Jerusalem – The rav billed “the greatest of all machzirim b’tshuva” has opened a file in Rav Nissim Karelitz’s beis din against the owners of the B’Chedrei Chedorim chareidi web site for disseminating slander and lies against him in their Forum. He demands that they remove all mention of him, reveal the names of the writers, and pay one million shekels in compensation.
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* B’Chedrei Chedorim spokesman: “An attempt to intimidate our surfers and shut their mouths.”
A fascinating case is coming up in Rav Nissim Karelitz’s beis din next month: a libel suit filed by Rav Amnon Yitzchak against the popular B’Chedrei Chedorim Internet forum. Rav Yitzchak is suing the owner of the web site, journalist David Rotenberg, for “disseminating slander and lies” against him after several discussions about the rav were posted on the web site
Rotenberg received his summons to the beis din last week, accompanied by a bill of indictment. It stated, “The forum is a platform featuring reckless aspersions exceeding all bounds against Rav Amnon Yitzchak. The defendant permits slanderers and scoffers to clandestinely spew their slander while hiding under aliases so the victim of their scoffing cannot bring them to account. The defendant permits these slanderers to publicize their character assassination even though he can stop it.”
Rav Yitzchak says that Rotenberg knows the real names of the slanderers, because “Everyone who writes on the forum has to register his personal details with him, and he decides whether to allow the person to join the forum. He is a collaborator with the slanders and passively acquiesces to their evil against the rav, thereby assuming responsibility for it.”
Rav Yitzchak demands that Rotenberg “remove all slander against him from his web site, give over the details of those hiding under aliases, and pay him compensation of 1,000,000 NIS.”
The web site has hosted discussions about Rav Yitzchak in the past few months, including one written by chareidi journalist Shimon Meironi mentioning that a beis din had threatened to issue a Ksav Siruv to Rav Yitzchak for non-fulfillment of a psak din. The site had also publicized that Rav Yitzchak’s lawyer had filed a libel suit in court against Bnei Brak Chief Rabbi Rav Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau. Nevertheless, Rav Yitzchak’s claim is only directed against the individuals discussing the articles posted to the forum instead of the authors of the articles.
A spokesman for B’Chedrei Chedorim said, “This is a joke more suitable to Purim than Chanukah. What a childish claim. Everyone knows that you can’t know who the writers are on the Internet and Internet forums. I don’t know why Rav Yitzchak is doing this, other than to intimidate the surfers. He is apparently very disturbed by what they’re writing about him, and is trying in this way to shut mouths.”
He added, “We also want a forum clean of derogatory speech. That’s why our site offers a feature unavailable on other sites: for every message posted at the forum, surfers can report if the content was offensive. We rapidly inspect and correct the postings if necessary. Rav Amnon Yitzchak never approached us with such a request, and until this very minute, we have no idea what he is complaining about.”
David Rotenberg, the director of the B’Chedrei Chedorim forum, refused to comment, saying instead that his response would be given over in Beis Din.
I wonder what was written about him that got him so upset.
I guess the truth hurts.
I’ll trust rav Amnon Yitzchok’s integrity and Daas Torah against any internet blogger, anytime!
you can get a court order to disclose the owners of said comments . it will stand up in court
It’s about time someone stands up against the biggest platform of loshon hora and hotzoas shem rah in our communities.
I’ve gone to several speeches and he regularly takes some serious verbal abuse… this must have seriously crossed the line somewhere.
he’s got to face the fact that on the web anything goes, and it shouldn’t concern him too much, he’s not the only one taking a beating online…
you cannot reveal it for anyone unless its conspiration to physical crimes
i wouldent start up with a tzadik like him they better make up with him if they know whats good for them
he is a big tzadik dont mess with reb amnon
Firstly, I don’t understand – why is this big Tzadick interested what a low life has to say on some stupid internet blog. By doing this he is empowering them – giving them credence and attention. Also if this is all L’shem Shomaim – why the million Shekelim – Something is not right here – can someone please explain this – I don’t think you’ll see R’ Kanievsky or R’ Elyashev do this
I have heard some very extreme comments by Rav Amnon Yitzchak against people he did not approve of. He seems to be a big believer in freedom of speech. In fact, part of his power to attract people to Yiddishkeit is his very frank and often sharp tongue….
