what budget crunch?

In the past I've wasted my time writing about the proliferation of luxurious Pesach getaways, which continue to increase in number. I keep telling myself, "kein yirbu!" as obviously it means a good measure of acheinu Bnei Yisrael are not suffering from any budget crunch whatsoever and all those kollelim and yeshivos that are on the verge of closing will be thriving again. Yes, I am being sarcastic. Even cynical me did a double-take when I saw an ad last week for "Lizensk VIP - -"First class, first time ever!" Four star hotels, gourmet catering, new coach buses so you can travel between hotel and R' Elimelech's kever in comfort. And on the side of the ad, in little letters: "Parnasa, shidduchim, yeshu'os v'refu'os." I guess after you plunk down whatever this trip costs, you better hope for that parnasa bracha. Am I the only one who sees any irony in an ad promoting luxury, comfort, etc. for a trip to R' Elimelech of Lizenk's kever? Is this really what R' Elimelech wanted people thinking about?

Just open to this week's parsha: "P"sol lecha..." Chazal darshen that the p'soles, the leftover scraps from the carving of the luchos, were "lecha," given to Moshe. The Noam Elimelech explains that Hashem was telling Moshe that the "lecha"'s is life, what we think we need for our own parnasa, our own comfort, our own needs, are to be looked looked at as p'soles, unimportant, something to be pushed aside, certainly not something that should motivate us in our avodas Hashem. Is this the Reb Elimelech that you go to visit because you are reassured you will be put up in a four star hotel and served gourmet meals (chassidishe shechita, of course)!?

It's a bracha l'vatalah to discuss these things, so maybe I'll take this post down later. I shouldn't rant. Ads like this are why I am completely opposed to so-called Jewish newspapers. At least when I read a secular newspaper I have no pretenses about why I am reading it and the newspaper makes no pretense about who it is aimed at. What is far more dangerous is the ta'aroves of tov v'ra in so-called Jewish papers, where you can delude yourself into thinking there is some value to reading them and becoming exposed to a warped version of Judaism that is portrayed as mainstream.

Instead of travelling to Lizensk, open a Noam Elimelech and learn a little. It will bring far more nachas ruach to R' Elimelech in shamayim as well as to your own neshoma.