tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post6026268178613800789..comments2024-03-19T23:03:01.685-05:00Comments on Beis Vaad L'Chachamim: בחיר היצירה. Natural Kings and Queens. Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-47985075596460471902013-10-15T07:36:44.231-05:002013-10-15T07:36:44.231-05:00Yes, I saw that too. But from the footnote on page...Yes, I saw that too. But from the footnote on page 61, it appears that that volume will be mostly divrei aggada and mussar, with little halacha/lomdus. It seems that it was the lomdus and havana that earned him his fame and reputation as the biggest iluy in Lita, and I'm afraid we won't see much of that.sassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-40311152707246257112013-10-14T12:06:49.071-05:002013-10-14T12:06:49.071-05:00I just was reading the book, looking where Biton q...I just was reading the book, looking where Biton quoted my mother's stories, and I saw that his half brother, Eric Page, apparently did the Chalitza when he died. While reading that I noticed, towards the end of the book, that Biton says that he gathered all of Reb Motel's divrei Torah and is printing a book soon on Tanach and sugyos. I'm really looking forward to seeing it- you're right. It's obvious, from the way Rav Gifter and Reb Chaim Stein described him, that he was a bolt of lightening, and unique in some way. I hope that his divrei Torah give us an insight into exactly what that means.Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-12925062373905873632013-10-14T11:54:54.753-05:002013-10-14T11:54:54.753-05:00Could you please provide some mareh mekomos to whe...Could you please provide some mareh mekomos to where he's quoted in those sfarim? The book is very good, but it's hard to read arichus about how he was a great iluy and gaon, yet have no idea as to the content of his chiddushim. Do you know what I mean? With any other biography, I can look at the sfarim and see first-hand the gaonus, it's just frustrating to read report after report of his gaonus, and how Rav Gifter considered him not from this world, but with nothing tangible to look at myself.sassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-60903228659689657072013-10-14T10:03:48.888-05:002013-10-14T10:03:48.888-05:00I bought a copy as soon as they came to Chicago an...I bought a copy as soon as they came to Chicago and gave it to my mother to read. I'm sure she'll let me know when she gets there. But from glancing through it I think Biton did an impressive job. I wonder if he went through Rav Gifter's and Rav Shternbuch's sefarim where he is quoted. I sure don't know who the plagiarist is and I would like to, simply to enjoy Reb Mottel's words. In our family he and Ponovezher Rov were legends that personified what Litteh was all about.Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-10486156815368570372013-10-14T08:00:18.935-05:002013-10-14T08:00:18.935-05:00Yes it's in Hebrew, and looks to be very well ...Yes it's in Hebrew, and looks to be very well done. Your mother is quoted extensively on pages 27-30.<br><br>The book says that unfortunately none of his halachic/lomdishe writings have survived to the present day. Although page 507-508 says that someone in America plagiarized some of his chiddushim and published them under their own name. Have you heard about this?sassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-28337377791492375682013-10-10T10:15:08.979-05:002013-10-10T10:15:08.979-05:00Thank you.I've heard that from several people-...Thank you.<br><br>I've heard that from several people- that he was instrumental in giving back badly needed self respect and pride to the average Sefardi on the street. So sad that there is nobody like him, as far as I know. I know there are several very respected poskim and manhigim, but no powerful personalities that inspired awe along the whole spectrum- from crazy frum all the way to anti. (with one or two notable exceptions)Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-37972151019473358712013-10-10T07:18:55.862-05:002013-10-10T07:18:55.862-05:00A beautiful and veru fair minded approach. We hav...A beautiful and veru fair minded approach. We have undoubtedly lost a majestic godol that has "mekimi meafar dal" - lifted and established thousands upon thousands of sephardi bnei torah.Avrohomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-36738969558867927312013-10-09T09:04:11.298-05:002013-10-09T09:04:11.298-05:00Sass- no, I didn't know it came out already. ...Sass- no, I didn't know it came out already. The author had contacted me, we traded stories. Thanks for letting me know. I'm going to try to find out where I can get it. I assume it's an Israeli edition in loshon hakodesh.<br><br>A friend in Israel wrote me, saying that every Motz'sh his drashos on the radio would include five minutes of hard language against people/organizations he wanted to castigate. The next day, the taxi drivers would all be talking about it. My friend believes that he did it davka for the reason you mention- he wanted to engage the man on the street and he wanted to project and publicize a powerful Sefardi persona in the face of shkenazi social and religious and financial domination by the Ashkenazim.Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-49651415358401085492013-10-09T08:47:55.623-05:002013-10-09T08:47:55.623-05:00Yasher Koach. We also have to keep in mind that Ra...Yasher Koach. We also have to keep in mind that Rav Ovadya zt"l was 93years old, born of a different era when political correctness did not rule the day. Frankly, I always found his candor and honesty refreshing. But either way, you are correct that these statements were such a minor part of the person, and his legacy. To focus on a few comments rather than on his numerous encyclopedic works, just breathtaking in their scope, not to mention his reinvigoration of the Sephardi religious community and his single-handed restoring of Sephardi pride...just misses the point, fails to recognize the gift that was bestowed on our generation. Sigh. If any of these people could read one tshuva in Yabia Omer, just one tshuva! And there were hundreds, maybe thousands...<br><br>On an unrelated note, have you seen the new biography of Rav Mottel Pagramanski?Sassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-63293098294871527042013-10-08T20:30:59.731-05:002013-10-08T20:30:59.731-05:00I also know that the Talmud quotes Ben Zoma, who o...I also know that the Talmud quotes Ben Zoma, who once looked out upon a multitude of Jews and said "Thank God, who has created all these people to serve me." He was talking about his fellow Jews. He obviously did not mean that every Jew but he had no independent significance. He knew that every one of them was equal to him in God's eyes. So if you're going to quote Rav Yosef, you really ought to understand the context of what he was talking about. You can quote God himself and make him look like the Devil.Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-31717411410618423002013-10-08T20:27:16.868-05:002013-10-08T20:27:16.868-05:00I don't know what he said. I wasn't there...I don't know what he said. I wasn't there. But I know enough to not trust people who are quoting people they don't like or respect or even understand.Barzilai/Eliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-91896674162931981122013-10-08T18:13:09.566-05:002013-10-08T18:13:09.566-05:00I was riding the subway this morning and couldn...I was riding the subway this morning and couldn't help but see the person standing near me holding the paper open to a picture of R' Ovadya with that quote in big letters. Either we saw the same paper, or the newspapers in Chicago and NY pick up the same dirt. Anyway, I was thinking to myself that I can only imagine what the guy was thinking of me (standing there holding a sefer) when he sees a quote like that attributed to a Rabbi.chaim b.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-6077769041222480872013-10-08T17:56:30.146-05:002013-10-08T17:56:30.146-05:00Please say, if the Rav, (may his soul be at peace ...Please say, if the Rav, (may his soul be at peace in Heaven), did he say that non-Jews were created to be servants to the Jews?<br><br>Or was he misquoted. Thanks.<br><br>A-nonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com