letter to a person who works in kiruv

You have to be proactive. You have to reach out to people, stay close to them.  It's not just about being available to talk. The frum world is a jungle. It's packed with super dominating people who prey on the vulnerable. They want followers, they want bodies in their schools, they want BT money. Most of them don't understand baalei teshuvah at all, don't know that they don't understand, and really don't care that they don't understand. 

A BT is like a child. We don't know anything and are easily impressed by anyone who can lead Mincha. We are swayed, conned even. We are told to wave fruit, wear boxes on our heads, and to slaughter Midianite children. Our brains get so confused. And they tell us to shut off our brains. Even in the Modern Orthodox worlds this happens. Every group is at war with the others and the BTs are cannon fodder for this. 

If you bring people in, you have to stay with them, offering them good material. Tell them about Rav Hirsch, Rav Soloveitchik, Aryeh Kaplan, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rav Avigdor Miller -- all the people from whom there is ample material in English that is designed for BTs. The BT yeshivas don't tell you about any of them. They just stuff you in a Gemara. It's not enough to send them off to Ohr Somayach. You have to call, say how is it going? Can I help with anything? How are you feeling? Come for Shabbos. Can we meet for lunch? Visit them in their home - usually a run down room somewhere. You have to stay involved like you would for your own children. A kiruv organization has to have programs for people who made the leap into the whirlwind. Otherwise, stay out of kiruv. 

It's not necessarily so easy or pleasant to do this. Most BTs go through hardcore adjustment challenges. They can be hard to deal with. No matter. If you want to be in kiruv, this is what has to be done. If you want the merit of outreach, it's not all fun and games.

Rav Moshe Sternbuch said: "The Kesef Mishne (end of Ch. 6 of H. Ovos Hatumah) writes that a mikveh does not effect purification for a person still immersed in it, but only he has left it. Similarly, those who engage in outreach work must realize that they cannot make do with delivering several shiurim in the hope that they will have the desired effect. Even those who become observant can fall by the wayside after the initial period, if they do not receive emotional support subsequently. Their mentors must follow in the footsteps of Avrohom ovinu. He did not make do with making speeches and inspiring his followers, but rather became a father for many thousands of his followers, who became members of his household. It is especially incumbent on kiruv organizations to ensure that young people find appropriate marriage partners."

There is material available to help people to hold onto their brains, their individuality. But you need to have it handy because the frum world isn't handing it out. For example, from the Maharal:

Maharal: One should not reject something which is against one’s views… especially if it is not presented as an attack on religion but is simply an honest expression of the other person’s understanding of faith. Even if it is against one’s religious faith, he should not say, “Be quiet and shut your mouth.” Because if one silences questions there will not be a clarification of that person’s religious understanding. In fact, such a person should be encouraged to speak and fully express how he feels. If sincere questions are silenced that is indicative that the religion is weak and needs to be protected from inquiry. This attitude is the opposite of what some people think. They mistakenly think that silencing questions strengthens religious faith. In fact, however, suppressing of dissent and questions indicates a weak religion. Thus, we find with our ancestors that even if they found something in books against religion, they would not simply reject it.  (Baer HaGolah #6)

Have a booklet of stuff like that, and give it to people. They are going to need it. I have collected such material but it took me 35 years. Most of it came way too late. 

Again, you have to be proactive. Don't sit around waiting for the BT to call you with questions. Provide the material. Build a proper kiruv organization that has resources.  

If you meet people who are more mystical, tell them about Chassidus or Kabbalah. If you meet people who are clean and organized, tell them about the Yekkes in Washington Heights. If you meet people who are philosophical, tell them about Rabbi Soloveitchik. If you do nothing but sit back and wait for them to call you, they are going to get swallowed up by the yeshiva crowd as they are the most aggressive and ruthless really. 

Tell them about the expensiveness of Orthodox Jewish life. They need to be warned. Tell them that the quantity of people of the opposite sex that is available to them has just gone from 500 million to about 50 people. If they meet somebody decent, they have to realize that this may be it. Don't assume there's somebody else. But tell them no to rush it. BTs need to take more time when they date. 

