My Very Own Slifkin Blog: R Carmell's article on Slifkin

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

R Carmell's article on Slifkin

Can anyone who read R Carmell's paper on slifkin disagree he takes his "Rebbe" rav dessler completly out of context?

2 Comments:

At 6:31 PM, Anonymous said...: Friday, November 18, 2005

The Ethics of This Blog
Yes, it is permitted to publish these emails. Our Rabonim pask'ned that the emails are the rightful possession of whoever they were sent to, and they have a right to do with it as they please. If you dont want your Kefirah known, Nosson, keep your Kefirah to yourself.

You think that your spreading lies and hate all over the world is going to continue unresponded to? You did this to yourself, Nosson, and Sholom, and Gil, and all of you. You and your sleazy eidah. You spread lies. People are entitled to hear the truth.

# posted by Observer @ 11:30 AM 7 comments

Heresy Hater
The lunatic commentor on this site called Heresy Hater is actually the sleazy blogger called Godol Hador, trying to make Torah Jews look stupid. He admitted this identity on his own blog.

The question is whether or not GodolHador is Slifkin or Gil Student themselves. If he is not one of them, it seems he is definitely getting his information from one of them. The attraction of that blog was that he was knowledgable in inside information that only Nosson Slifkin knew. It is becoming more and more clear that this campaign all over the internet defaming Gedolim was orchestrated by Slifkin and his "inner circle" themselves. More on this shortly.

# posted by Observer @ 11:26 AM 5 comments

I won a bet today
Slifkin's eidah are so predictable. I was thinking of ways to give this blog more publicity, so I decided that if I go off topic and instead of discussing the real story of what happened between the Gedolim and Slifkin, which is the purpose of this blog, and instead, write about something like whether elephants jump, showing that Slifkin did not do his homework, his eidah will immediately try to defend themselves and give me the publicity I need.

Thank you, Godol Hador - this lying sleazy blogger, who made terrible fun of our Torah sages, giving them clownish names, making up letzonus songs about them, and spreading the absolute lies of Nosson Slifkin, has given me a lot of free publicity. Because of his attempt to defend Slifkin, the hits for this blog more than doubled in 24 hours.

Thanks, Godol Hador. You may be a Kofer and a horrible Jew, but you are consistently heretical and horrible which makes you easy to use.

# posted by Observer @ 11:13 AM 2 comments
Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Slifkin's Ameteur Science Circus
Nosson Slifkin, the big shot science freak who denegates Chazal because of his "sophisticated" approach to science, is a phony. He actually has no degrees at all in any scientific field whatsoever, and no professional training or any formal training at all in zoology. The "scientific facts" that he bases his books on and that he degrades Chazal and Rishonim with are his own amateur opinions. I am in the process of helping someone put together the "Collected Writings of Nosson Slifkin" (a different blog). The blog will post emails and correspondences that Nosson wrote to various people throughout the years, and internet postings he put up, where he incriminates himself by revealing heretical ideas (much worse than he wrote in his books) clearly. Many people have contributed to this collection, and more are coming forward. We will all see who Nosson really is. The post of his on the Mabul being completely fictional is one of them. The latest is the following.

Dear Rabbi Nosson Slifkin,

In bekius shiur we were learning a gemara on chof hei
amud beis (25:) in kedushin discussing the kinyan of
behaima gasah. Our rebbi pointed out a machlokes
between rashi and tosfos. the gemara asks, "according
to R' Shimon, behaima gasa is acquired through
hagbaha, lifting. What about an elephant?" One of the
answers in the gemara is through bundles [of vines].
(daf chof vuv [26.])Rashi explains it simply to mean
that you cause the elephant to stand on these bundles.
Tosfos quotes Rav Meshulom who says that these bundles
are food for the elephant and by holding it high and
causing the elephant to jump, you perforem hagbahah.
it bothered the shiur because many of us have read/
heard that elephants (are the only animals that) can't
jump

Do elephants jump?

thank you,

Nosson

This is Slifkin's response.

Dear Nosson,

Thank you for your fascinating question, which also
bothered me when I studied this. I suspect that
Tosafos did not know that elephants can't jump; there
probably weren't very many elephants in 13th century
Europe, so I doubt that Tosafos ever saw one. So I
think that Rashi's explanation has the advantage!

Best wishes,

Rabbi Natan Slifkin

www.zootorah.com

So Tosfos never saw an elephant yet like a fool wrote things about them anyway without having any idea whether they are true. This is Slifkins idea of Rishonim - and Chazal - and everyone except his eidah: Ignorant, blind Neanderthals.

Knowing the controversy surrounding Slifkin and that his books were caught with scientific inaccuracies and distortions, the questioner did some research on his own, and discovered the following

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/28/earlyshow/leisure/books/main663454
.shtml

There are a few sightings of elephants jumping in the wild. Veterinarian Judy Provo found two books in her college library that illustrate the discrepancy. S. K. Ettingham’s Elephant lays out the conventional thinking: “… because of its great weight, an elephant cannot jump or even run in the accepted sense since it must keep one foot on the ground at all times.” But an account in J. J. William’s Elephant Bill describes a cow elephant jumping a deep ravine “like a chaser over a brook.”

Even though commonbelief is like SLifkin, serious reasearch shows that his sweeping statements are the result of not enough scientific knowledge.

Amateur zoologost. Amateur rabbi. Professional Kofer.

# posted by Observer @ 1:04 PM 21 comments
Sunday, November 06, 2005

Can't Someone Reason With Slifkin?
Not at all. The Gedolim were right in their assessment that this guy is not someone who listens to reason. He's not even someone who understands an intelligent conversation.

From: Zoo Torah zoorabbi@zootorah.com
To: [deleted]
Date: Fri, 08 May 2005 15:11:38
Subject: Hi
Message ID: [deleted]

Hi,

I had a very difficult meeting with Rav Ahron Feldman this week. He spent the last few weeks in Israel and told me that he has come under fire for supposedly supporting me. Hes not happy with that and wants to make it clear otherwise. So although he told me several months ago that he disagrees with the ban on the books, he has now changed his mind.

Following is the (current) view of Rav Feldman as I understand it, which itself is his understanding of Rav Elyashev's view (I am not yet sure if he meant this for public knowledge) . . . MORE TO COME -- STAY TUNED

# posted by Observer @ 10:36 AM 6 comments

Who Is Trying To Ban Whom?
This summer, one of the Roshei Yeshiva who came out against Slifkin was in L.A. for a Simcha, and was asked to give a guest Shiur, on a Gemora topic totally unrelated to anything Hashkafik, and having nothing to do with Slifkin or his books. Sholom reportedly told students of his that were there that they should absolutely not attend this man's shiur.

So who is trying to ban whom?

The Slifkin Mafia Enforcers, including Sholom "My father wont let me do it" Kamenetsky have been trying to hurt, slander, mock, ridicule, and BAN anyone who dares express their opinion on Slifkins books, if that opinion is not the same as theirs.

# posted by Observer @ 10:31 AM 1 comments

The Retractions, Part 3: "My father wont let me play anymore"
Sholom Kamenetsky wrote another retraction to his Rebbi which said that although Slifkin's intentions may have been noble, the result was not. Sholom describes the lack of seriousness with which Slifkin wrote the books, lacking the "trepidation" (Sholom's word) that a G-d fearing Jew has when he embarks on such a task (in other words, Slifkin does not have the Yiras Shamayim it takes to write these books, an understatement but better than nothing), and that he totally withdraws his Haskomo.

But then he called his Rebbi and said, "My father wont let me continue".

Rav Shmuel would have been quite embarrassed to have his own son condemn the books that he still has his Haskomo attached to. So he would not allow Sholom to do what he promised his Rebbi he would do, what he wanted to do, what he tried to do, and what he would have done had he not been pressured by his Dad.

The pressure put on people to not to come out against Slifkins books was not limited to Sholom and his father. Wealthy donors were told to pressure Roshei Yeshiva who were against Slifkin. The Slifkin Mafia Enforcers were on the loose (more on that in future posts), and Yeshiva kids were brought into the fray by unscrupulous people like Sholom (see next post).

# posted by Observer @ 10:17 AM 1 comments

The Lies of Nosson Slifkin - Part 1 of ... many many more
Find this here

"[Slifkin] compared the herem . . ."

The first of the chain of lies of Adas Slifkin was to tell the world that the proclamation of the Gedolim was a cherem on Slifkin's books. This way they elicit the Modern Orthodox shoot from the hip knee jerk reaction against "book banning", and at the same time play the part of the poor victim who was put into Cherem.

The truth is that there is no cherem. This is a filthy and outright lie by Nosson Slifkin (one of many lies he and his Eidah have thrown at the world) documented in public and stated to the press by him, a slanderous and vile lie against our Gedolim, performed in order to elicit sympathy and support. This alone by stating it to the press qualifies him as Mechalelel Shem Shamayim and a Motzi Shem Rah against Gedoli Yisroel. If anyone ever thought that Slifkin was merely an honest idiot, they can see here that he is simply a liar and is willing to say whatever it takes, even to the press, to get his books sold.

Nobody put Nosson Slifkins books into Cherem. They simply made an Halachik ruling, the same way they would rule that Mezuzos written on paper are trief, that Slifkins books are treif, and Assur to bring into a Jewish home according to the Halachik status of Sifrei Minim.

Because a cherem is designed to force people not to read the books, now Slifkin has enabled himself to say that the ban backfired, because it caused the books to be read even more so. He and his gang of liars then went around trying to make the Gedolim look like idiots because they acted in a manner that was counterproductive and without foresight. This was more Slifkin spin -- Slifkin and Gil Student and their cast of moronic bloggers. And the idiotic Modern Orthodox blind sheep believe anything that is said against Gedolei Yisrael. What jokes these people are. Pathetic.

The only thing the Gedolim were trying to do was INFORM to public of the prohibited content of Slifkins books and their Halachik status. And they succeeded wonderfully. Now we know that Rav Elyashev and the Gedolim have declared the books to be Kefirah. Their objective was DISCLOSURE, to INFORM people about the books, to REVEAL the halachic status they have. If the Modern Orthodox world or other fools want to buy Kefirah, that is their own choice, and Yavdu hem v'elef kemosam, but the objective of educating and informing the public was fulfilled

# posted by Observer @ 9:44 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Enough Is Enough! The Events Behind The Slifkin Affair
Yehuda Gelman writes:

There were two reasons why the [Slifkin] affair brought defaming responses . . . The second reason, more important to me and to many people with whom I have spoken on the R. Slifkin ban, was the brutal and unfair way R. Slifkin was perceived to have been treated in this affair, according to R. Slifkins account of what transpired. . . . If R. Slifkins account is not accurate, then in order for R. Feldmans essay to succeed to calm and defend the honor of the Torah, it must be supplemented with a true account of what transpired.

The man is right. The purpose of this blog is to clarify the "account of what transpired" and to present the other side of the story. Before I embark on that, however, I find it important point out the double standard and even hypocrisy that was shown by the bloggers and those who believed them during the entire course of events. On one hand, they are all up in arms that Slifkin was never given a chance to present his side of the story to the Gedolim that banned him. On the other hand, the blogosphere and those referred to in Rav Feldmans letter (who experienced a "vital crisis") believed Slifkins version of the story without giving the Gedolim a chance to present their side. Did anyone ask Rav Elyashev why he feels he can ban a book without knowing English? Did anyone ask Rav Weintraub how he can ban a book without meeting its author?If anyone did, I did not see their side of the story presented on the blogs. The bloggers are guilty of hypocrisy and a double standard here.

# posted by Observer @ 6:10 PM 9 comments

The Making of a Kofer
In The Beginning (This genesis account is NOT a moshol lchol hadeos)

On Thursday of Parshas Netzavim this year, Rav Yisroel Elya Weintraub shlita, American born, English speaking Torah Godol, and among the greatest authorities on Jewish theology, wrote a letter to his student, R. Sholom Kamenetsky, son of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. The letter described how Rav Weintraub was presented with 3 books by Nosson Slifkin, and how he spent an hour and 15 minutes investigating their contents. He describes how he was shocked by the horrendous heresy against Torah theology they contained. He wrote the letter to Sholom because he noticed that his Talmid had written a Haskama to the books. Rav Weintraub writes that he judges his student favorably, that he probably did not see the entire book but only excerpts, which did not contain the article material. Rav Weintraub sincerely instructed his Talmid to retract his Haskomo, to admit his error, to free himself from the mud that he got himself into, and to remember what Chazal say, "Torah is not acquired unless one makes mistakes in it."There were several letters between them.In short, Sholoms response was that the people who brought the issue to Rav Weintraubs attention are surely trying to put a wedge between them, and that they have an agenda against both him and his father. (He allegedly did not indicate why these people would have such an agenda or how he knows this. Nor did he provide any compelling evidence for this claim.) Sholom also said that the reason the book was written was to counter the terrible heresy of http://www.daatemet.com//ohttp://www.daatemet.com/, which was denouncing Chazal, one of his claims being that Chazal were ignorant in science and thus mistakenin many things that they wrote. His point is that Torah She Baal Peh is a forgery. The three books Rav Weintraub saw were written to counter the claims of that website, and to provide the answers for those who need them. He also wrote that he is not a scientist and does not know science, and merely sees a purpose to the book in responding to the mockery of Torah by the above mentioned heretics.

Rav Weintraub wrote back that the people who presented him with the books do not even know Sholom, do not care about him, and kal vachomer they have no agenda against him or his father. They also have no idea that Rav Weintraub and Sholom have any connection at all. He knows this for a fact, he said. And as far as Kiruv goes, he explained to his Talmid that this is not the proper way to do Kiruv. In addition, this book degrades Chazal and will serve to be Merachek Krovim. Rav Weintraub later wrote that Slifkin called his home and spoke to his wife. His words were open degradation of Gedolei Hador, and therefore, because of Slifkins disrespectful and arrogant "I know Torah better than the Gedolim" attitude, he feels that it is inappropriate to enter into conversation with him.

In Rav Weintraubs letters he also recounted how he related the contents for the books to Rav Steinmen and Rav Lefkowitz, and they, too, were shocked at the heresy they contained. Sholom had agreed to retract his haskama. But removing a haskama was not enough, Rav Weintraub said. The public must know why the haskama was removed and be accurately informed of the seriousness of the contents of the book.

Rav Weintraub wrote another letter on the 6th day of Aseres Yemei Teshuva. He explains that the heresy in these books are no different than any other heresy, and that Kiruv is not an excuse for teaching it. Imagine, he says, if the books would have told about Yoshkah - would it be enough merely to retract a Haskama?? Would such a book not be disgusting in your eyes? Surely it would! And so, "Is there, then, any difference between one kind of heresy and another?"

Rav Weintraub said to his Talmid that he should publicize that he made a mistake, and that the books are assur to be found or seen in a Jewish home. Admit your mistake and do not be ashamed!, he writes. Admit that these books are full of heresy, and that there was a stumbling block here. Then there will be closure.

# posted by Observer @ 6:06 PM 0 comments

The Retractions Part 2
Kamenetsky agreed to retract his haskama. He even submitted a draft of a retraction letter to Rav Weintraub. It said something to the following affect:

The books were written for the sake of Dah Mah Shtoshiv LApikores, according to the approach of the Tiferes Yisroel etc. and even though I realize this is a Daas Yachid and nobody holds like them, they wrote what they wrote because they needed a response temporarily to respond to the needs of their times, and originally I thought that would be applicable today too, but the Gedolim say I am wrong and that there is no positive benefit at all to these books, and we are sorry if any michshal has come from our hands.

