By COLlive reporter
R’ Yisroel Dovid Wolf, the Chicago resident who was given a summons to Vaad Rabbonei Lubavitch, the Chabad rabbinical court based in Crown Heights, for the disputed findings of his Mezuzah expose, says he’s willing to appear but with one condition.
Wolf was called to Din Torah by Rabbis Moshe Klein of Hasofer, Gad Sebag of Oraita, Eliezer Lipa Shapira of Shapira Stam Center, Yosef Liran, Yitzchok Mishulovin of Merkaz Stam, Dovid Rimler of Judaica World, and Mendel Vogel of Hamafitz Judaica for “slandering them and causing them to lose money.”
Wolf was given 10 days to respond to the 27 Teves 5779 summons after he presented a widely shared video claiming that 5 vendors of Sifrei Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzos (“Stam”) in Crown Heights sold non-kosher mezuzos and 2 others were selling Mezuzos of “very poor quality.”
In responding to the summons on Thursday, a copy of which he provided to COLlive.com, Wolf states that he agrees to stand before a Beis Din, but not one in New York.
“I am certainly prepared to stand before this ‘Bais Din kavua’ for a Din Torah here in Chicago,” the Chicago native wrote. “Traveling to New York to conduct a Din Torah would incur tremendous expenses for me, and would also entail lost time from my work and income from my livelihood.”
In regards litigants’ claims that he caused them a monetary loss, Wolf said: “What they are characterizing as ‘monetary loss’ is actually nothing more than the loss of revenue that was being wrongfully gained by an ongoing practice of stealing through deceit because they have been selling posul mezuzos.”
He added that as soon as “an individual has knowingly written or sold posul mezuzos, it becomes our immediate obligation to publicize the matter, in order to save hundreds and thousands of the public from being victimized.”
BACKING FROM JERUSALEM
Wolf, who assists his father’s organization “Chicago Mitzvah Campaign,” which sells Tefillin and Mezuzos to locals, turned to Rabbi Moshe Veiner, a Rov of the Chabad community in Ramot in Jerusalem who is a posek in the laws of Stam, to weigh in on his findings.
Rabbi Veiner, author of the sefer “Oitiyoit Horav,” and who runs an online blog on Stam questions, has sent a written response to 5 questions on the issue.
“I purchased 80 Mezuzos from a number of stores and when I ordered them I specifically said that I want Mezuzos that are Kosher L’chatchilah,” Wolf wrote in a letter to Rabbi Veiner.
“I then took the Mezuzos to a qualified sofer (magia), who I personally know well, to check them. When he began examining them, he said that many can’t even be checked for they are completely improperly written, according to Halacha.
“He checked over the mezuzos and found many psulim (declared invalid) such as letters touching, letters split, excessive gaps between letters in a word, insufficient space between words, and a number of crowns on the letters that were missing.
“I then took the mezuzos to a second certified and reliable sofer (magia), whom I know, and like the first sofer, he too was shocked and amazed (at the quality or lack thereof).
“There are some who tell me that all these flaws that I am presenting are not really disqualifying flaws and don’t even render the Mezuzos to be B’dieved (kosher after the fact) and they are Kosher L’chatchila (kosher to begin with),” Wolf says.
Here are the 5 questions and answers:
Question #1: What is the Din (ruling) on a Mezuzah that has an evident split in a letter? And what is the Din of a Mezuzah that has a split in a letter that is not discernible at first glance but only upon closer scrutiny? Is such a Mezuzah considered Kosher Lichatchila without any corrections needed to be made, or are they only kosher Bdieved, or are they Posul.
Rabbi Veiner: Any letter that has an easily discernable split anywhere in the body of the letter is Posul. There are some splits that are permissible to be repaired by Teffilin and Mezuzot, even after subsequent words have been written, and some (split words) that cannot be repaired after subsequent words have been written, as is explained in Shulchan Aruch Chapter 32, paragraphs 16 and 30.
A break (in a letter) that is not discernable (just is seen only with a magnifying glass) is not considered a split and is Kosher. (Based on the ruling found in the Responsa Doivev Meishorim From the Rav of Tshebin). If however, the split is evident after close (unaided) scrutiny then (the Mezuzah) is not considered Kosher Lichatchila. And must be corrected.
Question #2: Concerning words that are written close to each other, or excessive space gaps between letters in a word which cause a child to read the word incorrectly. Is such a Mezuzah considered Kosher Lichatchila, or is it only (Kosher) Bedieved, or is it Posul?
Rabbi Veiner: It is posul (Invalid) as explained in Shulchan Aruch Chapter 32, paragraph 46.
Question #3: Mezuzos that are missing the Crowns on the letters shatna’z get’z, are they Kosher Lichatchila, as they are, or (are they) only (kosher) Bedieved, or are they Posul.
Rabbi Veiner: They are Kosher Bedieved, and Lichatchilah they should be corrected. (Shulchan Aruch Chapter 36, paragraph 5).
