The Belzer Rebbe's tremendous personal caring and concern for those involved in the tragedy at Merkaz haRav has been publicized in many places already, but this article I think is one of the most moving.
At the opposite extreme, and I hate to even mention it in the same post, this report is simply mind boggling.
I need to point out the second blog is not the most Trustworthy source for news
ReplyDeleteI can't vouch for the accuracy of the report, but the fact that people would defend such comments and accuse those of challenging them as lacking kavod hatorah just goes to show the degree to which some people have achieved complete bitul hada'as in every sense of the term. (It's probably easier to get to such a state when you don't have much da'as to begin with.)
ReplyDeleteAbout 20 years ago I had a conversation with Rav Simcha Wasserman ZTL and he told me there are two types of leaders. One type is a leader for his community but then there are Yechidim who are concerned with all of klal yisroel in addition to thier own community. As an example of the second type he used the Belzer and Lubavitcher Rebbes.
ReplyDeleteSince that conversation it changed my view of leadership. I have to add that then there are Neviei Sheker who contend and claim leadership vedal...
The individual we are talking about is a kodosh vetohor lechol hadei'os. He is a marbitz Torah through his two kollelim as well as a sought after mochi'ach and baal mussar. I'm not saying my opinion about the alleged content of his speech, but I would like to suggest three things:
ReplyDelete1. Being a kodosh ve'tohor does not necessarily make a person a godol in hashkafa like the Maharal or the Chazon Ish. These are very different skills, though they are often confused.
2. There are people it is healthier to not criticize, even if you have the Rambam's blithe disregard for magical thinking.
3. On the first link in your post, Yirbu kemoso be'yisroel. On the second, let's remember that Beis Shammai is as important to our intellectual heritage as Beis Hillel.