R' Shlomo Rechnitz, the famous philanthropist, at the Mir Simchas Beis Hashoeva last Succos:
You can watch it here from the 2:50 mark.
I want to preface my remarks this evening with the following very detailed disclosures.
Firstly, there is no secret that LETZAREINU HARAV, there is strife and discord in today’s OILOM HAYESHIVOS. I can’t tell you the reasons behind the dispute, I can’t tell you with certainty who is siding with who in this conflict, I definitely don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong, nor am I sure that there is a right and a wrong. What I CAN tell you is that the publicity and the outright CHILUL HASHEM that this causes on a daily basis, is beyond belief, without precedent, and is creating a HASHCHOSO, a carnage which can only lead to the obliteration of KLAL YISROEL as we know it today. Although I’m not considered a MAVEN in Jewish history, I cannot say for certain that this is not one of the biggest divides and unrest that KLAL YISROEL has faced throughout her rich history. It is a natural phenomena that when people are enmeshed and embroiled, especially in a dispute that has lasted a while, there comes a point where they lose their objectivity, which can at times cause them to become irrational, skewed in their reasoning and unyielding in their views.
Sometimes a new set of outside eyes, or an impartial view is in order.
You’d be right if you would ask why the opinion of a PRUSTEH BALEBUS from a different country should carry any weight or should even have the audacity to inject himself into something that is out his p league and over his pay scale, and in fact you would be right for asking, or better yet, you would be mostly right. But I and other TOMCHEI TORAH, have a right to know the final destination of our contributions.
MOIRAY VERABOISAY.
I’m here to let you know that I’ve never signed up for this, so let me be perfectly clear. I know there were CHILUKEI DEIOS between several GEDOILIM, and in fact, throughout our heritage there has been many disagreements where we may have accepted one parties’ argument, but we all agreed that “EILU VAEILU DIVREI ELOIKIM CHAYIM”. Unfortunately, in this 7 year unprecedented battle we have all taken it to new heights and new places, places that are very dangerous to lurk in. There’s clearly no problem if anyone or everyone follows the advice of their Rov or their Rosh Yeshiva. KLAL YISROEL always had different M‘SOIROS, but to go even one inch beyond that and to higher it to new levels, or discuss it in a way that will lead to provocation, to SINAH or to MACHLOKES, is where you have clearly overstepped your boundary in a dangerous way. And therein lies my personal NEGIOS. I try and have tried for the past twenty years to support Torah and Chesed, to attempt in my own little way to assure the continuity of KI HEIM CHAYEINU VOIRECH YOMEINU. Anything I was able to be MENADEV came solely from SIYATA DISHMAYA, but I can also assure you that I’ve invested my share of HISHTADLUS, I therefore want to be clear that even though I presume this message is not NOGEA to anyone here, and also, as I BESHITA will not hold YESHIVOS and their TALMIDIM accountable for the bad behavior of a very vocal minority, I would like to officially state that anyone who includes themselves in the ugliness of trying to convert this from a mere CHILUKEI DEIOS to an outright destructive MACHLOKES in a public manner, should not and cannot be NEHENE from any money that I contribute.
Every year as just a few weeks ago, we recite the TEFILAS ZAKA as we enter into Yom Kippur. It is towards the beginning of this TEFILA that we state unconditionally that we are Mochel anybody and everybody for AVEIROS SHE’BEIN ADAM L’CHAVEIRO. However we make a few exclusions to that MECHILA. I believe the LOSHON is, “חוץ מממון שאוכל להוציא על פי דין או על אלה שאומרים אחטא לו והוא ימחל לי” , to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t need to be MOCHEL money that is retrievable trough BEIS DIN as I have probably and unfortunately have already been MEYAESH on that money, and as far as people who contemplate on causing me HEZEK, relying on the probability that I will be MOCHEL them, NU NU.
But this year was the first year that I specifically intentionally decided not to ever be MOCHEL any of these baa’lei riv, she’loi Lishmah who benefit from the little TZEDAKA that I give, as he is now a pure outright GANEV or GAZLEN, depending on the circumstances.
Again, I apologize, but I never signed up for this.
And let me just assure you that whether or not you’ve ever given this any thought, you’d realize that 99.99% of these rumors, of these SHMUOS, of the negative negative speech that you have heard, is considered “עד מפי עד ” which is EIDUS that would not be acceptable in any BEIS DIN. Even in secular courts it is considered hearsay and is inadmissible to any judicial proceedings. This law is for but one reason, and that is because these rumors Etc Etc are predominately lies or MOITZI SHEM RA without a SHEMETZ or RAGLAYIM of what is the actual EMES.
If your MESOIRO is to get your information from computer blogs, WhatsApp etc etc and Friends who have very “Reliable” sources, you’ll surely be included in those that are “יורדים לגיהנום ואינם עולים ”
Just a few weeks ago, a message came out on WhatsApp regarding myself and a certain ROSH HAYESHIVA. I heard about it a little later as I was never Zoche to get WhatsApp, and not only was it SHEKER VECHOZOV, but I can personally be מעיד , that this particular ROSH HAYESHIVA did not accept BOCHRIM and YUNGELITE from both parties, as his criteria was not who your REBBI was or what faction you came from, rather it was whether the subject TALMID was ever involved in discussing this so called MACHLOIKES publicly and trying to REITZ UN the OILOM.
What right does this ROSH YESHIVA have after a MESOIRO of over 200 years avoiding MACHLOIKES, to allow even a potential risk?
MOIRAI VERABOISAY.