Question #4: A mezuzah where two letters are touching each other, and the Alter Rebbe writes about this situation that “there are those that say it is kosher even without scraping off (the extra ink) but one should be more strict and scrape off (the extra ink)”. Does this mean that it is Kosher Lichatchila as is with the letters touching, or it is (only Kosher) Bedieved, or is it Posul as long as the letters are touching.
Rabbi Veiner: Any letter touching another letter should be considered Posul even Bedieved till he scrapes off the extra ink. As is explained in The Alter Rebbe Shulchon Aruch Chapter 32, paragraph 19 concerning a Chof Sofit that extends to the end of the parchment, that is ruled to be posul till he scrapes off (the extra ink). Based on the ruling of the Shu”a and the Magen Avraham there. That in fact is the custom to disqualify any letter that is not surrounded with (clear) parchment till he scrapes off (the extra ink).
Question #5: I would also like to clarify on all the above if there would be a difference (in law) between a Mezuzah that someone purchases for himself and a Mezuzah that someone purchases for him as Mivtzoim.
Rabbi Veiner: No difference.
HASOFER RESPONDS
In a letter released on Thursday, Rabbi Moshe Klein, owner of Hasofer which is in business for 36 years in Crown Heights and has gotten the worst mark in Wolf’s expose, argued that his products were kosher “without concern.”
In the letter co-signed by Hasofer’s in-house sofer and magia Rabbi Faitel Lewin, they called Wolf’s expose “a campaign to question our credibility and damage our reputation.”
They pointed out that Hasofer only sells Stam that is kosher l’chatchila and they stand behind the kashrus of the mezuzos declared invalid in the expose.
They said “a mezuza’s kashrus must be determined in the context of its overall writing quality” and that these mezuzos were the “basic” ones, commonly called “Mivtzoim Mezuzos” offered in Chabad outreach visits.
“The decision to offer a class of “basic” Mezuzos has been approved by Lubavitcher Rabbonim over the years to allow those who would not otherwise fulfill this Mitzvah D’Oraisa (from the Torah) to do so,” they explained.
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Stop wondering and showing your ignorence!
Choshen Mishpat says that the location of a Din Torah is “b’makopm hanitva” – at the location of the defendant.
It’s black and white – not gray. Cut and dry. No wiggle room.
If one travels a few times a year to New York can he really claim that traveling to NY to go to bais din is an issue for him?
Many have an agenda with this “parsha.” The people who are in an authority position feel threatened because authority is being challenged. This includes Shluchim, Rabbonim, Menahalim etc. Then you have the people who have been hurt by those in authority positions. They are happy because authority in general is being challenged. And then you have everyone else. Most people who are voicing their opinions fall into one of the two first categories. As usual there is a silent majority. SO, let me try and give a voice to those who don’t have an agenda and are simply trying to… Read more »
Disqualifying a mezuza as possul is a huge responsibility, and takes a fool to disqualify thousands in one breath. Each and every mezuza, if it can be fixed, in most cases the word possul should not be used. Possul, in most cases means irreparable and the bigger the mumcheh, he more he will try to avoid passeling it. For one person to brazenly declare thousands as possul is either evil, or at best, quite ignorant. To take it a step further and imply that most Sofrim are swindlers ..is horrible too. Yes, there are many different levels of chumrahs, and… Read more »
“Mivtzoyim Matzos” Thousands of lbs of shmura matza are distributed on mivtzoyim both locally and by shluchim internationally. To keep costs down, maybe it is ok to distribute matza that is only bdieved kosher for passover. It isn’t anyway for Anash to use. It’s for people that might even be eating chometz on pessach, so who needs shmura matza that is 100% kosher l’pessach? The mivtzoyim matzas are going to people that don’t understand the importance of keeping pessach, so who cares if the matzas are 19 minutes, 28 minuites or even sometimes chometzdig? Let’s start selling cheaper matzas! As… Read more »
I have a video – COMING SOON!
I went with 2 witnesses to 10 eateries in Crown Heights.
I ordered a leafy vegetable salad in each place.
I placed each salad in a zip lock bag marked by a number reserved for each eatery and took the bags home.
I invited 2 mashgichim from established kashrus organizations to inspect the salads for insects.
Video results:
9 out of the 10 eateries have salad with at least 3 insects in them!
Only ONE eatery had salad with no insects in it – Mermelstein’s!
COMING SOON TO YOUTUBE!!!
The same guys selling possul mezzuzah are also selling esrogim! An essrog can look good but be 100% possul if grown from a “cultavated” tree that was grafted with citrus trees so it should grow pretty esrogim! HOW CAN WE TRUST THESE FOLKS TO SELL US ESROGIM????????
Thank You Rabbi Wolf, This is just a start we need to clean up call the rest of the corruption and cover ups in Chabad
a mezuza’s kashrus must be determined in the context of its overall writing quality
What does that mean?
