Chaptzem Blog!      

Chaptzem, your snide commentary is unwarranted. If you don't learn in Lakewood, or live in Lakewood, you have no right to criticize this takonoh. I know that in the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, they aren't allowed to have cell phones either. There is a phone for emergencies in the bais medrash and if someone is seriously learning he doesn't need a cell phone to disturb him during seder.If he is not serious about learning, he shouldn't be in BMG.This takonah is a very good thing for Lakewood.

 

this is a ban on keeping cell phones on in the bais medrash, it doesn't mean you can't have one altogether.

 

Matisyahu Solomon would be much better off asking mechila from the families he has messed up instead of banning cellphones which aid in sholom bayis for a husband to call his wife during the day to ask how she is doing.
If someone wants to make trouble a cell phone won't make it or break it.

 

anonymous at 8:59 , maybe you have to ask him mechila for stating something not nice on a public website, actually its not a maybe its probably a must, since you are being mevazeh him berabim.

 

Shalom bais!!?? what was a few years ago when cell phones were'nt around people had shalom bais. besides if they want their husbands to learn in kollel they will have to take these budgeted lifestyles into consideration. LIVING A UPPER CLASS KOLLEL LIFE IS THE WRONG THING!!!.
half these people can't even afford it. so this tokona will help them even finacially.

 

and his name is RAV matisyau solomon

 

If a kollel yungerman has a cell phone, rabbi solomon should understand and maybe it could be "swept under the rug".

 

Whats the "he recent tragedies that took place in the Yeshivah"?

 

As a lakewood bochur who was at the shmooze, here's a point of clarification. The yeshiva recently made a rule that cells cannot be active in the beis midrash, not vibrate OFF! When people weren't complying the mashgiach said that anyone who doesn't comply will be thrown out. The Rosh Yeshiva said that he understood that at times you might need a phone, and at those times with yeshiva.s blessing you should learn somewhere else. In THE FUTURE IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU GOT THE FACTS FIRST.

 

When my husband was in kollel I wouldn't have wanted him to interupt his seder to call me. I am sure that a wife whose husband is in kollel can do without the "sholom bais" call in the middle of seder. She sees her husband before seder, at lunch and after seder why should she expect a call in the middle of seder? If there is a problem at home, a crises with the kids, she can beep him as per the new rules.

 

The recent tragedy was that a young bochur suddenly collapsed over his gemara at night seder and was niftar, that is why they wanted to make a takana in the bais medrash.

 

This is too funny! Is the learned Rav making a decision based on halacha or is he exercising power because he can?

 

when I was in Kollel before cell phones we used beepers for emergency and the pay phones - during lunch- for our shalom bayis calls!!!

 

Anon 1010 said...

This is too funny! Is the learned Rav making a decision based on halacha or is he exercising power because he can?

AND WHEN WE WANT OUR LEADERS TO LEAD DO WE SCREAM WHERE ARE THEY? OR SHOULD WE BE HAPPY THAT THEY ARE LEADING US!!! SO WHAT IS YOUR COMPLAINT??????????

 

He said that the recent tragedies that took place in the Yeshivah were a sign that improvement was needed and abolishing cellphone use by Kollel Yingerleit was a good start.
===================================
Did Rav Matis. call 1-800 GOD to ask God himself if this sign came from him?
Sounds to me lik he has a direct line to the lord to make takkanos.
Does he *sweep things under the carpet* through signs from heaven too?

 

My complaint is that it's never an issue with the Hanhalla or with the Gambino-style the rabbonim use when something in Lakewood isn't to the benifit of the yeshiva and it's coffers.
Any Mosad that doesn't bow to the whim of the Yeshiva is out the door. Any rov that paskens, better make certain that his psak is smoothed over to fit the BMG mold. Any establishment that doesn't use the Yeshiva Hecsher is treif etc...A ringing phone is a nuisance and a breech of consideration for your fellow chavrusa. Does tragedy strike because of that ??? Or does tragedy strike when you twist the Torah to your benifit or to the benifit of one specific cause better known as BMG ?? I wonder.

 

We have to start improving somewhere. So what's wrong with NO cell phones in the Bais Medrash? If you don't like BMG's rules, their hanhala etc. why learn there? and if you don't learn there why criticize what doesn't pertain to you?

