R' Berel Wein is intriguing because his books are published by Artscroll, which means he has the imprimatur of the black hat-brand of frum Judaism. And yet, his views are not party line.
He wrote a column earlier this winter (which I read eight days ago) entitled "The Truth of Satire." In it, he refers to a satire that describes the dissonance between the lifestyle of the Chashmonaim heroes of the Chanuka story and Israeli chareidim. He then goes on to say that today's black hat rank and file and their leadership are out of touch with reality. Rather than castigate the gedolim, he lambastes their "handlers" (as though that helps take the onus off the gedolim).
His primary complaint is that they support a system which cannot sustain itself, i.e. deliberate poverty and expectations of support, and refuse to consider change. It was refreshing to read an open critique by "one of our own." Read it here
Posts