R’ Wolf exposes a very serious issue which affects many people and people have a taaneh to him? Am I missing something? Why don’t the sofrim come out in the open and say “we are wrong” I would have more respect for them. In fact I could even be melamed zechus on them and say that the Paul mezuzos were from a supplier and they took for granted that they were kosher and they were negligent by trusting too much = I would understand this But coming and saying that the problem is r wolf = sorry sofeim you lost… Read more »
Before you comment, do yourself a favor and read both the questions and answers by the Rav and Rabbi Wolf’s response to the Beis Din Hazmana. They are both very well written and articulated. I am quite impressed and you most definitely will be so as well guaranteed.
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU SOOOOO SSOOOO SOSOOS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR MESIRAS NEFESH IN FULFILLING HASHEM’S RATZON. DO NOT BE NISPAEL!
Thank you Rabbi Wolf for standing up to the place and bringing this fraud out into the public. Wishing you Hatzlacha Rabba u’muflaga and birchas Kohen!
I live out of CH.
I have shabbes guests who bought mezuzos from the local shaliach. They took to check after 2 years and all posul.
They had to replace them.
Heard 3 same stories. Besides the shluchim making top $ on them
The chickens are finally coming home to roost. Two of the retailers most aggrieved by this expose have for decades lied, deceived and hoodwinked the buying public. We are talking about seriously morally deficient people about whom there is countless anecdotal evidence and, in my case, incontrovertible evidence, that the truth means nothing and the dollar means anything. Anyone with half a clue knew that their word is worthless and to stay far away from anything they sell that requires integrity, whether stam, esrogim or otherwise. It is just unfortunate that it seems many people did not know this until… Read more »
You have wrong info. R’ Yonah Avtzons son-in-law, Yitzchok wolf, is not a brother to this Yisroel Dovid Wolf. Please don’t write false info.
And besides, who gives you the right to make any connection of this Mezuzah issue and a death, Lo Aleinu!?? Shame on you.
From a relative of Yonah Avtzon.
1. All those who are saying he “went about it the wrong way” What about all the people here who complained to stores about getting faulty mezuzos that they paid good money for and getting shrugged off by the stores – how ELSE should he have gone about it?? nothing else works!!! And to those who say he should have taken them privately to BD. Why should he have to take this problem all on his own shoulders it’s a problem for klal Yisroel which clearly nobody was doing anything about until the video etc came out. Things WERE tried… Read more »
Anything rav moshe vayner is saying is basic practical halacha that any person who takes a short course in safrus should know
We really have to thank Wolf for this!
Recently 5 chasidim were niftar in one week. 3 on the same day. The community needed a wake up call.
The Rebbe would have told everyone involved to check mezuzos like he did when children were murdered in maalot israel .
Who knows how many people now found thier mezuzos were not kosher and now the stores have to be more careful
Rabbi wolf is truly a pinchus doing what needed to be done
There was still no reason to go public, he could’ve confronted the Sofrim privately, and then they would not lose any money. Now, even if they DO fix the problem, people probably won’t believe them.
Can be used to cover his expenses and losses of flying to NY to the Bais Din
#4 and others complain (or question): “The video could have been shown to the sofrim privately, telling them it will go public if not taken care of. (And follow up on them)” “Sofo mochiyach al tichiloso” – the end justifies the beginning! Now tat the video was made public, what are the sofrim doing? Are they being “modeh al haEmes” by saying, “Oy, you are right and thanks for pointing out this oversight, and we are rectifying the problem immediately!” Or, on the contrary: They are denying all responsibility in multiple ways (firstly, it is not true, secondly, it is… Read more »
Hundreds of people will nw be checking their mezuzos toyalling thousands of Mezuzos. Some sofrim will now make tons of money. some of these Mezuxos may be bdieved or posul = to more sales = to more expensive Mezuzos = to more parnoso. In the final analysys, morw lchatchile mezuzos and more parnosa. A gr8 win for everyone. Thanks to R Wolf.
That is the din as said in the letter.
The toivea has to go to the nitvah. so there is no reason for him to go to ny.
This is a money issue, as stated in the hazmono, so its not specific vaad rabbonei Lubavitch.
If Reb Wolf is half right on the 80 mezzuzah that is still a terrible thing and the stores are not doing their due diligence. Still they blame the victim and the stores have still not apologised. Hanging up a passul mezzuzah is bringing mazikim into ones home. I wish all these sofrim get a true glimpse one night of the evil they have spewed into peoples homes and lives so they can apologize.
From Mr. Wolf’s letter, the CH Stam retailers are “stealing through decent”. Really? How does someone go about saying this about innocent people? Should there be more care taken to this matter? 100% yes. But to say that these stores are knowingly doing this just to gain a few bucks is 100% false.
Usually it takes a foolish person to call names to other people, because they have nothing substantial to say. A big part of safrus IS good service. Service that they check my Mezuzos diligently and in a timely manner. Just as I want the best health for myself and my family, I want to do mitzva in the best possible way, without any leniencies. I am happy to know that I can count on machon stam to fill that need. And it helps that they send me a text with my order, so I can check if it’s ready for… Read more »
“To destroy someone’s business for who knows how long, is just a disgrace!