Have the commentators here even read the article above?
There was a Din Torah between Amnon Yitzhak and his neighbors, where he sent a secular lawyer to represent him. Rav Yitzchak lost.
The lawyer has filed suit against Rav Landau, the Av Beis Din and Rav of Bnei Brak, in secular court.
I don’ t know why he is refered to as the biggest machzir b\tshuva. Did anyone count how many people he made frum? Does putting on tzitzis once at a speech of his constitute being frum? I personally don’t want his tapes in my house becuase of his way of speech-utterly unrefined and very negative about anyone and anything he doesn’t like or approve of. Even if the things and people he doesn’t approve of are really wrong, someone who is considered a rav should definately have more refined speech.
Also, by the way, the editor of his magazine shofar is a totally irreligious lawyer and shaves his head entirely, including the peyos area-against halacha. if he really made so many people frum he couldn’t pick a frum person to run his newspaper?
I have no problem with him and his ways cuz I have nothing to do with him but it’s a free world and a two-way one at that. If you could knock other people in public speeches and voice your opinion so can other people. And to #18 who seems to find something not right here, well your right. Something is not right. Just because you have a good mouthpeice and made some people frum doesn’t nessecarily make you a rav. And I guess he cares what some lowlife says becuase sometimes the truth hurts. And by the way, now that there’s a recesion going on, a million sheq won’t hurt. I guess that’s why instead of answering back the comments on the blog and defending himself, he chose to make money off of it. I sure hope he doesn’t sue me for what I wrote.
Funny how in his speeches he rants and raves against the secular and the secular court system and all of a sudden he sees fit to avail himself of their services. O-k, each to his own but he shouldn’t complain if someone wants to protest it. He always cries free speech and how the secular are so afraid of him and constantly want to silence him. So be a big boy now and give others their feedom of speech as well. And as to all the comments about B’chadrei chareidim being a place for lashon hora, well what is vin?
Just curious – How do all of you figure out who is a regular tzaddik and who is a big tzaddik?
Why would Rotenberg or anyone else care why this so called Heileige Rav Yitzchak opened a file in some Beith Din run by some other Heilige Rav Karelitz. With the lives of young Isrealis in the air force and army at risk at this very moment in Gaza and the threat of missiles raining down over much of eretz yisroel, these rabbonim should get their egos under control and focus on whats really important. Every night VIN reports another story about this non-stop and obscene broiges among these rabbonim. It is the ultimate chilul hashenm to see this go on….enough of this drek and the misguided rabbonim who initiate such drivel or provide a forum wherein these fights can be pursued.
First, as a public figure, like Rav Yitzchak is fair game. Also truth is an absolute defense against defamatory speach or publication.
What is disturbing why is the Rav so concerned? The Lubavitcher Rebbe ZTVK’L ZY’A once commented that if he spent time responding to his critics then that is all he would wind up doing. Without knowing the nature of the objectionable speach Wouldn’t the Rav be best served by ignoring the critical speach and continue teaching Torah.
Rav Amnon Yitzchok is a great man. I know many who became fully shomer Torah through him. What we need is someone like him for our heimisha materialistic community thats losing so many young chassidish and litvish kids from Torah Judaism. I know lots of heimisha guys who wear all the outfits but dont daven and some privatly violate shabbos. Its very scary how so many of our youngsters are getting lost under the tracks.
No one is ‘getting it’. The problem isn’t the blogs or Youtube or ich vil zien a rebbe. The problem is that there is so much to mock today.
Do you think that if all litvish roshai yeshiva lived like the alter of slabodka people would make fun of them instead of respecting them?
Do you think that if all admorim lived like reb yoiel, not even sleeping in a bed except on shabbos, and taking personal achri’us that all the staff in all Satmar mosdos were paid every week with checks that didn’t bounce, do you think anyone would make choizik?
Once again the internet is doing what it’s supposed to do and someone doesn’t like it. Thanks to the dissemination of information and knowledge by the internet, the Frum Oilem is no longer a gullible group of sheep that will buy just any malarkey that is being peddled, and the silver tongued swindlers don’t like it at all.
