! Beneirts fur rile Fom:ly mented by the research of Dr. Lloyd Shettles and 2o (Chrldren up to rhe age of JO year>, others. Medrash, Megilos and Tulmud. • Blood Bank BeneMs tor rhe Fom,ly 2 • fveryrhmg rnmed oul rn oaordowe wdh Holacho • E. g. he ridicules as "an imaginative bit of specu­ Proceeds of sales distrihuled lation" the suggestion that the Mradioactive clock" among Yeshivos and used for (718} 436-1451 and sim1lar dating methods could be wrrellable, reprinting of volumes out-of-pf'int because of different conditions in the past-yet at ...... a.-olent Socl•ty a conference of the American Chemical Society, PRICE: $8.00 PER VOLUME 84 WHiiom Street some years ago, this was put forward on strictly N- Tork, NY 10038 scientific grounds!

48 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 clllin as examples ofevolution (p. 287). According to him, these are exmnples of "the increased com­ plexity of species over time" (p.288). But scientists who work In these fields know better. In Subscribe now to both these examples, the muts­ tion decreases the complexity of the genome. In both these cases. The Jewish Obsener the mutation can be one of sev­ eral: it degrades a site on a cell structure to which the penicillin, and$AVE or the DDT, molecule attaches, and results in immunity. Muts­ tions such as these lose, rather Become a monthly subscriber than gain, lnformstion In the ge­ nome: they degrade rather than to The Jewish Observer and build; they cannot serve as ex­ save up to 47% off the single­ am.pies of the steps of evolution thst are supposed to build com­ copy price (a savings of over plexity. As a matter of fact, no $40.). The longer you sub­ mutation is known that could scribe for, the more you save. serve as such an example. His discussion on the origin of life seems intended to mske the And this introductory offer is fully guaranteed. You have but to ask and you will receive reader think that scientists un­ a prompt refund on any undelivered issues should you decide to cancel at any time, derstand bow life could have for any reason. originsted. They do not; there is no theory that can explain In a Each month, The Jewish Observer will be delivered directly to your door, filled satisfactory way how life could with the views of leading Turah thinkers on current issues ... comments on the have begun. His "possible sce­ strengths and foibles within the Jewish community ... analysis of contemporary nario for the origin of life" (p. Jewish events ... inside reporting, interpretive commentary, inspiring biographies, 288) ignores the most refractory infuriating letters and illuminating responses-a!! within the covers of one magazine, problem in the field, namely: Where did the :information come The Jewish Observer. from that could produce life? As So don't delay. Check the money-saving terms below and send in your order right yet, there is no scientific answer away. We'll try to get your order filled in time for our very next issue. to that question. ltis description ofhow organic molecules formed (he presumably is referring to :------· SUBSCRIPTION SAVINGS CERTIFICATE ' amino acids) by the action of I I lighting and radiation in the pres­ I Suite 1200 • 84 William Street I ence of water, hydrogen, ammo­ THESQ I BSfRVfR New York, N.Y. 10038 I nia, and methane is inelevant I I unless we know a source for the 1 1 D YES! Please enter my subscription for: USA 'OUTSIDE vast amount of information that I ONLY USA I had to go into a first cell. I -·-··-·-·------·--·-·----·---- I 0 3 years-at 47% off the cover price $48 0 $78 I Obviously the disdain for rabbini­ 0 2 years-at 40°/o off the cover price $36 0 $56 I cal thinking goes hand in hand with 0 1 year- at 27°/o off the cover price $22 0 $32 I an uncritical worship of the current *Price reflects $10 extra per year to defray air shipping costs. Foreign "established" scientific theories. Only puyment must be made in U.S. dollars, either by check drawn on a bank thus can one understand the conclu­ in the U.S.A. or by Visa or MasterCard. sion of the author: to save Orthodoxy, NAME (Please print) ______a conclave of a large number of ADDRESS ______prominent rabbis should formally re­ solve to fall in line with the "scientifi­ CITY, STATE ______ZIP ____ cally established" teachings on the age of the world and evolution; and 0 Enclosed: $ 0 Charge my 0 MasterCard 0 VISA express its regret about the miscon­ ceptions that have resulted from the ~~c'D~TTTfll I I I ITIJJ silence of Orthodoxy on this point heretofore. Expiration date: ITJ (month) C.D (year) Perhaps we have indeed to be more Signature ______outspoken on the subject-to dis­ lh!." 11."wi~h Obs!."rv!."r., published monthly !."xc!."pt July and August. Pl!."a\.e allow 4-6 Wft'ks ford!."livery. courage the promotion of such ideas as this book purveys! • ------·

