Sunday, April 16, 2006

Gedolim Album 2

I looked through my son's afikomen present, the second Gedolim album. Among those it includes are Rabbi Reisman from Long Island, R. Feivel Cohen, R. Chaim Dov Keller, R. Shlomo Miller, R. Shmuel Kamenetsky, R. Yosef Schneerson (the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe), a bunch of Sefardim, lots of Chassidic rebbes, but not R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, R. Yosef Soloveitchik (the American one), R. David Lifschitz, R. Hershel Schachter (the posek ha-dor), R. Yisrael Belsky or the last Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Menachem Schneerson z"l. And certainly not Rav Kook, Rav Herzog or R. Shaul Yisraeli.

You know, when most of us see Rav Elyashiv called the "posek ha-dor," we kind of grin and know that it is just exaggeration and PR. But he is the only one labeled as such in this album and the only one being called by that title anywhere. I'm wondering whether kids and gullible adults are eventually going to assume it is true when it gets repeated enough times. Someone should put a stop to it. There is no one worthy of that title but, if anyone should get it, it should be R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, who would certainly refuse the title out of modesty.

UPDATE: I made two mistakes. Both R. Yisrael Belsky and R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin are in the first Gedolim album.


Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Favorites More