Ponevezh grew old and in the twilight of her days she became weak and confined to her bed. Demons and spirits surrounded her, angels of harm and hatred alike, determined to destroy every good part of her, and it seemed that she had come to an end, if we did not urgently awaken to save her soul while it was still in her.
One of the common virtues for a patient is adding or changing a name. This virtue is already mentioned in the words of Chazal, who state that one of the four things that break a person's sentence is "changing the name.".
But Ponibz is a brand. It can be assumed that the parties will not give up the prestigious name so much.
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I grew up among the Hasidim all my life. I was a boy and I have also grown old, and I have often seen Hasidims split, and as always, many, fighting each other as each side wants the name - and the assets.
And what happens in the end? Usually the parties rise from the ashes, and each community builds a new kingdom for itself with a new name, until the next war of succession.
For the most part, the controversy erupted near the death of the Rebbe and ended after a few years. Some of the leaders, who are supposed to set an example, do not speak to each other, and the Hasidim who see them as models imitate their behavior. And yet - despite the fact that this is a terrible situation - it is still possible to live with it.
There are no good qualities here, not even 'love your neighbor,' and certainly not the will of God, and in any case they do not reach the point of "swallowing up each other alive," so that the "teaching of the kingdom" would preserve the pillar.
Two brothers-in-law who don't get along
But in the case of Ponevezh, we don't see the end.
15 years (and there are enough scholars in Phonobiz to explain that it all started long before that) the situation is only getting worse, the war of succession continues, and it is sweeping the entire Haredi public with it.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that important decisions on which the fate of the Haredi public depends, such as the draft decree and the like, actually involve an affair between two brothers-in-law who don't get along. It's sickening. And we still don't see the end.
But what about the factions? Maybe here we can activate the virtue of "changing the name"? Where do these strange names "haters" and "terrorists" come from that have a negative root? Maybe the faction names should be changed to something positive. Maybe this is where the root of the problem lies?
Even in Hasidism, in controversial events, each faction received a nickname: right-wingers versus left-wingers (Rechta / Linke), blacks versus whites (Schwartz / Weiss), old versus young (Alte / Junge).
But at the core of the name is a positive trend: both right and left represent positive ideas, both black and white are legitimate colors. Whereas here both names express hatred, evil, abhorrence, harm, disgust, and everything that is not Torah.
I'm trying to step into the shoes of a Ponevezh yeshiva student who stands in front of the mirror, looks at himself and says: "I hate," I'm a terrorist.".
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This is terrible.
I'm at a loss to understand, maybe if they find more positive names that will motivate them to take positive action, maybe it will cure the patient - who infected the entire Haredi public with his disease.
According to Chazal, there is another option to overturn a sentence, and that is "changing the place." Get up and go! What in the name of God causes a father who wants his son to grow up to be a scholar to send his son to study in this yeshiva?
There are hundreds of yeshivahs in Israel, thousands of students study day and night, and there are still parents who send their son to be a "terrorist" or a "hater"?
It is clear that if all the parents had taken their children out or at least not sent their children to study in this yeshiva, the in-laws would have solved the problem in half an hour long ago.
