An Open Letter to the Sadigure Rebbe

The disconnect between the chassidic leadership and the constituency

The following anonymous letter has been circulating:

Dear Rebbe of Sadigur,

I write to you as someone who considers himself a Sadigure chassid even if I don’t learn from the Emes L'Yaakov every Shabbos! I grew up in a household where the Sadigure chassidus reigned supreme. But it seems to be that we have reached a crossroads and that the Sadigure community needs to make a decision. Fast.

It is no secret that chassidus today is divided into several groups.

There is Ger

There is Belz

There is Satmar

There is Satmar

There is Skver

There is Bobov

There is Bobov

There is Breslev

There is Amshinov

There is Karlin-Stolin

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Vishnitz

There is Toldos Aharon

There is Toldos Avraham Yitzchak

There is Boston

There is Rachmastrivka

There is Sadigur

There is Spinka

There is Nadvorna

There is Stropkov

There is Alexander

There is…gasp…CHABAD!!!!

Well, you get the idea. All of these groups place themselves under the banner of chassidus. You may not want that or like that, but those are the facts.

And guess what?

There are many fundamental differences between these branches of chassidus.

And yet, you often partner with other chassiduses that are often at odds with your core constituency. No one is questioning the greatness of any Chassidishe Rebbe (obviously), and there are legitimate positions on many issues, but members of an organization need and deserve to have a Rebbe that share basic values and approaches with them. Why should the Rebbe of Vishnitz world have such a strong voice in the world of chassidus when there is not even one Sadigure macher on his advisory board?

Now I know what you will tell me: “we respect all Tzadikim and accept their words even if we disagree”. But you and I both know that is false. To date there is no Litvishe Rosh Yeshiva who is considered a Rebbe despite there being many great tzadikim among them. There is no Sefardi posek who is considered a Rebbe. Clearly, there needs to be a baseline “hashkafa” that a tzadik has to have in order to be considered for the Rebbeship. And so again, why is what we consider “chassidus” made up of so many members who are so at odds with the people who look to Sadigure values for guidance?

The Chanukas Habayis at the new Sadigur Shul in Bnei Brak this week is a perfect example of the problem. I am not concerned with the merits of either side, I simply want to take a look at the disconnect here.

Many chassidim across the country were eager to participate in this historic, and what they saw as vital, Chanukas Habayis. And what was the position of the Gerrer Rebbe? First, he put out a timid poster with what appeared to be reluctant support for attendance. To an outsider it seemed that the Gerrer Rebbe did not want to support it at all, but realized that opposing it would not sit well with their chassidim and so they did not come out against it.

The evening before the event, the Rebbe of Toldos Aharon made a tannaim for his grandson, preventing many of his chassidim from coming. Never mind the cruelty of this November surprise, but to our point, the views of these non-Sadigure rebbes are simply worlds apart from ours. Even before the letter came out there were almost no buses from Karlin-Stolin in Yerushalayim going to the event. In our community, you were embarrassed to not be attending the event, and in Karlin-Stolin no one even knew about it! Many rabbanim from outside of Karlin-Stolin supported and joined the Chanukas Havayis; are they not “chassidim b’rinah yagilu”?

There is a terrible divide between the ideology of the voice coming out of various other Rebbes and the people who are the most loyal adherents of chassidus, such as ourselves. This is leading to nothing less than the destruction of chassidus. Consider the fact that most people would struggle to find some positive communal initiative that the other chassidisuses have implemented for Klal Yisroel over the past few years. They are clearly handicapped by the many other Rebbes and so they take the path of least resistance and do nothing. While our community is engaged in community- changing Torah projects and initiatives, Satmar is making grand conventions. Our V’higisa program is teaching tens of thousands of halacha, while Chabad is making millions off of Yiden with a Siyum haRambam.

The other chassiduses have adopted very different views then many of us. These are of course legitimate views, just as the Rebbes purporting them are tremendous people. If the Rebbe wants to appeal to these voices and embrace the other Rebbes who speak for them- fine. Let us know and we will wish you well, and probably start a new chassidus to speak for us. I should warn you, however, that most of the Breslev Na-Nachs wants nothing to do with Sadigur and most of their followers have nothing but ridicule for you.

But if you want to continue to be the voice for what is still the mainstream Sadigure in the country, it is time that real change comes to your institution. Those changes might be in who is allowed to influence Sadigure events, or maybe what types of questions need the Rebbes approval, or maybe who gets to have veto power, I don’t know. But I do know that you are currently in dangerous waters. You are being dominated by voices who are diametrically opposed to the deepest convictions of the only people who still support you. That situation cannot last.