 

OK, I am not going to argue about the fact that when tragedy strikes a community, they must look to see what improvements can be made. These are core to our beliefs, and Im not here to debate those that have basic hashkofo issues, and this site is not the forum for that.

However, assuming of course that a takono should be made on everyone under the auspices of the yeshiva/mashgiach, but I question the wisdom of this specific takono.

Yes, a cell phone might cause a momentary distraction for someone who is learning, but there are more urgent issues in Lakewood that are violating bigger aveiros than this.

Lets list a few:
- How many yungerleit are unfaithful to their wives? It is well know that the numbers in Lakewood are proportionally higher than in other communities.
- Yeshiva's business dealings. Ever since a certain previous Rosh Yeshiva's son took over as CEO, the Yeshiva has been involved in various questionable real estate, and vote trading deals. Where is the mashgiach on this one?
- Luxury. For families learning in Kollel, the quality of lives, including the spending on cars, clothing, simchos, etc almost rival more affluent communities.
- Yeshivos. How many families in Lakewood are having extreme difficult times finding schools for their children? All because a skirt may be 1 inch too long!! (Yeah long, not short.)

I could go on and on, but I am sure that cell phones in Yeshiva is the smallest of their problems.

Oh- by the way, I hear Gorbachev plans on visiting lakewood on his next visit to the US. He wants to thank the yeshiva for bringing communism to the USA.

 

As Yakov Miller once said: there will come a time where people won't have to be busy schlepping a phone on the belt, be busy charging a phone, making sure there is reception or looking for it.

On every corner there will be a phone we will throw a quarter into it & talk. There will be no need to carry a personal phone.

 

This takana should apply to every yeshiva and every kollel!!!
A mobile phone is for someone in business!!!

 

To all chasanim looking for a bit of freedom...

STAY IN BROOKLYN !!!!

 

To all those posting comments which border on bovine excrement - and I mean those who are extremely critical of Lakewood - please, I am dying to know were you get your facts from.


"How many yungerleit are unfaithful to their wives? It is well know that the numbers in Lakewood are proportionally higher than in other communities."

Are you serious? Where did you get your info from? Why do I get the feeling that you spend most of your time dialing 900 numbers? Don't you dare lambast members of other communities before your own. Don't tell me that there arent more incidents of cheating and G_d
knows what in other communities where unfortuanelty most woman dress half-naked.

Go back to your 900 numbers, you loser.

Oh, btw, H'Rav mattisyahu did not specifically say the reason behind the recent tragedies of over three
young people paasing away within the Lakewood community was because of the cell phones; it was merely a strong suggestion of what we can accept upon ourselves.

Another btw - you probably curse out the neturei karta and others. You are just as bad as they are.

NOW GET OFF MY PHONE, YOU BIG DOPE!!

 

I agree with this takana. This is no different from companies banning personal cell phone use during business hours.

During yeshiva "business hours" focus on the task at hand. I question the spousal committment to a "life in learning" if they need a mid-seder "shalom bayis break", like anon @12:47 said.

IIRC the yeshiva used to have phone mail boxes that people could rent by the month.

 

It is not my place to approve or not approve the rules made by the Rosh Yeshiva.
My question is who has been picking the Kolel young people, if there has to be a rule for this then they do not belong in kolel. This has become the norm of expected behavior anyplace today, should we not have such behavior automatically in the Bais medrash?
The fact that this is coming out makes it seem that Lakewood is nothing more than an excuse for some people to relax a few years before working and following normal manners like the rest of the world.

 

The only people who CAN have a cell phone and NOT get thrown are the people that are molestors. They will surely "sweep it under the rug" to protect the family.

 

wonderful how soon till he forbids cell phones at a Blue Claws game?

 

I respect R' Matisyahu for his taking a stand on cell phone use in the Bais Medrash. BUT- maybe it's time to rethink Kollel in general. When we encourage Kollel for the masses, aren't we also giving the stamp of approval to use of govt. programs for masses who are milking the government simply because they were never encouraged to work for a living? Whether we like it or not, two incomes are neccessary to survive today. Is this not Toivel V' Sheretz B'Yado?

 

"The fact that this is coming out makes it seem that Lakewood is nothing more than an excuse for some people to relax a few years before working and following normal manners like the rest of the world."

