The great rabbis in Bnei Brak are weakening: The 'Great Sabbath' sermons, delivered every year in Bnei Brak by the great halachic authorities, did not take place this year due to their weakness.
Rabbi Wasner, who in recent years delivered the sermon on the Thursday before Shabbat, so that he could broadcast his words to thousands over a loudspeaker, did not deliver the sermon this year due to his weakness.
Rabbi Karelitz, who has been delivering the Shabbat HaGallon sermon in recent years at the Yad Aharon synagogue, which he heads, did not deliver the sermon this year, also due to his health condition and hospitalization.
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At the Mishkenot Yaakov synagogue, the rabbi of the Athra, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ulman, did not deliver the sermon this year due to his illness. He appointed two rabbis to fill his place: his son, Rabbi Yisrael Ulman, who will deliver the Halacha portion, and Graeme Dessler, who lives in the neighborhood, who will deliver the Aggadah, between Shabbat reception and evening prayers.
However, the Lithuanian controversy also penetrated here: After the Shabbat reception, a loud debate arose among the rabbis - whether the sermon by Graeme Dessler was at the discretion of the synagogue rabbi. Rabbi Dessler serves as a supervisor at the Ponevezh Yeshiva headed by Gras Markowitz, and this is why the controversy arose.
Finally, the rabbi began to preach, and the audience was surprised to discover among those present in the audience the Rabbi Ullman, who chose to forgo the minyan set at his home due to his weakness, and come to the synagogue to remove the gaps.
At the end of the sermon, the Gra'a Dessler announced that his sermon does not replace the 'official Shabbat HaGadol sermon', which the Gra'i Ullman will deliver in his father's place.
