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Website Questions Kaliver Rebbe’s Marriage


The Srugim dati leumi internet site published a column addressing the recent chasnah of the Kaliver Rebbe Shlita.

The column begins by acknowledging the rebbe and his rebitzen are adults and of sound mind, and therefore must have contemplated the realities of a wedding between people whose ages are separated by three decades. So much for the difference in their ages.

The piece continues by stating the content of the write up is being done in a respectful fashion, but nonetheless critical, under the headline that the wedding was not halachically without difficulty and the chareidim usually accuse the dati leumi “of not knowing Gemara”.

The content as follows: The Kaliver Rebitzen was niftar a half year ago, on erev Chanukah.

The Gemara (Meseches Moed Katan 23:a) addresses dealing with aveilus, stating that if one’s wife dies, one may not wed until three yomim tovim have passed. Rabbi Yehuda states that after the first two pass the third is permitted because of kiyum mitzvas ‘p’ru u’revu…’

But the Gemara says if one’s first wife dies, one must wait for three yomim tovim, citing two exceptions, kiyum the mitzvah mentioned above and if there are young children involved that the widower cannot care for alone.

The write up continues, explaining the Gemara, stating none of the heterim apply to the rebbe and therefore, he should not have married this soon following the petira of the rebitzen, bringing the Rambam (Aveilus 6:5) to provide additional backing to the argument, then quoting the Rema and the result of one who does not adhere to the  Halacha.

“I do not know the admor personally, and I don’t know the reason he married within five months of the death of his rebitzen. Even more, I am surprised at Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, the rav of Ramat Elchanan in Bnei Brak and son-in-law of the gadol hador, who performed the marriage.

The chareidi tzibur always claim that Zionist rabbonim do not know Shas and poskim, and here is an example of gedolei yisrael and the chareidi tzibur – forgetting and ignoring Halacha as stated b’feirush in Shulchan Aruch.

The article is signed by Mordechai Azoulay, Srugim.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)



2 Responses

  1. They are both too old to have children, so what difference does it make? If they were both 30 years younger, then it would be unusual.

    Since women usually outlive men (thanks to changes in technology, the reverse used to be true), older men tend to marry increasingly younger women once they get to being advanced in ago.

    For those who object, the obvious solution to the problem to ban use of antibiotics and surgery for women in childbirth so most of them would die young as they used, in which case older men would outnumber older women. I am NOT advocating this.

    There are many shittahs on waiting periods, and it is arogant to assum that your shittah defines what is correct.

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