This doesn't "make it seem"; fact is most of the avreichim in Lakewood don't belong there. They will relax for as many years as they can sit on kest than you will get a letter to your door asking to help with someones daughters wedding because they were not able to come up with a solution on their own. The kollel should be slashed by 90% and then we'll takeh see Gedolim. They should run it like a lean institution not the free for all it currently is.

 

Regarding the issue of unfaithful wives, it is a well known fact among the sholom bayis askanim that it is so. There was a discussion about it at a previous Aguda convention, and it was even vaguely discussed in an article in the Jewish Observer.

The fact that you need to refute the argument with no facts at all, and then go on to spout your uneducated tirade, and Bob Grant style rhetoric, is typical of those who are part of the yeshiva lifestyle, and don't realize that by sitting and learning you don't become the smartest person in the world.

Turn off the radio, and start learning for real. Stop living off your hard working father in law, your wife that needs to work 8-6 besides taking care of the kids, because you are too 'choshiv' to change a kids diaper.

Lakewood has deeper problems than cell phones, and no one knows this better than R' Mattisyahu himself. Why he chose this takana as a tikkun is beyond me. Not that I have a problem with it, in fact I think its a good thing. But to equate that as a tikkun?? Go tell that to Zevy Schonbrum ztz"l.

 

To everyone who thinks they know everything i lived in boro park for twenty five years and loved it while i was there . My children got married and wanted to learn and live in lakewood. So i followed them their of course supporting them as well as myself and single children all the while .After i reestablished my business from to new york to new jersey i decided to learn second seder in BMG which means being there every day from 4:00pm to7:15pm the bais medresh that i learn in has over 800 people learning there everyday i can testify personally that at least 99% of them learn the whole time and it would be an absolute crime to klall yisroel to take these people out of learning . Lucky are the ones whose children want to spend their days learning and give their parents the zechus of supporting them.
To all you sour grapes that always bash learning and lakewood if you cant beat them join them . come and learn one seder in yeshiva see what its like before you HOCK.
P.S. i keep my cell phone on vibrate in yeshiva as i sometimes do get business calls during seder
although i agree with rabbi solomons decree as their were three young men that were niftar inthe past month shonbrun, sandler, and landau

 

Hey VICTOR!! TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR TUCHUS!!

I KNOW YOU HATE YOUR FELLOW JEW AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN BUT DON'T TALK ABOUT "spoutING your uneducated tirade" WHEN YOU ARE SUPPORTING A STAEMENT THAT THE PROBLEM IS MORE COMMON IN LAKEWOOD!

WHAT GHOSTS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR CLOSET, YOU BIG DOPE?

NOW, UNLESS YOU SHOW ME YOUR PROOF I WILL REITERATE
WHAT I SAID: GET OFF MY PHONE! I HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOWER FOR MERELY COMMENTING TO YOU!!

 

I am a chosid and do not usualy agree with the BMG crowd, but this makes sence. A person joins kollel not as a job but as a way of life. A way of life that says that that while he is in kollel there is NOTHING more important than learning. All kollels should have bans on cell phones.

 

There are two kinds of people BMG - the real serious learners and the ones who are there because they are too lazy to get a job and would rather leech off other people. i'm just curious which crowd this takonah was directed to.

If a guy is a serious learner, then i would think they wouldn't have a problem trusting him that occassionally he needs his phone for whatever reason. If they don't trust the serious learner to use his discretion wisely, and the rabbis think they are so much smarter, then that is more of a dictatorship than a kollel.

If a guy is not a serious learner, then why not address that issue directly by kicking him out? why punish the serious learners because of him?

 

although learning is very important, cell phones r even more imprtant. period.

 

where the hell do u get the nerve to critisize das chachamim? You people know better then R'Matisyahu? You're all going to burn one day for all this shtus and chutzpa u come up with

 

Pictures of the BMG Cellphone Takana can be seen here:

http://antibasher.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/the-bmg-cell-phone-ban/

 

I have my own issues with Bmg but it is wrong to withhold credit where credit is due.

This is a great way for Rabbi Solomon to make the BMG kollel less comfortable for those who are not committed enough to learning to live without a cell phone all day.

As a previous writer indicated, we seem to have developed two habits which in a sane world would be incompatable: We yell that the roshai yeshiva are not leading us and scream if they take a stand we do not like.