On the draft Sholom had written, the names R. Aron Lopiansky, R. Mordechai Korfeld, and R. Sholom Kamenetsky appeared on the paper. However, this text was unacceptable to Rav Weintraub and the Gedolim, because it does not admit that the book is heretical, nor does it admit that there was even a problem with it at all - it says that the Gedolim say it has no use and they apologize "if" the book is problematic. That was not what Sholom said he would do. That is why Rav Weintraub wrote to him that he should imagine for instance if the book contained Christian theology. Would Sholom be satisfied with such a weak retraction?

# posted by Observer @ 6:04 PM 0 comments

The Retractions Part 1
Sholom did put out a letter about his Haskama in the book, but instead of a retraction, stated that he never really meant to give a real Haskama in the first place. See it here.

I asked Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky Shlita whether his letter in the sefer could be taken as expressing agreement with Rabbi Slifkins approach. Rabbi Kamenetsky has given me permission to forward his response to Avodah. It is addressed to me by my Hebrew name ("Yoel").

September 13, 2004
Dear R Yoel,T hank you for the note. My name does appear in his book and a careful reading of the haskomo will show that I gave no haskomo on the content. What impressed me about the book is its science. The uninitiated unlettered Jew often finds that the responses he gets when he questions the seeming incompatibility between science and Torah (lhavdil) are lacking. The science in the book is impressive, but I do not agree with the positions he takes in the Torah. True, he has "unconventional" sources that would lend some credibility to the theories he proposes, but I see these as "suggestions" (based on somewhat spurious understandings of unconventional sources) that are to allow the uninitiated to feel that he can begin learning Torah, and see for himself that the issues are irrelevant. More than anything else, RNS should be lauded for trying his best to defend the Torah against a group of apikorsim that are bent on mocking Torah and disseminating science as the "proof" that Torah is false, Rachmono litzlan. But to say that these theories have credibility as Torah positions was not my intent in my letter of approbation. I agree with Rabbi Bechofer and there is no such thing as scientific evidence which is "incontrovertible".

Respectfully,Sholom Kamenetsky

Sholom allegedly never sent this letter to Rav Weintraub but instead lied to him saying that he had retracted his haskama, as he agreed to do. When Rav Weintraub heard of what Sholom really wrote, he was infuriated. (Sholom was furious at the person who showed Rav Weintraub his letter.) The letter says nothing about the book being problematic except for the fact that Slifkin did not understand the sources he quoted. No word of heresy, no word of not bringing the book into a Jewish home, no word of anything wrong with reading the book. On the contrary - "more than anything else", Slifkin is to be "lauded". And where he told Rav Weintraub he is not a scientist and does not know science, here he says that the entire Haskomoh was only on the science! Sholom was playing games.

And Slifkins take on all this?

I contacted all the rabbonim who had written haskamos . . . None of them had withdrawn their haskamos, and only one of them, Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, had actually heard that there was any controversy going on. (He had been instructed by Rav Weintraub, who is his rebbe, to revoke his haskamah, but he had not done so and still has not done so.)

So Rav Wentraub was told that Sholoms haskama had been retracted, the world has been told that there never was any real Haskama in the first place (except on the science), and Slifkin says he was told the Haskama was never retracted.

Someone was really playing games.

# posted by Observer @ 6:00 PM 0 comments

Why Slifkin Really Never Met With The Gedolim
The gedolim saw books that espoused kefirah. They saw, right there in front of them, things that are ossur to read. They assessed this the way poskim assess all psakim – they apply the halachah. In this case, the halachah says "lo sosuru acharae levavechem" - books such as these are forbidden to be brought into a Jewish home or to be read.The fact is these books contain apikorsus, ideas that are ossur to believe. It has nothing to do with who wrote the books - whether the author is a big rabbi or an ignorant bum makes no difference. When you bring your mezuzah to a rav and he sees misspelled words, missing letters, that it was printed by a printing press on paper and not klaf, and that instead of krias shema it contains comics, he will say it is ossur to use. Most people would not say that the rav is obligated to meet with the sofer before he makes his psak. Nobody expects the rav to have to "prove" to the sofer that the mezuzos are posul. If the sofer thinks theyre kosher, let him use them on his own house! But the rav is going to say they are posul.

Yet in our case, some unthinking people who are easily swayed by what they read from Slifkin and a small group of anonymous, ignorant and sleazy characters on the internet, came to think that the gedolim have some kind of obligation to debate their psak with Slifkin, who is no more than a child who plays with animals, before they issue a psak that certain beliefs are ossur, simply because Slifkin demands that they do so. You ask a halachik shailah - you get a halachik answer. Why the sofer did this or what his reasoning is makes no difference, maybe someone put a gun to the sofers head and made him do it, maybe the sofers fourth grade yeshiva ketana rebbi played a trick on the class and taught them that comics belong in mezuzos, maybe the sofer is just an idiot and thinks that this is how a mezuzah is written, it does not matter. To apply the words of Rav Elyashev, "the sofer could be one of the lamed vav tzdikim but the mezuza is still posul!"And the fact that you and your friends have been buying these mezuzos and by so doing have been providing the "sofer" with parnasah that would be ruined by the psak does not change the psak. They will tell you, "These mezuzos are printed on paper. A mezuzah printed on paper is not kosher."

When Rav Weintraub first saw these books, he saw they were not kosher. They contained apikorsus. He could have said so without further ado. But he went out of his way to discuss the matter with one of those who gave haskomos to the books. This one had the greatest influence over their contents (from what I hear, maybe even more than the author), and who also happened to be a talmid of Rav Weintraub, Sholom Kamenetsky. Rav Weintraub heard the arguments of his own student and judged them inadequate. Several faxes went back and forth between them. At the end, Kamenetsky agreed to retract his haskomo. He even sent Rav Weintraub a letter of retraction. It said that he did not read the book in its entirety, that he relied on the fact that the author learned in good Yeshivos, and that his past books were kosher, but when he saw what the books really said, he regrets ever giving a haskama. This is why the Yated reported that the haskomos had been retracted. Kamenetsky did in fact retract his haskomo – at least in one of his statements. In another, he said he never really wrote a haskama, and yet a third version, according to Slifkin, is that the haskama was never retracted. The Yated did not purposely make up a story - they were quoting from Kamenetskys retraction. But Rav Weintraub, and then Rav Moshe Shapiro, two of the greatest experts in the topic of agadah and machshava in the world, still did not come out against the "fake mezuzos" that were being used by innocent people on their own. When other gedolim were made aware of these books, they unanimously agreed that the books were assur to read. Not a single godol who was approached defended the teachings in the books (that includes even the gedolim who did not want to sign the text of the letter that was used.) The signatures included a powerful lineup of gedolim from all walks of Judaism in Israel and America. The name of the posek hador, Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashev shlita, appeared on the top of the letter. It was an awesome display of achdus, unity, and in a generation where you so often hear the complaint that "rabbis cant agree on anything", you found so many different types of gedolim side to side defending the honor of the Torah. It was a great kiddush hashem.

Except that adas Slifkin did not like that. The sofer of the treif mezuzos, Slifkin, and his distributor, Gil Student, together with anonymous troublemaker bloggers (many of whom may be one and the same person, and may even be Slifkin or Student themselves) would start a campaign of spin and falsehood that would undermine the mind of the naive. I seem to recall the story that Kamenetsky wrote to Rav Weintraub (that the people behind the ban have an agenda against him and his father) suddenly appearing over the internet. I find it interesting how a story out of the blue that only Sholom Kamenetsky knew about (because he made it up) suddenly got "leaked" into the blogosphere. And despite all of this, the gedolim did agree to meet with Slifkin, if he would agree to accept their psak after hearing his story. He said that he would not agree to that. Instead, his conditions for accepting their psak was:

I have been told that the letters from Gedolei Torah concerning my bookswill be made public. But it is inconceivable that anyone, especially Gedolim,would condemn someone without meeting and talking with them. I am ready to meet with these Gedolim at their convenience and to hear what their objections are,and to discuss the matter fully. I am certainly willing to retract from anything in which I am proven wrong or mistaken, and kal vchomer if I am proven to have written something that goes against the fundamentals of emunah, chas vshalom. Surely to condemn someone without meeting them goes against both the spirit and the letter of Torah and Shulchan Aruch, and would be an unbelievable chilulHashem befarhesya, and will be widely recognized as such. I spoke with my Rav, Rav Chaim Malinowitz shlita, and he fully concurs with the above. I thereforeassume that the Gedolei Torah would wish to discuss the matter with me first, and I repeat my readiness to meet with them, together with my rebbeim, whenever they want. I am independently making every effort to contact all of the Gedolimsigned on the letters. Sincerely, Nosson Slifkin

Slifkin penned what seems to be a veiled threat to the gedolim: "and it will be perceived as such". And he and his eidah did all they could to make sure it would be. Slifkin informed the gedolim that he will only retract if they will prove to him that he is wrong. And who will decide whether the gedolim have succeeded in proving him wrong? Slifkin himself! If I decide that you gedolim have proven your case, I will retract. If not, then even if you hear what I have to say and still say that I am wrong, I will continue to do what I want, was in essence his message. Can you imagine a sofer who was caught selling comics as mezuzos demanding that the poskim meet with him, "discuss the matter fully" and the "prove" to his satisfaction that his mezuzos are trief?

Was Slifkin joking? Not at all, although he certainly is a joke. Just imagine what would have happened had he met with Rav Elyashev and through some strange turn of events, Rav Elyashev would have explained to him how (for starters) we dont pasken like his sources.Rav Feldman and others have explained this, but Slifkin still insists he knows how to pasken better than the gedolim, and he is still entitled to follow what he thinks is an acceptable approach. Would there have been any point in meeting?

In addition to this, Rav Weintraub heard from his wife what Slifkin had said to her on the phone about the gedolim and the ban, and decided that a person who speaks like that, there is no point in meeting with him. Slifkin writes in his website that nobody can rule without hearing 2 sides of the story. He doesnt understand thats if youre ruling on a persons status but if you are not ruling on a person but his book that does not apply. This is why Rav Elyashev said "It doesn’t matter if Slifkin is one of the 36 tzadikim!" If a chicken is shown to a rav and ruled trief, he does not have to hear the shochets "side of the story", and if a rav sees comic book mezuzos he does not have to hear the sofers side of the story, and if a rav sees kefirah he does not have to hear the authors side of the story. And besides for that, we heard your side. Its stupid.

# posted by Observer @ 5:50 PM 2 comments

Why were the Gedolim so concerned over Slifkins Kefirah more than any other Kefirah?
There are many books and websites that contain Kefirah, even those written by Orthodox Jews. What concerned the Gedolim about Slifkins Kefriah was not merely the fact that he is producing books that are assur to read. The particular damage that believing Slifkins Kefirah can do a Ben Torah, or anybody who aspire to be a Ben Torah, is particularly noxious.We have to know, that the development of the shaklah vetaryah in the Gemorah is not merely the discussions of our sages. It is the Torah Shebal Peh being revealed, being brought into this world. When Rava asks a question, it is not the same as when I ask my friend a question; when Abaye gives an answer, it is not the same as when I give my friend an answer. Rava and Abaye are tapping into their holy Neshomos and their pure minds, their Ruach HaKodesh and their supernatural understanding of Torah, to produce the Torah Shebaal peh. This is Kabbalas HaTorah from Har Sinai taking place.Learning Gemora, you must be aware of this. You must sit b-aimah b-yirah b-reses ub-zeiah with awe, trepidation, trembling and dread while you read the words of the Tanaim and Amorayim, for you are experiencing the giving of Torah from Har Sinai. And not just the giving of Torah - the re-creation of Torah, by way of the understanding of our holy sages, guided and directed by Hashem Yisborach Himself. It is not the Yegiah and Ameilus that I am describing; it is the fear and awe that a person has knowing that he is standing at Har Sinai accepting the Torah emanating from the mouths and minds of the Tanaim and Amorayim. In the olden days people used to wear their hats and jackets when learning, and in some places they still do. Most places dont do that anymore because it detracts from concentration, but we still retain the attitude. Reb Boruch Ber ztzl when giving shiur used to shake as he would say Fregt der heiligeh rava a kasha - enfert der heylegeh abaye a teretz. The author of Mesilas Yeshorim talks about how great the Mitzvah of learning Torah is, and how there is no other connection to G-d as high or as great as learning Torah. But then he says that the greatness and elevation that learning Torah brings is conditional:

This connection is G-dly, and whats more, it is the highest connection to G-d that is possible in all the universe. And therefore, it is surely required for a person to fear and tremble when they are involved in this activity. Because the person learning finds himself in front of G-d, actively bringing down the Great Light from G-d, into himself. Behold he needs to be humbled while learning from his low human status, and he should be amazed at G-ds awesomeness, and he should rejoice very much in his lot, but with trepidation. Included in this is not to be frivolous, not to engage in any debasing either of the words of the Torah or their authors, and he should know before Whom he stands and is working . . . but if this condition is lacking, the light will not descend through his actions, and his words of Torah will be no different than any worldly words, as if he were reading a letter, and thinking about some worldly matters. On the contrary, it is a sin that he has done, that he has approached holiness without awe.

In todays generation, and in America especially, this is a weak point. Whether they are in totality a positive or negative thing, Artscroll and all the English language publications have loosened the reigns of fear, awe, trepidation and trembling when we learn. We read about Rava and Abaye having conversations in the same way we do. Rava asks, Abaye asks - Rava answers, Abaye answers. They use the same language we do, the same words, the same expressions, the same idioms. Learning in such a way slowly whittles down the attitude that Rava and Abaye are not having a conversation but rather are the conduits through which Torah is descending onto this planet.We have had an entire generation weakened in this area. Now on top of all that Slifkin comes and tells us that the entire body of Talmudic literature we have in our hands can be wrong. Everything can be a mistake. Everything! Not just science, but any Halachah derived by our sages could be an error. The only reason we have to follow Chazal, he says, is in the interest of having a unified method of practicing Judaism, even though we could be completely in error. So when you put on Tefillin in the morning, it may be the wrong Tefillin. It may not even be Tefillin! But you have to go through the motions anyway, because at least this way we are all making the same mistake together. How great is achdus!

There is a lot of kefira out there, but Slifkins kfira hits us in our weak spot. Someone who believes kefira has a problem, but someone who believes Slifkins kfira has a bigger problem. He will lose the aimah yirah reses uzeiah needed to experience Torah learning. Someone who believes Slifkins books will not be able to learn a line of Gemora properly any longer.

The Gedolim were most disturbed by Slifkins books are those who are our generations greatest lamdonim, our generations greatest teachers of Gemora. They, who are the most qualified to see it, see not just kefira in Slifkins books, but a knife thrust into the softest part of our gut. We have been weakened in this area already and Slifkins books stab us right there.Slifkins books remove the Kabalas Hatorah from Chazal, the Olam Habah experience from learning Gemora Rashi and Tosfos. It changes Torah learning to, as the Mesilas Yeshorim wrote, nothing different than reading worldly matters, than reading a letter.This is a subtle but fundamental nuance of Torah learning that our Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva fight to instill within their Talmidim, a subtle but necessary ingredient in a Godol BaTorah that is already wounded and bleeding in today generation of Bnei Torah. This is what Slifkins books exterminate.

This is not just kfira, this is the worst kind of kfira. And that is why, of all the kfira being put out by many authors, many of them Orthodox, Slifkins books, however, are worse.

# posted by Observer @ 5:47 PM 0 comments

The Truth Behind Slifkin's "Haskomos"
Slifkins defenders claim:

"Slifkin has haskomos from other Gedolei Torah and those Rabbonim continue to support him...Slifkin fulfilled his duty to faithfully consult Gedolei Torah before publication to make sure that ... His responses fall within the guidelines of acceptable interpretation and Torah hashkafa."