There's lots of information that needs to be shared. 

Rinse and repeat.

Here's Manalism in a nutshell. This life is for Torah learning. By Torah they mean Gemara. By Gemara they mean lomdus which is argumentative abstraction on a small portion of the Gemara. Not mesechta Brochos or Moed Katan, not halacha about even the Yeshivishes mesechtas, not aggadatah which comprises 1/6 of the Talmud, not Mishnayos. Well, aggadatah about the importance of Torah learning - that will get some airplay. 

You have children - lots of them - because someday they'll study this Gemara lomdus. Everything is for the god of Gemara lomdus. Since a person can’t eat his argumentative abstractions, he needs lots of money to fund this activity that he’s told to do all day long. He gets this from other people via the employment of guilt. Like Christianity or any idolatry, the Manalist godhead has muliple parts: Gemara, the gelt to pay for it, and the guilt to manipulate others into supplying the money.

Everything else is nourishkite. What about the other mitzvos? You can't totally deny them. They are after all the main topic of the Gemara.

That’s covered with guilt. As one YU Rosh Yeshiva told me when I asked why we do mitzvos. “You gotta do what you gotta do,” he said. I didn't get a warm feeling about mitzvos from that utterance. He made them seem like a nuisance. To the Manalist, mitzvos don’t matter much, but you gotta do some of them, at least superficially. Gemara, gelt, and guilt.

This Manalism in a nutshell. But I’m not simplifying it. This is exactly how they’ll describe it. You can hear 100 speeches on hashkafa from Manalists, and this is all they’ll say, over and over again. 

The main instrument for guilt is threats about eternity. That's where you get schar or onesh forever. What's schar? It's never really explained. It's amorphous. It's a buzz word. "Schar." I think most people think of it as a kind of money. How do you get this schar? Gemara lomdus. If you don't get the schar, you get onesh, which is a mysterious punishment, the worst that you can ever imagine, beyond that even. It's so bad they can't describe it to you. See what a tight little system they have? Once you step inside, you are locked inside forever. You can't get out. 

You are not allowed to question all of this. Who do you think you are? You are a nothing, you are a nobody. Chutzpah!

But this outlook contradicts Koheles which says the sum of the matter is to fear God and keep His commandments.

We listen to the Gadolim in our times.

The Vilna Gaon, who lived in modern times, said the purpose of Torah study is keeping mitzvos. He said the purpose of life is to fix the middos. He said to study all parts of the Torah and put argumentative abstraction last in the sequence, not to replace everything with it. 

We listen to the gadolim of our generation. 

What about Torah scholars who dispute this approach?

They are not gadolim. Our gadolim decide who are gadolim.

So let’s see what happened here. There was a Har Sinai where a Torah was given. But we don’t obey that Torah, we obey the interpretation of some of the contemporary leaders as appointed by power-brokers. And if we don’t follow, we are humiliated, ostracized and sentenced to hell. 

But this is not a cult even though it employs all the tricks of cults, and why not, because unlike cults we have the Mesorah, (actual quote from a rabbi at an American Kollel) which is the instruction of God. This is what they’ll you. 

And cults don’t say that too? 

We are not a cult we have the Mesorah. 

Rinse and repeat.

It's all quite a contrast to what you were told when you were becoming frum. Then, you heard about mitzvos. You were invited for Shabbos. You were told about lashon hara, about family purity. It all sounded so noble, a life of sanctified activity. You were told that in Judaism you can ask questions. You were told that the leaders were so wise and loving. 

And you believed it.

In the cult world, this is called deceptive recruiting. But we can't use those words around here, they have too many syllables. It's goyish.

They promised you a noble life infused with wisdom. Come inside they said. You weren't sure, but you were coaxed into trusting strangers. 

