Here is an ad that appeared last week to promote the big event:
Here is the schedule for today's big event:
As I hope you can figure out from the tone here I am not in favor of this for a number of reasons:
1. It tries to get people to act against Halacha. These ads ran in newspapers around Israel and flyers were distributed all over the country. Yet, the halacha clearly states that עניי עירך קודמים. In other words, someone who lives in Yerushalayim, Bet Shemesh, Beitar, Rechasim, Ashdod, etc. should be giving to their local Kupa shel Tzedaka not the Kupa of Bnei Brak. By going out with these big campaigns they are making it hard for local tzedaka organizations (which al pi halacha come first) to collect money.
2. It makes a business out of tzedaka. People can no longer give tzedaka just to give tzedaka? How many עניים could have been supported with the money that went to fly all of these people to Vilna? Do we need to promise a yeshua to get people to give tzedaka?
3. It is a quick fix approach. It makes all kinds of promises of yeshuos with no effort. Give a little money and someone will daven for you and you will be saved. Is that what we believe in? What happened to working hard on yourself, davening yourself, improving yourself?
5 comments:
Great post. My first reaction was why are they spending funds that are desperately needed flying to a minyan to Vilna?
The idea is a Chillul of the memory of the Gra since he objected to such practises. He visted his mother's grave only once and never again.
If distributing money locally is such a big thing, why do I get so many meshulachim from Israel at my door each week?
The halacha puts people in Israel on a different level. However, within Israel Bnei Brak is no more important then Ashdod.
It seems to me that - gedolim treat kupat hair different because it supports many people who learn in kollel - meaning more than just regular aniim. But it is just a guess on my part.
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