The truth is the contrary. Slifkin consulted Gedolei Torah to get Haskomos, but was turned down time after time, and warned by those from whom he sought the Haskomos that the book is not within the bounds of acceptable interpretation and Torah hashkafa and if he prints it, it will rightfully be branded heretical. He begged people to help him get Haskomos, but no avail. Slifkin is affiliated with Ohr Someach, so did you ever wonder why he did not get any Haskomo from Rav Mendel Weinbach, Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Someach? The answer is because he tried, but Rav Weinbach refused to give Slifkin his Haskomo. He warned Slifkin not to print those books, so did others as well. Slifkin then went shopping around desperately for a Haskomo. He found some small rabbis, some of dubious character (allegations against him include the fact that he had to run away from America to avoid the risk of prosecution for his role in the dealings of a certain Yeshiva that was under investigation for illicit financial behavior). The only Haskomo he got of anyone that can be considered "Gedolei Torah" is that ofRav Shmuel Kamenetsky.What was Rav Shmuels official excuse for giving the Haskama? He is reported as telling people who asked that he did not read the books, but relied on certain people that Slifkin was a fine fellow, and on that basis gave a Haskama.What is his official reason for not retracting his Haskama? Rav Shmuel said that he feels people should give Slifkin a chance to correct his books before they come out against them. He is also reported as saying to someone that they should not have made Slifkin into a Kofer, even though what his books said was against the Torah. (Despite that the facts remain that Slifkin refuses to admit that the books are against the Torah, and Rav Elyashev already said nobody is making Slifkin into a Kofer, but saying the books are Kefirah.)As a matter of fact, when the ban came out, the Gedolim were negotiating with Rav Shmuel for almost 6 months trying to find a graceful way out for him. He had agreed to sign the ban on the condition that they remove the part about the books being Kefirah. If they would say that the books simply contain content that is against the Torah, he agreed to sign. But the Gedolim, including Rav Elyashev, said that Kefirah is Kefirah and they have to say so. And more then this is the fact that after almost a half a year of negotiations, to try to get Rav Shmuel out of the problem with his honor intact, they had no choice but to come out with the ban without him.But why did Rav Shmuel not want to retract? To understand the answer to this, first we need to know the history behind this haskomo.

The way Slifkin acquired this Haskomo is through the manipulations of Rav Shmuels son, the controversial Sholom Kamenetsky, for who his father has an unfortunate soft spot in his heart.This is not the first time Rav Shmuel was burnt by his irresponsible son. It was Sholom Kamenetsky who convinced his father to back Rabbi Yosef Reinmans book that had in it the opinions of a Reform rabbi, for which Rav Shmuel later got burnt, and had to retract his support. Without Sholom, Rav Shmuel never would have even considered giving a Haskama to Slifkins books. Now that the Haskama was shown to be a mistake, Rav Shmuel, who was burnt once and shown to have poor judgment when it comes to giving Haskomos, did not want to be shown once again to have made the same terrible mistake as he did with Reinman, and so he will not retract his Haskomo. Rav Shmuels official reason for not retracting (that we should give Slifkin a chance to retract) does not hold water. Slifkin was given a chance and he still has a chance. Nevertheless, he constantly repeats his claims that his books are Kosher and that what the Poskim said about them are wrong. He still insists that the Poskim went "against both the spirit and the letter of Torah and Shulchan Aruch" (even though he has not cited a single Halacha in the Shulchan Aruch that says so).

Another reason for the concern of the Gedolim Because Slifkins books have haskomos, thereby giving the impression that the books are legitimate, or at least, they represent a legitimate, alternative approach. The truth is, they represent nothing Jewish, and the Haskomos are not what they appear to be, as the next post will demonstrate.

# posted by Observer @ 5:43 PM 0 comments

Why Certain Rabbonim Did Not Sign The Ban
Slifkins eidah says that the fact that some Rabonim did not sign the ban means that they support Slifkin, but the truth is the contrary. This is an explanation of Rabbonim that were asked to sign and did not:

Rabbi Aharon Schechter - he originally said that he is sure that they are Ossur to read, and are against the Torah. He stated that the books are "bal yira ubal yimatzeh", Ossur to see or to own. He agreed to sign the ban if they changed the word "Kefirah" to "Apikursus", because the Gemora Paskins that if someone says "kal vachomer zeh" (a certain Kal vachomer) is not true, then he is an Apikorus, but it does not say that it is Kefirah, and this is the problem with Slifkins books. Rav Aharon has since changed his position, agreeing that Slifkins books are Kefirah.

Rabbi Chaim Epstein - he agreed that the books are Kefirah but did not want to sign the ban because it would be a disgrace to the honor of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky – he agreed to sign the ban if they removed the word Kefirah and wrote that the books are full of things that are against the Torah. He also said that he agrees that books are against the Torah, but we should give Slifkin time to correct them before they issue the ban. He apparently believed that Slifkin would agree that his books are against the Torah and correct them.

# posted by Observer @ 5:33 PM 0 comments

Why Certain Rabbonim Did Not Sign The Ban
Slifkins eidah says that the fact that some Rabonim did not sign the ban means that they support Slifkin, but the truth is the contrary. This is an explanation of Rabbonim that were asked to sign and did not:

Rabbi Aharon Schechter - he originally said that he is sure that they are Ossur to read, and are against the Torah. He stated that the books are "bal yira ubal yimatzeh", Ossur to see or to own. He agreed to sign the ban if they changed the word "Kefirah" to "Apikursus", because the Gemora Paskins that if someone says "kal vachomer zeh" (a certain Kal vachomer) is not true, then he is an Apikorus, but it does not say that it is Kefirah, and this is the problem with Slifkins books. Rav Aharon has since changed his position, agreeing that Slifkins books are Kefirah.

Rabbi Chaim Epstein - he agreed that the books are Kefirah but did not want to sign the ban because it would be a disgrace to the honor of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky – he agreed to sign the ban if they removed the word Kefirah and wrote that the books are full of thigns that are against the Torah. He also said that he agrees that books are against the Torah, but we should give Slifkin time to correct them before they issue the ban. He apparently believed that Slifkin would agree that his books are against the Torah and correct them.

# posted by Observer @ 5:33 PM 0 comments

How Far Goeth Heresy
A fool writes:

Taking one step away from the purely "natural" sciences(those based on observation of nature or human BIOLOGICAL function), are the social sciences, those based on observations of human interactions. It is harder to prove or disprove contentions in this arena, because of the variability of human behavior. An observation that might apply to one person may not apply to a different person. A generalization about one society may not apply to a different society. Chazal made a number of statements regarding society and human behavior as well, and a number of them have become normative. Were they accurate in these assessments? or were they again somewhat reflecting the social attitudes of the times? One statement for example, that a woman would rather be married(implied that it is not an ideal marriage) than not married, has had significant impact on marriage law. Does this statementreflect Torah mSinai, or is it a turn of the era sociological observation?Similarly many statements, particularly regarding women and the place of women in society have obviously had significant impact on Halacha. R. Eliezer Berkovits(Jewish Women in Time and Torah) wrote that when these statements contradicted Torah directives and values, they can be put aside. (R. Shalom Carmy, in the most recent edition of Tradition, reviews one or R. Bekovitss books and rebuts this approach). However, the initial question is still valid and unaswered, are the social statements in the Gemara refective of society, or Torah mSinai?

And guess what? The fool is actually right according to Slifkin! According to Slifkin, we can do away with countless Halachos in the Torah because they are based on fallacies! Nashim daatan kalos is another one. Oooooooh, just wait until the Modern Orthodox lunatics get a hold of that one! Oooooh! I can see it now! Because ask any scientist and theyll tell you that the belief that women have "weaker minds" went out in the dark ages! Tav lemeisav tan du is another one of those "mistaken" notions that Chazal, those old men who knew nothing about the world naively believed! And not only are those Halachos wrong according to Slifkin, the entire Torah could be wrong according to Slinfkin, because Slifkin and his defenders have ignored the following powerful observation against Slifkins books:

To this letter HaRav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas South Fallsberg, adds, "And he also writes that Chazal Hakedoshim can err chasvesholom in worldly matters chas vesholom and therefore [they can err] in halochoh as well chas vesholom, as he wrongly proves from maseches Horayos—all nonsense! And the whole book is filled with similar instances of total heresy. Slifkin claims that not only in scientific matters can Chazal miss the boat, but in Halachic matters as well. Slifkin says that you have to listen to Chazal even when they are wrong because if you dont, then Judaism will fall apart. According to Slifkin, the Tefillin we wear every day could be fake, the meat we eat can be trief, the way we keep shabbos could be chilul shabbos, and the hashkofos that we have could be Apikursus. Chazal could have been wrong about everything they ever said according to Slifkin. We can all be can be a mechaelel shabbos, chazeer-fressing, karkafta delo manach tefillin, our children could be mamzeirim (heck! we could be mamzerim, too!), our gittin could be invalid so our wives are really an aishes ish of some other man, our entire religion so wrong, but we all have to do all this shtus religion anyway, because otherwise Judaism will fall apart! Now, however, Judaism is strong and thriving, with all these stupid dumb nonsensical things that we have to follow just because Chazal said them.That is the world according to Slifkin. And if someone believes all that is true, he is definitely correct, because .... because ..... because ..... because .....

Meseches Horios says so!

And this graf she reie is what Slifkin and his people are defending?

# posted by Observer @ 5:31 PM 1 comments

In Defense of Nosson Slifkin
After much thought, research, and consultation with Kiruv experts and scientists, I have decided that there is a legitimate defense for Nosson Slifkins opinions. I also found a defense for Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky refusing to retract his Haskomo, even though he admits that he did not read the book, and that the book is full of things that are against acceptable Torah parameters. Admittedly, I have based this on the precedent of various "unconventional" Torah sources, but they are clearly within the parameters of acceptable Torah thought. After much horvanyeh, I have decided that ...1) Slifkin does not believe that the world is more than 6,000 years old. 2) He does not believe that evolution is true. 3) He does not believe that Chazal can err in scientific or halachic matters. So why did he say all those things? The answer is … he didnt mean it literally - its all just a moshol! An allegory, like Slifkin says Bereishis is. Slifkin doesnt mean that literally people came from monkeys, because as Rav Saddiah Gaon says, when you find something that is against logic, you should allegorize it, so we now should allegorize Slifkin, according to Rav Saadiah! Slifkin really means not that people literally come from monkeys, but people who believe in evolution are making monkeys of themselves! You fundamentalists should stop taking everything Slifkin says literally! And when he says that the world is billions of years old, he doesnt really mean it! No! According to the Rambam, Rav Sadiah Gaon, and others, what Slifkin is saying is clearly all a moshol. It is just mythology. And as for Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, when he said he is Maskim to the book, he didnt really mean it literally. Its a moshol. You see? You stupid literalist fundamentalists, according to Rav Saadiah Gaon, we are absolutely permitted to allegorize Rav Shmuels haskama, since it makes absolutely no sense if you take it literally. Rav Shmuel obviously holds that Slifkins books are Kefirah. The fact that he wrote in his haskomo that the books are good is really only an allegory. What he meant when he said it was a good book was "Good for Slifkin! He deserves what he gets!" . Stupid fundamentalists should stop taking these things literally!

So Slifkin isnt really as bad as he seems - everything he said was not meant literally. It was just a moshol. And so were the haskomos.

And they were probably loshon sagi nahor too.

# posted by Observer @ 5:29 PM 0 comments

A Legitimate Machlokes
Despite the fact that Gedolim have told Slifkin that his sources are not Halachah, he insists that he is entitled to follow them. Now we have a Machlokes. The parties disagreeing are as follows:

Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashev shlit"a: We do not pasken like the Shitos that say Chazals science was wrong.

Rav Aharon Kotler Ztz"l: The shitos that Chazals science was not correct are not part of the Mesorah of Klall Yisroel.

The Chazon Ish: The Agadita and science in is all written with Ruach Hakodesh and is all correct.

The Chidah: The science in Chazal is correct, even if it seems differently. It was all written with Ruach hakodesh.

Nosson Slifkin: Chazals science is wrong! Ha ha!

# posted by Observer @ 5:27 PM 1 comments

The Lies of Slifkins Defenders
How do Slifkins defenders succeed in getting gullible blind sheep to follow them into believing that Slifkins books are not kefira? By lying about the facts, of course!The following lies can be found on the sleazy blog called "Godol Hador" here.

4) The Text of the Ban Lie The kanoim presented one text to some of thesignatories, but then another text was used in the actual ban. This was verifiedby Rav Aharon Feldman, who visited Rav Eliashiv personally. Rav Eliashiv said that he had not signed anything which called the books kefirah.The fact that Rav Elyashev wrote a letter in his own handwriting, stating that he did in fact sign the letter that states Slifkins books are Kefira means nothing to this liar. Liars never let facts get in the way of their maligning the Torah.

And from more of their lies: Not one Godol has ever written a pesak of 100% kefirah on the books, nor will they ever. I guarantee it. R Eliashiv told R Feldman that the books were kinda like kefirah ...

The fact that Rav Elyashev wrote a letter in his own handwriting testifying to the authenticity of the letter that says the books are Kefirah, and his signature on it means nothing to this liar. Slifkin and his eidah never let the facts get into the way of their lies."I guarantee it", this liar writes. What an idiot! What a shakran! This disgrace of a human is obviously getting his information from the Slifkin himself (I wouldnt be surprised if this moron IS Slifkin himself), which is why the bubba-maasehs created from thin air by Sholom Kamemetsky appear on this mans propaganda blog complete with guarantees that they are true. The only problem is theyre the opposite of true. Lies made up from thin air.

What Kind of People Defend Slifkin?

Other tidbits of information from this defender of Slifkin, that has all the "inside information" of Slifkins inner circle:
The Arizal was a faker
The entire Bereishis is mythology – no Adam, no Mabul, etc.
Goyim are equal to Jews
The Zohar is full of nonsense
The Gedolim arent Gedolim

This is the camp that Slifkins inner-circle is. Just like Slifkin tried to hide the fact that he holds the Mabul never happened from the public, in order for Orthodox Jewry to accept him so he can pose as a heimishe and slip in his heretical ideas, the entire Adas Slifkin is full of Kefirah and Shtus and dont belong anywhere near Orthodox Jews.

Hat tip to "OU Certified" for this information.

# posted by Observer @ 5:23 PM 0 comments

Chronological Correction
I have just received a phone call from Eretz Yisroel informing me of a slight inaccuracy in the chronological order of the ban events that I wrote about earlier. I wrote that Rav Weintraub and Rav Moshe Shapiro had come out with the ban simultaneously. Now I have been informed that that is imprecise. The truth is Rav Moshe Shapiros letter did not come out when Rav Weintraubs did. Rav Moshe waited to deal with Sholom Kamenetsky to try to explain to him what was wrong with the book and to try to get a retraction. He sent his letter to Sholom, and afterwards he had it shown only to key Rabonim who were interested in his position. The letter of Rav Moshe was not publicized until later.

