The Torah Matzav’s Detective Work

Get the joke?

Sunday, February 23, 2025

 

This coming שבת -ר”ח -שקלים  we will be reading from three different ספרי תורה.

Some claim, in the name of one of the Gerer Rebbes to have quoted from the ספר היכלות that on a day when 3 ספרי תורה are  taken out of the ארון הקדש there is a special סגולה during פתיחת הארון to have all your תפילות for your needs & wants to be accepted.

I checked the entire ספר היכלות* and there is no mention of 3 ספרי תורה or any such סגולה etc.

As far as I know, this סגולה has no מקור. It was probably made up by one of the Chasidic Rebbes based on a פסוק in יחזקאל מ””ו
כֹּה אָמַר ה’ – שַׁעַר הֶחָצֵר — יִהְיֶה סָגוּר שֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה, וּבְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת יִפָּתֵחַ וּבְיוֹם הַחֹדֶשׁ יִפָּתֵחַ.

Not only are the gates of the Bais Hamikdash opened on Shabbos or on Rosh Chodesh but also, the gates of heaven are opened, especially when we have both, Shabbos & Rosh Chodesh (and even more so when we also have פרשת שקלים).

Someone likely asked where to find this סגולה and jokingly got told it’s in a (nonexistent sefer) ספר היכלות a ספר on הלכות ארון הקדש. The term היכל is used for ארון הקדש. As the זהר פ’ נשא says, הכל תלוי במזל אפילו ס”ת שבהיכל, Even today, Sefardim call an aron kodesh a היכל.

Hence the confusion of those who mistakenly believe the מקור is in the original ספר היכלות which is מיוחס להתנא ר’ ישמעאל

* The entire Sefer has only 20 pages
https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=41146&pgnum=1

From Toras Aba, here.

An Origin Story of Neturei Karta’s Name – and What That Teaches Us

Here’s the official story (my summary):

הרב עמרם בלוי, יהודה ויספיש ואהרון קצנלנבוגן פרשו מאגודת ישראל בשנת תרצ”ה וקראו לארגון שלהם “חברת החיים”. הרב יוסף צבי דושינסקיא זצ”ל העיר להם שזה נשמע כאילו רק הם חיים, ולכן השם המקורי נעזב. כעבור כמה שנים הוחל לקוראם “נטורי קרתא” בגלל כותרת כרוז שהוציאו נגד כופר הישוב, וגם הם קבלו על עצמם שם חדש זה.

Sounds simple, but where and what else did Rabbi Dushinsky have to do with these characters?! And they themselves admit to being anti-establishment troublemakers, even before their official “organization” (and mostly ever since).

So, here’s what I think really happened (just a guess):

R’ Katzenellenbogen (Note: unlike Rabbi Amram Blau, who certainly knew how to learn to a large degree, even if he wasn’t a true sage, Reb Aaron Katzenellenbogen was no Torah scholar, and everyone knows that) was probably starting a conversation with Rabbi Dushinsky, trying to get support of some sort (like he did unsuccessfully with the Chazon Ish, Rabbi Z.R. Bengis and others). When Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, head of the Eidah Hachareidis (בית דין צדק לכל מקהלות האשכנזים) and a leader of Agudas Yisrael heard these wise guys were going to finally unabashedly declare themselves their own leaders, and rebel against the duly constituted Beis Din and Kehillah, etc., he made a simple remark opposing (or at least not supporting) the organization itself, stupid titles aside.

Rabbi Dushinsky humorously referenced a gemara (Kuddushin 34a: גברי בעי חיי נשי לא בעי חיי or Yoma 11b)., but the Talmudic reference completely sailed over R’ Katzenellenbogen’s head, and the rest is history.

Of course, by that logic, it’s not as though calling themselves Neturei Karta, and implying no one else qualify as ספריא ומתניניא\scholars and teachers (from Yerushalmi Chagiga 6a-6b) is any better! (And the second name makes even less sense in context.)

This was no loving guidance and counsel by Rabbi Dushinsky to an organization under his auspices or even tacit support!

(I am surely getting the relations of the official organizations [Eidah Hachareidis, Agudas Yisrael] at the time wrong here. I don’t have the time to untangle the web.)

By the way, what did the real rabbis think of “Kofer Hayishuv”? Sounds like a vaguely legitimate levy to me…