Brooklyn, NY – At a private event for Shuvu held in Flatbush last night, noted speaker Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson, spiritual leader of Congregation Beis Shmuel Chabad in Crown Heights and dean of TheYeshiva.net, spoke passionately about the importance of valuing each and every Jew, no matter what their affiliation or their current state of religiosity.
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Stressing the importance of reaching out to off the derech children and the importance of seeing the potential in each and every child, Rabbi Jacobson recounted a story of the Chazon Ish who believed that expelling a talmid from a yeshiva was the equivalent of spiritual capital punishment and could only be done if a Beis Din of twenty three dayanim agreed that removal from the yeshiva was the appropriate course of action.
Below video Watch Rabbi Jacobson full speech. Credit: Shimon Gifter
In this particular instance, a bochur had been expelled from a yeshiva in Bnei Brak in the 1930’s after two witnesses reported to the Rosh Yeshiva that he had been seen smoking on Shabbos. The Rosh Yeshiva asked the bochur to leave the yeshiva but when word reached the Chazon Ish, founder of the yeshiva, he questioned whether the Rosh Yeshiva had convened the proper Beis Din, explaining that sending a boy out of yeshiva falls under the category of dinei nefashos and insisted that this was not a decision that fell under the Rosh Yeshiva’s purview.
The Rosh Yeshiva insisted that in order to run the yeshiva he needed to have full authority to deal with the bochurim as he saw fit and absent that, he would be handing in his resignation.
The Chazon Ish told the Rosh Yeshiva that his resignation fell under the category of dinei mamonos and as such, only required a decision by either a Beis Din of three or just one expert and since he himself qualified as an expert, the Chazon Ish told the Rosh Yeshiva that he would accept his resignation. Not only did the Chazon Ish take on the duties of Rosh Yeshiva for several weeks, but he readmitted the bochur who had been let go.
According to Rabbi Jacobson that bochur is now a respected leader in Israel’s Litvishe community who fully understands the importance of valuing each and every child.
Every principal, both for girls and boys should read this or have a copy of this sent to them.
He is absolutely right!! Rabbi jacobson is actually a very inspiring speaker, if only the roshei yeshivos would care more about each and every talmid as if they were their own child!!
I doubt it that someone who was a bachur in the 1930’s is still a prominent figure today.
Satmar Rebbe Zt”l used to tell the roshi yeshiva who were running the day to day operations of his yeshiva that he has been a Rosh Yeshiva for over 60 years and he only once expelled a bochur many years ago and not a day goes by without heartache for this act.
If only we had a half of a Chazon Ish in today’s days we would been better off. And if so many Yeshiva staff by now have been oiver on killing, how about we kick them on to the street and start from fresh?
How would the Chazon Ish deal with Yeshivas not accepting students in the first place.
Makes me wonder about the reaction the Chazon Ish ztz”l would have had to some of the less than kind comments posted about the victims of abuse who are now OTD, posted here on VIN in response to the article by Rabbi Eisenman.
Let’s not get carried away and say negative things about all roshei yeshiva based on one story. Roshei Yeshiva are not the problem. The problem is the parents who won’t send their children to yeshivos/girls schools, who take “problem” children. The roshei yeshiva are under great pressure to keep the environment free of bad influences (which means getting rid of anybody who does not fit the mold). WE are the problem, NOT the Roshei Yeshiva.
There’s a video on the internet showing Rav Shteinman taking a strong stand against two menahalim who did not want to accept two kids into their yeshiva because he was not the “right type.” It’s a must see.
We should have a הצלת נפשות לדורות gattering in CitiField and talk about it. Let our leaders, ראשי ישיבות, רבנים, גדולי התורה, צדיקי הדור hear this.
They have a right and obligation to tell us whats right and whats wrong. Let them lead by example. Let them show us they are going ע”פ התורה.
If the Chazon Ish said that, this is a פסק הלכה not just heresay.
As one poster wrote, let all Rabonim and Roshai Yeshivos see this. I doubt they will even respond to this story. Will expect though that we accept everything we hear from them at cash value.
#4 why not he would be in his 90’s
Rabbi YY Jacobson should have been asked to speak at Citifield asifa
Today we don’t have the heilige Chazzon Ish, we have poseurs with heilige beards who want kids thrown out if their parents have internet.
The problem isn;t the kids and the problem isn’t that they are off the derech. The problem is the way the beards define the derech to begin with – so pencil thin that anyone can fall off.
According to Mr. Wosner the Chazzon Ish must have been a nobody.
Rabbi Jacobson is an incredible orator and talmid chochom, we are fortunate to have as our rabbi this brilliant “lamdan” to speak for us every shabbos.
Citi-field would not be big enough to host all the people that would come and hear what Rabbi YYJ has to say.
This issue deserves an asifa more then the Internet problem , this in my humble opinion is the biggest issue that klal is real is suffering in a very big way ,because it used to be the buchir that is at risk was the problem today no yeshiva would accept a buchir that is not called a Mettizon , once a buchir makes a mistake once for sometimes very small reason he gets kicked out of a yeshiva it’s like on your credit report no other yeshiva would accept you ,it’s a crissis of historic proportion ,a buchir gets kicked out of a yeshiva for let’s assume was an ober
This issue deserves an asifa more then the Internet problem , this in my humble opinion is the biggest issue that klal is real is suffering in a very big way ,because it used to be the buchir that is at risk was the problem today no yeshiva would accept a buchir that is not called a Mettizon , once a buchir makes a mistake once for sometimes very small reason he gets kicked out of a yeshiva it’s like on your credit report no other yeshiva would accept you ,it’s a crissis of historic proportion ,a buchir gets kicked out of a yeshiva for let’s assume was an ober chucim,and let’s assume buchir was wrong , so next option is go to work or become a teen at risk because no other yeshiva would accept him ? And all we hear is an asifa for the Internet which is also a problem we all agree ,but can you compare these 2 issues the biggest dnage today is a buchir without a yeshiva. ,especially with today’s Internet and other easy options out there ? I would never understand why is klal is real sleeping we can shlep together 60’000 people not even knowing exactly what they will accomplish or why they really went there to begin with,but for an issue like yeshivas where there is a fire burning we can all say ,ein baies
I had already two kids kicked out of yeshiva. I asked the rasha shiva why, all he did was scream at me and tell me to find another yeshiva. Another son was told the rasha shiva doesn’t like his attitude so he told me he can’t come back but didn’t bother to put him in another yeshiva. I thank Hashem that I was able to place them in other places. Both are doing great, in spite of these rashaim.
My 3 year old granddaughter got 6 rejection letters from BP schools! And these are the mechanchim from our generation!
In those days it wasn’t like today. Anyone who was willing to come to yeshiva and learn was accepted with open arms.
I heard Rav Sholom Schwadron ztl describing the Chevra that came to his shiurim.
People that you’d cross the street to avoid.
But otherwise they’d be on the streets, and Rav Sholoms live plus the koach hatorah turned even these ‘lowlifes’ into upstanding citizens and bnei Torah (according to it’s real meaning).
Oy lanu she’banu ad koh