Advice for BTs

Tips for Baalei Teshuvah and Converts

1) The goal is God. Connect to Him, serve Him, love, fear -- there are many ways to describe it. We don't usually do it directly. He doesn't shake your hand. We do it through Torah, mitzvos, tefillah, chesed - through Jewish life. There are many ways to do it, many derachim. Find the one that works for you. The one may consist of numerous derachim patched together. It may contain your own innovations. You’ll meet people who seem happily Litivsh, Mizrachi, or Bobov et. al., but they were likely raised that way. You don’t have to jam yourself into a derech. As you connect to Hashem you'll feel that something positive is happening. Sometimes that involves feeling protected and loved, sometimes it involves seeing things to work on within yourself. It doesn't mean that you feel like you are flying, but it's generally positive. If you find yourself around people that are taking you away from God, get away from them. 

2) Hold on to your brain. Changing over your life, you become vulnerable. And you'll meet many people who overwhelm you. Jews have a tendency to dominate. Don't lose yourself. Your mind, instincts, and basic dignity should be protected. When you know nothing about a topic, you tend to get impressed by people who know anything. That means any Frum from birth (FFB) person. But in time you'll see that many FFBs actually know very little, are very narrow, are full of cliches. Even if they know something, they know nothing about baalei tesvhuah or converts and their needs. This includes many so-called rabbis. When you surrender your brain, you have entered a cult. Yes, mentors can be helpful in life, but you need to think for yourself, trust your instincts. 

3) Look after your basic human needs. You need to have a parnassah in a field you enjoy, you need to marry a spouse you like, you need to live in a place that you feel positive about. Don't surrender all that to "Torah." You don't have to live in poverty and boredom. Protect your basic human dignity. Believe it or not, there are people who will try to take that away from you. Walking around terrified and neurotic is not dignified. Feeling horrible about yourself is not helpful either.

4) Ignore all the internecine fighting. Most of that is male ego, each guy thinking his team is the best team. All the derachim have merits. Even Open Orthodoxy has its merits. So do Satmar, Chabad. They all have merits. The yeshiva world in particular has made a lifestyle of mocking and condemning all the other groups and they have this way of sounding noble about it. But such mockering isn't noble. It's lashon hara and ego. All the nitpicking and slamming are a distraction to you.

5) Don't leap. Step by step, slowly, slowly you proceed. Grow a little, absorb it, grow some more. It is very dangerous to leap. Throwing away all your interests is very dangerous. You like golf, wonderful. The immodest materials should go, but the golf clubs can stay. Actually, Rabbi Avigdor Miller was asked by a guy what to do with his dirty magazine. R' Miller said, I can tell by the way you are asking that you have many. Start by getting rid of one of them, he said. Slowly, slowly. 

6) You don't need to go to yeshiva. Some people get ruined in yeshiva. None of them really are built for baalei teshuvah. Mostly they are just yeshivas, staffed by people who are looking for a parnassah who don't know anything but Gemara study. They enjoyed an entire childhood of gradual introduction to Torah and mitzvos. As adults, they came to focus on Gemara lomdus, and that that’s where they start you. It's very selfish really, or ignorant at best. They don't go to teacher's colleges for BTs. Hardly any yeshivas are designed for BTs. I don't recommend any place wholeheartedly, but a few can be helpful. Find a place that has classes in Hebrew language, mitzvos, basic halacha, history, basic principles like emunah, and Tanach. Find a place that gives meaningful answers to the many questions you will have. If questions are disdained or treated flippantly or rudely, run. For men, some Mishnah and Gemara are important too. Women can study these subjects if they want. But it should come with an introduction, some background on the Talmud, some history, some discussion of its style which is very different from what you find the textbook that you are used to. You can’t just open up to page 2 and begin.

7)  You don't need to go to Israel. Torah can be kept anywhere, at least anywhere there's a Chabad house, better still if there's a larger shul and a school.  You don't need to even visit Israel. Some benefit from it, some really get hurt by it. It's hard to even say the word Israel without the brain just summonsing up propaganda. The place has its merits and its problems. It's not a dream land. It won't solve all your problems. It's not coming home to family. It’s hard to earn a living there. And most likely, it's a very different culture from what you are used to. Make sure you can deal with it before you trudge on out there. 