'The Jewish Observer, May 1992 49 Goldy Rosenberg Al\TDAl\T

and e:;ery Matza Indescribable out fail. I felt an rve seen such Dear E~'.~~~ the readjus\;ng sl~=I rush of emotions. Is. that It defies rmsuu fromRuss1a. adtus1ntheseglf With their return h wiser 9 . a"lnauon. d the aftermY t so muc , the im " d \

50 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 ••••••••••• ESSAY ••••••••••• Letterst~eEditor

EDITOR'S UPDATE: Rabbi Rosenes Replies:

We are delighted to report that Microfilm is intended primarily for since the appearance of our last is­ reference, but it certainly can be used sue, the young man who was the sub­ for regular learning when a sefer is ject of"Generation Gap: Israeli Style" unavailable. Letters can be enlarged has returned to his family and full re­ on the screen to twice their normal · ...... Kiev, Ukraine ligious observance. His family has size and generally there is much less ·....•••• .. •··•·.·•·•.·•·•···... ·.• ••• ··.·•.·· ... ·•• ···•.··.· ... ·.••. .• ·.··.·.. ·... ·.• ..- ....•...... ··· .. ·.·.···.·····.-.·.. •.·.··•···.·.··.· ••• ·.·.•.. ].·.·. also informed us that not evezy item eye strain (and no radiation) than ex­ ,:, ,-,_,,', ,; ', > , ' , :, ·, , , , ,: ' :' , concerning his earlier life reported in perienced with a computer screen. the article, which was based on news­ Microfiche readers are simple ma­ "Bein lrodesh l'chol" ...Teaching paper accounts or personal inter­ chines that work like slide projectors 450 children and countless adults views, was accurate in evezy respect. with internal screens. They are the meaning of kedusha. Explaining We regret any errors. N.W. manufactured by companies like and showing how to take the chol and Microvue. Dukane, Xerox, and Bell elevate it-through berachos. MICHROFICHEANDTORAH and Howell, and are sold by microfilm through taharas hamishpacha, STUDY: TELL US MORE service bureaus (in the yellow pages) through the countless ways we, in a price range of $250-$400. blessed with our chinuch, know how Reader-printers such as the Minolta to make our lives kodesh, extraordi­ To the Editor: (there is one at the Agudath Israel Ar­ nary. The article, 'Technological Aid to chives on William St.) or Bell and "Bein ohr l'choshech" ...The mis­ Limud HaTorah" (JO Feb. '92) was Howell make a xerox copy from the sionaries are hard at work in Russia, vezy interesting but incomplete. How image on the screen. leaving it to us to make the havdala is one to go about purchasing such a (The following comments respond for the Jews between the light of To­ library? Most people are still fairly ig­ to a letter.from Rabbi NaftoliBassman rah and the darkness these mission­ norant about type of equipment of Lakewood, N.J., which was pub­ aries offer. To stand up and teach needed, qualities available, range of lished in the April '92 JO. Rabbi about Hashem and the beauty of To­ prices, locations where to buy the Rosenes' response had reached us too rah-to offer these people a life oflight needed material-both hardware and In.le for inclusion in that issue.) so they no longer have to stumble software. Is this meant to be used To state that the only basic eqllip­ from "ism" to "ism. ., only for reference or also for actual ment a ta/mid chachamrequires is his "Bein Yisroel l'amim" ... Russian learning, spending long times at the Gemora and Shulchan Aruch, as Jews are constantly aware they are machine? Could letters be enlarged Rabbi Bassman maintains in his let­ Jews-it's the scarlet word that fol­ on the screen to be easier to read than ter, is to by-pass all the Torah that lows them in evezy step of their lives. a book? has been learned in the last five hun­ But what is the real havdala between J.J. HARTMANN dred years. Jew and Gentile-nationality? No, New Haven. CT there is more to the havdala, so much more. Considering a move And as I stood there that Motza'ei Shabbos in Kiev, I felt like a tiny spark toMOIYSEY? in the havdala flame. And I thank Agudath Israel, Karlin-Stolin and the Canadian Foundation for weaving me for careful attention to your into their havdala candle-allowing individual needs, call us today! some of my neshama to be cupped in the hands and captured in the souls (914) 354-8445 of my students In Kiev. •