# posted by Observer @ 5:22 PM 0 comments

Slifkins Real Shitah, Hidden By His Supporters, Now Revealed: THE MABUL NEVER HAPPENED!!
Some people say that Slifkin is really a Ben Torah. To those people, I present the following post by Nosson Slifkin that was deleted when the kefira controversy started, obviously to protect Slifkin by hiding his real shitos from the public once the controversy began. I retrieved the post from internet archives athttp://web.archive.org/web/ 20040102130328/http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol12/v12n039.shtml">http://web.archive.org/web/20040102130328/ http://www.aishdas.orgavodah/vol12/v12n039.shtml

I must confess that I was very surprised by this. Only two people? I know of dozens of respected Rabbanim who would call thisoutright apikorsus (not just "near" apikorsus), and I am sure there arehundreds more. There are thousands of people who consider it apikorsusto say that the world is billions of years old. Yet you will find thiswidely believed and taught in the frum world.Fortunately, we have precedent for post-Chazal allegorization of theTorah. Rambam is one example. Rav Saadia Gaon statesthat if something in the Torah is contradicted by external sources, it canbe taken allegorically. There is no justification or precedent forallegorizing halachic parts of Torah, or narratives that are notcontradicted by metzius, such as Yetziyas Mitzrayim or Avraham Avinu. Thatcan involve apikorsus. But the Mabul is different, and it falls squarelyinto Rav Saadia Gaons category. It is very easy to dismiss an explanation as apikorsus if one does not understand the reasons why that explanation is being offered. In thiscase, we are talking about utterly overwhelming evidence from manydifferent fields of knowledge (unlike the case with those who triedallegorizing Avraham Avinu). Contrary to what RHM believes, it is not simply a lack of evidence in favor of a global flood. Itis a world of evidence against it. A global flood as traditionally understood would have left a spectacularly devastating effect upon the environment. Yet we find no sign of any such thing. Instead, we find that plant, animal and human life continued uninterrupted throughout the period. This is positive and conclusive evidence that there was noglobal catastrophe. You can choose to deny this and believe in some gigantic conspiracy of evil scientists. But you cant expect everyone else to take this position. The people on Avodah presenting this view are notyechidim. The scientific evidence is not novel or debated (except byfundamentalist Christians). Almost everyone with an understanding of thesciences, frum or not frum, will tell you the same thing. Ask around! And the Talmidei Chachamim that I have consulted with have therefore independently concluded, as difficult as it is, that the Mabul must either have been avery localized event or entirely allegorical. Its a pity that they wouldnt let me state their names, as they are universally respected. Nobody would dream of calling them apikorsim, or even near-apikorsim. Several people have published these ideas, such as Shubert Spero in Tradition (who allegorizes it entirely) and Gerald Schroeder in The Science of God (who says it was very localized); I personally dont teach this in public (and I consider Avodah to be arelatively private forum). But over the years I have received many questions, often from prospective BTs, who have been disturbed by this problem. If told that they have to choose between accepting a global floodor being an apikorus, they are still unable to deny what they know offactual reality. Should we tell them that they cannot be admitted into the ranks of Torah Jews, or should we tell them that there are TalmideiChachamim, basing themselves on precedents in the Rishonim, who permitallegorization in this case?

Nosson Slifkin

Entirely allegorical. Entirely allegorical. Entirely allegorical. Slifkin claims "talmidei chachamim" agree with him. I say he is an idiot. I say Slifkin does not even know what a talmid chacham is. He uses Shubert Spiro as his "bar samchah". Shubert Spiro?! Now we know what Slifkin considers a "source". Can someone please buy Slifkin a brain?

# posted by Observer @ 5:00 PM 0 comments

Pair of Pulpit Rabbis Defend Slifkin, Claim Mysterious Conspiracy
Now that even Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky said that he does not support Slifkin, and was willing to sign a ban as long as it did not mention the word "kerifa", what do Slifkins supporters say in his defense? Two pulpit rabbis have been quoted that the Gedolim were fooled into signing the ban. Rabbi #1 can be heard on Slifkins website and the other has a blurb on the back of Slifkins book. These 2 rabbis both just happen to also be personal friends of Slifkin, and neither of them have any idea what Rav Elyashev was told. They just decided that "the Gedolim were fooled". These people are rabbis? They lie to the world and continue to encouarge a chilul hashem.But neither of them have ever told us what exactly was wrong with what the Gedolim were told. Neither of them can tell us what was false about Rav Elyashevs impression of Slifkins books. Surely it would be easy to simply show these Gedolim how they were fooled, by showing them the evidence in Slifkins books that exonerates him from the evil plots of the kanoyim, or by explaining to them what Slifkin really meant, and showing them how the kanoyim fooled them. The least they could please do is show US how the kanoyim fooled the Gedolim!But no! None of these rabbis have done that! They have not told us what there is to show the Gedolim that would change their minds! Rav Aron Feldman tried in desperation to explain to the Gedolim what Slifkin really meant, in order to clarify the picture for them so they would be see how they were fooled. But then he saw that they actually knew all the time what Slifkin meant, and they had no wrong impressions whatsoever! Surprise! Nobody fooled them at all! They always knew the whole picture of what Slifkin said! Amazing! Nobody fooled the Gedolim. Now what excuse do we have?These rabbis need no excuse. They still are saying that the Gedolim were fooled. Fooled into what? They have no idea, but fooled!Rav Feldman himself reversed his position, writing his famous letter about how Slifkins books are kefirah, and Slifkin himself is a megaleh ponim betorah shelo kehalachah, which means he has lost his share in Olam Habah for writing those books!Thats right! Rabbi Feldman wrote that Slifkin is in a category of people wbho have lost their share in Olam Habah, But at least Rav Feldman was honest. The other two still wont tell us what the Gedolim were fooled into believing, and what the real story is.THATS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL! Nobody was fooled into anything except those blind sheep who believe those dishonest rabbis.

# posted by Observer @ 4:58 PM 0 comments

Stop Crying, Sholom!
We hear Sholom Kamenetsky is upset about this blog. We hear hes complaining to his friends that people are speaking up about him. Sorry, Sholom, its time to face the music. You are a liar who has woven an intricate web of deceit in order to further his own agenda. You have used Slifkin, who is an idiot and am haaretz (and not such a big Maamin either), to further your own agenda. You made up stories spread them around. It's over, Sholom. You and that moron Slifkin have created the biggest Bizui of Torah in years.Oh, yes, Sholom, weve done research on the Slifkin affair and found that you were behind the whole thing. (You and that fugitive rabbi in Israel). We dont believe you when you say you didnt read Slifkins books, Youve been heard over 2 years ago bragging ecstatically that "there will soon come out a book that will tear apart" the traditional Orthodox Jewish stance on evolution. You ashamed to tell your Rebbi the truth, so you lied to him. You were right for being ashamed, you coward.

# posted by Observer @ 4:56 PM 1 comments

A Riddle
Question: Why doesnt Nosson Slifkin support relief efforts in New Orleans?

Answer: Katrina was just a moshol.

# posted by Observer @ 4:55 PM 1 comments

Will the real liar please shut up?
Slifkin: "I contacted all the rabbonim who had written haskamos . . . None of them had withdrawn their haskamos, and . . . , Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, had . . . been instructed by Rav Weintraub, who is his rebbe, to revoke his haskamah, but he had not done so and still has not done so"

Sholom: "My name does appear in his book and . . . I gave no haskomo on the content"
At 6:40 AM, Anonymous said...: Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Tactics of Gideon "My brother is innocent" Slifkin

Gideon writes in the comments on this blog that I should stop talking about how he lied (I have listed some but not all of his lies earlier in the blog), and how his brother lied and how they and their small group of leitzonei hador tried to character assasinate the Gedolim. Instead he says I should talk about the shitos Slifkin thinks he relies on.No,. Rav Feldman already explained very well why those shitos do not support your brother. This blog is to show that your lies and outrageous claims that the Gedolim acted inappropriately and cruelly to Slifkin are nothing but lies.And so it will rmain. Tough.

# posted by Observer @ 3:08 PM 9 comments
Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Slippery Slifkin In Toronto Next Week!
Slippery Nosson Slifkin will be speaking in Toronto next week on how to become a Kofer.It's going to be leibedik, Nosson! The Toronto community will be putting up posters starting tomorrow about you, stating that your worthless "answers" are Kefirah. The posters will be letters of Rav Shlomo Miller shlita, Rav and Posek in Toronto.Have fun, Nosson!(I notice that you could not find any mainstream organizations to allow you to speak. Good. :-) TORAH AND SCIENCE: CONFLICT OR CONVERGENCE?" Sunday, Dec 4/2005 (3 Kislev 5766) , 9:30 am - 3:30 pmAdd toMy CalendarWith Rabbi Natan Slifkin, Rabbi Michael Broyde and Professor Natan AviezerSponsored by Torah In MotionShaarei Tefillah Synagogue3600 Bathurst StreetContact torahinmotion@sympatico.ca for details

# posted by Observer @ 7:39 PM 8 comments

Lies of Slifkin and his Eidah, Part CLXXXVIII
Slippery Slifkin, says:
Very few of the signatories read the books to any significant degree, andseveral did not read any part of the books at all. Although I greatly respectthese outstanding Torah scholars, I do not understand how they could condemn thebooks without reading them thoroughly and without discussing their objectionswith me first. (It is important to note that, according to the information Ihave received, some of the signatures were obtained via misleading the Rabbonimas to various aspects of the books and myself, and as to what their signatureswould be used for. It is also worth noting that some of the most importantrabbinical figures in the world today did not participate in the condemnations.)
So Slifkin is saying that the Gedolim were fooled, that they were told false things about his books. This is the big "Kannaim" lie of Mishpachas Slifkin. Nosson and his brother, Gideon, play "Good cop bad cop" on the Internet. Nosson writes nicely, and Gideon writes like an animal. Gideon, writes in his blog over and over and over , that the Kannoim were behind the whole ban, and they fooled the Gedolim.Rabbi Zev "Lefty" Leff, a personal friend of Slippery (of course! Not a single objective party defends him!) also states that the Gedolim were fooled into signing the ban.The fact is that nobody was fooled. This is perhaps the biggest lie fabricated by Slifkin and his Eidah (or, now that we know all the pro-Slifkinites are mostly comprised of his immediate family, we should refer to it as "Mishpachas Slifkin") . Rav Ahron Feldman discussed this with Rav Elyashev, and returned stating that Rav Elyashev and the Gedolim were accurately appraised of the facts in this matter, and were accurately represented of the books. Pay attention to the fact that neither Slippery Slifkin nor Lefty Leff has given us any shemetz of an example of something that the ban was based on that was untrue. Not one single iota of an example that they say was a misrepresentation of the books.Thisi s because no such example exists. The entire idea was a fabrication, a lie, made up out of thin air, to slander and defame Gedolei Yisroel.

# posted by Observer @ 6:46 PM 4 comments

Rav Shmuel and Rav Ahron Clarify Their Position: Testify That Slifkin's Eidah Lies!
Zooshoteh said it first! I stated that Rav Ahron Schechter and Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky were against Slifkin's books, consider them against the Torah, but did not want to say that they are kefirah (Rav Ahron said they are Apikorsus, not Kefirah, a technical difference.)One idiot writes, about Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky not attending the siyum hashas of Daf Yomi:
Kamenetsky, the dean of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, will not be attending eitherof the main events (MSG or Continental Arena) “for safety reasons.” Theambiguity here is hard to clarify, but there are murmurings that his quietsupport of Slifkin in the book-banning affair has made him persona non-grata inthe Agudah world. One YU Rosh Yeshiva even went so far as to say that "theentire Slifkin controversy has been an implicit attack on Kamenetsky."
The Rosh Yeshiva in YU is a liar. So is Slifkin.Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky and Rav Ahron Schechter just signed a letter clarifying their views. They say that they hold Slifkin's books are treif and they do not to support them.So who does support Slifkin?1) Gideon Slifkin, a.ka. "Godolhador", a.k.a. "Heresy Hater", who has for months been sperading lies about the Gedolei Hador, as well as the lies of his brother Nosson Slifkin regarding the entire affair. Some of his lies are lites on this blog. He still supports his brother. Go Gideon!2) Gil Student, a.k.a. "Hirhurim Royim." Student is Slifkin's distributor. he makes money on Slifkin's books. He has been claiming that his "authorities" say they are not aganist the Torah, yet he refuses to name any of these authorities. I assume the authorites he is referring to are Gideon Slifkin and Gil Student.3) Nosson Slifkin, a liar who claims that the Gedolim on the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah who did not sign the ban support his books. Here is his lie on his own website:
Rumor #8 - "There is widespread opposition in the Orthodox world to RabbiSlifkin's books."The Real Story: This is the impression that one mightreceive from the two-dozen signatories to the condemnations. However, one shouldnot extrapolate from this to the entire Orthodox world. First of all, the ModernOrthodox community is almost entirely opposed to the ban. Second, even withinthe Ultra-Orthodox/ Yeshivah community, opposition to the ban is far morewidespread than one might assume. Many, many people in this community are very supportive of the books and are opposed to the ban. Furthermore, most of the members of the Council of Torah Sages in America did not sign the ban.
Look with your own eyes at the lies of Slippery Slifkin! He is claiming here that those in the Moetzes who did not sign the ban are "oppsoed" to it. Liar! Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Rav Ahron Schechter, and Rav Yaakov Perlow just issued a letter saying that their not signing the ban has been used by some people to assume that they oppose the ban, but that is not true. They agree wholehartedly that the books of Nosson Slifkin are aganist the Torah and Ossur.4) Machlokes Kamenetsky - he tricked his father into giving a Haskomo to the books, his father who has now stated publicly that he believes the books are Ossur.

# posted by Observer @ 6:14 PM 16 comments

The Lies of Adas Slifkin: Part 2
I said that Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky did not read Slifkin's books, and the only reason he gave a Haskomo on them was because his son. Machlokes Kamenetsky, vouched for them. SLippery Slifkin's eidah (i.e. Nosson Slifkin, his brother, his father, Gil Student, and one or 2 other Kefirah Clowns) claim otherwise. Here it is in black and white, from the comments on this site:
Menachem Plaurt said...The thing about Rav Shmuel is nonsense. Well, everything you write isnonsense, but I can personally attest that the thing about Rav Shmuel is sheker.He told me in person that nothing in the books is kefira, and one could besomech on anything written in them.5:39 PM
He can personally attest. Personally! Considering that Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky signed a letter written by Rav Ahron Schechter stating that Slippery Slifkin's books are totally against the Torah, and that their not signing the Issur should not be construed as chas vesholom legitimizing the books, which will be publicized shortly, one can clearly see that Adas Slifkin's stories about Rav Shmuel approving to the Chazerfleish in Slippery Slifkin's books is nothing but another lie.

# posted by Observer @ 6:00 PM 8 comments
Thursday, November 24, 2005

Kefirah Clowns Part 2: The Baba Yitzchok Speaks!
There is much in Slifkins books that touches on Kabbalistic concepts. Harav Yakob Hillel shlita wrote that Slifkins writings are totally unfounded and wrong according to Kabalah, and that they are just Kefirah. But, as adas Slifkin always say, Slifkin "got haskomos" for his books. In case you didnt know it, that also includes the Kabalah parts of them.Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein gave a Haskomo to Slifkin. Rabbi Adlerstein says Slifkin used "responsible Kabbalah" in his books.Move over Madonna. There's a new Kabbalist in L.A. The Baba Yitzchok Adlerstein speaks! Another Kefirah Clown.And this one's also a Kabbalah clown.

