Feed aggregator

Following in the footsteps of Flatbush, where more than 30 shuls have joined together for an extraordinary community-wide pre-Selichos seder, Passaic is now launching its own sweeping initiative to begin the Yamim Noraim season with the zechus of Torah.

This Motzoei Shabbos, shuls throughout Passaic and Clifton will participate in a coordinated “Selichos Seder,” bringing hundreds of mispallelim together in their respective batei medrash for a seder limud immediately before the first Selichos of the year.

The initiative closely follows the program announced earlier this week in Flatbush, where dozens of shuls spanning a broad cross-section of the community will simultaneously hold a seder limud before Selichos. The Flatbush program was created around a simple but powerful concept: Before approaching Hashem with the tefillos and bakashos of Selichos, enter that moment carrying the zechus of Torah.

Now, that movement has spread across the Hudson.

Under the banner “Elevate Your Selichos! Stand before Hashem with the z’chus of Torah,” participating Passaic-area shuls will begin a seder limud b’chavrusa at approximately 12:10 a.m., followed by Selichos at approximately 12:55 a.m. Those who arrive without a chavrusa will be paired with one, and individual shul schedules may vary.

The scope of the response in Passaic is already significant, with nearly 20 shuls and Torah institutions joining the initiative and the list still in formation.

Participating shuls include Agudas Yisroel Bircas Yaacov, led by Rav Yonasan Sacks; Alumni Beis Medrash, led by Rav Yitzchok Celnik; Bais Medrash Ahavas Torah, led by Rav Eliezer Krohn; Beis Medrash L’Torah, led by Rav Chaim Davis; Beis Medrash Zichron Eliezer, led by Rav Menachem Spiraz; Beis Shmuel Tzvi, led by Rav Moshe Mordechai Grunfeld; Bais Torah Utefilla, led by Rav Menachem Zupnik; Kehillas Bais Sholom, led by Rav Avrohom Shulman; Khal Bloomfield Ave, led by Rav Mordechai Kronenberg; Kehilas Eitz Chaim, led by Rav Yonah Lazar; Khal Bnei Aliyah, led by Rav Avigdor Guthicki; Khal Bnei Hayeshivos, led by Rav Avrohom Morgenstern; Khal Bnei Torah of Clifton, led by Rav Daniel Schwab; Kollel Choshen Mishpat, led by Rav Yitzchok Sperka and Rav Gershon West; Khal Park Ave, led by Rav Yaakov Paskal; Khal Shaarei Avraham, led by Rav Asher Millman; Khal Tiferes Baruch, led by Rav Schachne Weinberger; Khal Zichron Shlomo, led by Rav Zev Wolbe; Kol Yeshurun, led by Rav Ahron Cohen; Passaic Clifton Community Kollel, led by Rav Chaim Krause; TIF, led by Rav Ahron Cohen; and Yeshiva Ner Boruch-PTI, led by Rav Baruch Bodenheim.

The Passaic initiative represents another remarkable display of communal achdus as shuls with their own rabbonim, minyanim and individual character unite around one shared idea: beginning Selichos through Torah.

In Flatbush, the initiative has brought together more than 30 shuls for the same 12:10 a.m. seder followed by Selichos at approximately 12:55 a.m., transforming what is ordinarily an individual shul experience into a community-wide movement.

Passaic will now do the same.

As Motzoei Shabbos moves toward midnight, batei medrash throughout Passaic and Clifton will fill with the sound of chavrusos learning together. Then, shortly before 1 a.m., the seforim will close and the Selichos will open.

An initiative that began by bringing Flatbush together will now be echoed in Passaic, as another community enters the Yamim Noraim with Torah on its lips and the zechus of limud haTorah accompanying its tefillos.

{Matzav.com}

In a dramatic and highly unusual moment in the Satmar world, the two Satmar Rebbes, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum and Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, spoke to one another and shook hands at the White House on Thursday, marking their first such interaction in decades.

The encounter took place during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, where both Satmar Rebbes were present.

The brothers exchanged greetings and spoke with one another during the gathering. During their conversation, the Satmar Rebbe Rav Aharon wished his brother, the Satmar Rebbe Rav Zalman Leib, mazel tov on the engagement of his grandson, which had taken place within the previous 24 hours.

At one point, President Trump asked the two Satmar Rebbes whether they were twins. The brothers responded together that they were not twins, but brothers.

{Matzav.com}

Leading Rebbes and communal activists from the frum community traveled to Washington on Thursday for an extraordinary White House gathering with President Donald Trump, following a day of private flights, unexpected delays and intensive preparations for the high-level meeting.

The gathering generated considerable excitement throughout the Torah and Chassidic communities in the United States, as prominent rabbinic leaders departed from New York and New Jersey for the nation’s capital to participate in the unprecedented meeting.

The Satmar Rebbe began his day with Shacharis at 7:15 a.m. in the beis medrash adjacent to his home in Williamsburg. Immediately afterward, his motorcade traveled to Teterboro Airport, where he boarded a private plane bound for Washington.

Joining the Satmar Rebbe on the flight were his sons, the Sigeter Rov and the Satmar Williamsburg Rov, along with members of his personal staff, the Bobover Rebbe, and communal activists Reb Moshe Dovid Niederman and Reb Gedalya Segedin of Kiryas Yoel.

The previous evening, during the Satmar Rebbe’s kabbolas kahal in Boro Park, the Serdahely Rov visited him and offered a bracha for hatzlacha and chein ahead of the White House meeting.

According to the schedule arranged by White House officials, the Rebbes and rabbinic leaders arrived at the White House complex in secured motorcades and underwent security screening before gathering in the Roosevelt Room for a special meeting with senior members of the president’s staff.

Following the Roosevelt Room session, the group proceeded to the Oval Office for their meeting with President Trump. During the gathering, the rabbonim expressed the Orthodox community’s deep hakaras hatov for the president’s support and actions on its behalf and discussed a range of issues and communal needs.

The day’s schedule was complicated by several flight delays. Private aircraft carrying the Satmar, Bobov and Vizhnitz-Monsey delegations from Teterboro Airport were briefly held up, while the Satmar Rebbe’s aircraft also encountered a delay at Stewart Airport.

Concerned that the delays could prevent the Rebbe from arriving on schedule, Reb Gedalya Segedin contacted Rep. Pat Ryan, whose congressional district includes Kiryas Yoel. Ryan then contacted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and arrangements were made to expedite the aircraft’s departure.

Rav Malkiel Kotler, Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, had already arrived at the White House while other members of the delegation were still making their way to Washington.

Because of the delays, the meeting with President Trump was pushed back to after 2 p.m.

Another notable development took place earlier in the day at the home of the Skverer Rebbe. As his son, Rav Aharon Mendel Twersky, prepared to leave for Washington, the Rebbe entrusted him with a detailed letter to President Trump on behalf of the Skverer community. The letter expressed the community’s appreciation for the numerous actions taken by the Trump administration on behalf of Jews in the United States. In an unusual gesture, the Skverer Rebbe personally added a handwritten brocha in English for the new year.

Rav Aharon Mendel was tasked with personally presenting the letter to President Trump during the meeting on behalf of his father, who was unable to attend the White House gathering himself.

Among others seen entering the White House were Rabbi Moshe Margareten of the Tzedek Association and journalist Aryeh Erlich, who traveled from Eretz Yisroel on a special flight to cover the historic gathering firsthand.