8) Don't base your life on a rav. You lead your own life. If you can even find a rabbi that is actually helpful, that has more than 4 seconds for you, he shouldn't replace your own brain. People today really exaggerate about this idea of having a rav. Sure, like anything, it helps to have a mentor. In Chabad they call it a mashpia, an influencer, a mentor. I think that's a healthier approach. In the yeshiva world, they use the term rav and mean by that oftentimes a master to a slave. It's generally a pretty scary thing to watch in my opinion. But many people on their own are pretty lost and do need inspiration and guidance. Lots of that you can get from books and recordings. We all need help in life and some rabbis can be helpful. But there are limits to all that. Some are very harmful. Few understand BTs and even less understand converts. Again, it's complicated. 

9) Declutter. All human beings have unhealthy attitudes and habits. For the BT, there are all kinds of 'goyish', if I can call it that, mindsets to get away from. Many of the goyish mindsets are really secular Jewish ones. Those can be the worst. Worship of college, feminism, career worship, excessive frivolity, materialism, secular Zionism, trying to change the world, whining - there are all things one should try to transcend. Use the garbage can, meaning declutter. Throw away the foolish attitudes. It takes time. But God will help you. Side note, FFBs have their own foolishness.

10) Don't throw away everything you enjoy but get headphones. You don't have to throw all your CDs in the garbage, but don't play them out loud in the house either. Get headphones. This applies to many things. You like baseball? So go to a game. Go play baseball. You don’t necessarily have to bring your kids. Let your kids be FFBs. You be a BT. They don't have to hear about every secular thing you have ever been a part of. Some of it has merit, but still, your kids are better off not hearing about most of it. It gets too confusing, and they may not be as able to separate the good from the bad. However, don’t be a tyrant. Don’t be terrified of anything secular coming into the house. You can’t stop it all.

11) Don't put off marriage but don't rush into one.  Torah study is not more important than marriage. The first mitzvah in the Torah is 'be fruitful and multiply', which means marriage. Don't push it off. The best ones get taken, you age, you lose your looks and fertility. You become set in your ways. Younger is better. However, don't rush into a marriage. Take whatever time is needed. Six months maybe. Sometimes a year. BTs go through many changes and are pressured to put on an act, so you need more time to sort things out. You don't need to be perfectly certain about wanting to marry the other person, but you should get to know him or her. That means, stay out of restaurants. You can't get to know anyone at a restaurant. Be in different settings. Have a normal relationship. That means ladies, do some of the work! Make a picnic for him. If you put everything on the guy, then you will not have a normal relationship. Dating doesn't mean that you do a paranoid investigation, it means "getting to know you, getting to learn all about you." Don't look for perfection. You are not perfect either. Enjoy the person in all their complexity. And remember that the person in front of you was put there by Hashem, so don't condescend, don't disdain this opportunity.

12) Value all the mitzvos. Many in the yeshiva world will have you believe that only one mitzvah matters, ie. Gemara lomdus. There are 613 mitzvos and all of them are very important. All of them envelope you like a warm coat in the winter. What? Talmud Torah c’neged culam they keep telling you. What does that even mean? C’neged doesn’t mean greater. It doesn’t even mean equal. The Talmud says also that tzedukah is c’neged culam. Bris milah is c’neged culam. Chazal say the same about Shabbos, tzitzis, Eretz Yisroel, and lashon hara. So it’s not so simple. Shlomo HaMelech said the sum of the matter is to fear/be in awe of Hashem and to keep the commandments. That’s a good rule of thumb.

13) Study the subject of cults. The line in the frum world is that sure there are cults in the world, but we don't have that. Well, we do have that, in varying forms. Be able to spot traits of cults - deceptive recruiting, isolation, personality breakdown, brain washing/propaganda, us vs them mentality, thought stopping, phobia inducement, idolization of self-appointed leaders, control of one's live, devaluation of your mind. Be careful out there. People don't join cults willingly. They get fooled. Really smart people can get fooled. Torah observant Judaism in its pure form is not, in my opinion, a cult. But frum life today can be very cultish. 

14) Take pride in your accomplishment. You have done something amazing, something only a small percentage of Jews do. If you are a convert, even better. You'll be treated as something of a second-class citizen in the OJ world, sometimes less than that. But ignore that. You are a prince or princess.  