Think before you do something so stupid.”
To sell people something different than advertised, for who knows how long, is just a disgrace.
Think before you continue selling very questionable items.
1) rabbi viener did not say any mezuzos are pasul he just said the rules and based on that NOT ONE mezuzah is pasul. cracked depond on how the sofer sees it the same thing is regarding spacing it depond how a child would see it. regarding touching letters he writes that the MINHAG is to pasal it till fixed. WOLF IS WRONG AND A MOTZI SHEM RA
even if he was right , he has done damage to these businesses, and most of all himself.
dont know the guy, but looking at the way he handled the whole thing, he dosent seem so with it.
a life lesson for him and his family.
Did anyone actually read the Psak Dinim from the Rav in Erets Yisroel who is an expert on Mezuzois. His rulings back up everything that Rabbi Wolf was showing and saying. The issue here is a Halachic issue. The Venders are claiming that these inexpensive Mezuzois are kosher Lichatchilah and Rabbi Wolf is saying they are Posul. The Rav backs up Wolfs finding. Instead of the Rabbonim summoning Rabbi Wolf to a Din Toiroh they should try to remedy the situation of the “questionable” Mezuzois. As far as Rabbi wolfs response; In the Summons to him the Rabbi are asking… Read more »
It’s really unbelievable to see so many people supporting these people selling posul mezuzas, if you purchased anything else and it wasn’t what you wanted, you’d all be up in arms screaming for a refund, and further if you went to a restaurant and ordered a steak rare and you were brought a medium rare you’d return it to the kitchen. How much more so here when there is lasting damage for so many hundreds if not thousands of people who purchased these mezuzas, these establishments should be held accountable.
Thank you Rabbi Wolf!
I went into Hamafitz a year or so ago to get a few Mezuzahs, and when I took a look for myself they were not legible, and I asked for a higher priced mezuzah… Just because Klein or Shapiro etc are in business for a while, that does not make them legitimate… They got lazy and now they are being exposed. I do not support Wolf in his entirety, but I do support honesty and a wake up call for local stores who thought they could get away with it… Anyway, honest and true banter for the sake of the… Read more »
Not judging anyone, even though have had an issue with one of these establishments, gave in tefillin to be checked, and had them returned with not the original parshios. At the end of the day, “yaish din, v’yaish dayan” and the aibishter does not remain a Baal Choiv. Everyone ,sofrim, sochrim, the person who exposed this issue will all get their just desserts. If you did nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Leave it up to the ultimate judge. The aibishter decides everyone’s parnassa, stop blaming the yungerman who started this, you Get what was intended for you.… Read more »
No excuse to embarrass, accuse and harm people! Sofrim and anyone involved in selling /writing tashmishei kedusha have to be held to a higher standard and there should be an independent higher authority – NOT Crown Heights Rabbonim- too much machlokes there. We can find a panel of Yarei Shomayim who are looking to improve the situation and not just stir fires. Beware of machlokes – fire burns everything in its path. Everything can be resolved peacefully. I think Wolf should apologize for his lack of respect and consideration to everyone and explain that he was just trying to get… Read more »
You are very foolish. Safrus is not about good service, you really have to know your stuff well. It’s not difficult to find problems with everything and the “problems” that he finds are usually no problem at all and that just shows you the lack of knowledge not how knowledgeable he is
WOW! HORRIBLE STORY! FEEL SO BAD THAT THIS IS HAPPENING
Yes, I it is a problem that he was machmir. He pasuled tons of mezuzahs. This is not the job of a rov or a sofer. If he can pasken it is kosher a good rov always will. In truth, rabbonim and sofrim who constantly pasul things and pasken lchumrah are generally those who know less. When someone knows more in halacha they are able to be more lenient depending on the situation. R’ Zirkind ah would always look to make sure a mezuza was kosher even if he had to comb through minority minority opinions. And it always depends… Read more »
THANK YOU AGAIN!
Rabbi wolf is already married he doesn’t need a shiduch
Isnt this rabbi wolf from the school, cheder? what is he doing in soferos. He has no idea of these halochot
You did a blinded investigation with no bias. You exposed the truth and will make these places provide kosher mezzuzot and prevent damage to the Jewish people. I am jealous and would pay big money to have the zechot you got for doing this. You are set and may you find a great shidduch and have massive parnasoah for the suffering and pain you have saved Klal Yisroel from from your brave act.
I don’t see any support for anyone in this article all I see is a series of neutral questions and answers in hilchos stam.
Thanks for the education .
Being that some of the merchants have said that they are installing a sofer that will take responsibility for the Kashrus of every individual mezuzah that is sold, it would be logical that MIYAD make another test examination in a few weeks to see any improvements and publish the results.
BTW this improvement is thanks to MIYAD.
