Reading through this interesting discussion, I doubt that I’ll ever be able to fully understand Hashem’s ways but that doesn’t and shouldn’t stop me from trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that He has put in my hands and make as much sense of them as I can. אין עוד מלבדו שום כוח ורצון בעולם והכל מלא רק אחדותו הפשוט יתברך שמו so Hashem is the One Who has done, is doing, and will do every minute detail of everything that happens. So here are some more pieces that haven’t come into this discussion and I’m interested in the knowledgeable olam’s insights into them.
1. R’ Amram Blau, ztl, gave an interview a few years before he was niftar in 5735/1975 (published as Mishnas Rebbe Amram), including several interesting points. He was already in his 20s during the few years of De Haan’s period of activity in Yerushalaim and even if he wasn’t yet the major figure he later became, he was probably already an astute observer of events.
a. The British didn’t like De Haan that much because as a top legal scholar he was able to out argue and outfox the British legal experts and prevent them from doing many of the things they wanted to do.
b. De Haan advised the Eida HaChareidis and its representatives on the British-run Jerusalem City Council to ally with the Mufti’s faction rather than with the moderate Arab elements who were more willing to cooperate with the Zionists. Rav Hutner, ztl, famously said that in the early days, before the Zionists became dominant, the Mufti got along very well with the Old Yishuv. Said Rav Hutner, it was only after the Zionists took control over Jewish public life and started threatening to throw all the Arabs out of their homes that the Mufti turned against all Jews and did all the terrible things he did.
c. De Haan arranged for a telegram to be sent [presumably to the Colonial Office in London, R’ Amram didn’t say] protesting against Zionist interference in religious life. This telegram was signed by Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, ztl, and [in R’ Amram’s lashon] להבדיל אלף הבדלות the Mufti and the Pope in Rome. Does anyone know any specifics about this telegram, which R’ Amram said would certainly have appeared in the newspapers of the time?
2. Concerning De Haan’s personal development, an interesting source is the biography written by Yehuda Meshi Zahav ע”ה (may his neshomo have whatever tikunim it needs) in his early years. I think in there he says that De Haan kept prominently on his desk a sign reading ובא לציון גואל ולשבי פשע ביעקב. Once he met Rav Sonnenfeld he became a totally devoted chassid but even devoted chassidim might not find it so easy to quickly discard all their earlier baggage of thoughts and desires.
Again, I’m interested in any insights people have concerning these points.