# posted by Observer @ 2:26 PM 4 comments

How to create a "Vital Crisis": The story of Adas Slifkin Revealed. Chapter 2: The Internet Campaign of the Kefirah Clowns
So, armed with these pseudo-Haskomos, Slifkin published his books. Not surprisingly, the Gedolim paskened they were Kefirah. Even those small few who did not want to sign also agreed that the books were Assur for any Jew to read, or to believe. The Gedolim told Slifkin that they would gladly explain things to him and discuss it with him, but they wanted to know if doing so would be a waste of their time. Slifkin said that even if they hear everything he has to say and still hold the books are Kefirah, he will not retract unless he decides that they have proven him wrong. He also had terrible chutzpah things to say about them. So they decidedthat its a waste of time to talk to Slifkin, because he would not retract anyway. Obviously they were right.But Slifkin got together with his distributor, Mr. Gil Student, who has a blog called Hirhurim ("Hirhurim Royim") and his brother, Gideon Slifkin, who has a blog called Godol Hador, and spread lies all over the internet about the Gedolim and the entire affair. They also went to the secular newspapers, claiming that the Gedolim had put a "cherem" on the books, an absolute lie, and that only"fundamentalists" disagree with him. Other members of Slifkin's family, such as his father, also got involved in the campaign.So Slifkin, his family, and his distributor created who knows how many blogs and made believe the whole world was against the Gedolim. Blogs and the printed word have power enough that people believed it, and unfortunate is he who would side with the Gedolim.Rabbi Orlofsky, a talmid of Rav Moshe Shapiro, wrote a letter asking forgiveness of his students because he used to teach them things similar to what Slifkin said, and now he sees he was wrong. Slifkins brother was Mevazeh him on his website, calling him "Clownofosky", and so did Slifkin's small group of supporters, making believe the whole world is on their side. This rallied public opinions against the Gedolim.They used the exact tactics that are well known in the business world, in which Student and Gideon Slifkin live, that destroy reputations and create a lynch mob against innocent people. Seehttp://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome.shtmlRead that article. These exact tactics are what Slifkin, his brother Gideon, and Student used against our Gedolei Yisroel, and the effect that the article says happens when you use those tactics are the exact same effects that happened here.Gideon Slifkin, mind you, is also "Heresy Hater" and G-d knows how many other identities, and he is using the same tactics again. Gideon wrote a comment to this blog saying:
I don't know if you realize this, but most peope think you are stam amenuval, and a chillul hashem too.
The "most people" tactic is what he and his brother and Student kept using over and over. "Most people" say this, and that, and the other and say it enough times and people will believe it. Just make sure that you make letzonus of anyone who does not agree with you. In reality, Gideon has no idea what "most people" think. He and Nosson and Gil do not equal "most people", but, people who are familiar with Internet lynch mob tactics know, say it enough and people will start to believe it.

# posted by Observer @ 1:44 PM 5 comments

How to create a "Vital Crisis": The story of Adas Slifkin Revealed. Chapter I: Sholom ("Machlokes") Kamenetsky
Rav Feldman wrote that the Slifkin affair has caused a "vital crisis" due to so many people bashing the Gedolei Hador. How did this happen? This is the story of what Adas Slifkin did in order to create such a great Chilul Hashem.Slifkin was told even before he wrote his books that they were against the Torah. He had a very hard time getting Haskomos. The names we expected to see on a Kiruv book, such as Rav Scheinberg, Rav Moshe Shapiro, Rav Matisyahu Solomon, were not to be found. Slifkin shopped around all over for anyone to give him Haskomos. He took whatever he could get, which was not much. The real people who he wanted Haskomos from told him his books are Ossur.The notable exception was Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. Yet Rav Shmuel admits he did not read Slifkin's books, and to this day says that they have things in them that are Assur to believe. Rav Shmuel gave a Haskomo because his son Sholom told him what wonderful books they are. Yet Sholom himself wrote to his former Rebbi (he has since disowned him) that that he himself did not read Slifkin's books. So why did Sholom agree to give Slippery Slifky his Haskomo?Because Sholom ("Machlokes") Kamenetsky has been trying for years to get Kovod from the secular crowd. He was not happy with the lack of status he has in the Yeshiva world, and therefore he has been seeking status in the college crowd. This is not easy for a Yeshivishe guy like Sholom, ("Machlokes") especially one who wants to make believe he's an expert in science as Sholom ("Machlokes") wrote, he only gave a Haskomo to the science in Slifkins books and not to the Torah. He likes the fact that he gives classes in colleges. But how can an uneducated guy like Machlokes Kamenetsky convince the secular world that he is worthy of their Kovod?Ha! He had you fooled! Machlokes Kamenetsky is really a super educated intellectual! I'll bet you did not know that. He has an advanced college education that he can give a Haskomo on science.What kind of education did Machlokes have? Just look!http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/kamenetsky.html
Rabbi Shalom Kamenetsky is a full time Professor of Talmud at the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. He received his Bachelor and Masters of Rabbinic and Talmudic Studies at the esteemed Beth Medrash Govoha Institute for Advanced Learning of Lakewood, New Jersey. Rabbi Kamenetsky majored in Talmudic Jurisprudence. He had considerable exposure in the areas of Religious Education, Jewish Ethics and Philosophy. He is Lecturer of Talmud at the OCP of theUniversity of Pennsylvania and accredited Continuing LegalEducation Provider for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New York.
He received his Bachelors and Masters from the esteemd Lakewood Yeshiva! Thats probably even more esteemed than Touro College! What an educated fellow! I am sure that his Bachelors and Masters that he got fom learning in Lakewood qualifies him to give Haskomos on science.

# posted by Observer @ 1:19 PM 3 comments

The Other Side Of The Story
We were all wondering what Slifkin's eidah would say in defense of themselves after we were forced to reveal the truth in order to counter their lies. I thought perhaps they would deny some of the accusations I made against them, and I was prepared to post documentation of the information I gave.But Slippery Slifky and his eidah have come up with an unexpected trick. They claim that Sholom Kamenetsky is a Godol and therefore, he is allowed to do whatever he did beyond any accountability.I never thought they would say that. Sholom? A Godol? Maybe, but on such Gedolim the Gemora says "lo kol adam zocheh letorah ugedulah bemakom echad".(Nosson, you're going to need an ArtScroll for this. Refer to Tractate Gittin folio 59a.)

# posted by Observer @ 1:03 PM 1 comments
Friday, November 18, 2005

The Ethics of This Blog
Yes, it is permitted to publish these emails. Our Rabonim pask'ned that the emails are the rightful possession of whoever they were sent to, and they have a right to do with it as they please. If you dont want your Kefirah known, Nosson, keep your Kefirah to yourself.You think that your spreading lies and hate all over the world is going to continue unresponded to? You did this to yourself, Nosson, and Sholom, and Gil, and all of you. You and your sleazy eidah. You spread lies. People are entitled to hear the truth.

# posted by Observer @ 11:30 AM 9 comments

Heresy Hater
The lunatic commentor on this site called Heresy Hater is actually the sleazy blogger called Godol Hador, trying to make Torah Jews look stupid. He admitted this identity on his own blog.The question is whether or not GodolHador is Slifkin or Gil Student themselves. If he is not one of them, it seems he is definitely getting his information from one of them. The attraction of that blog was that he was knowledgable in inside information that only Nosson Slifkin knew. It is becoming more and more clear that this campaign all over the internet defaming Gedolim was orchestrated by Slifkin and his "inner circle" themselves. More on this shortly.

# posted by Observer @ 11:26 AM 5 comments

I won a bet today
Slifkin's eidah are so predictable. I was thinking of ways to give this blog more publicity, so I decided that if I go off topic and instead of discussing the real story of what happened between the Gedolim and Slifkin, which is the purpose of this blog, and instead, write about something like whether elephants jump, showing that Slifkin did not do his homework, his eidah will immediately try to defend themselves and give me the publicity I need.Thank you, Godol Hador - this lying sleazy blogger, who made terrible fun of our Torah sages, giving them clownish names, making up letzonus songs about them, and spreading the absolute lies of Nosson Slifkin, has given me a lot of free publicity. Because of his attempt to defend Slifkin, the hits for this blog more than doubled in 24 hours.Thanks, Godol Hador. You may be a Kofer and a horrible Jew, but you are consistently heretical and horrible which makes you easy to use.

# posted by Observer @ 11:13 AM 2 comments
Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Slifkin's Ameteur Science Circus
Nosson Slifkin, the big shot science freak who denegates Chazal because of his "sophisticated" approach to science, is a phony. He actually has no degrees at all in any scientific field whatsoever, and no professional training or any formal training at all in zoology. The "scientific facts" that he bases his books on and that he degrades Chazal and Rishonim with are his own amateur opinions. I am in the process of helping someone put together the "Collected Writings of Nosson Slifkin" (a different blog). The blog will post emails and correspondences that Nosson wrote to various people throughout the years, and internet postings he put up, where he incriminates himself by revealing heretical ideas (much worse than he wrote in his books) clearly. Many people have contributed to this collection, and more are coming forward. We will all see who Nosson really is. The post of his on the Mabul being completely fictional is one of them. The latest is the following.Dear Rabbi Nosson Slifkin,In bekius shiur we were learning a gemara on chof heiamud beis (25:) in kedushin discussing the kinyan ofbehaima gasah. Our rebbi pointed out a machlokesbetween rashi and tosfos. the gemara asks, "accordingto R' Shimon, behaima gasa is acquired throughhagbaha, lifting. What about an elephant?" One of theanswers in the gemara is through bundles [of vines].(daf chof vuv [26.])Rashi explains it simply to meanthat you cause the elephant to stand on these bundles.Tosfos quotes Rav Meshulom who says that these bundlesare food for the elephant and by holding it high andcausing the elephant to jump, you perforem hagbahah.it bothered the shiur because many of us have read/heard that elephants (are the only animals that) can'tjumpDo elephants jump?thank you,NossonThis is Slifkin's response.Dear Nosson,Thank you for your fascinating question, which alsobothered me when I studied this. I suspect thatTosafos did not know that elephants can't jump; thereprobably weren't very many elephants in 13th centuryEurope, so I doubt that Tosafos ever saw one. So Ithink that Rashi's explanation has the advantage!Best wishes,Rabbi Natan Slifkinwww.zootorah.comSo Tosfos never saw an elephant yet like a fool wrote things about them anyway without having any idea whether they are true. This is Slifkins idea of Rishonim - and Chazal - and everyone except his eidah: Ignorant, blind Neanderthals. Knowing the controversy surrounding Slifkin and that his books were caught with scientific inaccuracies and distortions, the questioner did some research on his own, and discovered the following http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/28/earlyshow/leisure/books/main663454.shtmlThere are a few sightings of elephants jumping in the wild. Veterinarian Judy Provo found two books in her college library that illustrate the discrepancy. S. K. Ettingham’s Elephant lays out the conventional thinking: “… because of its great weight, an elephant cannot jump or even run in the accepted sense since it must keep one foot on the ground at all times.” But an account in J. J. William’s Elephant Bill describes a cow elephant jumping a deep ravine “like a chaser over a brook.”Even though commonbelief is like SLifkin, serious reasearch shows that his sweeping statements are the result of not enough scientific knowledge. Amateur zoologost. Amateur rabbi. Professional Kofer.

# posted by Observer @ 1:04 PM 21 comments
Sunday, November 06, 2005

Can't Someone Reason With Slifkin?
Not at all. The Gedolim were right in their assessment that this guy is not someone who listens to reason. He's not even someone who understands an intelligent conversation.From: Zoo Torah zoorabbi@zootorah.comTo: [deleted]Date: Fri, 08 May 2005 15:11:38Subject: HiMessage ID: [deleted]Hi,I had a very difficult meeting with Rav Ahron Feldman this week. He spent the last few weeks in Israel and told me that he has come under fire for supposedly supporting me. Hes not happy with that and wants to make it clear otherwise. So although he told me several months ago that he disagrees with the ban on the books, he has now changed his mind.Following is the (current) view of Rav Feldman as I understand it, which itself is his understanding of Rav Elyashev's view (I am not yet sure if he meant this for public knowledge) . . . MORE TO COME -- STAY TUNED

# posted by Observer @ 10:36 AM 6 comments

Who Is Trying To Ban Whom?
This summer, one of the Roshei Yeshiva who came out against Slifkin was in L.A. for a Simcha, and was asked to give a guest Shiur, on a Gemora topic totally unrelated to anything Hashkafik, and having nothing to do with Slifkin or his books. Sholom reportedly told students of his that were there that they should absolutely not attend this man's shiur.So who is trying to ban whom?The Slifkin Mafia Enforcers, including Sholom "My father wont let me do it" Kamenetsky have been trying to hurt, slander, mock, ridicule, and BAN anyone who dares express their opinion on Slifkins books, if that opinion is not the same as theirs.

# posted by Observer @ 10:31 AM 1 comments

The Retractions, Part 3: "My father wont let me play anymore"
Sholom Kamenetsky wrote another retraction to his Rebbi which said that although Slifkin's intentions may have been noble, the result was not. Sholom describes the lack of seriousness with which Slifkin wrote the books, lacking the "trepidation" (Sholom's word) that a G-d fearing Jew has when he embarks on such a task (in other words, Slifkin does not have the Yiras Shamayim it takes to write these books, an understatement but better than nothing), and that he totally withdraws his Haskomo.But then he called his Rebbi and said, "My father wont let me continue".Rav Shmuel would have been quite embarrassed to have his own son condemn the books that he still has his Haskomo attached to. So he would not allow Sholom to do what he promised his Rebbi he would do, what he wanted to do, what he tried to do, and what he would have done had he not been pressured by his Dad.The pressure put on people to not to come out against Slifkins books was not limited to Sholom and his father. Wealthy donors were told to pressure Roshei Yeshiva who were against Slifkin. The Slifkin Mafia Enforcers were on the loose (more on that in future posts), and Yeshiva kids were brought into the fray by unscrupulous people like Sholom (see next post).

# posted by Observer @ 10:17 AM 1 comments

The Lies of Nosson Slifkin - Part 1 of ... many many more
Find this here"[Slifkin] compared the herem . . ."The first of the chain of lies of Adas Slifkin was to tell the world that the proclamation of the Gedolim was a cherem on Slifkin's books. This way they elicit the Modern Orthodox shoot from the hip knee jerk reaction against "book banning", and at the same time play the part of the poor victim who was put into Cherem.The truth is that there is no cherem. This is a filthy and outright lie by Nosson Slifkin (one of many lies he and his Eidah have thrown at the world) documented in public and stated to the press by him, a slanderous and vile lie against our Gedolim, performed in order to elicit sympathy and support. This alone by stating it to the press qualifies him as Mechalelel Shem Shamayim and a Motzi Shem Rah against Gedoli Yisroel. If anyone ever thought that Slifkin was merely an honest idiot, they can see here that he is simply a liar and is willing to say whatever it takes, even to the press, to get his books sold.Nobody put Nosson Slifkins books into Cherem. They simply made an Halachik ruling, the same way they would rule that Mezuzos written on paper are trief, that Slifkins books are treif, and Assur to bring into a Jewish home according to the Halachik status of Sifrei Minim.Because a cherem is designed to force people not to read the books, now Slifkin has enabled himself to say that the ban backfired, because it caused the books to be read even more so. He and his gang of liars then went around trying to make the Gedolim look like idiots because they acted in a manner that was counterproductive and without foresight. This was more Slifkin spin -- Slifkin and Gil Student and their cast of moronic bloggers. And the idiotic Modern Orthodox blind sheep believe anything that is said against Gedolei Yisrael. What jokes these people are. Pathetic.The only thing the Gedolim were trying to do was INFORM to public of the prohibited content of Slifkins books and their Halachik status. And they succeeded wonderfully. Now we know that Rav Elyashev and the Gedolim have declared the books to be Kefirah. Their objective was DISCLOSURE, to INFORM people about the books, to REVEAL the halachic status they have. If the Modern Orthodox world or other fools want to buy Kefirah, that is their own choice, and Yavdu hem v'elef kemosam, but the objective of educating and informing the public was fulfilled

# posted by Observer @ 9:44 AM 3 comments
Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Enough Is Enough! The Events Behind The Slifkin Affair
Yehuda Gelman writes:There were two reasons why the [Slifkin] affair brought defaming responses . . . The second reason, more important to me and to many people with whom I have spoken on the R. Slifkin ban, was the brutal and unfair way R. Slifkin was perceived to have been treated in this affair, according to R. Slifkins account of what transpired. . . . If R. Slifkins account is not accurate, then in order for R. Feldmans essay to succeed to calm and defend the honor of the Torah, it must be supplemented with a true account of what transpired.The man is right. The purpose of this blog is to clarify the "account of what transpired" and to present the other side of the story. Before I embark on that, however, I find it important point out the double standard and even hypocrisy that was shown by the bloggers and those who believed them during the entire course of events. On one hand, they are all up in arms that Slifkin was never given a chance to present his side of the story to the Gedolim that banned him. On the other hand, the blogosphere and those referred to in Rav Feldmans letter (who experienced a "vital crisis") believed Slifkins version of the story without giving the Gedolim a chance to present their side. Did anyone ask Rav Elyashev why he feels he can ban a book without knowing English? Did anyone ask Rav Weintraub how he can ban a book without meeting its author?If anyone did, I did not see their side of the story presented on the blogs. The bloggers are guilty of hypocrisy and a double standard here.