I’m sure you meant to write Pinchas – a zealot l’sheim Shomayim. Unfortunately, it’s turning out like Korach making a machlokes supposedly l’sheim Shomayim… and we know how that story ended. Wolf might be making valid claims – but the way he went about it is wrong! It is wrong to say that they are categorically posul. The fact that 1000s of mezuzos have been sold, brachos made for affixing them etc.deserves the respect of trying to find a heter after the fact. Every rav, especially a Lubavitcher would say so. This young inexperienced Rabbi Wolf, who comes from a… Read more »
In support of rabbi wolf to continue and make sure that the community is selling kosher mzuzois.
Let’s propose the stores get a hecsher like other establishment’s.
Let’s have a annually unannounced purchase to review the mzuzois.
We all should follow the letter written by the Rabonei Haschuna in 1987 it’s amazing how they address all the issues that rabbi wolf brought up today
Every Business Needs to have Quality Control. You can’t expect everyone to know the halachos of STAM. I personally only buy from Sofrim I know that have a stamp that the STAM has been checked and then I check it a second time with Rabbi Weiner. I have a friend that writes the tiny mivtzoim mezuzos and took them to Rabbi Weiner. Many were mehudar, some were kosher lchatchla and the one the sofer was concerned about Rabbie Weiner said should be put in a geniza. I have another friend who learned safras and his teacher said that he often… Read more »
Great….chassidim wake up…its not about money $$… Its halacha..is it or is it not kosher? Do not sell mezuzos with shalios, defects, poselling, bedeavid mezzous!!!
Enough said….
If you had a grocery store and sold food with a Hechsher and then it became known that one of foods were CV Treif. Is it your fault? We’re you lying when you sold it as Kosher?
These Sellers have trustworthy Magihim who check the Mezuzos. What else should they do? Stop selling because mistakes happen?!
How can a Yid, a Chasid, a Lubavitcher call another Yid a Rammai and a Ganav just like that? Kol Yisroel Bechezkas Kashrus! Did he ask a Rav if Halachically these Sochrim are robbers and scammers that can be caused a loss? This letter stinks of arrogance and no care for another Yid. Punkt Farkert Fun Chassidis. Even the non Chassidim at least have Kavod Hatorah and respect Rabbonim! …בוודאי כבוד הרבנים שליטא לא ירדו?! It’s definitly a sign of Moshiach – חוצפה יסגי. I don’t see how any good can come from this. It’s unfortunate that he fights for… Read more »
First of all ch bais din didnt call him to come to bais din
bais din thats not bais din of ch called him
And shulchan aruch says you go to the plaintif city to call him to bais din
He was 100% wrong!!! Stop saying he did the right thing because he didn’t. He embarrassed other people and was wrong in doing that. He made a video which was wrong. He embarrassed himself and his family by shaming other people the way he did. He was wrong for not taking the stores to a Din Torah before doing his YouTube video. For all those who disagree can start collect money, since coming to Crown Heights will be a financial loss for him.
They have a great new feature, True Life Cases in a Lakewood Beis Din. Let’s air more dirty laundry & machloykes in public, Chabad doesn’t already have enough?
Since this erupted, we have lost Rabbi Goldberg, Rabbi Avtzon, Rabbi Levitin, and more. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?? Why don’t you get it?
If Rabbi Wolff seriously & honestly believes there is a problem, go to each sofer personally, privately, & deal with it like a mentsch. The way he acted is disgusting.
Ze hu.
A few days before this exploded we took all our mezuzot to a sofer here in EY to be checked (as the Rebbe says, check mezuzot & tefillin in times of illness etc.) Every one was 100% perfect & they are all from Rabbi Klein. This young know-it-all needs a good potch in punim for his chutzpah & the way he dealt with what he thinks is a major problem. Obviously, his parents never taught him derech eretz, kovod HaRav & how to approach situations. What made him think that making a costly video will gain him respect? What’s his… Read more »
It is well known that VRL is a kangaroo court. Ask any honost Shliach.
R Wolf should request a Zabla.
Why would the VRL have any jurisdiction over a CH matter?
Many yidden are suffering many close minded arrogant t Rabbis support this behavior and enable it and justify it however the suffering of others should be in their shoulders for irresponsible and burying their heads
Now we see what this tumult is really about: to get people confused and not trust rabbonim, not care about mezuzos anymore. Basically, rejection of the entire Torah
I got 8 mezuzas in my house checked . 2 of them could not b
Even be fixed they were so bad . And 3 of them were posul and were fixed . Only 2 were kosher .
We just bought a month ago the second most expensive Mezuzos from Hamafitz Stam and five of the ten are not kosher. What other business can get away with this level of inaccuracy? Now all mezuzos purchased have to be double checked by another sofer, this is ridiculous, these sofrim need to be held accountable. There needs to be a board set up to audit sofrim randomly to check their work and if inaccuracies are found then it gets published so everyone is aware just like any other profession where shoddy work has occurred. I would pay an extra buck… Read more »
Either all the sofrim are dishonest, (including Raskin as his has the same issues.) Or the sofrim have their own rabbonim and poskim to rely on – and Wolf is out to make a name for himself at the expense of others. Jewish history is full of machlokes “lashem shomayim”.