אוי מה היה לנו
Your innocent children who are now 11 or 12 years old, know of nothing but Machloikes, they consider MACHLOIKES the expected way of living. They’ve been inundated with enough terms to be MEVAZEH every GODOL in KLAL YISROEL. They have no CHASHIVUS for YAHADUS, their sole interest is with political parties and they’ve lost all TMIMUS of TINOIKOIS SHEL BEIS RABON.
אוי מה היה לנו
Our children are BA’ALEI MUM.
Thirty years ago, when I first came to ERETZ YISROEL to learn in the MIR yeshiva, I basically arrived during the week of the first Intifada. I actually sat in jail for three days for merely attending and watching a HAFGANAH. I remember like yesterday that it was Reb Aaron who didn’t leave until I was released. The protest was the result of a deadly event where an Arab on a full Egged bus grabbed control of the steering wheel of the bus and dragged it down the steep hills of telzstone. Everyone was killed R’L. But even then you could sense that the Arabs were acting somewhat out of character due to Israel not responding to any of their demands. If there could have ever been a successful peace process, it would have been then. But today, despite the good intentions and the high intelligence of Jared Kushner, we will never see a peace agreement in our lifetime. This is because since the age of four and five, the Arabs have infused and ingrained into their children an unconscionable and irrevocable hatred for all Jews with no exceptions. The same young age when we YIDDEN, LEHAVDIL, begin teaching our children ”Torah tzivah Lanu Moshe”
RABOISAY,
הלא למשמע אוזן דאבה נפשנו
We have ruined and are continuing to ruin on a daily basis the continuation of KLAL YISROEL. BEDERECH HATEVA, there can be no way that these children will grow up without an inborn SINAH to their shchainim, to some of their relatives, to the Gedolim? Who is going to fix our children? Who is going to take ACHRAYUS for a new DOR of קרח ועדתו ?
אוי מה היה לנו
We all know the famous MEDRASH were the ABISHTER would not give the TORAH to his nation without AREIVIM. We first offered him the AVOS HAKDOSHIM, but that didn’t satisfy the ABISHTER, so we slowly went down the pole till we hit the TINOKOS SHEL BEIS RABON, and only to them was HASHEM MASKIM that their ARVUS was sufficient for him to give us his TORAH.
Who are our AREIVIM today? What guaranties us that the ABISHTER will keep his TORAH with us?
אוי מה היה לנו
There is a crazy phenomena in the world today which despite how nonsensical it sounds, it seems to be gaining ground. These are the crazy holocaust deniers. How different are we, when you should ask any child in Yerushalayim, KIRYAT SEFER etc etc to describe the holocaust to you and to describe to you the deadly hatred and almost robotic atrocities of a Nazim YIMACH SHMOM VEZICHROM. What kind of horrible Clop is it to the six Million KEDOSHIM that were killed AL KIDDUSH HASHEM? What type of sheer abuse would be caused when that child answered a holocaust survivor that a NAZI is a FRUM BOCHUR or YUNGERMAN that decides for one reason or another to join the army, and the whole holocaust is just a collection of these so called NAZI’S?
Maybe I am wrong and this is all OK as long as you attend first SEDER with SHMIRAS HASDORIM.
Why are we letting the vocal minority seemingly represent us and causing something so unprecedented? Do you really want to be involved in politics so badly? Then help me grow a new party that I’m starting called מי להשם אלי where we take a zero tolerance stance against those who don’t seem to know how to properly use the filter that HASHEM placed between their minds and their mouths.
I warn you again, you have no right to steal my money. I’m not interested in your TORAH, I’m not interested in your TEFILOS, I’m not interested in your MAASIM TOIVIM. You can keep it all!
The GEMARA at the end of SANHEDRIN learns the ISUR of MACHLOKES from the PASUK of לא יהיה כקרח ועדתו which always puzzled me. Firstly, these were 250 TALMIDEI CHACHOMIM, מומחים בהלכה , and ראשי סנהדרין , why would the PASUK just not say not to be כקרח ועדתו only LEGABEY MACHLOIKES, as 95 percent of their YIDDISKEIT was KODOSH VETOHOIR? Secondly, where else in the TORAH, by any מצוות עשה or מצוות לא תעשה , is the commandment based on a person or a group of people? For example, instead of לא תרצח it would just say לא תהיה כקין, or instead of לא תעשה כל מלאכה on SHABBOS, it would say לא תהיה כצלפחד ?
The TERUTZ is obvious, the TORAH was not merely telling us not to be involved in a MACHLOKES, the TORAH is telling us not to be the same as a BAAL MACHLOKES in any and all ways, and since קרח ועדתו were involved in MACHLOKES, the TORAH is telling us, don’t be like them at all, in any fashion, not their MACHLOKES, not their TORAH, not their TEFILOIS, just be nothing like them in any possible fashion?
From the little I understand, this so called MACHLOKES has to do with going to the army. On my PLEITZUS, if you have a choice to be involved in a MACHLOKES or to go to the army (and I’m obviously not referring to גיוס בנות), then you should definitely go to the army. As a matter of fact, YOU’RE already in the army! You’re starting fires, You’re throwing stones, your throwing people out of their homes and BOTEI MIDRASHIM. You’re trying to kill the other side. The only difference between you and the IDF is that their uniforms are green and yours are black.
In 1976 for those of you who are not aware, there was a airplane high jacked from Israel and diverted to ANTEBBE, UGANDA. I heard over from general DAN SHOMRON, that on the secret stealth flight to ANTEBEE to be MEKAYEM PIDYOIN SHVUYIM, there were no conversations. Rather, for hours, they sang over and over, הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד. Yes. When push comes to shove, all אחינו בני ישראל understand that nothing protects us more then אחדות.