# posted by Observer @ 6:10 PM 9 comments

The Making of a Kofer
In The Beginning (This genesis account is NOT a moshol lchol hadeos) On Thursday of Parshas Netzavim this year, Rav Yisroel Elya Weintraub shlita, American born, English speaking Torah Godol, and among the greatest authorities on Jewish theology, wrote a letter to his student, R. Sholom Kamenetsky, son of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky. The letter described how Rav Weintraub was presented with 3 books by Nosson Slifkin, and how he spent an hour and 15 minutes investigating their contents. He describes how he was shocked by the horrendous heresy against Torah theology they contained. He wrote the letter to Sholom because he noticed that his Talmid had written a Haskama to the books. Rav Weintraub writes that he judges his student favorably, that he probably did not see the entire book but only excerpts, which did not contain the article material. Rav Weintraub sincerely instructed his Talmid to retract his Haskomo, to admit his error, to free himself from the mud that he got himself into, and to remember what Chazal say, "Torah is not acquired unless one makes mistakes in it."There were several letters between them.In short, Sholoms response was that the people who brought the issue to Rav Weintraubs attention are surely trying to put a wedge between them, and that they have an agenda against both him and his father. (He allegedly did not indicate why these people would have such an agenda or how he knows this. Nor did he provide any compelling evidence for this claim.) Sholom also said that the reason the book was written was to counter the terrible heresy of http://www.daatemet.com//ohttp://www.daatemet.com/, which was denouncing Chazal, one of his claims being that Chazal were ignorant in science and thus mistakenin many things that they wrote. His point is that Torah She Baal Peh is a forgery. The three books Rav Weintraub saw were written to counter the claims of that website, and to provide the answers for those who need them. He also wrote that he is not a scientist and does not know science, and merely sees a purpose to the book in responding to the mockery of Torah by the above mentioned heretics.Rav Weintraub wrote back that the people who presented him with the books do not even know Sholom, do not care about him, and kal vachomer they have no agenda against him or his father. They also have no idea that Rav Weintraub and Sholom have any connection at all. He knows this for a fact, he said. And as far as Kiruv goes, he explained to his Talmid that this is not the proper way to do Kiruv. In addition, this book degrades Chazal and will serve to be Merachek Krovim. Rav Weintraub later wrote that Slifkin called his home and spoke to his wife. His words were open degradation of Gedolei Hador, and therefore, because of Slifkins disrespectful and arrogant "I know Torah better than the Gedolim" attitude, he feels that it is inappropriate to enter into conversation with him.In Rav Weintraubs letters he also recounted how he related the contents for the books to Rav Steinmen and Rav Lefkowitz, and they, too, were shocked at the heresy they contained. Sholom had agreed to retract his haskama. But removing a haskama was not enough, Rav Weintraub said. The public must know why the haskama was removed and be accurately informed of the seriousness of the contents of the book.Rav Weintraub wrote another letter on the 6th day of Aseres Yemei Teshuva. He explains that the heresy in these books are no different than any other heresy, and that Kiruv is not an excuse for teaching it. Imagine, he says, if the books would have told about Yoshkah - would it be enough merely to retract a Haskama?? Would such a book not be disgusting in your eyes? Surely it would! And so, "Is there, then, any difference between one kind of heresy and another?" Rav Weintraub said to his Talmid that he should publicize that he made a mistake, and that the books are assur to be found or seen in a Jewish home. Admit your mistake and do not be ashamed!, he writes. Admit that these books are full of heresy, and that there was a stumbling block here. Then there will be closure.

# posted by Observer @ 6:06 PM 0 comments

The Retractions Part 2
Kamenetsky agreed to retract his haskama. He even submitted a draft of a retraction letter to Rav Weintraub. It said something to the following affect:The books were written for the sake of Dah Mah Shtoshiv LApikores, according to the approach of the Tiferes Yisroel etc. and even though I realize this is a Daas Yachid and nobody holds like them, they wrote what they wrote because they needed a response temporarily to respond to the needs of their times, and originally I thought that would be applicable today too, but the Gedolim say I am wrong and that there is no positive benefit at all to these books, and we are sorry if any michshal has come from our hands.On the draft Sholom had written, the names R. Aron Lopiansky, R. Mordechai Korfeld, and R. Sholom Kamenetsky appeared on the paper. However, this text was unacceptable to Rav Weintraub and the Gedolim, because it does not admit that the book is heretical, nor does it admit that there was even a problem with it at all - it says that the Gedolim say it has no use and they apologize "if" the book is problematic. That was not what Sholom said he would do. That is why Rav Weintraub wrote to him that he should imagine for instance if the book contained Christian theology. Would Sholom be satisfied with such a weak retraction?

# posted by Observer @ 6:04 PM 0 comments

The Retractions Part 1
Sholom did put out a letter about his Haskama in the book, but instead of a retraction, stated that he never really meant to give a real Haskama in the first place. See it here.I asked Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky Shlita whether his letter in the sefer could be taken as expressing agreement with Rabbi Slifkins approach. Rabbi Kamenetsky has given me permission to forward his response to Avodah. It is addressed to me by my Hebrew name ("Yoel"). September 13, 2004 Dear R Yoel,T hank you for the note. My name does appear in his book and a careful reading of the haskomo will show that I gave no haskomo on the content. What impressed me about the book is its science. The uninitiated unlettered Jew often finds that the responses he gets when he questions the seeming incompatibility between science and Torah (lhavdil) are lacking. The science in the book is impressive, but I do not agree with the positions he takes in the Torah. True, he has "unconventional" sources that would lend some credibility to the theories he proposes, but I see these as "suggestions" (based on somewhat spurious understandings of unconventional sources) that are to allow the uninitiated to feel that he can begin learning Torah, and see for himself that the issues are irrelevant. More than anything else, RNS should be lauded for trying his best to defend the Torah against a group of apikorsim that are bent on mocking Torah and disseminating science as the "proof" that Torah is false, Rachmono litzlan. But to say that these theories have credibility as Torah positions was not my intent in my letter of approbation. I agree with Rabbi Bechofer and there is no such thing as scientific evidence which is "incontrovertible".Respectfully,Sholom KamenetskySholom allegedly never sent this letter to Rav Weintraub but instead lied to him saying that he had retracted his haskama, as he agreed to do. When Rav Weintraub heard of what Sholom really wrote, he was infuriated. (Sholom was furious at the person who showed Rav Weintraub his letter.) The letter says nothing about the book being problematic except for the fact that Slifkin did not understand the sources he quoted. No word of heresy, no word of not bringing the book into a Jewish home, no word of anything wrong with reading the book. On the contrary - "more than anything else", Slifkin is to be "lauded". And where he told Rav Weintraub he is not a scientist and does not know science, here he says that the entire Haskomoh was only on the science! Sholom was playing games.And Slifkins take on all this?I contacted all the rabbonim who had written haskamos . . . None of them had withdrawn their haskamos, and only one of them, Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, had actually heard that there was any controversy going on. (He had been instructed by Rav Weintraub, who is his rebbe, to revoke his haskamah, but he had not done so and still has not done so.)So Rav Wentraub was told that Sholoms haskama had been retracted, the world has been told that there never was any real Haskama in the first place (except on the science), and Slifkin says he was told the Haskama was never retracted.Someone was really playing games.

# posted by Observer @ 6:00 PM 0 comments

Why Slifkin Really Never Met With The Gedolim
The gedolim saw books that espoused kefirah. They saw, right there in front of them, things that are ossur to read. They assessed this the way poskim assess all psakim – they apply the halachah. In this case, the halachah says "lo sosuru acharae levavechem" - books such as these are forbidden to be brought into a Jewish home or to be read.The fact is these books contain apikorsus, ideas that are ossur to believe. It has nothing to do with who wrote the books - whether the author is a big rabbi or an ignorant bum makes no difference. When you bring your mezuzah to a rav and he sees misspelled words, missing letters, that it was printed by a printing press on paper and not klaf, and that instead of krias shema it contains comics, he will say it is ossur to use. Most people would not say that the rav is obligated to meet with the sofer before he makes his psak. Nobody expects the rav to have to "prove" to the sofer that the mezuzos are posul. If the sofer thinks theyre kosher, let him use them on his own house! But the rav is going to say they are posul.Yet in our case, some unthinking people who are easily swayed by what they read from Slifkin and a small group of anonymous, ignorant and sleazy characters on the internet, came to think that the gedolim have some kind of obligation to debate their psak with Slifkin, who is no more than a child who plays with animals, before they issue a psak that certain beliefs are ossur, simply because Slifkin demands that they do so. You ask a halachik shailah - you get a halachik answer. Why the sofer did this or what his reasoning is makes no difference, maybe someone put a gun to the sofers head and made him do it, maybe the sofers fourth grade yeshiva ketana rebbi played a trick on the class and taught them that comics belong in mezuzos, maybe the sofer is just an idiot and thinks that this is how a mezuzah is written, it does not matter. To apply the words of Rav Elyashev, "the sofer could be one of the lamed vav tzdikim but the mezuza is still posul!"And the fact that you and your friends have been buying these mezuzos and by so doing have been providing the "sofer" with parnasah that would be ruined by the psak does not change the psak. They will tell you, "These mezuzos are printed on paper. A mezuzah printed on paper is not kosher."When Rav Weintraub first saw these books, he saw they were not kosher. They contained apikorsus. He could have said so without further ado. But he went out of his way to discuss the matter with one of those who gave haskomos to the books. This one had the greatest influence over their contents (from what I hear, maybe even more than the author), and who also happened to be a talmid of Rav Weintraub, Sholom Kamenetsky. Rav Weintraub heard the arguments of his own student and judged them inadequate. Several faxes went back and forth between them. At the end, Kamenetsky agreed to retract his haskomo. He even sent Rav Weintraub a letter of retraction. It said that he did not read the book in its entirety, that he relied on the fact that the author learned in good Yeshivos, and that his past books were kosher, but when he saw what the books really said, he regrets ever giving a haskama. This is why the Yated reported that the haskomos had been retracted. Kamenetsky did in fact retract his haskomo – at least in one of his statements. In another, he said he never really wrote a haskama, and yet a third version, according to Slifkin, is that the haskama was never retracted. The Yated did not purposely make up a story - they were quoting from Kamenetskys retraction. But Rav Weintraub, and then Rav Moshe Shapiro, two of the greatest experts in the topic of agadah and machshava in the world, still did not come out against the "fake mezuzos" that were being used by innocent people on their own. When other gedolim were made aware of these books, they unanimously agreed that the books were assur to read. Not a single godol who was approached defended the teachings in the books (that includes even the gedolim who did not want to sign the text of the letter that was used.) The signatures included a powerful lineup of gedolim from all walks of Judaism in Israel and America. The name of the posek hador, Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashev shlita, appeared on the top of the letter. It was an awesome display of achdus, unity, and in a generation where you so often hear the complaint that "rabbis cant agree on anything", you found so many different types of gedolim side to side defending the honor of the Torah. It was a great kiddush hashem.Except that adas Slifkin did not like that. The sofer of the treif mezuzos, Slifkin, and his distributor, Gil Student, together with anonymous troublemaker bloggers (many of whom may be one and the same person, and may even be Slifkin or Student themselves) would start a campaign of spin and falsehood that would undermine the mind of the naive. I seem to recall the story that Kamenetsky wrote to Rav Weintraub (that the people behind the ban have an agenda against him and his father) suddenly appearing over the internet. I find it interesting how a story out of the blue that only Sholom Kamenetsky knew about (because he made it up) suddenly got "leaked" into the blogosphere. And despite all of this, the gedolim did agree to meet with Slifkin, if he would agree to accept their psak after hearing his story. He said that he would not agree to that. Instead, his conditions for accepting their psak was:I have been told that the letters from Gedolei Torah concerning my bookswill be made public. But it is inconceivable that anyone, especially Gedolim,would condemn someone without meeting and talking with them. I am ready to meet with these Gedolim at their convenience and to hear what their objections are,and to discuss the matter fully. I am certainly willing to retract from anything in which I am proven wrong or mistaken, and kal vchomer if I am proven to have written something that goes against the fundamentals of emunah, chas vshalom. Surely to condemn someone without meeting them goes against both the spirit and the letter of Torah and Shulchan Aruch, and would be an unbelievable chilulHashem befarhesya, and will be widely recognized as such. I spoke with my Rav, Rav Chaim Malinowitz shlita, and he fully concurs with the above. I thereforeassume that the Gedolei Torah would wish to discuss the matter with me first, and I repeat my readiness to meet with them, together with my rebbeim, whenever they want. I am independently making every effort to contact all of the Gedolimsigned on the letters. Sincerely, Nosson SlifkinSlifkin penned what seems to be a veiled threat to the gedolim: "and it will be perceived as such". And he and his eidah did all they could to make sure it would be. Slifkin informed the gedolim that he will only retract if they will prove to him that he is wrong. And who will decide whether the gedolim have succeeded in proving him wrong? Slifkin himself! If I decide that you gedolim have proven your case, I will retract. If not, then even if you hear what I have to say and still say that I am wrong, I will continue to do what I want, was in essence his message. Can you imagine a sofer who was caught selling comics as mezuzos demanding that the poskim meet with him, "discuss the matter fully" and the "prove" to his satisfaction that his mezuzos are trief?Was Slifkin joking? Not at all, although he certainly is a joke. Just imagine what would have happened had he met with Rav Elyashev and through some strange turn of events, Rav Elyashev would have explained to him how (for starters) we dont pasken like his sources.Rav Feldman and others have explained this, but Slifkin still insists he knows how to pasken better than the gedolim, and he is still entitled to follow what he thinks is an acceptable approach. Would there have been any point in meeting?In addition to this, Rav Weintraub heard from his wife what Slifkin had said to her on the phone about the gedolim and the ban, and decided that a person who speaks like that, there is no point in meeting with him. Slifkin writes in his website that nobody can rule without hearing 2 sides of the story. He doesnt understand thats if youre ruling on a persons status but if you are not ruling on a person but his book that does not apply. This is why Rav Elyashev said "It doesn’t matter if Slifkin is one of the 36 tzadikim!" If a chicken is shown to a rav and ruled trief, he does not have to hear the shochets "side of the story", and if a rav sees comic book mezuzos he does not have to hear the sofers side of the story, and if a rav sees kefirah he does not have to hear the authors side of the story. And besides for that, we heard your side. Its stupid.

