"There is nothing fake or misleading about her desires. Her sincerity and commitment are palpable"He goes further, exhorting the rest of us to be as committed as she:
"Would that all of us would be as committed to serving Klal Yisroel as she is"For context, the self described "Centrist" uses his space on an almost daily basis to criticize charedim (check yesterday's post, for example), the thrust of which adds up to, "if they would only cease being Charedim and be more like me, all would be solved'
Other oddities in the post:
- he paints her as uninformed by her associating teaching with rabbanus
"she has taken the wrong path in trying to express that commitment. Especially since she says that her primary focus will be on teaching. You do not need to be a rabbi to teach Torah"I am sure she knows very what that you do not need to be a rabbi to teach. What RHM may not know is that in most haredi yeshivot all the rebbis are titled rabbi. Furthermore, EVERY baal habayis listed in the Lakewood community directory is titled rabbi. Apparently the need to be thought of as "rabbi" is alive and well in the most mainstream of orthodox circles.
- here's another one
"The Chafetz Chaim famously did not get Semicha until near the end of his life... There are not too many teachers greater than he was"I am wondering what RHM's source was that the CC was even a teacher at all, much less the greatest of all time. It may very well be true that he taught but I never came across any hint of to that in my readings.
If I am right, must RHM then be schooled on the concept that you needn't have been a great teacher to be considered a great rabbi?
The Chofetz Chaim was Rav Elchonon Wasserman's rebbi, so he most certainly did teach. The CC established and let the Yeshiva in Radun, Poland.
ReplyDeleteThanks, David, for your contribution. Now when we say that the CC was REW's rebbi do we know that he taught him in the pedagogical sense? I do not doubt that all great people are role models to their protégés, but, to me, that is not a teacher. My bet is that REW did no become a Talmid of the CC until he was a well established rabbi in his own. Speaking of Reb Elchonon, now he was a teacher in the classical sense, leading a great yeshiva ketana in Baranovich. Whereas the CC, though he "had" a yeshva, he engaged Roshei Yeshva (e.g. Rabbis Trop and Zaks) to run things. I don't believe the CC even said a Shiur there. On my 1998 trip to Radin I was given to understand that the CC was a sort of spiritual leade but was, after all, the famous "Baalabos" (ayen tiff with R Meir Simcha)
ReplyDeleteTo summarize - there is no doubt that great people will impart life lessons to their protégés, but that is very different from the kind of teacher RHM was criticizing in his post.
Hope this clarifies!