The Jewish Observer, May 1992 51 I have often heard poskimfrom the N""'7w regularly points out in his fered physically. In fact, they were last generation say that without first sichos that Ahavas Torah is specifi­ partially accountable for the downfall consulting the Pri Megadim it is im­ cally experienced through learning of our people, stnce matntatntng their possible to decide a question from the with Acharonim because they delve luxurious life styles forced the men to ShulchanAnich. Similarly. how could tnto the fine details of a sugya. Yanai engage tn dishonest business deal­ we pasken a she'eila today without HaMeleclis hatred of Torah was ex­ tngs. first consulting the Iggaros Moshe of pressed tn his statement: 'The Sefer Today. antisemitism is once agatn Rav Moshe Feinstein 7":1T, the Torah rests in the corner, go and strongly on the rise. Domestics write Minchas Yitzchak of Rav Weiss 7":11. learn it." If this is the case with letters to their ktn in Poland and the theShevetI.eviofRavWosnerN"~, Chiddushei Torah-all the more so tn Ukratne, complaintng that the Jews or Yabiya Omer of Rav Ovadia N~, psak (where the halacha is k'daas are back "in full force and live in and others of their stature? basra) are we obligated to use as greater luxury than ever before" (see I once heard Rav Gustman ?":IT many sources as we can find. We are "Warning Signals," in Moshe praise his father-in-law, Rav Meir being apprised of errors in piskei Holczler's book: Late Shadows). The Basstn (who was the Rosh Yeshiva of halacha discovered through use of best way to fight antisemitism is to Rameilles and a dayan tn VJ!na before the microfiche library. when looktng listen to the advice of Micha Hanavt him) because he was able to learn out up sources that were unavailable to "To walk tn tzenius with Hashem" from the Rishonim almost everythtng the author. When we proudly display our silver, that was found in the seforim of We were careful to draw a parallel we are only tnviting burglars (as many Acharonim The Rosh Yeshiva him­ between the printing press and the of us have experienced). When we self. however, regularly used and image or textual technologies of today flaunt our best clothtng tn the street. quoted Acharonim right down to his in that both can make the Torah or dangle our jewehy tn full view, not own sefer. Kuntresei ShiI.uim. "greater." This is indeed the goal of only are we risktng to be mugged, we Similarly, Rav Shlomo Wolbe our project and others like it, to use are inviting envy and hatred. The technology to make the Torah as Majesty of Tzenius is truly our best great as possible by presenting the protection. colossal amounts of information a (MRS.)GRACE EGoZI talmid chacham must master tn the Los Angeles, CA CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST most effective manner possible. DR. BENZION YAAKOV ROSENES TV: WORSE THAN _,, ______ALOADEDGUN_ SORITTZKIN IN SEARCH OF TZENIUS N.Y. STATE LICENSED ADULTS To the Editor: AND To the Editor: Hurrah for Rabbi Shimon Schwab, CHILDREN In regard to Rabbi Kirzner's timely and his penetrating analysis of the ef­ article on tzenius (Feb. '92), the fects of television on the Jewish home (718) 219-3867 Prophet (Yeshayahu 3, 16-26) warns (Jewish Observer, February, 1992)! us that tzenius encompasses more I must, however, respectfully dis­ than adhering to a list of regulations agree wlth Rabbi Schwab's compari­ and restrictions. Rather, the Bnos son of a television set to a loaded gun: Uncle Moishy, Zion were admonished for their A loaded gun. by its very nature, can haughty ways-their paradtng about be seen as dangerous by all, even by Mordechai Ben David, in a provocative manner, their ex­ the am ha'aretz (the unlearned per­ afld otherTop-Of-The-Line travagance tn dress, their tnsatlable son). Because television masqua­ desire for jewehy, their exotic teastng rades as a "fiiend," as a "little pal" to Jewish Entertainers of the hair, their strong perfumes and children, the tnherent nature of tele­ are available their excessive eye make-up. all in vision goes unnoticed. The tnherent . to visit strong contrast to the classic image of nature of this medium is an aggres­ Seriouslym the Eishes ChayiL The latter was por­ sive message: "I am more important trayed tn her true beauty by our Bnos than you are." Children Yerushalayim who would exchange Television demands that its view­ thanks to their wedding gowns with poorer ers subordinate their faculties to mnnnnw brides so as to lift their spirits. The whatever message it may carry; mes­ Tib'l.1)'"1!10 Bnos Zion, however. enjoyed outdotng sages that are rarely "information," »'i'JN~ :itiY', •i tl'.1 tnn other girls wherever possible. but are nearly always tn the form of A ~CheS5«1 Pr6ft'ct:R\ll:\,By 'Aiwkth hfM:hlf Ammdi. As we read further we learn that commentary influenced by both ad­ in' CM.junctkm wrdi Hashem punished them measure for vertisers and the managers of the ...... &Cl>irig....._ 1btietllp Ml appti}nttnet1t,--ca!I: measure. Not only were they stripped major networks. {212) 797-9CIYJcxt.-#57. M;F;, 9·5 of their luxuries, but they also suf- We, the Jews, are exceptional tn