# posted by Observer @ 5:50 PM 2 comments

Why were the Gedolim so concerned over Slifkins Kefirah more than any other Kefirah?
There are many books and websites that contain Kefirah, even those written by Orthodox Jews. What concerned the Gedolim about Slifkins Kefriah was not merely the fact that he is producing books that are assur to read. The particular damage that believing Slifkins Kefirah can do a Ben Torah, or anybody who aspire to be a Ben Torah, is particularly noxious.We have to know, that the development of the shaklah vetaryah in the Gemorah is not merely the discussions of our sages. It is the Torah Shebal Peh being revealed, being brought into this world. When Rava asks a question, it is not the same as when I ask my friend a question; when Abaye gives an answer, it is not the same as when I give my friend an answer. Rava and Abaye are tapping into their holy Neshomos and their pure minds, their Ruach HaKodesh and their supernatural understanding of Torah, to produce the Torah Shebaal peh. This is Kabbalas HaTorah from Har Sinai taking place.Learning Gemora, you must be aware of this. You must sit b-aimah b-yirah b-reses ub-zeiah with awe, trepidation, trembling and dread while you read the words of the Tanaim and Amorayim, for you are experiencing the giving of Torah from Har Sinai. And not just the giving of Torah - the re-creation of Torah, by way of the understanding of our holy sages, guided and directed by Hashem Yisborach Himself. It is not the Yegiah and Ameilus that I am describing; it is the fear and awe that a person has knowing that he is standing at Har Sinai accepting the Torah emanating from the mouths and minds of the Tanaim and Amorayim. In the olden days people used to wear their hats and jackets when learning, and in some places they still do. Most places dont do that anymore because it detracts from concentration, but we still retain the attitude. Reb Boruch Ber ztzl when giving shiur used to shake as he would say Fregt der heiligeh rava a kasha - enfert der heylegeh abaye a teretz. The author of Mesilas Yeshorim talks about how great the Mitzvah of learning Torah is, and how there is no other connection to G-d as high or as great as learning Torah. But then he says that the greatness and elevation that learning Torah brings is conditional:This connection is G-dly, and whats more, it is the highest connection to G-d that is possible in all the universe. And therefore, it is surely required for a person to fear and tremble when they are involved in this activity. Because the person learning finds himself in front of G-d, actively bringing down the Great Light from G-d, into himself. Behold he needs to be humbled while learning from his low human status, and he should be amazed at G-ds awesomeness, and he should rejoice very much in his lot, but with trepidation. Included in this is not to be frivolous, not to engage in any debasing either of the words of the Torah or their authors, and he should know before Whom he stands and is working . . . but if this condition is lacking, the light will not descend through his actions, and his words of Torah will be no different than any worldly words, as if he were reading a letter, and thinking about some worldly matters. On the contrary, it is a sin that he has done, that he has approached holiness without awe.In todays generation, and in America especially, this is a weak point. Whether they are in totality a positive or negative thing, Artscroll and all the English language publications have loosened the reigns of fear, awe, trepidation and trembling when we learn. We read about Rava and Abaye having conversations in the same way we do. Rava asks, Abaye asks - Rava answers, Abaye answers. They use the same language we do, the same words, the same expressions, the same idioms. Learning in such a way slowly whittles down the attitude that Rava and Abaye are not having a conversation but rather are the conduits through which Torah is descending onto this planet.We have had an entire generation weakened in this area. Now on top of all that Slifkin comes and tells us that the entire body of Talmudic literature we have in our hands can be wrong. Everything can be a mistake. Everything! Not just science, but any Halachah derived by our sages could be an error. The only reason we have to follow Chazal, he says, is in the interest of having a unified method of practicing Judaism, even though we could be completely in error. So when you put on Tefillin in the morning, it may be the wrong Tefillin. It may not even be Tefillin! But you have to go through the motions anyway, because at least this way we are all making the same mistake together. How great is achdus!There is a lot of kefira out there, but Slifkins kfira hits us in our weak spot. Someone who believes kefira has a problem, but someone who believes Slifkins kfira has a bigger problem. He will lose the aimah yirah reses uzeiah needed to experience Torah learning. Someone who believes Slifkins books will not be able to learn a line of Gemora properly any longer.The Gedolim were most disturbed by Slifkins books are those who are our generations greatest lamdonim, our generations greatest teachers of Gemora. They, who are the most qualified to see it, see not just kefira in Slifkins books, but a knife thrust into the softest part of our gut. We have been weakened in this area already and Slifkins books stab us right there.Slifkins books remove the Kabalas Hatorah from Chazal, the Olam Habah experience from learning Gemora Rashi and Tosfos. It changes Torah learning to, as the Mesilas Yeshorim wrote, nothing different than reading worldly matters, than reading a letter.This is a subtle but fundamental nuance of Torah learning that our Gedolei Roshei Yeshiva fight to instill within their Talmidim, a subtle but necessary ingredient in a Godol BaTorah that is already wounded and bleeding in today generation of Bnei Torah. This is what Slifkins books exterminate.This is not just kfira, this is the worst kind of kfira. And that is why, of all the kfira being put out by many authors, many of them Orthodox, Slifkins books, however, are worse.

# posted by Observer @ 5:47 PM 0 comments

The Truth Behind Slifkin's "Haskomos"
Slifkins defenders claim:"Slifkin has haskomos from other Gedolei Torah and those Rabbonim continue to support him...Slifkin fulfilled his duty to faithfully consult Gedolei Torah before publication to make sure that ... His responses fall within the guidelines of acceptable interpretation and Torah hashkafa."The truth is the contrary. Slifkin consulted Gedolei Torah to get Haskomos, but was turned down time after time, and warned by those from whom he sought the Haskomos that the book is not within the bounds of acceptable interpretation and Torah hashkafa and if he prints it, it will rightfully be branded heretical. He begged people to help him get Haskomos, but no avail. Slifkin is affiliated with Ohr Someach, so did you ever wonder why he did not get any Haskomo from Rav Mendel Weinbach, Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Someach? The answer is because he tried, but Rav Weinbach refused to give Slifkin his Haskomo. He warned Slifkin not to print those books, so did others as well. Slifkin then went shopping around desperately for a Haskomo. He found some small rabbis, some of dubious character (allegations against him include the fact that he had to run away from America to avoid the risk of prosecution for his role in the dealings of a certain Yeshiva that was under investigation for illicit financial behavior). The only Haskomo he got of anyone that can be considered "Gedolei Torah" is that ofRav Shmuel Kamenetsky.What was Rav Shmuels official excuse for giving the Haskama? He is reported as telling people who asked that he did not read the books, but relied on certain people that Slifkin was a fine fellow, and on that basis gave a Haskama.What is his official reason for not retracting his Haskama? Rav Shmuel said that he feels people should give Slifkin a chance to correct his books before they come out against them. He is also reported as saying to someone that they should not have made Slifkin into a Kofer, even though what his books said was against the Torah. (Despite that the facts remain that Slifkin refuses to admit that the books are against the Torah, and Rav Elyashev already said nobody is making Slifkin into a Kofer, but saying the books are Kefirah.)As a matter of fact, when the ban came out, the Gedolim were negotiating with Rav Shmuel for almost 6 months trying to find a graceful way out for him. He had agreed to sign the ban on the condition that they remove the part about the books being Kefirah. If they would say that the books simply contain content that is against the Torah, he agreed to sign. But the Gedolim, including Rav Elyashev, said that Kefirah is Kefirah and they have to say so. And more then this is the fact that after almost a half a year of negotiations, to try to get Rav Shmuel out of the problem with his honor intact, they had no choice but to come out with the ban without him.But why did Rav Shmuel not want to retract? To understand the answer to this, first we need to know the history behind this haskomo.The way Slifkin acquired this Haskomo is through the manipulations of Rav Shmuels son, the controversial Sholom Kamenetsky, for who his father has an unfortunate soft spot in his heart.This is not the first time Rav Shmuel was burnt by his irresponsible son. It was Sholom Kamenetsky who convinced his father to back Rabbi Yosef Reinmans book that had in it the opinions of a Reform rabbi, for which Rav Shmuel later got burnt, and had to retract his support. Without Sholom, Rav Shmuel never would have even considered giving a Haskama to Slifkins books. Now that the Haskama was shown to be a mistake, Rav Shmuel, who was burnt once and shown to have poor judgment when it comes to giving Haskomos, did not want to be shown once again to have made the same terrible mistake as he did with Reinman, and so he will not retract his Haskomo. Rav Shmuels official reason for not retracting (that we should give Slifkin a chance to retract) does not hold water. Slifkin was given a chance and he still has a chance. Nevertheless, he constantly repeats his claims that his books are Kosher and that what the Poskim said about them are wrong. He still insists that the Poskim went "against both the spirit and the letter of Torah and Shulchan Aruch" (even though he has not cited a single Halacha in the Shulchan Aruch that says so). Another reason for the concern of the Gedolim Because Slifkins books have haskomos, thereby giving the impression that the books are legitimate, or at least, they represent a legitimate, alternative approach. The truth is, they represent nothing Jewish, and the Haskomos are not what they appear to be, as the next post will demonstrate.

# posted by Observer @ 5:43 PM 0 comments

Why Certain Rabbonim Did Not Sign The Ban
Slifkins eidah says that the fact that some Rabonim did not sign the ban means that they support Slifkin, but the truth is the contrary. This is an explanation of Rabbonim that were asked to sign and did not:Rabbi Aharon Schechter - he originally said that he is sure that they are Ossur to read, and are against the Torah. He stated that the books are "bal yira ubal yimatzeh", Ossur to see or to own. He agreed to sign the ban if they changed the word "Kefirah" to "Apikursus", because the Gemora Paskins that if someone says "kal vachomer zeh" (a certain Kal vachomer) is not true, then he is an Apikorus, but it does not say that it is Kefirah, and this is the problem with Slifkins books. Rav Aharon has since changed his position, agreeing that Slifkins books are Kefirah.Rabbi Chaim Epstein - he agreed that the books are Kefirah but did not want to sign the ban because it would be a disgrace to the honor of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky.Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky – he agreed to sign the ban if they removed the word Kefirah and wrote that the books are full of things that are against the Torah. He also said that he agrees that books are against the Torah, but we should give Slifkin time to correct them before they issue the ban. He apparently believed that Slifkin would agree that his books are against the Torah and correct them.

# posted by Observer @ 5:33 PM 0 comments

Why Certain Rabbonim Did Not Sign The Ban
Slifkins eidah says that the fact that some Rabonim did not sign the ban means that they support Slifkin, but the truth is the contrary. This is an explanation of Rabbonim that were asked to sign and did not:Rabbi Aharon Schechter - he originally said that he is sure that they are Ossur to read, and are against the Torah. He stated that the books are "bal yira ubal yimatzeh", Ossur to see or to own. He agreed to sign the ban if they changed the word "Kefirah" to "Apikursus", because the Gemora Paskins that if someone says "kal vachomer zeh" (a certain Kal vachomer) is not true, then he is an Apikorus, but it does not say that it is Kefirah, and this is the problem with Slifkins books. Rav Aharon has since changed his position, agreeing that Slifkins books are Kefirah.Rabbi Chaim Epstein - he agreed that the books are Kefirah but did not want to sign the ban because it would be a disgrace to the honor of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky.Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky – he agreed to sign the ban if they removed the word Kefirah and wrote that the books are full of thigns that are against the Torah. He also said that he agrees that books are against the Torah, but we should give Slifkin time to correct them before they issue the ban. He apparently believed that Slifkin would agree that his books are against the Torah and correct them.

# posted by Observer @ 5:33 PM 0 comments

How Far Goeth Heresy
A fool writes:Taking one step away from the purely "natural" sciences(those based on observation of nature or human BIOLOGICAL function), are the social sciences, those based on observations of human interactions. It is harder to prove or disprove contentions in this arena, because of the variability of human behavior. An observation that might apply to one person may not apply to a different person. A generalization about one society may not apply to a different society. Chazal made a number of statements regarding society and human behavior as well, and a number of them have become normative. Were they accurate in these assessments? or were they again somewhat reflecting the social attitudes of the times? One statement for example, that a woman would rather be married(implied that it is not an ideal marriage) than not married, has had significant impact on marriage law. Does this statementreflect Torah mSinai, or is it a turn of the era sociological observation?Similarly many statements, particularly regarding women and the place of women in society have obviously had significant impact on Halacha. R. Eliezer Berkovits(Jewish Women in Time and Torah) wrote that when these statements contradicted Torah directives and values, they can be put aside. (R. Shalom Carmy, in the most recent edition of Tradition, reviews one or R. Bekovitss books and rebuts this approach). However, the initial question is still valid and unaswered, are the social statements in the Gemara refective of society, or Torah mSinai?And guess what? The fool is actually right according to Slifkin! According to Slifkin, we can do away with countless Halachos in the Torah because they are based on fallacies! Nashim daatan kalos is another one. Oooooooh, just wait until the Modern Orthodox lunatics get a hold of that one! Oooooh! I can see it now! Because ask any scientist and theyll tell you that the belief that women have "weaker minds" went out in the dark ages! Tav lemeisav tan du is another one of those "mistaken" notions that Chazal, those old men who knew nothing about the world naively believed! And not only are those Halachos wrong according to Slifkin, the entire Torah could be wrong according to Slinfkin, because Slifkin and his defenders have ignored the following powerful observation against Slifkins books:To this letter HaRav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas South Fallsberg, adds, "And he also writes that Chazal Hakedoshim can err chasvesholom in worldly matters chas vesholom and therefore [they can err] in halochoh as well chas vesholom, as he wrongly proves from maseches Horayos—all nonsense! And the whole book is filled with similar instances of total heresy. Slifkin claims that not only in scientific matters can Chazal miss the boat, but in Halachic matters as well. Slifkin says that you have to listen to Chazal even when they are wrong because if you dont, then Judaism will fall apart. According to Slifkin, the Tefillin we wear every day could be fake, the meat we eat can be trief, the way we keep shabbos could be chilul shabbos, and the hashkofos that we have could be Apikursus. Chazal could have been wrong about everything they ever said according to Slifkin. We can all be can be a mechaelel shabbos, chazeer-fressing, karkafta delo manach tefillin, our children could be mamzeirim (heck! we could be mamzerim, too!), our gittin could be invalid so our wives are really an aishes ish of some other man, our entire religion so wrong, but we all have to do all this shtus religion anyway, because otherwise Judaism will fall apart! Now, however, Judaism is strong and thriving, with all these stupid dumb nonsensical things that we have to follow just because Chazal said them.That is the world according to Slifkin. And if someone believes all that is true, he is definitely correct, because .... because ..... because ..... because .....Meseches Horios says so!And this graf she reie is what Slifkin and his people are defending?

