mentalblog.com comments:
Please do venture into my group as well...
Nice piece of writing!
I wonder what proportion of Lubavitch would describe themselves as the "frustrated" type?
How about regular Jews like me who are just very frightened of what has become of Chabad and what it means for the future of Yiddishkeit?
To paraphrase, Chabad, in whatever form it survives, is the future of yiddishkeit. Let's work together to shape its future.
What a great post! If I may add a cent or two regarding your second group - they don't necessarily have all the solutions to all the problems and aren't necessarily there to create the solution for others. Rather, the blogsphere is a unique universe where they can voice their thoughts without being judged (i.e. hide behind the computer screen). Whether a solution to their gripe will develop or not, airing their views can in and of itself be productive.
I am pained to write this, but what a condescending post !
You hit it out of the park, CE.
Schneur, not another fight with CE please.
search google for "chabad Lubavitch yiddishe chat rooms"
ok so chabad now has a chatroom also cool, keep it comming
Yossi, please change your name (to Ungrammatical)
Please, tell us about your group.
My apologies to Schneur; we can't all be perfect - and I surely am not.
Tzemach: I think that group (Love-Hate) is better left for others to describe, but its existence should be recognized and understood. It's just a little too touchy a category.
Dude: I thought a little about your group before I posted my comment - and you're right, they should be addressed, as well as the visitors here because they are "Friends of Tzemach." I didn't write about them however, because I don't know if they have passion about the topic (I also didn't want to burden anyone reading the post with too many groups).
Honestly, the primary reason for my post was my desire to vent about the first group...
Yossi
"To paraphrase, Chabad, in whatever form it survives, is the future of yiddishkeit. Let's work together to shape its future."
Some people hear only what they care to hear. This hubris is one of the many things that helped collapse Chabad, and turn it into the strange animal that it is today. Chabad is definitely a colorful, interesting part of the mosaic, but honestly ...
Perfect !!! ??? comparing Hungarian chasidim to vultures in the air hunting for blood and later writing about lashon hora. C'mon ?
Schneur, be fair now, CE did not generalize, he referred to a few very specific individuals... If you want to defend them, do so, but it is not fair to attack CE for things he neither said nor implied.
Schneur, My point was that these people don't care about Lubavitch - not even a little bit. They seek out any opportunity to attack, with no productive purpose, just to spread hate.
Surely you know the halacha is that their are hetirim for constructive speech, or at least cathartic speech. I don't see many people here gratuitously attacking the Satmar Rav Z"L or Rav Shach either for that matter - but I see a lot of these character's attacks and disrespect of Lubavitcher leaders. Aren't there Hungarian websites for them to post comments about R' Aharon or R' Zalman Leib?
If we are talking about yechidim then I have no issue with the point made.But the shark vulture language although very effectively used is a tad out of order in my opinion.
My post refers to a couple specific individuals that post here and on similar sites regularly - and I just called it as I see it.
I have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with any variety of Chassidus or Litvak in the world, Satmar & Ponevitch included. (I believe I once mentioned that I once was a hoiz bochur for a certain Rebbe in Boro Park, and I have great respect for him, and his chassidim, many of which are still my friends today.) My problem starts when I have to listen to rants of hatred.
Chavakuk, Chavakuk, what's a nice Jewish kid like you doing in a place like this?
That was supposed to say "Bent Down Brims."
S.F.T.P.O.B.D.B:
I had you in the "friends of Tzemach" category ;-)
As to me, I am haunted by my past (and present, and future...)
And what's wrong with down-turned brims? Haven't many great people worn hats of many varieties?
Surely some of your best friends wear hats of the down-turned variety!
(Havent you ever seen the Rav throw down his Rabbinic hat with a slight look of disgust at it?)
This is a kasket only congregation..
"A hat is a hat is a hat."
I must admit though, Tzemach, I too would like to bring back the Kasket!
You may already know the story (I can't remember who this anecdote is about), but it goes like this:
There was a Chasid who came to the US with the customary Kasket. When he saw chassidm wearing fedoras, he was critical of it and ridiculed the practice. However, after some time he showed up in shul with the object of his derision - a black bent-down brimmed fedora. Obviously, he was questioned about this apparent change of heart - to which he responded:
His Rebbe, the Rashab n"e, often said "A chossid must be normal; unconventional behavior is ego." So, now that it is apparent that the modern looking hat is the standard of the day, he must acquiesce, and wear it as well - so as not to become a baal gayva...
I've already been chastised for condescension, so please, I hope no one will take it that way!
I didn't really mean to discuss the mysticism of Chassidic haberdashery (the only mysticism many groups have left, laydeh). What I meant was that your turn to the community with which you presently identify seems to have initiated you into a world of idealism-gone-sour, not a personal path that inspires you -- "be-derech Yisrael Saba." I remember when you were a temimusdikeh bochur who sang the zemiros of Melaveh Malkah with the same bren if you were alone at home as when you were sitting with a Chassidisheh chaburah.
Just don't fool yourself -- it is NOT this way everywhere!
b'ahavah
Baal ha-Chalomos
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