52 The Jewish Observer, May 1992 large part because-and even our en­ playing with the kids, going to a Daj emies concede this-we are "the Yomi shiur]. Help otfiers to Enfiance Tfieir People of the Book." Television is dia­ 4. In any event, as Rav Schwab Shabbos Experience. Send us your metrically opposed to books and the mentioned, only"die-hard" television ideas, activities, suggestions or strat­ knowledge they impart. We can eas­ addicts should be left to watch it: egies - anything that fias made your ily plot the decline of education in the other family members should not en­ Sfiabbos more en;oyable. United States directly with the paral­ courage them by joining in. lel ascendancy of television as a me­ When it comes to restortng the in­ Vine Press, dium. herent kedusha to the Jewish home, Box 35064, Jerusalem, Israel Rabbi Schwab has an issue that every move counts. any thinking American can identify C.L.AARON with-let's see how far we can make Jernsalem, Israel itgol (No-I do not own a 1V receiver, I "PLEASE SEND A COPY.,," never have, and never want to!) BIG ROBERT H. GLOTZER East Boston. MA APPLE To the Editor: COPY & PRINTING Please send us a copy of the article, CENTER ON BREAKING THE "SIEGE" "A Straight Path," by AvrahamAyson in the January JO. (The author is 87 NASSAU ST. from Japan, currently learning in NEW YORK, NY 10038 (212) 962-4282 To the Editor: Jewish Obseroer Chaim Berlin.) Our (212) 267-9478 I was pleased to see the excerpts of is in shreds because we ripped out Rav Schwab's address in the JO, a the original and mailed it to a veiy lost message long overdue. neshama in California, hoping to Rav Schwab mentioned (among wake him up; but the truth is, this other things) that people argue that article should serve to wake us all up, the television set is not exclusively those distant and "close-up" alike. immoral---cloaking itself in the garb Thank you so much for the great ser­ FREE OFFER- ofeducation, science, politics, and so vice you have done by publishing this If you teach English: on. This factor can make 1V actually gem of an article (not to mention all A sample copy of more hazardous to us than the open the other gems you publish). "Writing English the Jewish Way." exposure to some of the filth, violence, (MRS.) MALKY ANTEBY and conuption present in today's so­ Brooklyn, N. Y. PleaSe Write ciety, which is readily appalling to any P.S. On second thought, please send Yeshiva Fund decent individual. The Gr"a says that two copies. Box 82, Staten Island, N.Y. 10309 the "good" of the sitra achra is actu­ l'oronlen ally worse than its bad, because the $5 ·each - 10 Coples for $36.00 good entices a man. (Mishlei 1, 12) . . . Fortunate, indeed, are those who Hebrew Academy can quietly, peacefully relieve their of Cleveland homes of this danger. As for the many Publishes over 50 who feel they cannot let go of the 1V, Educational Items for why not at least limit its potency? I Established, large, quality Hebrew Day Schools have the following recommendations: Yeshiva Ketana in vibrant, 1. They can limit the amount of n1:no n1, n major Torah community television watched by preceding each ACTIVITY PROGRAM program with the self-inquiry: "Do I outside New York, seeks really need to watch such-and­ such?" experienced administrator 2. They can replace their standard to direct office and living-room color T.V. with a minia­ ture black and white 5" screen set. financial affairs. With such an inconvenience, they will . Unique opportunity. significantly lose interest in the 1V and maybe, with the passage of time, Catalog sent upon request Send $1,00 for handling to: Submit confidential inquiries to: forget about it altogether. H.ebrew Academy Publications Dept. 3. It may also be advisable to find 1860 South Taylor Rd. Project Y, 713 Avenue P, alternatives In advance, to spend Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44.118 . Brooklyn, New York 11223 one's time (i.e., taking a walk outside,