# posted by Observer @ 5:31 PM 1 comments

In Defense of Nosson Slifkin
After much thought, research, and consultation with Kiruv experts and scientists, I have decided that there is a legitimate defense for Nosson Slifkins opinions. I also found a defense for Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky refusing to retract his Haskomo, even though he admits that he did not read the book, and that the book is full of things that are against acceptable Torah parameters. Admittedly, I have based this on the precedent of various "unconventional" Torah sources, but they are clearly within the parameters of acceptable Torah thought. After much horvanyeh, I have decided that ...1) Slifkin does not believe that the world is more than 6,000 years old. 2) He does not believe that evolution is true. 3) He does not believe that Chazal can err in scientific or halachic matters. So why did he say all those things? The answer is … he didnt mean it literally - its all just a moshol! An allegory, like Slifkin says Bereishis is. Slifkin doesnt mean that literally people came from monkeys, because as Rav Saddiah Gaon says, when you find something that is against logic, you should allegorize it, so we now should allegorize Slifkin, according to Rav Saadiah! Slifkin really means not that people literally come from monkeys, but people who believe in evolution are making monkeys of themselves! You fundamentalists should stop taking everything Slifkin says literally! And when he says that the world is billions of years old, he doesnt really mean it! No! According to the Rambam, Rav Sadiah Gaon, and others, what Slifkin is saying is clearly all a moshol. It is just mythology. And as for Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, when he said he is Maskim to the book, he didnt really mean it literally. Its a moshol. You see? You stupid literalist fundamentalists, according to Rav Saadiah Gaon, we are absolutely permitted to allegorize Rav Shmuels haskama, since it makes absolutely no sense if you take it literally. Rav Shmuel obviously holds that Slifkins books are Kefirah. The fact that he wrote in his haskomo that the books are good is really only an allegory. What he meant when he said it was a good book was "Good for Slifkin! He deserves what he gets!" . Stupid fundamentalists should stop taking these things literally!So Slifkin isnt really as bad as he seems - everything he said was not meant literally. It was just a moshol. And so were the haskomos.And they were probably loshon sagi nahor too.

# posted by Observer @ 5:29 PM 0 comments

A Legitimate Machlokes
Despite the fact that Gedolim have told Slifkin that his sources are not Halachah, he insists that he is entitled to follow them. Now we have a Machlokes. The parties disagreeing are as follows:Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashev shlit"a: We do not pasken like the Shitos that say Chazals science was wrong.Rav Aharon Kotler Ztz"l: The shitos that Chazals science was not correct are not part of the Mesorah of Klall Yisroel.The Chazon Ish: The Agadita and science in is all written with Ruach Hakodesh and is all correct.The Chidah: The science in Chazal is correct, even if it seems differently. It was all written with Ruach hakodesh.Nosson Slifkin: Chazals science is wrong! Ha ha!

# posted by Observer @ 5:27 PM 1 comments

The Lies of Slifkins Defenders
How do Slifkins defenders succeed in getting gullible blind sheep to follow them into believing that Slifkins books are not kefira? By lying about the facts, of course!The following lies can be found on the sleazy blog called "Godol Hador" here. 4) The Text of the Ban Lie The kanoim presented one text to some of thesignatories, but then another text was used in the actual ban. This was verifiedby Rav Aharon Feldman, who visited Rav Eliashiv personally. Rav Eliashiv said that he had not signed anything which called the books kefirah.The fact that Rav Elyashev wrote a letter in his own handwriting, stating that he did in fact sign the letter that states Slifkins books are Kefira means nothing to this liar. Liars never let facts get in the way of their maligning the Torah.And from more of their lies: Not one Godol has ever written a pesak of 100% kefirah on the books, nor will they ever. I guarantee it. R Eliashiv told R Feldman that the books were kinda like kefirah ... The fact that Rav Elyashev wrote a letter in his own handwriting testifying to the authenticity of the letter that says the books are Kefirah, and his signature on it means nothing to this liar. Slifkin and his eidah never let the facts get into the way of their lies."I guarantee it", this liar writes. What an idiot! What a shakran! This disgrace of a human is obviously getting his information from the Slifkin himself (I wouldnt be surprised if this moron IS Slifkin himself), which is why the bubba-maasehs created from thin air by Sholom Kamemetsky appear on this mans propaganda blog complete with guarantees that they are true. The only problem is theyre the opposite of true. Lies made up from thin air.What Kind of People Defend Slifkin?Other tidbits of information from this defender of Slifkin, that has all the "inside information" of Slifkins inner circle:The Arizal was a fakerThe entire Bereishis is mythology – no Adam, no Mabul, etc.Goyim are equal to JewsThe Zohar is full of nonsenseThe Gedolim arent GedolimThis is the camp that Slifkins inner-circle is. Just like Slifkin tried to hide the fact that he holds the Mabul never happened from the public, in order for Orthodox Jewry to accept him so he can pose as a heimishe and slip in his heretical ideas, the entire Adas Slifkin is full of Kefirah and Shtus and dont belong anywhere near Orthodox Jews.Hat tip to "OU Certified" for this information.

# posted by Observer @ 5:23 PM 0 comments

Chronological Correction
I have just received a phone call from Eretz Yisroel informing me of a slight inaccuracy in the chronological order of the ban events that I wrote about earlier. I wrote that Rav Weintraub and Rav Moshe Shapiro had come out with the ban simultaneously. Now I have been informed that that is imprecise. The truth is Rav Moshe Shapiros letter did not come out when Rav Weintraubs did. Rav Moshe waited to deal with Sholom Kamenetsky to try to explain to him what was wrong with the book and to try to get a retraction. He sent his letter to Sholom, and afterwards he had it shown only to key Rabonim who were interested in his position. The letter of Rav Moshe was not publicized until later.

# posted by Observer @ 5:22 PM 0 comments

Slifkins Real Shitah, Hidden By His Supporters, Now Revealed: THE MABUL NEVER HAPPENED!!
Some people say that Slifkin is really a Ben Torah. To those people, I present the following post by Nosson Slifkin that was deleted when the kefira controversy started, obviously to protect Slifkin by hiding his real shitos from the public once the controversy began. I retrieved the post from internet archives athttp://web.archive.org/web/ 20040102130328/http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol12/v12n039.shtml">http://web.archive.org/web/20040102130328/ http://www.aishdas.orgavodah/vol12/v12n039.shtmlI must confess that I was very surprised by this. Only two people? I know of dozens of respected Rabbanim who would call thisoutright apikorsus (not just "near" apikorsus), and I am sure there arehundreds more. There are thousands of people who consider it apikorsusto say that the world is billions of years old. Yet you will find thiswidely believed and taught in the frum world.Fortunately, we have precedent for post-Chazal allegorization of theTorah. Rambam is one example. Rav Saadia Gaon statesthat if something in the Torah is contradicted by external sources, it canbe taken allegorically. There is no justification or precedent forallegorizing halachic parts of Torah, or narratives that are notcontradicted by metzius, such as Yetziyas Mitzrayim or Avraham Avinu. Thatcan involve apikorsus. But the Mabul is different, and it falls squarelyinto Rav Saadia Gaons category. It is very easy to dismiss an explanation as apikorsus if one does not understand the reasons why that explanation is being offered. In thiscase, we are talking about utterly overwhelming evidence from manydifferent fields of knowledge (unlike the case with those who triedallegorizing Avraham Avinu). Contrary to what RHM believes, it is not simply a lack of evidence in favor of a global flood. Itis a world of evidence against it. A global flood as traditionally understood would have left a spectacularly devastating effect upon the environment. Yet we find no sign of any such thing. Instead, we find that plant, animal and human life continued uninterrupted throughout the period. This is positive and conclusive evidence that there was noglobal catastrophe. You can choose to deny this and believe in some gigantic conspiracy of evil scientists. But you cant expect everyone else to take this position. The people on Avodah presenting this view are notyechidim. The scientific evidence is not novel or debated (except byfundamentalist Christians). Almost everyone with an understanding of thesciences, frum or not frum, will tell you the same thing. Ask around! And the Talmidei Chachamim that I have consulted with have therefore independently concluded, as difficult as it is, that the Mabul must either have been avery localized event or entirely allegorical. Its a pity that they wouldnt let me state their names, as they are universally respected. Nobody would dream of calling them apikorsim, or even near-apikorsim. Several people have published these ideas, such as Shubert Spero in Tradition (who allegorizes it entirely) and Gerald Schroeder in The Science of God (who says it was very localized); I personally dont teach this in public (and I consider Avodah to be arelatively private forum). But over the years I have received many questions, often from prospective BTs, who have been disturbed by this problem. If told that they have to choose between accepting a global floodor being an apikorus, they are still unable to deny what they know offactual reality. Should we tell them that they cannot be admitted into the ranks of Torah Jews, or should we tell them that there are TalmideiChachamim, basing themselves on precedents in the Rishonim, who permitallegorization in this case?Nosson SlifkinEntirely allegorical. Entirely allegorical. Entirely allegorical. Slifkin claims "talmidei chachamim" agree with him. I say he is an idiot. I say Slifkin does not even know what a talmid chacham is. He uses Shubert Spiro as his "bar samchah". Shubert Spiro?! Now we know what Slifkin considers a "source". Can someone please buy Slifkin a brain?

# posted by Observer @ 5:00 PM 0 comments

Pair of Pulpit Rabbis Defend Slifkin, Claim Mysterious Conspiracy
Now that even Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky said that he does not support Slifkin, and was willing to sign a ban as long as it did not mention the word "kerifa", what do Slifkins supporters say in his defense? Two pulpit rabbis have been quoted that the Gedolim were fooled into signing the ban. Rabbi #1 can be heard on Slifkins website and the other has a blurb on the back of Slifkins book. These 2 rabbis both just happen to also be personal friends of Slifkin, and neither of them have any idea what Rav Elyashev was told. They just decided that "the Gedolim were fooled". These people are rabbis? They lie to the world and continue to encouarge a chilul hashem.But neither of them have ever told us what exactly was wrong with what the Gedolim were told. Neither of them can tell us what was false about Rav Elyashevs impression of Slifkins books. Surely it would be easy to simply show these Gedolim how they were fooled, by showing them the evidence in Slifkins books that exonerates him from the evil plots of the kanoyim, or by explaining to them what Slifkin really meant, and showing them how the kanoyim fooled them. The least they could please do is show US how the kanoyim fooled the Gedolim!But no! None of these rabbis have done that! They have not told us what there is to show the Gedolim that would change their minds! Rav Aron Feldman tried in desperation to explain to the Gedolim what Slifkin really meant, in order to clarify the picture for them so they would be see how they were fooled. But then he saw that they actually knew all the time what Slifkin meant, and they had no wrong impressions whatsoever! Surprise! Nobody fooled them at all! They always knew the whole picture of what Slifkin said! Amazing! Nobody fooled the Gedolim. Now what excuse do we have?These rabbis need no excuse. They still are saying that the Gedolim were fooled. Fooled into what? They have no idea, but fooled!Rav Feldman himself reversed his position, writing his famous letter about how Slifkins books are kefirah, and Slifkin himself is a megaleh ponim betorah shelo kehalachah, which means he has lost his share in Olam Habah for writing those books!Thats right! Rabbi Feldman wrote that Slifkin is in a category of people wbho have lost their share in Olam Habah, But at least Rav Feldman was honest. The other two still wont tell us what the Gedolim were fooled into believing, and what the real story is.THATS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL! Nobody was fooled into anything except those blind sheep who believe those dishonest rabbis.

# posted by Observer @ 4:58 PM 0 comments

Stop Crying, Sholom!
We hear Sholom Kamenetsky is upset about this blog. We hear hes complaining to his friends that people are speaking up about him. Sorry, Sholom, its time to face the music. You are a liar who has woven an intricate web of deceit in order to further his own agenda. You have used Slifkin, who is an idiot and am haaretz (and not such a big Maamin either), to further your own agenda. You made up stories spread them around. It's over, Sholom. You and that moron Slifkin have created the biggest Bizui of Torah in years.Oh, yes, Sholom, weve done research on the Slifkin affair and found that you were behind the whole thing. (You and that fugitive rabbi in Israel). We dont believe you when you say you didnt read Slifkins books, Youve been heard over 2 years ago bragging ecstatically that "there will soon come out a book that will tear apart" the traditional Orthodox Jewish stance on evolution. You ashamed to tell your Rebbi the truth, so you lied to him. You were right for being ashamed, you coward.

# posted by Observer @ 4:56 PM 1 comments

A Riddle
Question: Why doesnt Nosson Slifkin support relief efforts in New Orleans?Answer: Katrina was just a moshol.

# posted by Observer @ 4:55 PM 1 comments

Will the real liar please shut up?
Slifkin: "I contacted all the rabbonim who had written haskamos . . . None of them had withdrawn their haskamos, and . . . , Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, had . . . been instructed by Rav Weintraub, who is his rebbe, to revoke his haskamah, but he had not done so and still has not done so"Sholom: "My name does appear in his book and . . . I gave no haskomo on the content"

posted by Aizehu mechubad at 12:27 PM | 0 comments

The story thus far
Nosson Slifkin (who has since changed his name to Natan Slifkin to fit in better with his new circle of friends) printed books which were full of kefirah. The Gedolim, in an unprecedented display of achdus, banded together to educate the public about this apikorsus disguised as Torah books, and notifying the public that they should be burned. Slifkin's books came with haskomos (approbations) from obscure, low level rabbis, with the exception of Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Rosh Yeshiva of Philadelphia Yeshiva and member of the Moetzes Gedolei Torah of Agudath Israel. It was later revealed that Rav Kamenetsky's haskomo was given blindly at the request of his son, Sholom Kamenetsky, an ambitious and manipulative person who has a history of using and abusing his father for his own personal gain. Bitter at his inability to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious father and grandfather, Harav Hagaon Yaakov Kamenetsky Ztz"l, Sholom has been trying to find prominence by creating a following among the non-religious college crowd. To that end, he encouraged and assisted Slifkin in writing his books which legitimize the commonly accepted secular beliefs about the bible, showing his college fans that he agrees with their hashkofos, so that they should choose him a a fitting leader.

In response to the reaction of the Gedolim, Slifkin recruited a group of bloggers to spread vicious slander about the Gedolim and terrible lies about the entire affair, trying to get Slifkin to look innocent. The bloggers were mainly Slifkin's brother, Gideon Slifkin, who was posting anonymous lies and slander on his blog, "Godol Hador". For a long while, people thought that Godol Hador was an objective observer, but eventually we all saw it was just the same Slifkin family all over again.
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At the same time, Gil Student, also a well known kofer, who appears to have assisted Slifkin in writing his books, used his blog, Hirhurim, to denigrate Gedolim and spread lies and Kefirah.

When Feldheim dropped Slifkin's books upon hearing the kefirah they had, Student himself started distributing the Slifkin books on his own.

Slifkin also waged a war of terror on the Gedolim who denounced his heresy. Sources tell us they were enlisting wealthy donors to silence Roshei Yeshiva not to speak up for what they believe is right.

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky, who confessed that he did not read Slifkin's book and relied on Sholom to give his haskomo, stated that he did not want to retract because Slifkin meant well, even though his books are heretical. The Gedolim pointed out to him that Slifkin's intentions were not an excuse not to inform the public that the book are heretical, but Rav Shmuel was adamant in his position, until he found out about the lies and slanders that Adas Slifkin were spreading (especially Gideon, who Rav Shmuel was appalled from.It was Gideon more then anyone else that pushed Rav Shmuel over to the other side.) Rav Shmuel then retracted his haskomo.

Slifkin, who was then in Toronto, reportedly cried. His war was over. He and his army of slanderers lost.

The issue seemed closed, except for the fact that Sholom Kamenetsky continued spreading lies. He told people that Gedolim had come to ask his father mechilah for coming out against the book, a total lie, fabricated by Sholom.

Therefore, Gedolim have instructed us that we need to continue to counter the lies and slanders of Sholom, Slifkin, Slifkin and Student (The SSSS). Therefore, the above information is being revived.

We took it down because we thought it was over. But Gideon, Nosson, Sholom, Gil , you forced our hand.

posted by Aizehu mechubad at 11:25 AM | 0 comments

My Very Own Slifkin Blog

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

R Carmell's article on Slifkin

2 Comments:

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