15) Consider the following resources. Your handlers may never mention any of the following to you even once, but these are good resources for BTs. Rav Aryeh Kaplan, Chabad, Rav Avigdor Miller, Rav Samson Rafael Hirsch, Rav Yosef Soloveitchik, Yeshiva University’s www.yutorah.org, Professor Marc Shapiro, Web Yeshiva, Torah In Motion.

16) Don’t Let Them Get the Best of You. The OJ world has some nice people and some not-so-nice people. Many BTs are alarmed by the ubiquitous abrasive personalities that they encounter. Just ignore them and move on. Don’t let them turn you off. Develop a thick skin. Judaism is your heritage. Don’t let anyone take it away from you.

17) Money is required. Raising a frum family is expensive. You need six figures to get by. Try to get a good parnassah and don’t be one of these people who floats about in your idealism, flying off to Eretz Yisroel every 3 months, lingering in yeshiva forever, or wasting your money on restaurants. Ladies, that means you too. Save your pennies. Don’t live luxuriously assuming some rich man will save you.

18) The world you come from is not empty. The world you come from is not all ‘narishkite.’ You learned many useful things there, and you may continue to. Don’t erase your brain or your experience. Utilize it. Moshe learned important ideas about leadership in the house of Pharaoh.   

19) Women are not better than men. They are not more spiritual. All of that talk is really disguised chauvinism. It’s silly. It’s false. I can show you dozens of Torah sources that back my statement. Men and women are different. They have different roles. The women are better talk leads to shalom bayis problems.

20) Don’t be bitter. Find solutions. This is true in all of life and here too. If you can’t deal with conventional roles, carve out something different. As the Queen used to say, “don’t complain, don’t explain.” Just do your thing. Maybe keep it private. You don’t have to broadcast your strategies to the world.  

more about cults

 

In my opinion, Orthodox Judaism as it’s written in the books is not a cult. A primary trait of cults is singular thinking. OJ is quite diverse by design. For example, there is a view that God interacts with us as needed and there is a view that He interacts constantly such that He determines how a leaf falls. That’s a big difference. Another example, there’s a view that bitachon alone will produce your parnassah and there’s a view that it has to be combined with work. There’s a view that Torah is greater than mitzvos, a view that mitzvos are greater than Torah, and a view that Torah is greater because it leads to mitzvos. There’s a view that gilgulim exist and a view that they don’t. There’s a view that God cannot take any corporal form and a view that He can. There’s a view that Moshiach can come back from the dead and a view that he can’t. I can list hundreds of these differences of opinion. The Gemara and the Midrash are full of debate that keep the mind agile and thinking. This doesn’t happen in cults.

 

Cults isolate you. OJ as outlined in the halacha does not stop you from reading the newspaper, or hearing from people on the left or right. It says only that it’s best not to read illicit material or that which promotes idol worship.

 

Cults take your money. The halacha says only to give 5 to 10% to a charity of your choice. Otherwise, go out and earn a living and be smart with it.

 

Cults pick your leaders for you and idolize them. OJ tells you only to listen to the Sanhedrin which consisted of 70 people and then only on technical halachic issues. Otherwise, it helps in life to have mentors, but you choose who you like.

 

I could go on. This is not a cult. However, the OJ community today is another matter. It holds very singular perspectives. People mimic each other and get upset when you don’t do the same (another trait of cults). “The primacy of Torah.” How many times have you heard that phrase? “Follow the gadolim.” Another cliché. And if you ask which ones, who decides who is a gadol, listen on what – then you are branded a heretic.

 

There is some difference between groups but very little within groups. For example, many in Chabad today believe that Moshiach can come from the dead and that in fact the Rebbe will do exactly that. The yeshiva world disagrees with this. However, within Chabad, or at least the maschichist wing of it, you are not allowed to disagree and likewise within the yeshiva world you are not allowed to cite the Gemara that Moshiach could come from the dead. [In response, I associate with many groups to keep my mind agile.]

 

OJ today takes your money. In America, you give half of your money to yeshivas. That sounds idealistic, doesn’t it? They make it sound that way. All cults do. It’s so expensive in part because so many of the students come from families who are in full time learning. You are paying their scholarships. The frum constantly comes at you for money. What’s more amazing is that they don’t let you get job training, but when you finally leave yeshiva they want the money that you are supposed to magically acquire.

