For Shas, the internal rift centers on former party chairman Aryeh Deri, who is now weighing a return to politics - either as part of Shas, which would entail an uneasy alliance with current chairman Eli Yishai, or in the framework of a new, rival party.
For United Torah Judaism - a joint list comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudath Israel parties - all is not sweetness and light between the various Hasidic sects that comprise the latter. But UTJ's biggest problem is with Degel Hatorah, which represents the "Lithuanian" (non-Hasidic ) Haredim: The Lithuanians' unchallenged spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, recently died, and the party is now riven between adherents of his two would-be successors, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman and Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach.
The article did not mention that the two sides fighting for the control of Yated Neeaman took their case to the Israeli court.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to the Beis Din system?
Around 15 years ago I had come to the conclusion that Mitnagdim have not only left the derech of Volozhin intellectually, but also in terms of their approach to authority. The independent thought of the Gra and R' Haim Vollozhiner, has allbut disappeared, giving way to pseudo hassidic Rebbe style leadership.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that R' N Kamenetskty made the same comments in some recent interviews. The succession battles used to be the domain of Hassidic rebbes, but now the Litvish Rosh yeshivas are in the same model.
Isn't R Shteinman accepted as the Lithuanian Gadol hador? And what happened to R Kanievsky?
The GRA had the same kind of leadersdhip/followership dynamic as do the current Litvishe Gedolim.
DeleteNothing changed.