TheJewishObseroer, May 1992 53 Libby Lazewnik The Traveler a t Princess (OR LAMENT OF AN F.F.B)

Discontented sat the Princess on her golden chair Then they brought a traveler in. She sat up with a stare. "Tell me," she beseeched the traveler. radiant offace. "Tell me of your bitter journey back to this, your place." Rabbi Aryeh Schechter Wistfully she listened to the tales poured in her ear. "Tell me of your joy," she begged, "now that you've made it here/" SOFER S"TAM Shifting shadows played upon her features as he spoke And when he'd done, she murmured in a voice that sadly broke: 1558 4 lst St. "Notfor me the frozen march across the windswept waste Brooklyn, NY 11218 Nor the bliss of seizing what so very long I've chased! e make ''housecalls.'' Here I sit in cozy splendor, fed from silver spoons. (718) 972-4003 Notfor me the lonely baying under silver moons; IE :i-~.,~- "Notfor me exquisite warming at a newfound.fire / • - .,b:::>!v- Soaring up on brand-new wings, high and ever higher; How I envy you, dear traveler, fresh from wind and frost Hugging to yourself the joy of.finding what you've lost! "Never will I stand upon a long-awaited shore Knowing that I've reached at last the home I'd left before. An uncut diamond, how you've worked to free your inner glow! Something I-a gem in velvet box-will never know. The traveler seemed astonished, his brow creased in thought. "You've never known real cold, it's true, although you think you ought. The freezing trek is strange to you, the ice that takes its toll- But Princess, have you never felt a chill upon the soul?

