Setting the Three-Ring Circus Tent Straight on Vilna

Vilnius’s not-very-popular Rabbi Krinsky isn’t seeking power and communal infrastructure. Never! He’s just “mammish mesiras nefesh!â€?

Hirshel Tzig made a composite of his pro-Chabad comments on a new post, “Setting the Vilna record straightâ€? to show how reasonable it is for Chabad to take over the Vilnius Jewish community against their wishes and against their traditions.

I would like to analyze some of these comments, as well as others from his earlier post that Hirshel did not see fit to repost.

Mottel writes,

“Let me tell you all, don’t believe me . . . Go fly out to Vilnius and spend time speaking to the local Jews in Lithuania. If you need internet I can recommend a good internet cafe for you to e-mail me your results from. As well, throwing in Moshiach matters has Zero connection to the story at hand. We’re speaking about a very small community here, where two shuls are not needed . . . but in any event Rabbi Krinsky runs things from the Chabad house which is a de facto shul.

In other words, if you want to dispute the community’s contention that Chabad has no right to take over, you have to go to Vilnius yourself first and see if that’s the case. However, if you want to believe us that this is really what they want, you don’t have to go to Vilnius, you can just believe us. Ana wrote,

“For the record, in many towns in Lithuania there was a majority of Chassidim (Like Rokishok), and their decendents are still around today. In Kovno a few old ladies came over to me and told me with pride that they shtammed from Chabad!)�

Hirshel actually saw fit to print an argument on his own post claiming that it wasn’t clear at all that Chabad wasn’t an integral part and parcel of the normative traditional Vilna Jewish heritage and experience. Let us be clear, the majority of Vilna was NOT Chassidic, and certainly not Chabad. This is absolute drivel. Do not listen to this sort of revisionism without laughing in the person’s face.

Hirshel himself writes,

“There’s no need to bring any “what part of lita was Chabad?” into this conversation. “

Of course not. Because if you do, the answer is YOU DON’T BELONG THERE!�

Milhouse wrote,

“I like the claim that Burshtein “shares its traditions and customs”. What traditions and customs? Before Krinsky came to town there was no yiddishkeit at all. Every single shomer shabbos in Vilna is the result of Krinsky’s work. “Local leaders continued to look for a rabbi, a Litvak like them.” Is Burshtein really like them (what “them”?), a mechalel shabbos and chazzer-fresser?â€?

In other words, the minhagim of this community does not need to be respected since they are not religious after 70 years of Communism. Chabad is perfectly entitled to step in and ignore their communal history.

Now, compare this to the 2004 article “Quarrels keep Vilnius synagogue closed,� in the non-Jewish Lithuanian newspaper The Baltic Times, and tell me who seems more reasonable and more respectful of the Lithuanian Jewish community?

“VILNIUS-The only practicing synagogue in Vilnius was closed on Aug. 30 for the third time this year due to unresolved arguments between the Jewish Community of Lithuania and the Chabad Lubavitch organization[…]For generations, members of the Vilnius Jewish community were known not only as followers of Gaon, the renowned commentator of the Talmud and the Torah, but also as strictly opposing the Chassidic movement.
Therefore, during the interwar period, Chassidic followers had almost no property in Vilnius that they could nowadays reclaim.
Finally, in 1994 Rabbi Krinsky established Chabad Lubavitch, the first Chassidic community in Vilnius[…]
According to the Jewish Community of Lithuania, Krinsky started calling himself chief rabbi about three years ago on the Internet and in the Lithuanian media, despite the fact that no elections were held to elect him.
Still, the Jewish community refuses to recognize Krinsky as their rabbi. Over 500 Litvaks signed a document strongly disagreeing with the Chassidic rabbi’s candidacy.
“We have suggested that our rabbi and Krinsky could take turns in celebrating mass. However, he did not want any compromises,” said Alperavicius.
In February a group of Krinsky’s followers gathered secretly to elect a new council representing the Jewish community. The documents were later sent to the Ministry of Justice for registration.
“Where and when in the world did one organization [Chabad Liubavich] have a right to re-elect the leaders of another organization [Gaon followers]?” wrote Milan Chersonsky, editor of the Jewish community newspaper Jerusalem of Lithuania. “Fortunately, their intents failed because the Ministry of Justice realized the legal null of the documents.”
During the Litvak congress, while supporting traditional Gaon followers’ positions, Litvaks from 13 countries signed a resolution declaring that the actions of the Chubad Lubavich leader are a matter of great concern.

Full story.

Rabosai, our brothers in Lithuania wish to follow their ancestors, and resist Chassidic aggression, ESPECIALLY Chabad, even as they are publicly mocked, and their wishes and history denied. Suddenly we are supposed to believe that this ancient epicenter of resistance to Chassidus – ESPECIALLY Chabad – is in need of Chabad leadership.

Listen to these Chabadniks’ insanity, as it demonstrates they don’t have a leg to stand on, or they would say something that actually made sense.

Right, Hirshel?