To Rabbi of Berlin,
I must say that I take my hat off to you for admitting AND apologizing for your negative words on this blog. KOL HAKAVOD TO YOU. That shows a sign of greatness (in my opinion), and it’s something we should ALL learn from. I have a newfound respect for you. I for one am moichel you for having insulted me (my way of life) but I only speak for myself.
To be perfectly honest, though the two quotes I posted were comments made by you, the term “Sonei Yisroel” I did not see on the site, (I did not go back and read all your comments, just those two.) Rather, if you are the person i think you are, and you sure sound like it, it is a term I heard from your own mouth recently, along with “elitist”. If you do not live in mOnsey then I have the wrong person and I apologize for being Choshed biksherim. But that’s where that came from.
Now I would like to comment on the rest of your post:
You claim that emunas chachamim is a new consept , you imply -invented by the litvish people. I am not a talmid chacham, but I can think of one early commentator (pre-Lita) who wrote that when we look to our chachamim and listen to their words it is like someone in a garden maze looking to the guy in the middle for direction. The man in the middle has already completed the maze and from his high vantage point can see where you’re lost and can direct you. (see intro to mesilas yesharim, I may not have repeated it accurately, but its to the best of my recollection. The Ramchal is certainly great enough and enough accepted, I’m sure evn by you. Perhaps other people can bring other proofs.
However, I am surprised at you, Rabbi of Berlin, Chassid at heart: The concept of Emunas Chachamim is very strong by chassidim, perhaps even stronger than by Litvaks. By chassidim the idea of following the Rebbes directive blindly is part and parcel of almost every story.
Second,I agree it was out of line to call you a Koifer (though I suspect she was not the first one), and I agree that insulting someone is just an insult and never okay, but she didnt call you that because you don’t believe this story. Rather it was a general disbelief of many beliefs that form classic Jewish thought that get bandied about on this blog, which you and others have mocked.
By bringing in the split in Satmar and other camps, you display ignorance about the concept of emunas Chachamim. A chacham is a Gadol of Klal Yisroel who guide us in every area in life. When he exhorts us to do Teshuva in a certain area, we trust he is a messenger from Hashem, as cose as we can get to Nevua today, which is not existant today. Also, we can apply kenei l’cha Rav, where we ask Daas Torah from a wise and Knowledgeable Torah Scholar to direct us, and then we follow his advise, even though it sometimes doent make 100% sense to us. Chassidic tales (fairy tales too?)are replete with cases in which the Rebbe said or did something incomprehensible, but the one who trusted gained in the end.
you write, ” And, additonally, pray tell me, do I have to believe in Rav Kaniesky’s every word? In other words, are R’Chaim kanievsky’s words infallible?”
No, you don’t have to. Hopefully, you have your own Tzaddik that you follow. However, those that hold Rav Kanieveski to be the gadol Hador do believe every word he says. Yes, he is fallable, but his “fallacies” would be my mitzvos. As Chazal say, “Yiftach bedoro keShmuel bedoro”
The words of Rav Kook are to the Mizrachim as the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe are to the Lubavitchers as the words of the Satmar rebbe are to the satmars. No Layman should put down a spiritual leader in front of ones followers, ever. If a Gadol says that the shita of the other “Rebbe” is wrong, I can not fully understand that, but I trust it is Lesheim shamayim. all of the Besh”t’s talmidim who eventually became Rebbes had different tracks in avodas hashem which conflicted with the other.
I agree wholeheartedly that open nissim do not generally happen today. everything is cloaked in teva. But cannot this story be explained by Teva too? It is not SO unusual to find weird quirks of nature. Several years ago I heard on the (secular) radio about a woman somewhere in England I think who had a baby aborted. She felt unwell and the doctors discovered a dead fetus. The fetus was in her womb for 35 years. The lady was over 70 years old. weird. Do I believe it? I dont know. But there are enough weird happeneings in the GUNISS BOOK to prove it.
I will respond to the rest of your post soon cuz i have to go now.