apropos to the Joseph/lesschumras dialogue, I’d like t point out that contrary to Joseph’s implication, there are far fewer “universally acknowledged gedeolim” than he might think. For example, I can say for a fact that outside the Litvishe velt, R. Svei is not considered a gadol, nor was R. Gifter. Chassidim didn’t recognize them as anything special since they were not chassidic. Modern Orthodoxy rejected them due to their insutling R. Norman Lamm and YU. R. Schach was similarly rejected by non-chareidim for his countelss charamot and reactionary stances. Indeed for those of you who took a R. Schach cherem seriously, please note I am in cherem from him as I attended Nechama Liebowitz’s shiurim when I was in yeshiva in Israel (this was no small matter, when the Rosh Yeshiva found out, he wanted to expell me. It was only when I threatened to tell everyone back in US why I was expelled, particularly one big donor did he back down). And on a final note the cyclical veneration and disparagement of R. Ovadia Yosef as displayed in the chareidi press renders the entire concept of “Gadolei Yisrael” most hollow.
Menu