This is a great first step to getting rid of many of the issues many have with BMG.

Instead of knocking them for not fixing it your way try acknowedging that they are trying to fix the things you don't like about them.

 

How many yungerleit are unfaithful to their wives? It is well know that the numbers in Lakewood are proportionally higher than in other communities.

I would like you to tell us who is cheating. I have been in Kollel and in the workplace. I have never witness flirting in Yeshiva or with those who pride themselves to belong to it but have in the workplace. What the hell are you talking about???

 

As a kollel wife I like to hear from my husband a couple of times during the day. I prefer that he calls me, but if he forgets I have no hesitation about picking up the phone and calling his cell (which is set on vibrate).

He then exits the bais medrash to talk to me.

 

ALL YOU BORED NON-TORAH JEWS OUT THERE: YOU ARE ONLY LIVING BECAUSE OF THOSE YUNGERLEIT THAT ARE BEING MOSER NEFESH TO LEARN -EVEN IF YOU HAVE YOUR STEREOTYPES AGAINST LEARNING GUYS- AND EVEN IF YOU THINK YOUR 20 MINUTES A DAY OF SLEEPING DURING SOMEONES SHIUR IS BETTER THAN SOMEONE WHO LEARNS THREE SEDORIM. IF YOU THINK THAT IT'S YOUR MONEY THAT IS SUPPORTING THE WORLD, WHY DOESN'T THE PIRKEI AVOS MENTION IT AS ONE OF THE THREE THINGS THAT SUPPORT THE WORLD. BOTTOM LINE IS- YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT IN THE TORAH WORLD SO YOU DECIDE TO MAKE FUN OF THOSE WHO DO. THESE YUNGERLEIT IN LAKEWOOD MAY NOT BE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY THAT YOU WANT THEM TO BE, BUT THEY SURE DESERVE A LOT MORE RESPECT THAN SOMEONE WHO IS MAKING FUN OF THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF SUPPORTING THEIR SONS-IN-LAW. RAV MATTISYAHU IS FULLY ENTITLED TO DECIDE WHAT HE FEELS WILL BE BENIFICIAL TO HIS YESHIVAH. NOTICE I SAID HIS YESHIVAH. HE IS THE MASHGIACH. THIS IS WHAT MASHGIACH'S ARE SUPPOSED TO DO. AND FOR SOME REASON I WILL TRUST HIM MORE THAN ONE WHO RIDICULES TORAH LIFE.

 

While I personally started working even before I got married and thus never went to Koilel, I have nothing but respect for Lakewood and Koilel in general. Most of my friends DID go to Koilel (lav dafka Lakewood) and I can say with certainty that they were all learning while they were there.

Having said that, I too don't quite understand this takanah. I'm sure that there was an issue in Lakewood with cell phones that led to Bitul Torah, but that didn't seem to be the reason this was made! The reason given was because nebech there's been some horrible stories in Klal Yisroel recently and therefore we need to take upon some chumrahs, but honestly cell phones doesn't seem to fit the bill. It just seems so "lame" for the lack of a better word and somehow inadequate. Of course we don't know the cheshbin upstairs, and as the rambam says you should be careful with the little things just as much as the big things, because we don't know the schar for these things upstairs, but seriously, cell phones??? Is there nothing else??

 

seriously arent there more burning issues than cell phones? i mean this is the least of our problems. what i dont get is why every time there is a tragedy we always have to blame someone who says anyone is to blame at all? do we know the cheshbon of the eibishter at all? if you will notice most of the times that someone blames something the issue that is blamed has no connection to the person thats blaming it.for example we males are always quick to blame the women on tznius ,the gedolim talking on cellphones, when will we realize that the trouble is not with them the trouble is with us . we are "always righteous" it is always them thats the trouble .adam was punished for blaming chava .we will also be punished for blaming others,and we will be punished for not improving ourselves when we are most probably the problem.

 

notice anon of11:49 PM tries to forcefeed us with his mental communism, by capitalising his letters.

 

INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT CELL PHONES,WHY NOT GO TO WORK AND SUPPORT YOUR FAMILIES.

 

Anonymous : March 13, 2007 2:48 PM-I fully agree with you. But learning by Ner Yisroel (B-more), I know the yeshiva allows phones that can be on inthe beis, but not during shiur. The Mechina doesnt allow period.