There were those in Shas who rushed to celebrate last night, after the annual conference of the 'Lev L'Achim' organization at the 'Armonot Chen' halls in Bnei Brak: "At the Lithuanian conference, they crowned Rabbi Shalom Cohen as the next leader.".
However, an examination reveals, as journalist Yaki Adamker of the Walla website reported this morning, that the joy of those who need such recognition was premature. At the conference itself, the title "Maran" was bestowed upon all the rabbis, and in today's report on the free conference at Yated Ne'eman, the title was omitted, and the new president of the Council of Sages, unlike the Lithuanian Torah scholars, is only awarded the title "Ha Gaon Gadol.".
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The annual 'Heart for Brothers' conference was held under the leadership of Rabbi Steinman, under whose presidency the organization operates. The conference, attended by thousands of activists of the organization that works to bring distant people together, was attended by Rabbi Cohen, who a short time ago was crowned 'President of the Council of Torah Scholars' and was crowned by the newspaper Yom Yom as "Maran Rosh Ha-Yeshiva" - and he was received with respect by the conference participants.
Immediately after the conference, Shas officials rushed to announce that the "new Maran" had received distinct Lithuanian recognition. Fact: The event's moderator and the head of the "Lev Laachim" organization, Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin, announced at the height of the event: "Now the Maran Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef, Rabbi Shalom Cohen Shlita, will speak.".
However, it turns out that in a decision prior to the event, the organizers decided to grant the title "Maran" to all speakers at the event. For example, "Maran Rosh Yeshiva of Kamenitz, Rabbi Yitzhak Scheiner," was invited to the stage, and the coveted title, it turns out, is not reserved only for the presidents of the "councils." Thus, it turned out that Gerash Cohen, along with the other speakers, was invited to give a speech.
But it turns out that the saga surrounding the titles did not end yesterday at the 'Armonot Chen' hall.
This morning, in a huge coverage article published in the free newspaper 'Yated Ne'eman', the title "Maran" was dropped from the title of Rabbi Cohen, and the newspaper wrote: "With the completion of the Maran's mission, the Maran Gaon Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky entered the hall and the huge audience stood on its feet and welcomed him with the song 'Days on Days of King Tosif.' After that, the Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef, the great Gaon Rabbi Shalom Cohen, was invited to speak.".
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""Apart from the fact that the Grand Rabbi Cohen did not receive the title of Maran in the Lithuanian newspaper, which was given to him at the event itself, there is no recognition of him as the president of the Shas Council of Sages," says a Shas source. "For years, the title of the Grand Rabbi Yosef in Yated Ne'eman was 'President of the Shas Council of Sages' or 'Leader of Shas' - and this morning the only title attached to the name of the Grand Rabbi Cohen is 'Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef.' The title of the Great Gaon is not appropriate for the president of the council and leader of the Shas movement.".
A report in the newspaper Hapeles this morning also attributed the title "The Great Gaon" to Rabbi Cohen, but a name was attached to his name: President of the Council of Torah Sages.
From testing Haredim10 It appears that the rabbis who received the title of Great Gaon in Yated Ne'eman, besides Rabbi Cohen, are Rabbi Idelstein, Rabbi Sheiner, Rabbi Ezrachi, Rabbi Yaffe, Rabbi Bergman, Rabbi Feldman, Rabbi Cohen, Rabbi Zilberstein, Rabbi Povarsky. Recently, the title has also been bestowed upon those who are not members of the Council of Torah Scholars, such as Rabbi Landa and Rabbi Greinman, and others.
In response, a senior official at Yated Ne'eman says that this has no meaning and that even Rabbi Yosef zt"l did not earn the title of "Maran." "We must remember that at the end of the day, Rabbi Shalom Cohen was invited to the event, was honored, and this is in contrast to other rabbis who may or may not have been invited by a letter sent by Israel Post.".