Both options are horrible.
What would you do if you found out a kosher butcher was selling treif? Approach them privately and show them that their meat is not kosher?!
Wolf did them a great kindness by responding as respectfully as he did.
I have never heard of someone answering a hazmanah with such chutzpah. The rabbonim also didn’t ask him to explain in his letter why he did what he did. They called him to din. He could decline with the reason that he gave that venue is his choice and that’s it. To give a whole explanation why he feels that they are in the wrong by not doing a pre investigation and giving reasons why he feels he is so right that there is no reason for a din Torah, is against the Torah and shows a clear lack of… Read more »
How foolish and arrogant .. a company who takes pride in their work, and has Integrity is less trustworthy….???
Where is the sence in that?
The reason for not coming to a New York bais din is not financial. The Crown height Dayanim are noigeya. This problem has been around for years, yet the only response by the bais din was 1 letter a long time ago. Smart to use a different bais din, and respectful to not state this reason.
Machon stam is such a pleasure to work with and has excellent service. I will definitely continue using them! It’s great to know that my Mezuzos are getting the most careful checking possible! Just as I want a qualified doctor to examine me when necessary
To 61
Don’t be jealous of Machon Stam.
Instead…
Start selling kosher mezuzos!
Start checking your mezuzos properly!
Hurray!
Great job r wolf finally someone takes a stance to stop the mishagas
To 61 what a stupid comment you will stick with mezuzas even it’s not perfect G-D I guess is not so important so why put on s mezuza at all
If the gatekeepers of yidishkite are all about money and protect the sellers of fraud, I’m checking out!
It’s all about money
Rabbi Wolff acted exactly as described Lku”s vol 2 p 342 etc. He writes very respectfully. Ziknei Rabbonei etc etc might be slighted ashamed that a youngster took action while they didn’t. this is exactly why the shvatim were mevaze Pinchos in defence of Moshe Aharon & elders(see Lku”s vol.8 p162).
For all that are busy defending the merchants. Here is my story a close friend of mine met me 2 weeks before this story came out and told me he is very disturbed his son is going on mivtzoim in a certain area in Brooklyn and personally spend a lot of money on mezuzes and got many jews to put them up.One of the families he is close with from mivtzoim something happened that he decided he will give the mezuzas to be checked and to his dismay all of them were posel and he also went to one of… Read more »
I would stay away from Machon Stam – Raskin…
It’s more difficult to trust someone who claims to be spiffy clean and all high and mighty in an area that is naturally subject to human mistakes isn’t trustworthy in my eyes
I’m sticking to the others and I have been using even if they aren’t perfect
Assuming the plaintiffs’ arguments are correct and the mezuzos are actually kosher lchatchila, and assuming this expose caused them financial losses – this Din Torah still wouldn’t have any serious monetary ramifications: Whatever damage caused by this expose would at worst be grama which is not enforceable in Beis Din. And even if Beis Din would be authorized to impose dinim of grama in certain situations, the plaintiff would still have to prove actual damages incurred (e.g. so and so was going to purchase 20 mezuzos but he cancelled the order citing this expose as the reason). It would appear… Read more »
Which bais din is calling him to court
From what I hear both bais din in ch are for it
well said
2. It is a bad thing because he should also be machmir about the kavod of the shopkeepers, and if your overzealous frumkeit diminishes others…
5. Of course he did! His whole blog is called mezuzah fraud.
However, not all the parties listed in the Hazmanah (summons) confirmed that they’ve agreed to participate in the case. For example, Rabbi Yitzchak Mishulovin of Merkaz Stam confirmed that he never agreed to participate as a Tove’a (claimant) in the putative Din Torah of Vaad Rabbonim Haklali, despite being included in that Bais Din’s list.
Rabbi Mishulovin clarified, however, that his unwillingness to participate as a Tove’a (claimant) should not be interpreted as approval of Rabbi Wolf’s conclusions or methods.
Wolf is basically a coward. If he truly meant this lsheim shomayim, he would come to CH and face the Din Torah and defend his actions. He is weaseling out of it because he is wrong.
U need to open a new compain – Check all outreach Mezuzahs .
Thank you , now I need to hire a knowledgeable bodek and only after that buy it …
who wrote those Mezuzahs – bohrium ? as a homework ? and no one checked their homework ?
Disgusting
I had bought mezuzas a few years ago and just had them checked at Machon Stam…. They showed me pictures of letters touching and missing crowns on the lameds… They said this brings kindness and is important. I was shocked and surprised it was never checked properly and not written originally properly with all these crowns.
They seem to be very thorough and have an excellent system. Thank you Machon Stam for your work!
At least you people take this position seriously!!
