The Vital Legacy of Rav Moshe Shapiro z"l - Living Refutation of An Old Canard

Rav Moshe Shapiro was niftar recently in Eretz Yisroel. A gadol baTorah and gadol bemachshavah, with many talmidim. Numerous hespedim were held for him in various parts of the world at various points after the his passing.

One important aspect of his legacy that is worthy of note, is that he personally was a living refutation of an old canard. The disgraceful slander referred to here, which certain people and sects have been spreading for many years already, is that the Litvish type of Yiddishkeit and Torah is (ח"ו) superficial and external, and that for 'inner Torah', or פנימיות התורה, people need to look elsewhere, for example to a Hasidic sect. As if at מתן תורה the Litvishe only received a limited portion, just some lomdus perhaps, and not the full package of Torah. These propagandists were (and are) stereotyping the Litvish Torah world as a whole as being people concerned and involved with relative externalities, trivialities, superficial things, while claiming that members of their sect were/are connected to deeper, inner Torah, more 'spiritual', and so on.

Rav Moshe Shapiro z"l, a proud Litvak, and giant in מחשבה, was a living refutation of their disgraceful propaganda. His greatness in מחשבה attracted talmidim from a wide range of backgrounds, including Chasidim. It was so great that it could not be denied, even by members of sects who think that area belongs to them. Hopefully his talmidim will perpetuate this important legacy of his.

תנצב"ה