4916 !:\th Ave., ffklyn. N.Y. 11219 "You haven't hunted wary miles, of that I will be bound. (718) 854·291 l But tell me, have you never strained to gain a little ground? And have you never felt the longing.just as I have done To draw a little closer to the Ineffable One? "You've never felt the bliss of toasting at a newbornflame But Princess, doesn't aged.fire warm youjust the same? Soaring high on brand-new wings is what you yearn to do TORAH ON~ But don't you know the joy already? Haven't youflown, too? CASSETTES!~ "Finding something that was lost is splendid, I'll admit But you. dear Princess, haven't known the pain of losing it! I) Chumash (the l\vebooksofMoses)with the complete. ctassicat commentary ofRashi Coming home is quite a thrill, backfrom a distant shore- 2) Mishnayos with Rav comme.n.tary But don't you feel the same, each time you step inside your door?" 3) Gemorrah (Talmud) With Rashi commentary 4)1\natyzing of the week1y Parshfyos presented The Princess bowed her lovely head. "How right you are/" she cried. by known Torah scholars in a clear manrt.e:t "The way youfeel today is how I've always felt inside. in English 5) Halacha ~ code ofJewish law with the classic I have always known and cherished that which you'vejustfound commentary ofMis!meh Brurah. We two are but a pair ofjewels adorning the same Crown. • The explanation on the tapes in clear English, and every word is translated into "In my quiet way I've made my journeys, just like you :English. :Each tape is one hour. • $5.00 a tape. Ptease add $2.00 for postage. And if your tales are more exciting-mine are special, too. r_or addW:onat irtformation attd ciltalog' (()tltaet: Two travellers are we, indeed, for no one stands quite still: Helchal Hatalmud We both are striding down one road, to satisfy one Will." 247 East Broadway, N.Y.C. 10002 (212) 608·3301 Llbby Lazewnik, a publlshed poet and author of stortes for youth, lives in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem. Her ~A Private Waterloo~ was featured in JO, Sept. '9 l. 54 The Jewish Obseroer, May 1992 Jewish histo may be lying around in your baseme • Don't let it be lost to the world.

Thousands of documents and photos are languishing in trunks, attics and forgotten drawers in private homes and basements. Now is the time to retrieve this precious material­ before it becomes dust instead of history.

Your help-the public's help-is needed in this effort. Do you have any relevant old photos, documents, or records?

THE CATEGO!UES OF ITEMS REQUESTED: ------Documentation of Orthodox Jewish rescue work dur­ • Documents a:nd photos pertaining to Orthodox activ- ing the Holooaust .. ism in the social service and civic action fie'lds. • •PhOtry, 3.11 Knessios Gedolos, and the .•. Doeum.ertts, .records; correspondence1 newsctippings, development of the American Agudah movement since joul'l)als, mem?tabilia, and pboros depicting Orthodox 1922. life. in the U.S. from eolonial time.s to the present. {IJ you are hesitant to patt with ckeri.shed iwms, -- arrange* • D(\elillrents a:n.d phoins pertaining to the development ment.S can be:fiuide to re]iroduce certain kinds ofdocument.i; ofyeshi~os throughilut the country. and photo.~, leamn.(} the original in your possesSion.)

AS I COMMUNITY, WE MUST PRESERVE THIS U:GACY THAT WIU OTHERWISE BE I.OST TO fl.ITUIUi GIENERITIONS.

If you have any items in the above categories in your possession, or know where they can be obtained, please write or phone: ORTHODOX JEWISH ARCHIVES Agudath Israel of America 84 William Street, New York, N.Y. 10038, 212-797-9000 JV1esorab1ier1tage ~oirn~qt1~~>, .. :. proudly· announces the newest volume inthe;}\rt;S<;roU.$er1(3S The ·schOTT€NST€lN etltTlON .

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lnmemoryo(Jerome Schott~n~~~!~~··~ \ : ,<;•;.,·,{\ iif arui.in memory ofhll;.parents Ephraim.and•Allllli S,<:h()tt~m;t§il): l'!!'v··.