This reminds me of the situation with the wall now,all the Democrats don’t want it and the republicans do
I don’t see anything positive coming out of this escalating verbal exchange
Let Wolf and the Sofrim call it a truce and move on. Let the public decide how to proceed instead of this going to a Din Torah
Dear fellow chassidim Like the rest of you, as a active member in the CH community, I have been bombarded with many messages, theories, questions, and assumptions regarding rabbi Wolf’s recent display of bravery. I know your opinion has already been formed, yet please hear me out. I happen to know the larger wolf family from Chicago. The father of this “crusader” is reb Aharon Wolf. Rabbi wolf senior (working alongside is his son, a team of paid employees, and dozens of volunteers) has an incredible organization called CMC (Chicago Mitzvah Campaign)highly recognized and respected by the wider jewish community… Read more »
There are so many, but here are just 2 1) With a little knowledge of Jewish history, it’s old news that some will say something is Kosher and some will say something is Pasul. Jewish history is full and beyond full of such stories. The other side is claiming, and yes they have the right to claim otherwise nobody can defend themselves, that they are Kosher, at least enough to be good enough for those who won’t pay more 2) People’s personal stories are just that, personal stories. There will always be bad stories in everything in life, that can’t… Read more »
We should really be working on our achdus here!!!
With the approach that he used you can make everything Pasul. The same can be done Rachmana Litzlan to our Schita, water that we drink, Sheitelach that are worn, all areas of Kashrus, Mikvaos, and more. The solution is for each person to have a Rov and ask and follow what they were told they need to do. We live in such an extreme world of white and black today and all it does is make more things black black black. And it’s sadly just terrible. There’s a way to do things, and it’s not by a young person doing… Read more »
i love your idea of requiring a sofer to somehow identify himslef as the writer of a klaf. not sure how the name and sig can be connected to a piece, but that would certainly create greater accountability in this lawless arena
BS”D not to make light of the situation (but a little is needed) anyone up to checking 10 salads from 3 restaurants
all the shluchim should check their mezuzos and see if there are kosher or not and then decide where to buy them
The beis din in crown heights is calling him to court not about the actual matter of mezuzos, rather fo the way he conducted his expose. additionally he somehow scraped together enough money to purchase the mezuzos im sure he can spend 150 on a ticket.
First beis din decides if the mezuzos are not kosher, not just anyone out there. You don’t get to decide they are stealing and then use that as an excuse not to go.
Thank you Miyad Wolf! I just sent in 10 of my Mivtzoim Mezuzos to be looked at and 8 out of ten w’ere pasul.
1. Rabbi Wolf has backing from a number of rabonim, including a few from the shechuna and most importantly from Rabbi Moshe Veiner from Israel who is known to be one of the biggest experts in the Halochos of STAM alive today. 2. Rabbi Wolfs demand to have the din torah in Chicago is based on a clear halocho (as stated in the beginning of his letter) that if you want to bring someone to a din torah you have to go to where he lives. so Rabbi Wolf has the full right do demand the din torah in Chicago.… Read more »
I was on the fence about the issue. It’s true that he raises the awarenes, and this quality of mezuzos shouldn’t be sold to balebatim, if at all even for mivtzaim – (encourage them to pay a few more dollars for.better quality,) but the chutzpahdike manner how he writes about the vendors and how he accuses the Rabbonim makes me see his true colors. He should have been more aplogetic in his response, and written with more humility. It seems though, that this is not a milchemes mitzvah, it is the work of a hot-headed, narrow-minded zealot. There is a… Read more »
“and for the record, I have no connection to either side…”
Which record? You didn’t even sign your name. LOL!
such non sense. just beacuse R. Avtzon is a mechutan with him has nothing to do with what happened. how can u say such things! One doesn’t leave this world bc of someone else doing something that you think is wrong
This letter is compelling and well-written and is absolutely necessary. (Though I wished you went further in calling out vr”l’s sham “din torah.” This jurisdictional overreach is pathetic. Wolf doesn’t and shouldn’t answer to them.)
If you will do Teshuva, I am sure Hashem will give you parnassa and you won’t lose your business.
I think it’s ridiculous that you’re trying to decide for G-d why he did something..It’s not your business to decide such things…
You sound like oso hoish, who tried giving reasons why yidden died in the holocaust….
Each MEZUZAH should be sold with the name of the sofer
who wrote it and certified checked by him.. If anything the sofer should be responsible! This way the sofrim will be much
much more careful.
Since you both think that the financial aspect is NOT RELEVANT, how about you agree to cover the financial expenses, as well as the loss of income(which is obviously important, I think we can all agree to that).
Just pls, put your money where your mouth is…..
I took off all my Mezuzos until this gets cleared up
It says clearly in Shulchan aruch, hat such matters should BE MADE PUBLIC, to prevent the masses from stumbling…..
Hashem has His plans. Don’t you dare take a terrible tragedy and decide that it happened to punish someone.
Rabbi Wolf is doing a wonderful service for anash and mivtzoim worldwide with his exposure of what was known for years.