 

How about the black and white uniform? That doesn’t exactly promote a broad mind. The clothing in the Haredi light world is ridiculous. The men look like penguins and the women float about in $300 dresses of every pattern and color. The discrepancy is so strange. I have tried to break this rule by wearing a tweed jacket but got mocked by a Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS/Yeshiva University! Even there, the crazy rules apply.

 

As for isolation, we all know about the war on secular materials and outside reading that is characteristic of the Charedi world. The Modern Orthodox world doesn’t isolate nearly as much but the problem is that it’s a pretty unhealthy place to be. People are so confused. It’s hard to find religiously committed people who don’t engage in cultlike isolation. It’s possible to be a worldly tzadick, but you don’t see it too often.

 

The MOs also are much better about parnassah; although it costs much more to live in their communities. And there is considerable dogma in the MO world about feminism and Zionism.

 

As for deceptive recruiting, OJ is a cult most people are born into. BTs get the deceptive recruiting as they are promised wise leaders who know them and care about them, the fascination of Torah, the sweetness of Shabbos, wonderful communities – all promises that generally don’t pan out. You can find that stuff in some measure if you work really hard at it. But that’s not what is promised. What is promised is that you’ll waltz into it in five seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chassidic gaonim

There were many great Chassidic scholars. In our times, three of the greatest geniuses were Chassidic: Satmar Rebbe, Lub. Rebbe, and Rav Meshulum Roth. And there were many others including Rav Menashe Klein. But on top of that, many of the great so-called Litvish gaonim came from full or partial (usually half) Chassidic backgrounds. Rav Hutner from Gur, Rav Moshe Feinstein from Koidenover, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky from Chabad (his mother was raised by a Chabad uncle), the Steipler (and Rav Chaim) from Chernobyl, Rav Ruderman from Chabad, Rav Yaakov Weinberg from Slonim, Rav Gedalyahu HaLevi Schorr from Sadigerer and Rav Dov Ber Schwartzman from Chabad. Even Rav Aaron Kotler had some Chabad roots, which is where his son got the name Shneur. And of course Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz came from Chassidic roots. Rav Eliyashiv's mother was Chaya Mussa, which is a Chassidic name, and I have heard that she had some Chassidic roots. Besides that Rav Elyashiv, like Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, was Yerushalmi, and the Yershulamim are a blend of Chassidic and Litvish as students of the Gra and Besht came to Israel 200 years ago and lived alongside one another in small communities in Sfas, Tiberias, and Yerush. 

The Alter of Slobodka pulled several of them away, most famously Rav Ruderman; although Rav Ruderman had a relative doing that too. He pulled them into an avodas Hashem of a different kind (musar), but it was still avodas Hashem. Problem is their children and students dropped the musar and went back to nigleh/lomdus only, which is where we were before the BESHT. It's almost as if the Satan found a way to pull a whole generation from avodas Hashem this way.

The Menalism cover all of this up. You read biographies and articles on these figures and not hear a word about their Chassidish roots. They have created this illusion that the great figures were all hard core Litvacks. And even the definition of Litvack they changed as I have explained repeatedly. The Vilna Gaon if he came back today would probably remind you more of a Chosid than a contemporary (neo) Litvack. Their intent is to say that they own the truth. And this is the way of cults. So is the lying the way of cults, and the isolation, and the intimidation, and the imposition of phobias and neurosis, and the taking of your money. 

On top of that many of what we call Litvish rabbanim are not from Lithuania. The Vilna Gaon, Rav Chaim Volozhine were from White Russia. The Chaye Adam is from Poland. The Mir yeshiva was in Poland. R Yaakov Kamenestky is from White Russia. 

