Shaya from Lakewood

As someone born and raised in Lakewood BMG environment, I fail to comprehend the accusation that writers in this forum are being disrespectful to the Igros Moshe zt’l. No one asserted their own opinion to disagree with the Igros Moshe regarding electric shavers. What they did do is quote the gedolim and poskim venerated by all of Klal Yisroel who disagreed with Igros Moshe regarding electric shavers. If so, the only “ta’aneh” is to those Gedolim, not the writers in this forum.

Coming from Lakewood, I know that there were many issues in halacha in which Rav Aharon Kotler zt’l disagreed with Rav Moshe zt’l.

Rav Aharon’s zt’l grandson, Rav Malkiel along with all his fellow Roshei Yeshiva in Lakewood posted a public letter on the BMG official bulletin board a few years ago during Elul, in which they stated that Rav Aharon zt’l held that one may not shave with electric shavers and urged all the talmidim not to use them. Rav Moshe zt’l was not even mentioned in the letter. No one accused them of being disrespectful to Rav Moshe zt’l!

Rav Heinemann, whose article is the subject of this discussion, himself learned in Lakewood and was a talmid of Rav Aharon zt’l and certainly knew Rav Aharon’s shita about shaving machines. It is recorded in Teshuvos Minchas Yitzchok, in the Teshuvos V’Hanhagos of Rav Moshe Sternbuch and many other sefarim that Rav Aharon held shaving machines are osur.

In fact, just a few years ago, a letter from Rav Heinemann on his official stationary was posted all over Lakewood in which Rav Heinemann himself wrote that all regular shavers should not be used because there are poskim who hold that they are osur min haTorah (and instead people who don’t want to grow a beard should use a trimmer which leaves over beard stubble). All the Roshei Yeshiva of BMG in Lakewood added their signatures and wrote that regular shaving machines are a “sefeika d’oraysa.” Obviously Rav Heinemann himself does NOT hold that because the Igros Moshe was Posek Hador, therefore the opinion of all other Poskim should be discounted and ignored regarding shaving machines. [It is a wonder that this was not mentioned in the Kashrus Kurrents article which prompted this discussion — it is a glaring omission!]. Does that make Rav Heinemann disrespectful to the Igros Moshe?

The son of Rav Yaakov Weisberg z’l recently related:
“My father, Rav Yaakov Weisberg, was the founder of American P’eylim and administrative dean of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood. He built the Yeshiva together with his Rebbe, Rav Aharon Kotler. In the late 40s/early 50s, my father negotiated with the Zionist immigration officials who were forcing the Sephardic immigrants to shave off their beards with razors (claiming it was for sanitary reasons) to supply them with shavers instead. They agreed if he would supply the shavers. My father needed to raise money to buy 1000 shavers and went around to the gedolim for a letter of support. R’ Isser Zalman Meltzer zt’l (who my father was very close with), the Chazon Ish and the Brisker Rov (I think there were others but I forgot) all refused because they said they were not convinced that a shaver was better than a razor. Even his Rebbe R’ Aharon Kotler zt’l refused to help him for this reason.”

Another high-profile example of a leniency of the Igros Moshe which was vehemently rejected by Rav Aharon Kotler, and regarding which the yeshivish communities follow Rav Aharon Kotler (and not the Igros Moshe), is the height of the mechitzah in shuls (see, for example, Igros Moshe O.C. 1:39; O.C. 2:43; Y.D. 2:109). How ardently Rav Aharon Kotler opposed the leniency of the Igros Moshe is evident from the following incident: “In the late fifties, while driving, the Rosh Yeshiva [R’ Aharon Kotler zt’l] inadvertently pushed open the car door and fell out, resulting in a fracture of his arm. ‘Chipesh Umotzo’ – he searched and found and said afterwards that he believes he should have gone further to oppose the prevailing lenient practice (albeit authorized by a great Poseik) regarding the height of a Shul’s Mechitza, and hence the punishment” (A Living Mishnas Rav Aharon, p. 440).

Another example is Cholov Yisroel. Here also, Rav Aharon Kotler was stringent and dismissed the well-known heter of the Igros Moshe (as is documented in the authoritative biography of Rav Aharon Kotler Aish HaTorah by Rav Aharon Sorosky, acclaimed biographer of many Gedolim, vol. 2, p. 287). It is often ignored that the Igros Moshe himself wrote that his leniency to consume milk under government (but not Jewish) supervision was intended only in situations which constitute sha’as hadchak, and not for convenience or to prevent minimal monetary loss (see Igros Moshe Y.D. 4:5). Nowadays, Litvishe yeshivos fervently discourage their students from consuming dairy products which are not genuine Cholov Yisroel (although technically permitted according to the Igros Moshe). The late Menahel of the Mechina in Yeshivas Ner Israel (Baltimore), Rav Yosef Tendler zt’l, related that when he moved to Baltimore with his young family, there was no Cholov Yisroel available in the area. Despite the hardships involved, Rav Aharon Kotler instructed him to use only full-fledged Cholov Yisroel (despite the fact that Rav Tendler originated from the Igros Moshe’s community in the lower East Side of Manhattan). Thus, for many years he imported Cholov Yisroel to Baltimore. Eventually Rav Tendler was the one who established full-fledged Cholov Yisroel in the Baltimore area.

Let us conclude with the words of Rav Moshe Sternbuch (author of Moadim u’Zemanim and Teshuvos v’Hanhagos and Rosh Av Beis Din in Yerushalayim) wrote in a letter (dated Motzoei Yom Kippur 5738) and published in the sefer Hadras Ponim Zokon (p. 35):
“Anyone aware of the severity of this transgression and its punishment will keep far away from these machines. I am sure that if we will explain the problems involved, and present the opinions of the outstanding authorities of our time who ruled that shaving machines are prohibited (including the saintly Chofetz Chaim, Chazon Ish and the Gaon Rabbi Aharon Kotler, of blessed memory), then anyone with the slightest degree of yiras Shamayim will keep far away from these machines and totally avoid their use.”

This is now your 4th screenname, Rabbi Wiener. Wolfson, Miriamson, Boca and Shaya. Aside from breaking the rules of the coffeeroom, this (as well as one of your mislabled links) breaks the rules of honesty and integrity laid out in Halacha. If the only way for you to present your “torah view” is through deceit and sock puppeting, you must realize yourself that it is flawed. – 29 and friends