R. Eli Stefansky שליט"א, of Merkaz Daf Yomi (MDY) is a prominent Daf Yomi maggid shiur (and religious influencer/mashpia one might say too, in modern lingo), of late.
I happened to recently hear some thoughts he shared about crazy Meron-רשב"י Lag Baomer obsessions of some, and their danger, followed by some clever humor, via a joke he shared connecting Meron & Kerestir. Worth a listen or watch (click to play).
Enjoy and absorb!
A prominent leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch faith, especially in Florida, Reb Sholom Lipskar, passed away the other day. As usual, his sect seized the opportunity for their PR and propaganda. But this time, it was so blatantly false, so outrageous and far from the truth, that it would not pass unnoticed, swallowed whole by the gullible masses. Someone called them out on it in a big way. This episode is worth noting for what it teaches us about their reliability and trustworthiness overall.
At a NY area website a blistering comment was posted taking issue with the Chabad propaganda that claimed that before Lipskar came to Miami Beach in 1969, the area lacked even very elementary basic Jewish infrastructure.
The commenter pointed out that actually Miami Beach had a (Torah Umesorah affiliated) day school from the 1940's, Orthodox Congregation Beth Israel from the 1950's (Rabbi Berel Wein שליט"א later served there for a number of years), mikveh, and more (there was also Rabbi Stern from the mid-1950's). That makes the point very well that the Lubavitch obituary is a disgusting lie and libel.
But actually it is even worse than that. Because the Chabad-Lubavitch propaganda machine in its piece after the passing of Reb Lipskar actually contradicted its own words less than three years earlier. Then, when another prominent leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch faith in S. Florida, Reb Pinchas Weberman, passed away, they were peddling a different story In that piece they said that Weberman went down to Miami Beach in 1960, founded a synagogue, at around the same time another Lubavitch leader (Reb Korf) went there to start Lubavitch of Florida.
So now they say that in 1969 there was no Jewish infrastructure in that area before Lipskar's arrival? What a joke, what a disgrace.
ב"ה however, this has served an important purpose, though. Bringing to light, in great relief, how unreliable, biased, brazen, and corrupt Chabad-Lubavitch too often is. And it also is connected to a whole attitude among way too many of them, their fantasies viewing themselves as the pioneers of Yiddishkeit, even when the facts are not in accordance with such a claim and belief. But let us not be fooled.
From here we have a giant בנין אב, a lesson to apply overall, to be very wary of what they say. Caveat emptor.
שקר אין לו רגלים...וחותמו של הקב"ה אמת
In the zechus of Emes and תורת אמת may we be zoche to כל טוב.
As posted here a while back, Chabad-Lubavitch operatives diligently promote the notion of people visiting the grave of the late leader of their faith, and have been stepping up their efforts in that direction, encompassing non-Jewish politicians as well now. Thus we have Eric Adams, NYC Mayor who was charged in various corruption schemes, now in dire straits as he winds down his term, visiting there multiple times, as well as the GOP candidate for USA President in the last election. While in the past, before their leader's passing, they tried to get people to visit him at their Crown Heights headquarters, now they have transferred that to their cemetery (especially the establishment Krinsky-Kotlarsky wing, which is not happy with the explicit messianism at the main Crown Heights synagogue, which is controlled by their opponents - on the other hand, the grave complex is under the control of the more restrained Chabad PR wing).
So we know why the Chabadskers promote and encourage such visits. But what about the politicians who visit? What might they be thinking? A recent clip posted online provided some interesting insight with regard to the matter. One of President Trump's cabinet secretaries and a friend of his, gave some of the backstory behind their visit there this past October (click to hear). (h/t crownheights.info).
Following is a relevant excerpt from the recording:
"we decided we're going to go out to "the Ohel"...the people who wear black hats think he's the messiah.. they have a crypt for him where you write a note and put a note in...we'd probably win 60,000 of those kind of votes"
This shows you how some ignorant people are fooled by the Chabad-Lubavitch sect.
"the people who wear black hats think he's the messiah"
No, the members of the Chabad-Lubavitch faith, not normative Jews who wear such attire. Chabad-Lubavitch does not represent black hat wearers overall. The Habad are neither a majority of Orthodox Jews, a majority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, nor a majority of Hasidim even. They are just a sect that makes a lot of noise and PR.
"they have a crypt for him"
That is a good one, a fitting term for the resting place of the late leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch faith.
"we'd probably win 60,000 of those kind of votes"
What a joke. If politicians think they win 60K votes with that visit they are delusional.
The Chabadskers are now trying to fool people by trying to get them to believe that their crypt gets a greater number of visitors than it does. How? They say that it gets x amount of visits a year. They don't tell people that a large amount of the visitors are members of their Lubavitch faith who go there multiple times a year (e.g. on various Chabad-Lubavitch holidays, when they get engaged, and so on), so they are repeat visitors. Just like with websites, which are measured by the amount of unique visitors, rather than just the amount of hits they get, similarly, to take the measure of a site, one must look at more than just simple attendance numbers. Normative Jews generally do not visit there. The visitors are typically Chabad-Lubavitch members, people affiliated with them, perhaps some other desperate others too, and some politicians trying to pander and get votes.