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Schwartzman was born in Elul 1921 in Nevel, Soviet Union, to Rabbi Yehoshua Zev Schwartzman, a graduate of the Slabodka yeshiva.^[3] In the 1930s, his family fled from Soviet Russia and immigrated to Tel Aviv, where his father was a rabbi. Schwartzman studied at Yeshivas Bais Yosef Novardok under Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, known as the Steipler Gaon.^[1] In 1933, at age 12, he transferred to the Hebron Yeshiva in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem ^[3] His mother descended from a prominent Lubavitcher family. He was named after his maternal grandfather's brother, Dovber HaYitzchoki, who was the father of Reb Zalman Moishe HaYitzchaki, a devoted follower of the Rebbe Rashab.

Hutner was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger Hasidic and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah and Talmud.^{[citation needed]} As a teenager he was enrolled in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania, headed by Nosson Tzvi Finkel, where he was known as the "Warsaw Illui" (Genius of Warsaw).^[

Chabad & Friends #10 Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky of Torah Vodaas

Rav Moshe’s great-grandfather Rav Dovid, was a Koidenover Chosid, as was Rav Moshe’s father, Rav Dovid, in his youth. 

" Yisrael Asper1/30/05   #279278  

In the introduction of the eighth volume of Rav Moshe FEINSTEIN's

Egros Moshe it says on page 6 which is a part of the biography of his

life that his father's father was a Koidanover Chassid and so was Rav

Moshe FEINSTEIN's own father but that in order that Rav Moshe

FEINSTEIN's father could marry with the approval of her father who was

from a line of fervently Misnagdic rabbis, Rav Moshe FEINSTEIN's

mother he had to stop being a Chassid. This was agreed upon by both of

Rav Moshe FEINSTEIN's grandfathers. It seems a little liberal that the

marriage was able to go through since Rav Moshe FEINSTEIN's father's

ancestor's brother the Vilna Gaon and other Misnagdim would not have

wanted to have anything to do with a Chassid. Being Chassidic ever

just cut you >from the family tree so what important ancestry could you

boast of anymore to get you into families which care about such

things. My own ancestor the Noda Byehuda though a sharp Misnaged

himself befriended and respected certain Chassidic Rebbes and

surprisingly the Maggid of Dubna who was a close friend of the Vilna

Gaon also had respect towards Chassidim who he felt were worthy.

Yisrael Asper

Pittsburgh PA

mailto:yisraelasper@..."

https://groups.jewishgen.org/g/main/topic/70515735

Koidanov (Yiddish: קאידנאוו) is a Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Dzyarzhynsk (Koidanov), Belarus, where it was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow (1797 - 1862) in 1833. Koidanov is a branch of both Lechovitch Hasidism and Karlin-Stolin Hasidism as Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Perlow was the paternal grandson of Rabbi Mordechai of Lechovitch and the maternal grandson of Rabbi Asher Perlow of Karlin-Stolin. Koidanov was the smallest of the three Lithuanian Hasidic dynasties (Slonim and Karlin-Stolin), with most of its Hasidim being murdered in the Holocaust. The dynasty was re-established after the war in Tel Aviv, then moved to Bnei Brak, where the majority of the dynasty is located, but there are Chassidim located around the world.

Weinberg was a scion of the Slonimer Hasidic dynasty. He was the great-great-grandson of Rabbi Avraham of Slonim, author of Yesod HaAvodah and founder of the dynasty, and the grandson of Rabbi Noah Weinberg of Slonim and Tiberias, whom the first Slonimer Rebbe had sent to Palestine to establish a Torah community in the late 19th century.^[2]

The Steipler was born in Ukraine to Rabbi Chaim Peretz Kanievsky, a Chernobyl Chassid and the local shochet, and the latter's second wife Bracha.^[a] It was the family's subsequent move to the town of Hornostaypil, from which his appellation, "the Steipler", was later derived.^[8]

Ruderman was born to a Hasidic family of the Chabad denomination in Daŭhinava, in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus), where his father, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ruderman,^[3] was the rabbi. He studied in Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael in Slabodke,^[1] under the "Alter", Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein, receiving semicha from the latter in 1926.

Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz - geni family tree

Mar 5, 2022Genealogy for Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (Mendlovics) (1887 - 1948) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. ... Rabbi Moshe Greenwald (Chassidic) in Chust, Hungary. 1903 1903. Age 15. enrolled on 1903. Rabbi Shmuel Rosenberg (Chassidic) in Unsdorf, Hungary. 1904 1904. Age 16.