Amnon Yitzchak has no case against the discussion forum and he knows it. He is simply using fear and intimidation to shut down people who may have some true and very strong points about him and may pose a serious threat to his very lucrative business.
If the comments made on the forum truly are slander and not truth, why doesn’t Amnon Yitzchak simply subpoena their information in court instead of demanding the names of the posters from the forum administartor? By taking this backwards route to put a stop to the comments it seems to indicate that what is being said on the forum really is true. If so, it’s not slander, and the public, who’s monies he is taking, has a right to know.
His approach is quite reminiscent of the propaganda machines of Russia and other communist countries. He never answers direct questions, but rather mocks the questioner and deflects. If his motives and operations are truly legitimate, how about some honesty and transparency in his organization.
We all have yet to know where Amnon Yitzchak comes from, who he really is and what he really does. Where has he been hiding for the last three years until he just recently popped up again? He constantly pops in and out of the public view as the climate towards him changes.
Further, much of Amnon Yitzchak’s approach seems very similar to secular celebrity. Big limousines, helicopters and basketball playing in an empty Madison Square Garden. Cutting off pony tails and throwing out yarmulkas and tzitzis to people who have long been speculated to be actors in cahoots with him. These publicity techniques are grandiose and shameful, and at the very least border on fraud and deception. It’s about time our questions about Amnon Yitzchak get answered and not just laughed off by him.
I’ve heard some pretty big numbers of ba’alai teshuva acredited to him.
Don’t judge until you know all the facts. You can’t get into Rav Amnon Yitzchak’s mind to learn the reasoning behind his action. A person like that does not make mis-steps of such calibre (unless he intends them to look like mis-steps for specific reasons). He is obviously a very learned, Hashem-loving and Jew-loving individual. How can an average person even presume to pass judgment on him? He is a human being like all of us, but he is a BIG one — in his kiruv efforts, in his strength and perseverance, in his desire to reach out to every single Jew. How many of us can boast of any achievement in any field that comes even close to the results of his actions? He is a mighty “vessel” indeed, through him Hashem’s voice resonates strongly, reaches out to people who — in all likelihood — might not have been able to open their eyes and hearts, and start on the most amazing journey a Jew can take. He’s shouldered an enormous weight and responsibility over the years, and he hasn’t broken — that is proof that his work is much needed, that Hashem needs him to continue doing what he does. And He gives the Rav strength to carry on. If he is asking for 1 mil. shekels in compensation, he knows what he’s doing; don’t be quick to jump to conclusions about his greed. I’m pretty sure that in case he wins this amount, he will use it for his work. Only a materialistic secular individual might not get this.
I’m not idolizing him, G-d forbid, I’m stating the facts that anyone familiar with his work can confirm. Again, he IS human and has his own tests to pass and his own lessons to learn. It is known that whatever situations we encounter and whatever people we meet are sent our way for particular reasons. It is our job to discern their meaning. The current situation is one of those tests that the Rav is handling in the way that makes most sense to him — because it is HIS test.
Firstly, we have only been told one side of the story and even if we knew more, who appointed us judge???
We are the ones making a huge chillul Hashem and thereby pushing people away from being observant yet the Godol that comes and saves the day is the devil???
Harav Amnon is a Godol and should be treated like one.
The fact that so many of us push him away because he’s Sefardi and a baal teshuva… goes to show how narrow minded some people are.
And let me remind you “bemokom she`balei teshuvah oimdim, ein tzadikim GEMURIM oimdim”.
A complete tzaddik dose’nt reach the place of a baal teshuva.
So can we even imagine where R Amnon stands and we dare accuse him???
What have we come to?
Are we so righteous ourselves and have absolutely cleansed our souls that we can look at other peoples, and judge them?
Is this how we want to be judged after 120?
Let me tell you something. I come from a frum home but went off the derech for a few years.
Do you know what kept pushing me away the “achdus” that unfortunately we lack between one another.
The Beis hamikdash was destroyed because of sinas chinam yet here we are trying to create a scenario where an odom godol is accused by us (the lowly gossipers and hungry money fressers) of using his talents in order to get rich out of “other peoples” back pockets.
Could things get any worse???
We dont have to follow every Rov but yes we do have to respect every Rov!
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