Rav Yisrael Hager Shlita, the son of the Vishnitzer Rebbe Shlita, delivered an address to mark the beginning of a new ‘zman’ following the Pesach vacation. The address was delivered in Brechfeld in Modi’in Illit, during which the Rav stated it is absolutely forbidden to read the daily chareidi newspapers.
Rav Hager stated it is absolutely forbidden for a yeshiva bachur to read the chareidi dailies, adding they should also not carry cellular telephones because they can damage one’s neshama. Rav Hagar added a bachur should also not travel to Meron on Lag B’Omer, stressing he makes the statements in the name of his father, the Rebbe Shlita.
After the Rav delivered his words, hundreds of bochrim lined up to wish him a mazel tov on his 65th birthday.
Kikar Shabbat reports that HaMevaser responded with a statement that it prefers not to respond. Efforts to obtain a response from Hamodia were unsuccessful.
(Yechiel Spira –YWN Israel)
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11 Responses
That is one misleading headline there! From the article it seems that he was specifically telling yeshiva bochurim that they should not be involved in news and politics, as opposed to forbidding the newspapers to the public.
oy vey, is YWN next?
The man is right without equivocation. Read what he said and who he said it to. A yeshiva bochur has no business at all reading newspapers of any kind, including chareidi media of any type. Nor should he carry a cell phone. A yeshiva bochur should have one singular thought in mind, learning Torah al pi kedusha v’tahara.
When will you learn how to write truthful headlines? You are just as bad as the non-Jewish papers that write misleading headlines.
The Rebbe is right. A Bochur in Yeshiva should occupy himself with as much Torah as possible. I am not a chosid but I went to Yeshiva – and anyone who learned in Yeshiva will tell you that the best way to be succeed in Torah is to minimize the outside as much as possible.
Kitzur did u forget he doesn’t have a computer so he doesn’t knw abt ths
This issue goes beyond bochurim; I have several friends, married in middle age, who argue forcefully against reading “secular news” stories in any paper.
That Polishe Yidden were woefully ignorant of the details of what was happening in Germany in the six years before 1939, and that this contributed to the small numbers that sought escape from Poland in the months before the September 1, 1939 German invasion, are beyond legitimate historical debate. I wonder whether a contributing cause was a social isolation in the frum communities that included b’dafka an avoidance of news sources.
Today, should we parasytically learn from others the progress Iran is making towards having a nuclear strike capability . . . or are all Yidden obliged to inform themselves of the larger news stories that define the current environment in which Hashem has placed us? Isn’t there an element of hishtadlus here?
#6 you obviously didn’t read the article about what Rav Hager said nor these comments. He specifically stated yeshiva bochurim. He did not say that adult baalei batim should not read secular news in chareidi newspapers.
#6 – Das Torah spoke only about Bochurim. People who choose to not read secular news in any paper is not the mainstream.
theprof1 (#7) – Au contraire monsieur, you didn’t read my opening sentence.
YonasonW- Au contraire monsieur, we dont care what your friends say or do. The article is about what Rav Hager said and he stated that it is forbidden for a yeshiva bachur. Read the article again, without your agendas changing the words.
#7 #10 – Rav Hager has forbidden his bochrim to read charadi papers. Israel HaYom is not Charadi so it should be ok.