Gedalyahu HaLevi Schorr (27 November 1910 – 7 July 1979),^[1] also known as Gedalia Schorr, was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva. He was regarded^[2] as the "first American Gadol" (Torah giant), an expression coined by Rabbi Aharon Kotler. Indeed, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the famed rosh yeshiva of Chachmei Lublin, remarked that Rabbi Schorr had the most brilliant mind he ever encountered in America, and one of the most brilliant in the entire world.^[1] He said this when Rabbi Schorr was only nineteen years old.

Schorr was born in Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland, [Yiddish: Istrik] a shtetl near Przemyśl, in 1910, the sixth of Avraham Halevi Schorr's seven children. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Gedalyahu, a highly respected scholar and close Hasid of the Sadigerer Rebbe, a descendant of Yisrael of Rizhin.

Yehuda Meir Shapiro (Polish: Majer Jehuda Szapira; March 3, 1887 – October 27, 1933), was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva in 1930.

Mendlowitz was born in Világ (today Svetlice, Slovakia), in the Austria-Hungarian Empire, a small town near the border of Poland, to a Hasidic^[2] family:^[5] Moshe and Bas-Sheva Mendlowitz.^[6] Shraga Feivel pronounced his family name Mendelovich.

Rav Wosner: https://www.ytcte.org/shiurim/rav-shmuel-wosner-ztl-a-glimpse-into-the-world-of-chassidic-psak-halacha/

And then there's

Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760)Rabbi Dov Ber - Maggid of Mezritch (1710-1772) & Beit RuzhinRabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye ( -1782)Rabbi Yaakov Koppel.Rabbi Baruch of Kosov ( -1779)Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk (1717-1787) & R' Zusha (1718-1800)Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1810)Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz (1731-1805)Rabbi Yisrael of Koznitz (1740-1814)Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813)Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak - Chozeh mi Lublin (1745-1815)Rabbi Moshe Chaim Efraim of Sadilkov (1748-1800)Rabbi Klonymos Kalman Halevi Epstein - Maor VaShemesh (1751-1823)Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshil - Apta Rebbe (1748-1825)Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov (1755-1815)Rabbi Chaim of Chernovitz (1760-1816)Rabbi Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz (1760-1827)Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov (1763-1831)Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritch (1765-1840)Rabbi Simcha Bunam of Peshischa (1765-1827)Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1811).Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov (1783-1841)Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859)Rabbi Chaim of Tzanz (1793-1876)Rabbi Meir Horowitz of Dzikov (1819-1877)Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (1823-1900)Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger - Sefat Emet (1847-1905)Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira of Munkatch (1871-1937)Rabbi Moshe Greenwald of Chust (1853-1910)Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1888-1979)Rabbi Klonimus Kalmish of Piasetzna (1889-1943)Rabbi Aharon Roth (1894-1947)Rabbi Moshe Yechiel Epstein of Ozharov (1889-1971)Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam - Klausenberg Rebbe (1904-1994)Rabbi Shalom Noach Barzovsky - Slonimer Rebbe (1911-2000)Rabbi Meshulam Feish Lowy - Tosh Rebbe (1921-2015)Slonim RabbisGur RabbisKomarno RabbisChernobyl RabbisBelz RabbisIzbitza / Radzin RabbisSochtshov RabbisBiala RabbisAleksander RabbisLubavitch RabbisPe'er Mikdoshim Chassidic SeriesRabbi Shlomo Halberstam (1907-2000)Rabbi Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg (1726-1778)Rabbi Shlomo HaCohen of Radomsk (1803-1866)
Satmar Dayan, Rabbi Mordechai Betzalel Klein

#305 Rav Shmuel Wosner Zt’l A Glimpse Into The World Of Chassidic Psak Halacha

https://www.ytcte.org/shiurim/rav-shmuel-wosner-ztl-a-glimpse-into-the-world-of-chassidic-psak-halacha/

https://thevoiceoflakewood.com/the-satmar-dayan-speaks-his-mind-and-heart/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hasidic_dynasties