Sofrim and businessmen dealers, clean up your act and move on. The cases against you are too many.
You sound pathetic. He’s simply doing this to raise awareness of a serious issue.
Someone had to do this and he was the korach of our times to jump in head first . And as he expressed multiple times, he shared the names along with the results, cz everyone knows had he not written explicit names, the while thing would be a jk…as it was when the robonim tried 30 years ago. And the rebbe was here physically
This “rabbi” wolf is extremely self righteous with his pinky made a בושה וחרפה out of many innocent and ehrliche sofrim without seeking authority from any rabbonim just because he wants everyone to think that he is a super hero and he will save Lubavitch as chasidim of the rebbe we make ourselves higher as opposed to making others lower this guy keeps on backing himself up because he doesn’t want all the shame to backfire on him which will happen sooner or later if you really want to make yourself higher than don’t buy 20$ mezuzahs and seek authority… Read more »
I am very happy for you. Bh you did not have any stories.
Imagine you were scammed. How would you feel? Would comment #2 be written. I think not. There are a tremendous amount of disheartening stories being told about these scams. For example Tefillin being bought with no parshiyos vechulu.
So i am glad everything by you is ok, but not everyone feels like you. So to MR/ Rabbi “this is a disgrace”, its a disgrace on the scammers.
1. How is it possible that things which made many mezuzos possul where passed as kosher and not even a shaala on mezuzos from machon Stam?
2. Why would you refuse to give those mezuzos to anyone to bring to different sofer to check?
These points lead me to think that this is a promotion for machon Stam which is not surprising because this is the way machon Stam operates, they put down all sofrim and try to convince the world that they are the only ones that sell kosher tefillin and mezuzos!
to number 2 are you a frum lubavitcher?????
It’s about time they are held accountable for their wrongful actions. Thank you R’ Wolf for standing up for what is right.
The Lubavitch community can not thank you enough!
Mr wolf….I think u should stop here…when such machlokes
happens h’ sent a maka…R Yona Avtzon, is mr wolfs’ son -in -laws brother…stop b4 there r more karbonos!
Thank you for exposing this problem, I for one will think twice before purchasing stam from them
I like how Wolff can’t go to ny bc he’s loose money but shamming stores ie. incurring a monetary loss without substantial proof on his end…that was ok.
Consider yourself lucky. I haven’t heard that from anyone else
I am protesting how a young man has the audacity to write such a letter to the elderly Chabad Rabbanim of Vaad Rabbonei Chabad, as if he is their equal, and knows more than them? Telling them that they have for sure have not delved into this Inyan etc etc. means he is on a crusade and does not care what תורת אמת says. Where is his כבוד רבנים that the רבי wanted so much? This whole thing schmekt for מתנגדישע גאווה This whole thing is beginning to sound to me like he is being led by מעשה שטן. Otherwise… Read more »
You took the words out of my mouth
Thank you Rabbi Wolf! I just sent in 10 of my Mivzoim Mezuzahs to be checked and all 10 were not Kosher!!!!
Even with work will only be bidieved…
This guys got some nerve. Causes major financial damage to reputable and respected people who have been around since before he was a piece of dust and then uses the finanxial excuse not yo come to beis din!!! May he do teshuva asap.
No one is claiming all of their mezuzas are bad. I assume you bought mid to high range mezuzas and not mivtzoim ones.
B”h Rabbi Wolf has brought this in the open.
Great job!
In a few months, Rabbi Wolf please make another investigation to see if the stores are selling kosher mezuzos.
Maybe there will be more kosher stores that will start to behave according to shulchan aruch and help safeguard many families with real lchatchila kosher mezuzos.
Thank you!
Yisroel Dovid has a lot of true points, it’s been too long that certain sofrim don’t do a proper job and sell pasul mezuzos, but it’s such a distasteful way of taking care of the issue!! A little light chases away a lot of darkness.
The way it was done was just plain out wrong.
The video could have been shown to the sofrim privately, telling them it will go public of not takin care of.
(And follow up on them)
To destroy someone’s business for who knows how long, is just a disgrace!
Think before you do something so stupid.
Rabbi Wolf is a brave man for taking this on.
All of a sudden rabbi wolff cares about income.
NO
why did you check b4 installing, did you suspect something
So, till now those mezuzos were good, but now/lately, they have become corrupted.
To number 2. Do you work or own that establishment?
Who summoned Rabbi Wolf to conduct the UN-authorized and shameful investigation to so called Sofrim. Such a run should obviously be 1. in Private 2. in wide agreement with Higher Authority. How could one even consider this “findings” to be legitimate when this is SELF SERVING for Mr Wolf Fame and ultimately Money $ I Personally know most of the Sofrim and bought several items from few of them over the past 20 years and always checked by a 3rd party either before installing or a while after purchase for semi annual checkups and was never a problem. THIS IS… Read more »
“a mezuza’s kashrus must be determined in the context of its overall writing quality”
דער אויבערשטער זאל רחמנות האבן.
May G-d have mercy.