HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau on Monday evening addressed the public storm that erupted over statements he made in a private conversation that were falsely presented as an attack on Dati Leumi IDF soldiers.
Speaking at a kinus organized by the Ichud Bnei HaYeshivos organization, HaRav Landau first addressed bnei yeshivos with clear instructions to avoid debates during the summer break: “During Bein HaZemanim, you may encounter people whose way of life differs from our own. It’s essential to avoid any ideological arguments with them. Our hashkafa is clear to us from our Rabbanim, the pillars of the earth, whose waters we drink. In particular, one must be extremely careful to avoid arguments with people who, under the guise of their faith, persecute the Torah and those who learn it, and are incapable of understanding or appreciating our hashkafa—the hashkafa of our great Rabbanim, the Chazon Ish, z’tl and the Brisker Rav, z’tl.”
“And as was proven over the past day, when remarks I made in a private conversation were published, and with the hatred of amei ha’aretz, were treated with distortion and with a complete lack of understanding.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
7 Responses
If the remarks were made in a private conversation, how did the remarks get published?
What constitutes a private conversation?
You write that the statements of HaRav Landau were made in a private conversation that were falsely presented as an attack on Dati Leumi IDF soldiers. Firstly, any videoed conversation cannot be considered as private. Secondly, it was definitely an attack on Dati Leumi IDF soldiers. He called them reshaim, wicked. It can be debated whether the term “murderers” he used refers to the soldiers of the medinah, but he definitely attacked them with the word “reshaim.” Don’t twist the rav’s words to make it seem more palatable in the tzibbur’s eyes. That is how he feels. You may not agree with it but his words were clear beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Edited: You write that the statements of HaRav Landau were made in a private conversation that were falsely presented as an attack on Dati Leumi IDF soldiers. Firstly, any videoed conversation cannot be considered as private. Secondly, it was definitely an attack on Dati Leumi IDF soldiers. He called them reshaim, wicked. It can be debated whether the term “murderers” he used refers to the soldiers or the medinah, but he definitely attacked them with the word “reshaim.” Don’t twist the rav’s words to make it seem more palatable in the tzibbur’s eyes. That is how he feels. You may not agree with it but his words were clear beyond the shadow of a doubt.
אין מעמידין בכל הסנהדרין לא זקן מופלג בשנים…
“We do not appoint to any Sanhedrin a person who is very advanced in age…” (Hilchot Sanhedrin 2:3).
We know what we heard.
Don’t blame the hate in your heart on our am haAratzus.
He didn’t call all of them Wicked, he said many of them that happen to wear knitted kippas are wicked. Based on what you see today can you say he’s wrong? Some of them call to starve the world of yeshiva’s but have no problem with the Arabs getting subsidies until the end of time, and many of them are families of terrorists or jailed prisoners. That type of wickedness comes from people who expose themselves to secular universities and secular culture, it doesn’t take long for that environment to take a toll on you spiritually. And unfortunately it claimed many of them. But that doesn’t mean everyone of course. Look at his words closely and you’ll see that he’s 100% correct. Half the problems facing his community is coming from people that call themselves religious but are anything but that
Let me remind you that this man didn’t take himself away from his studies for already over 90 years. He is the top decision maker and Authority for the Orthodox community, he is the go-to for halacha along with rav zilberstein/rav Hirsch etc. You should think long and hard before belittling such a man, it’s very obvious that he’s favored High upstairs and I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. Just be on the safe side and close your mouth