My friend, the sociologist Prof. A.A., you wonder why, upon my return to Israel, from the Conference of European Rabbis in Toulouse, France, I told you that I felt a little ridiculous, and rather pathetic [better - pathetic] about the questions that concern our Jewish-Haredi identity here in the Holy Land.
Well, I'll tell you that I've already met the rabbinical director of the conference, Rabbi Moshe Lebel, who, in response to my comment that the assimilation rate in Europe has grown to 80 percent, grinned bitterly and said that in Russia, where he serves as rabbi and head of a yeshiva, assimilation is 100 percent: "For a Jew to marry a Jewish woman, a statistical error has to occur," he says, not cynically.
Other rabbis say that nearly 50 percent of the people in their city eat halal [Muslim] meat. The Reforms are biting into Orthodox congregations like a hungry rodent in a hot dog shop, and the rabbis have a real dilemma: should they order their congregation to immigrate to Israel, or would it be better for them to remain abroad?
""We are not dealing with the near future of Judaism or the spread of Judaism, we are dealing with Judaism itself, whether it will even exist," Rabbi Moyal, the rabbi of the famous city of Cannes, put it well.
And what about us?
Here is a collection of the burning problems faced by my friends who remained in the chosen land:
Should we say hello to a neighbor who belongs to the 'Hapeles' faction, or is this a disqualified Jew who is worse than a gentile?
Why shouldn't the Haredi journalist's daughter be accepted into the seminary, perhaps because he 'writes on the Internet'? May God have mercy on him.
How can we still overcome the acute problem and enroll the Mizrahi Jewish son in the holy yeshiva, perhaps if two good Ashkenazim come with him, oh, what do you say?
How will we be able to prevent someone who doesn't study in yeshiva, and spends their time between the nearest mall and the computer in their room, from enlisting in the army, God forbid?
By what methods will we pursue the 'reformist' who is trying to instill English and math studies in our young children in a way that goes against what has been handed down to us for generations?
Sad? Very sad.
No bears. Last Shabbat night, the synagogue in Jerusalem, and the rabbi, a true God-fearing Jew, tells with shining eyes about Maran Rabbi Wasner and the thrilling miracle of the glasses that has already been passed down from mouth to mouth. Rabbi Wasner, as is well known, studied at the Lublin yeshiva of Rabbi Meir Shapira, the creator of the Daf Yomi, and the Rosh Yeshiva, who strictly observed the yeshiva's rules, once met Rabbi Wasner standing in the hallway of the boarding school, meditating on the Torah by moonlight.
The head of the yeshiva asked the young boy to go to his room, but Rabbi Wasner replied that he was unable to fall asleep because his soul yearned for Torah.
The Rosh Yeshiva was moved and blessed the young boy, saying that in return for his dedication to Torah, he would never need to wear glasses, and his vision would be "perfect.".
A beautiful story, also moving.
But then I remembered a book called 'Field of Watchers' by Rabbi Friedman that I came across a few years ago, which wrote something about it. I went to the local library and here is the quote:
..."And the Grand Master Shapira gave him a blessing, that he would never wear glasses, and indeed the words are true, because the Grand Master did not have a blind eye, and he does not use glasses.
And I was with the Grand Master on the day of the rumor and asked him if the story was true, and he told me that he knew nothing of this, and did not remember receiving such a blessing from his rabbi, the Grand Master. He went on to say that Maran the Chazon Ish, when he was once in a bad mood, told one of his household members to take a chair, go to the center of the city, stand on the chair, and declare that all the stories that are told about him are lies and falsehoods.".
In other words, Maran Rabbi Wasner was so great that there is no shortage of authentic masterpiece stories about him. There is no need to invent more.
200 pounds. Maor Yisrael Publishing, which publishes the Rabbi's books, has republished the "Yabi'a Umar" series, which includes issues from the author's manuscript, corrections of copyist errors, and especially dozens of parts of handwritten responses that did not make it into the original responses.
Why? Why did the late Rabbi omit significant parts of the original text?
Here is the answer of the editors of the edition: "It is because of the printing costs, which were very high, especially in the first parts, because there was no money, and it is well known that the book of Yabia Umar, Part 2, was printed with the money of the Rebbetzin, may God have mercy on her, who saved every penny, and when she saw his great sorrow at being prevented from printing his writings, she gave him all her money, a total of 200 liras, and through her hands his springs burst forth.".
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