Of course, that is only one example of many scams of the sect, taking advantage of the naive and gullible. Like the Chabad-Lubavitch clown in Ohio, declaring his late leader as Messiah in an address to the state legislature there recently. And on and on.
May הקב"ה, Almighty G-d, protect us from various scams and deceptions, whether financial, spiritual, such as the crypt of the leader of a sect that leads people astray, or otherwise.
It has been said that Chabad-Lubavitch is the new "Conservative Judaism". As is known, "Conservative Judaism"(which actually turned out to be, de facto, a more moderate version of Reform "Judaism"), a prominent Jewish "denomination" in the USA, which was considered the largest for decades in the post-WWII period, has been in steep decline more recently. Not coincidentally, in that same time period, Chabad-Lubavitch has expanded noticeably, by appealing to the constituency of the "Conservatives", namely Jewishly (relatively) ignorant Jews, who nevertheless wanted some manner of connection to Judaism, but were wary of too much. It was said that in the Conservative movement, the laity was not observant of the standards set out for them by their religious leaders. Chabad-Lubavitch, over time, took market share from the Conservatives by underselling them. While Conservative Temples charged hefty membership fees, and had strict requirements for bar mitzvah candidates (such as a certain amount of months of bar mitzvah lessons and Jewish education), Chabad-Lubavitch offered religious services without those restrictions. They also posed as being more authentic, Orthodox, even Hasidic. However, as is known, Chabad-Lubavitch and its representatives have also taken liberties with their ignorant constituents who they picked up from the non-Orthodox and unaffiliated sectors.
A main marker differentiating Orthodox and non-Orthodox Judaism, which led to many disputes and conflicts in the past, was the mechitzah, separating the genders at religious services. While this is observed by Orthodox in general, among Chasidim it is expanded to a greater extent of separation, e.g. higher barriers, opaque, even outside religious services, etc.
Among the Chabad-Lubavitch however, one sees a deterioration in this basic, this fundamental of Orthodox Judaism, and certainly Hasidism.
For example, recently, on the great holiday of Purim, a number of very prominent Chabad-Lubavitch megillah readings were mixed-gender, as the trademark practice of the non-Orthodox.
For example,
2) In Washington, DC, under prominent Chabad operative Levi Shemtov, one of the most prominent Lubavitchers in the USA.
Corrupting Chanukah wasn't enough for them, now they defile Purim too?
We see here a great danger of modern-day Chabad-Lubavitch. Without a living Rebbe, and with a system which gives their operatives (especially prominent and well-connected ones) major leeway in setting up programming, PR, and fundraising, they can cut corners and worse, and stoop to various inappropriate and unorthodox gimmickry and arrangements, and even get away with such shenanigans.There is a Chasidic vertel (small vort) that goes something like this -
It says in the beginning of parshas Noach,נח איש צדיק (בראשית ו:ט). Rashi there comments from Chazal, יש מרבותינו דורשים לשבח, ויש שדורשים לגנאי (some of our Rabbis interpret this in a positive way, that Noach was a tzadik in his weak generation, all the more so would he have been in a stronger one, while others interpret it negatively, that in his spiritually meager generation he was considered righteous, but in a better generation he would not have been).
So the Hasidic comment notes that Rashi only uses the term מרבותינו (of our rabbis) when mentioning the positive interpretation, and not with the negative one. Why, it continues? To show us that someone who interprets negatively is not worthy of being called one of our rabbis.
Update: Our dear friend and commenter who goes here by the moniker of Old Litvak, has given us a source for this in ספר פרדס יוסף (lower left of page - more below in comments section).
Litvish analysis and Fact check
Though Hasidim and neo-Hasidim like the TYH folk may like that, it doesn't hold water. As seen in the beginning of פרשת ויקהל, which we just read, in שמות לה:ג, where Rashi cites a different machlokes, about fire on Shabbos. He also cites a first opinion with the expression מרבותינו there, while omitting it when afterward citing a second one, even though this not a case where one side is a positive interpretation and the other a negative one. Showing us that that just is the way of Rashi (perhaps, or should I say likely, to economize on verbiage and letters in the days before printing, when things were written by hand).
Another baseless Hasidic "feel-good" vertel bites the dust.
We must search for truth in Torah and life, rather than trying to force preconceived notions onto the text where they don't fit.
ברוך אלקינו שנתן לנו תורת אמת
In the zechus of אמת may we be zoche to the great ברכות that go along with it.
