The Litvishe Purim Guide - חזרת השיעורים תשפ"א

 For those who want a חזרה, and those who haven't seen them previously, past Purim posts, להבדיל בין האור ובין החושך can be seen this way.

Venahapoch Hu - ונהפוך הוא - When Chasidim Become Misnagdim - The Stories Less Heard

There is a quite interesting book that came out within the last year, a biography of the great Rav Noach Weinberg z"l of Aish HaTorah fame, by the well known scribe Yonason Rosenblum.

In the beginning of the book, in a chapter on his roots, an interesting aspect of R. Noach is mentioned. There it is related that he used to remark in his later years that despite his eminent Chasidic roots (he was a great-great grandson of the first Slonimer Rebbe, with close connections to other Rebbes and Chasidim as well), 'somehow he was born a Misnaged' (p.25). It goes on to say that when his father used to try to relate Hasidic tales to him as a youngster, he resisted. Perhaps, as a person who determinedly sought אמת, even in his youth he was put off by the questionable veracity of "Chasidishe Mayses", a genre notoriously credibility challenged, as stated by great Rebbes themselves (documented here in the past, see e.g. here, and here). 

The point I want to make, however, is that this brings to light something that exists, but perhaps is not as well known as it should be. Namely the phenomenon of Chasidim, people of Hasidic descent, going Litvish, taking a non-Chasidic path, joining the non-Hasidic frum world. While there is a Hasidic genre going back to the early days of the Hasidic movement of tales of non-Chasidim that became Chasidic, the other side of the coin, the reverse phenomenon is not as well known. But it definitely exists, and has for a long time, encompassing many, many people, בע"ה, from banshakim (plural of בנש"ק = בנן של קדושים, a Chasidic expression for those of Rebbishe descent), to common Chasidim. Perhaps for various reasons, people involved and in the know didn't dwell on, make an avodah of such stories, as Chasidim did with their opposite numbers. Anyway, Rav Noach is just one person in that category, in his close circle alone there are multiple similar examples, some prominent ones being his brother R. Yaakov Weinberg z"l, his Rosh Yeshiva Rav Ruderman z"l, and on and on. In an earlier time, a very prominent example was the great gaon R. Aizel Charif of Slonim, and of course there was the Steipler Gaon not so long ago. And there are many Chasidim influenced by the Litvishe world, in various other ways, even if they don't openly switch over (something that can be difficult for some, due to family ties, and other factors).

Since we are now in the month of אדר, approaching the great Yom tov of Purim, the season of ונהפוך הוא, it is a good time to turn the regular perspective around, and look at the other side of the coin. 

A bit to whet the appetite. ואידך זיל גמור.

א פרייליכען חודש

Another Breslov Song In Disguise From Yehudah Green - Di Rebbe Iz Do | יהודה גרין - דער רבי איז דא

 I recently saw a new music video by well known, talented singer Yehudah Green being promoted online, which caught my attention, but some time passed before I actually played it. 

The song is entitled "Yehuda Green - Di Rebbe Iz Do | יהודה גרין - דער רבי איז דא" ("The Rebbe is here"), and the words sung are mostly in Yiddish, with some Hebrew tacked on near the end. 

But what type of רבי is meant? First I thought it might be a yeshiva rebbe, like a teacher of לימודי קודש in a classroom. But I quickly realized that was not the case, when the song made reference to Chasidim vis-à-vis the Rebbe. Obviously it was a Chasidic Rebbe, an אדמו"ר that was meant. But still, I was wondering about the background of the song. From the lyrics one understood that the song was addressing Chasidim gathering in the (physical) absence of their Rebbe, that were comforting themselves by maintaining that the Rebbe is nevertheless with them, despite not being seen. But I was still wondering about where the song was coming from. A clue came from one of the words used in the (predominantly) Yiddish section, קיבוץ (gathering), a word used by Breslover Chasidim for their Rosh Hashana gathering in Uman, which is otherwise not heard much in such context among חרדים (perhaps because over time it came to be commonly associated with a different type of kibbutz). I also recalled the Breslov roots of the singer, Yehuda Green, and a previous song of his with an undisclosed Breslov background that we posted about here a number of years ago.

To try to confirm my hunch about the song, I did some searching online, and guess what, voilà! I found a comprehensive report on the background of the song at a Breslover website. According to it, the song came together around this past ראש השנה תשפ"א, when many Breslovers could not go to Uman, due to the COVID-19 situation, and some instead gathered in Ramot, ירושלים עיה"ק. Along with the video of the Yehuda Green version of the song, it has a recording of an earlier (or the original) version of the song, in which the Breslov context and background of it is explicit. In that earlier version, the lyrics state that at every kibbutz of Breslover Chasidim, the Rebbe (R. Nachman of Breslov) is there, as R. Nosson (R. Nachman's student/successor) said. In the later Yehudah Green version, on the other hand, it just says Chasidim סתם, and 'as the תלמיד said' instead of 'as R. Nosson said'.

As with the earlier song mentioned, evidently with the latter as well, an effort was made to obscure the Breslov background of the song in the Yehudah Green version, to give it greater appeal to a broader audience.

Due to the commonalities between the two cases, my verdict remains the same as previously stated: Not for Litvaks. :)

א גוטען חודש