Misplaced Pages

Yehuda Krinsky: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 19:39, 2 September 2007 edit71.125.247.38 (talk) Stewardship of the Chabad movement← Previous edit Revision as of 20:15, 2 September 2007 edit undoZsero (talk | contribs)12,092 edits if you want to talk about the plaque thing, talk about it, not in this by-the-way fashion. it's got little to do with krinskyNext edit →
Line 21: Line 21:


He has been active in efforts to retrieve a large library of books connected to the Chabad movement which are currently in the custody of the ]n government. Many of the books were seized from Rabbi ] as part of a ] crackdown on religion after the ]. Krinsky garnered the support of ] and ] for his cause.<Ref>''Commission hears efforts to retrieve Jewish texts from Russia'', Sam Hananel, Associated Press, ] ]</ref> He has been active in efforts to retrieve a large library of books connected to the Chabad movement which are currently in the custody of the ]n government. Many of the books were seized from Rabbi ] as part of a ] crackdown on religion after the ]. Krinsky garnered the support of ] and ] for his cause.<Ref>''Commission hears efforts to retrieve Jewish texts from Russia'', Sam Hananel, Associated Press, ] ]</ref>

When a plaque that mentioned Schneerson as being dead was recently installed on Krinsky's orders, it was removed by a group of Messianists, who beleived that the plaque was contrary to the teachings of the Rebbe and other sources in the torah, which they say clearly state that the jewish Messia is above death. This led to rioting and nine arrests, Krinsky attacked the vandals describing them as ''"a couple of thugs, really, who planned a disruption and cannot be tolerated." <ref>''Hassidim riot over plaque in Rebbe's memory'', Uriel Heilman, Jerusalem Post ] ]</ref>
<br /><br />
The Messianists however claim that the plaque was installed in order to instigate inner fighting among the lubavitch community.


== Family == == Family ==

Revision as of 20:15, 2 September 2007

For the 19th century Rabbi see Yehudo Leib Krinsky.
Chabad
Rebbes
Places and landmarks
Holidays
Organizations
Schools
Texts
Practices and concepts
Chabad offshoots

Rabbi Chaim Yehuda (Yudel) Krinsky (born 1933) is a Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi. He served for forty years in various positions as an important assistant to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. He served as chief spokesman for Schneerson and the movement, and was the sole executor of Schneerson's will, and has been at the helm of the movements finances since Schneerson's death. He was also his personal attendant and chauffeur for many years. According to Avrum Erlich, "Krinsky is probably the most powerful individual in the contemporary Habad movement."

Krinsky grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA and was educated at the Boston Latin School. He arrived in New York City in 1946, and studied at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, where he was ordained as a rabbi. He was called upon to join Schneerson's staff in 1957.

Activities

In the late 1950s Krinsky was put in charge of the Chabad News Service and became the de facto public relations head of Chabad. He was in charge of talking Schnnerson's weekly talks around the world via satellite. He came to public attention in June 1983, when he accused Satmar of attacking certain Chabad hasidim. saying that the attacks were " ... definitely Satmar. Lubavitch is a victim of brutal attacks by Satmar. Their record of terrorism goes on." In a letter to Time magazine he repeated this, arguing that it was false to claim that both groups were guilty.

Following the Chabad Library Controversy, Schneerson set about reorganising the financial structures of the Lubavitch movement and Krinsky was given the position of second in command. Krinsky is a member of the twenty person board of the umbrella organization Agudas Chasidei Chabad, and a member of Chabad's six person Central Committee organization, which oversees the three central Lubavitch organizations Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Machane Israel, and the Kehot Publication Society.

Messianism

In an interview with Time Magazine journalist Lisa Beyer he argued that the collapse of the Soviet Union could be a harbinger on the end of days and could "lead one to think that these extraordinary, shattering events are a precursor to something even more cataclysmic."