א גוטע וואך און א גוטען חודש
Berel Lazar, the head of Chabad-Lubavitch in Russia, is one of the most prominent Chabadskers around today. The jet-setting Italian born leader cuts a dashing figure among his fellow followers of the Crown Heights, NY, faith, and is a leading player in global Lubavitch propaganda. He poses as "Chief Rabbi of Russia" (a questionable title, which anyway, he gained through manipulation and machination by the Chabad-Lubavitch in conjunction with the Russian government), which leads some people, who don't know the background of it, to treat him with greater deference and respect than if he would just be another Chabad-Lubavitch agent. It (sometimes) gives him access to places where he might not be welcomed otherwise. Of course, Chabad-Lubavitch deliberately promotes this, describing him as "Chief Rabbi of Russia" to outsiders, while among themselves, on the other hand, his claim to fame is being the head of Chabad-Lubavitch there, sent by their late leader.
Recently, I was surprised to see that Project Inspire was advertising Lazar prominently as a featured guest at their upcoming convention. That is sad, as it is part of Aish HaTorah, which historically, has maintained a distance from Lubavitch. R. Noach Weinberg zt"l is not shepping nachas from such a deviation from the path he laid out. Also, at a recent Lazar event in Eretz Yisrael, some representatives of the Litvishe yeshiva world participated. Evidently, some people don't understand what Lazar is about, so to help you grasp what he represents, I will share some information.
Exhibit one: As we posted in the past, in the 1993, a young Berel Lazar participated in a big Lubavitch messianic event, led by the late Shmuel Butman, promoting their late leader as Messiah, in the days when he was ill, following his stroke, before he passed away. You can see very clearly in the Chabad video, a young Berel Lazar, head of Chabad-Lubavitch in Russia, promoting his late Rebbe as Messiah, and bellowing יחי אדוננו וכו (click to play relevant segment).
Now perhaps one might say, that was a long time ago, what about more recently. That leads us to the next piece.
Exhibit two: This past summer there was a Shloshim gathering after the passing of Moshe Kotlarsky. Lazar spoke at it, ending with "there should be the real simcha with the התגלות (revelation) of the Rebbe" (just after 36:15 in the recording). Evidently he still holds him as Messiah.
Exhibit three: Less than three months ago, speaking at Lubavitch HQ in Brooklyn, Lazar stated "העולם כבר רואה שהמרכז של הכל הוא חב"ד" ('the world already sees that the center of everything is Chabad'). Click to see and hear.
These remarks, at Lubavitch events, to fellow Chabad-Lubavitch followers, show his essence. Of course, elsewhere, as typical among Lubavitchers, he is more guarded in his remarks generally, when among others.
The point that must be stressed here, is that a Lubavitcher going under another name or title is still a Lubavitcher. Even if he may call himself Rabbi rather than Shliach at times, he still is a Lubavitcher, and still must be held at a distance, as Rav Schach זצוקללה"ה, and other gedolim, who were very aware of the wiles and deceptions of Chabad-Lubavitch, taught us.
In the zechus of following our great גדולים, may הקב"ה grant us בשורות טובות, וימי גאולה וישועה בקרוב.
א גוטען חודש
In the past we have discussed here serious problems with a certain neo-Hasidic group and some of their activities, including the children's kiddie jingle "Every Yid's a Big Tzaddik", which they promote for all.
However, we needn't despair, it is possible for even a seriously flawed song, message, individual, or group, to be rectified and gain a תיקון. In that spirit, we share corrected lyrics for it (with the flawed, rejected lyrics crossed out nearby, for ease of comparison, contrast), to hopefully bring the catchy tune into compliance with mainstream traditional Torah Yiddishkeit.
Noach was an איש צדיק, Noach was an איש צדיק
Noach was a big tzaddik, Noach was a big tzaddik
From his keppeleh to his fiselech, Noach was an איש צדיק
From his keppeleh to his fiseleh, Noach was a big tzaddik
Noach was an איש צדיק, Noach was an איש צדיק
Noach was a big tzaddik, Noach was a big tzaddik
From his keppeleh to his fiselech, Noach was an איש צדיק
From his keppeleh to his fiseleh, Noach was a big tzaddik
Every Yid can be a tzaddik, every Yid can be a tzaddik,
Every Yid's a big tzaddik, every Yid's a big tzaddik
Every Yid can be a tzaddik, every Yid can be a tzaddik,
Every Yid's a big tzadik, every Yid's a big tzaddik
From his keppeleh (head) to his fiselech (feet), every Yid can be a tzaddik
From his keppeleh to his fiseleh, every Yid's a big tzaddik
Instead of the delusional, dangerous falsehood in the other version, which leads to depression and disillusionment when it encounters real life, our version is realistic and hopeful at the same time. So if you are in a place where you cannot escape the song entirely, raise it up, be מתקן it, by substituting our lyrics.
May we be זוכה, merit בקרוב, to the day when ועמך כלם צדיקים will be a reality, אכי"ר.
