Dei'ah veDibur - Information &
Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

2 Marcheshvan 5773 - October 18, 2012 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

OBSERVATIONS

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

POPULAR EDITORIALS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Chareidi.org
Chareidi.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS
"Pure Chinuch Bederech Yisroel Sabba is Fundamental and Must Remain Free of Outside Intervention"

by Yechiel Sever

In an incisive message delivered before a gathering of his Chassidim, the Vishnitzer Rebbe dwelt at length on the immutable principles in preserving the impressions of kedusha gained during the past month of Tishrei. He spoke of the duty of guarding the foundations of pure chinuch as preserved throughout Jewish history without outside intervention.

He opened his words by noting, "Simchas Torah is actually a renewal of the receiving of Torah where we are told: `And you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; these are the words you shall say to Bnei Yisroel.' Rashi there comments, `No less and no more.' Thus, we are commanded to accept the yoke of Torah, to be a holy nation and to subjugate ourselves to the sovereignty of Hashem and the Torah, and not to any other factor in the world.

"In recent times, attempts have been made to sway the G-d- fearing away from Hashem and His word. They come daily with new proposals and temptations: Civil service, matriculation studies, Core curricula and the like, assuring us that this is for the benefit of Torah scholars so that they can make a better living.

"You can be sure that their intention is not for our benefit but reflects a desire to entice the chareidi public, to infiltrate into our holy camp and uproot Torah study and our pure chinuch. I am familiar with many instances where those very [external] studies and supplementary courses caused a downward spiritual spiral, resulting in a terrible apathy towards kedushoh.

"If they make their support conditional on submission to their dictates regarding education, we have no desire for it, and trust that the Guardian of Israel will surely stand us by. Our holy people are called upon to give, and they do give, for the sake of pure chinuch, the core of our being, and we will mobilize as much funds as are necessary.

"I remember that in my childhood, my grandfather, the Imrei Chaim, was approached with the proposal that the secular studies taught in our cheder should be taught in Hebrew, rather than Yiddish. In exchange, we would receive much larger subsidies. My grandfather vehemently opposed this. `They must not interfere with our studies,' he said, `And if they refuse to help support us, I can manage without them.'

"This is how he interpreted the posuk in Tehillim, `Insolent sinners derided me greatly': Some come openly to fight against Torah and its scholars — `But from Your Torah I did not veer' — I do not fear them. But `Burning indignation gripped me from the wicked who abandon Your Torah,' from those wicked ones who serve themselves [ozvei - from `azov taazov'] through our Torah, pretending to `help' Torah scholars. One must stand vigil against those very ones."

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.