A friend asked his chavrusa Shloime if he's fasting today. He asks why? He replies that Rav Chaim Kanievsky requested, that those who could, should fast as a zechus and refuah Shleima for his father in law Rav Elyashiv. Shloime inquires where he got this information from. He says all the frum jewish websites are reporting it.
First, its ironic how rav Chaim shlita, who spoke harshly about the use of unfiltered internet etc. would say to fast and the web would be the source for spreading his request.
Secondly, we don't know who the request was issued for. Nor who it was it told too. I'm not questioning weather he said it, and those who fasted accordingly have a big zechus. However all it takes is for one website to pick up the story and all the other sites report it too. It gets blown out of proportion with no hadracha or any validity. There has to be Kabolas tannis and other dinim, yet people see it and assume its true purely based on frum websites and other blogs.
In Yeshivas Chaim Berlin supposedly the Bochurim & youngerleit were told not to fast. In lakewood yeshiva there were no signs signed by the Roshei yeshiva asking all Bochurim and youngerleit to fast. They actually added an extra hour seder on Thursday night. We cant trust the websites and blogs to deliver the word of Reb Chaim. He could of asked only his Mishpacha, but do we know that he told someone to publicize it for the masses? If the Roshei yeshiva and rabbonim in America tell us to listen to Reb Chaim, then of course we should fast, but how can the word of a gadol only have validity due to sensational journalism.
The same is true for the Internet version of an avreich in Yerushalayim who 'donated' a year of his life to Rav Elyashiv with the encouragement of the gedolim in Eretz Yisroel.
ReplyDeleteMeshugah stories like this, severely undermine any credibility to Daas Torah.
Maybe Reb Chaim has a Blackberry?
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by the masses it is a term used by Communist. I am not part of the masses I am a person.
ReplyDelete