Rav Bengis explained why he suspected the Chazon Ish. "Ben-Gurion is no fool. He will not allow himself to leave the meeting without having accomplished anything. If he has decided to visit the Chazon Ish's home - with all the publicity his appearance there will generate - it must be that he knows, or that they already arranged that he will come away with some sort of agreement. Clearly this meeting is only going to be the final state in the process."
This is an adaption of an article which appeared in"Yeshurun" (Vol. 20, Nissan 5768, pp. 296-299)
This is an adaption of an article which appeared in"Yeshurun" (Vol. 20, Nissan 5768, pp. 296-299)
Not having seen the Mishpacha article, I refer the reader to the Torah Journal "Yeshurun" (Vol. 20, Nissan 5768, pp. 296-299), where the details of the story are recorded first hand by Rabbi Yisrael Grossman z"l, who was charged by Rav Bengis z"l to serve as his personal emisarry to the Chazon Ish.
ReplyDeleteIt can be found here:
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46426&st=&pgnum=295
thanks for the reference - the article in Mishpacha is actually a translation and an adaption of the Yeshurun article - though there is no reference to Yeshurun but rather to the Rabbi Meller archives
DeleteThis isn't merely a "Yeshurun article". It's an original autobiographical account by R. Grossman of his personal perspective on the storms facing the religious world that accompanied the founding of the State of Israel, and his personal participation in several of these historical events.
DeleteIt's not clear why "Mishpacha" had to resort to the "archives of Rav Shimon Yosef Meller", when this has already been in the public domain for four years...
Mishpacha writes:
Delete"A journal found in the archives of Rav Shimon Yosef Meller, the author of a monumental...about the Brisker Rav reavesl the internal storm that beset the chareidi Jewry during the days before that visit
It seems to me that there was lots of posturing going on then, by both sides. It's interesting to note that while all this was going on, the Chazon Ish was asked by a family whether they should postpone alliya, given that their daughters would be subject to the "evil decree" of giyus banot.
ReplyDeleteThe CI's reply was "No," as he responded with a wave of the hand.
Not knowing what Bennie Brown says about this in his new book about the CI, I leave it up to the readers to speculate as to how one is to reconcile the CI's waving aside the threat of giyus banot and at the same time screaming that it was yehareg v'al ya'avor.
The CI waved his hand and told them to emmigrate to Eretz Yisroel because he was confident the evil decree of drafting girls would not come to pass. For the same reason he never planned on having Chareidim move out of EY.
DeleteI am curious to know what was the Chazon Ish's stature at the time he was still living. What I mena by this is - was eh the accepted gadol hador of the Lithuanian ashkenazi world, or was he a Yachid? Was there even a single Gadol Hador at that time - or is it a more recent phenomenon?
ReplyDeleteFurther to my previous question, I understand the CI was a contemporary of R' Isser Zalman Meltzer zt'l. They were both niftar int he same year. Was RIZM considered the greater of the two, and also the Gadol of the Lithuanian world?
ReplyDeletethe issue of greater or lesser is not clear. It depends on who you speak to. I remember Rabbi Rakeffet saying that when he came to Israel - I think in the '60's people talked about the chumras of the Chazon Ish. His pesakim were not main stream. In a related way, Rav Moshe Feinstein notes that the rulings of the Vilna Gaon were not widely accepted even in Vilna. In fact one of the goals of the Mishna Berura was to make the rulings of the Vilna Gaon more accepted. It is also a question of when. Dr. Brown notes that the Chazon Ish became recognized basically following his stance regarding the date line issue. Rav Moshe Feinstein became mainstream in the 1960's. The Chofetz Chaim became mainstream only after WWII
ReplyDeleteFascinating Yeshurun article. Two observations: 1) His portrayal of the Brisker Rav'as cheshbonos is almost cartoonish. 2) As is clear from the part about the Gerrer Rebbe, R Elyashiv's gabbai-types are nothing new.
ReplyDeleteA bit about the meeting (from hirhurim) can be found here:
http://torahmusings.com/2011/11/traditions-in-passing/
Did you mean to say Rav Bengis?
DeleteIt is a very interesting perspective. Obviously today it is unthinkable that anyone could/would question the CI zt'l. But I am trying to go back in time, to see how things were viewed in the 40s/early 50s.
ReplyDeleteIt is also possible that there simply wasn't the case of having one accepted leader in earlier years. Today there seems to be an official title for who is "the" Gadol HaDor, whereas a century ago there may have been several , even in the same city (one is reminded of The Rogacthover and the Ohr Sameach).
The Chazon Ish had a major halachic debate with Rav Chaim Na'eh regarding the nature of halachic measures and mesorah.
DeleteThe Chazon Ish is not automatically "halacha" even today. Though his opinion clearly have to be dealt with.
The Chazon Ish had not problem with questioning the views of the Mishneh Berura - or other major authorities. Ultimately he said a Rav needed to posken according to his understanding.
"Did you mean to say Rav Bengis?"
ReplyDeleteNo- on page 296 R Grossman says he thinks the Brisker Rav was behind and that's why he sent his son to stake out R Bengis's house. (R Groissman even speaks of the 'amkus' involved).
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ReplyDelete