When a group led by Rabbi Shmuel Butman organized a "coronation" for Schneerson on January 30 1993 at which they hoped that would accept the role of messiah, Krinsky was instrumental in dampening the euphoria telling the press that Schneerson had requested that his appearance not be misinterpreted as a coronation. However he also told the press that "The question of a successor "is not even a matter of consideration." He conceded that some members believed Schneerson already had proclaimed himself the Messiah.

In 1992, during Scheerson's illness Krinsky commented on whether or not he was the messiah: In every generation there is a potential moshiach, in our generation, the best candidate is Rabbi Schneerson."

Stewardship of the Chabad movement

After Schneerson's death in 1994, Krinsky was made executor of the three central Lubavitch organizations and voted in by the Boards of Merkos and Machne as Chairman of the Board, although this was not explicitly directed by Schneerson's will. Within months, he decided to build new schools, and began to expand the movement's reach around the world.

He has been active in efforts to retrieve a large library of books connected to the Chabad movement which are currently in the custody of the Russian government. Many of the books were seized from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn as part of a Soviet crackdown on religion after the Russian Revolution. Krinsky garnered the support of Jon Voight and Sam Brownback for his cause.

Family

Krinsky is married to Devorah Krinsky. Devorah is the daughter of the late Rabbi Zev and Ethel Kasinetz. Krinsky's son Rabbi Levi Krinsky is the director of Chabad of New Hampshire. Another son Rabbi Hillel David Krinsky married Shterna Sarah Garelik, daughter of Gershon Garelik the chief rabbi of Milan and was instumental in the broadcasting of Schneeson's weekly addresses around the world. A fourth son, Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky married Rivkah Gutnick, daughter of Australian commodities magnate Joseph Gutnick . His oldest daughter, Sheine B., is married to Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman, director of the Kehot Publication Society . His second daughter, Chana, is married to Rabbi Joseph Futerfas, director of Camp Gan Israel, New York.

Trivia

He was named among the fifty most influential living Jews in an article in The Forward in 2005.

He was named second among the fifty most influential US Rabbis by Newsweek in 2007, behind Marvin Hier.

Sources

  1. Jewish faithful flock to Brooklyn orthodox sect leader, Michael Sperter, New York Times Magazine, March 19 1992
  2. The Messiah of Brooklyn: Understanding Lubavitch Hasidim Past and Present, M. Avrum Ehrlich, Chapter 20, KTAV Publishing, ISBN 0881258369
  3. Rabbi using modern medium in call for tradional values, New York Times, January 23 1983
  4. Attack on Rabbi brings anguish to Borough Park, Ari L. Goldman, New York Times, June 22 1983
  5. Letters to the editor, Time Magazine, August 1 1983
  6. Expecting the messiah, Lisa Beyer, Time Magazine, March 23 1992
  7. Rabbi gives no clue on Messiah role, Kansas City Star, February 1 1993
  8. Out of Brookyn, a Messiah?, Andrew Maykuth, Philadelphia Enquirer, February 14 1993
  9. Hasidic movement awaits the messiah, The Intelligencer, February 1 1993
  10. Rallying for a redeemer, Press Telegram, April 3 1993, Press-Telegram
  11. Lubavitchers Learn to Sustain Themselves Without the Rebbe, David Gonzalez, New York Times, November 8 1994
  12. Commission hears efforts to retrieve Jewish texts from Russia, Sam Hananel, Associated Press, April 6 2005
  13. Marriage announcement for Hillel David Krinsky, New York Times, April 8 1981
  14. Rivkah Gutnick, Shmaya Krinsky, New York Times, June 5 1994
  15. http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F50E11F7355D12728DDDAA0894DC405B898BF1D3 Marriage announcement ofr Sheine B. Krinsky, New York Times, April 3 1979]
  16. Rapper, Republicans, Relief Org. Heads and Rabbis Named to Forward 50, by America's National Jewish Newspaper., PR Newswire, November 10 2005
  17. The Top 50 Rabbis in America, Newsweek, Michael Lynton, April 2 2007
Categories:
Yehuda Krinsky: Difference between revisions Add topic