Saturday, November 20, 2004

How Mordecai Tendler Screwed Up The Teaching Of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein

Me writes:

This shabbos, I had a rare free 30 minutes of quiet. I sat down with my 2 copies of volume 7 of Igurot Moshe, which is a volume of tshuvot by Rav Moshe Feinstein, undoubtably one of the greatest Poskim of the last century.

These volumes are widely read and used by Poskim of our generation.

I've posted before how the original version of volume 7 (large over-sized)
differs from the newer Rabbi Mordechai Tendler re-edited version (smaller-sized book). I took 30 minutes to see how bad it was (I already knew from several Rabbonim).

As, the typesetting is similar, I was able to quickly find over a dozen alterations. None of which added anything to the tshuvot. If I was to extrapolate from the few pages I quickly inspected, I would have to estimate there are a lot of changes and alterations.

In some cases it is a mere unnecessary letter (in one case, gramatically wrong), a title change or an added quote of the source referred to. But most disturbingly I found a substantial alteration to an actual tshuva (page 180 bottom right column). I also found a paragraph added into the body of a tshuva praising Rabbi Mordechai Tendler (page 181 top right column).

Photo One
Photo Two
Photo Three
Photo Four

This is bad.

I fully understand why the Feinsteins have nothing to do with Rabbi Tendler.
What he has done to their grandfathers legacy is despicable. He has taken one of the great works of the last century and distorted it. It is a monument to the ego of Rabbi Mordechai Tendler and the impotence of this generations scholars.

It is not a subtle distortion. Take the 2 versions, sit down and compare. It's so obvious and plain to see. Does Rabbi Mordechai Tendler really expect us to believe his grandfather wanted to insert his praise of (Tendler) in an already published tshuva (that had no such praise)? It's clear what has been done.

It's also increadibly painful. How could this have been done and in such a
public way?

I understand that the Feinstein don't want to take family to a beis din. But
where are the Rabbonim of this generation? How could they allow this to be done to a gadol ha'dor's work? How could they associate with someone like Rabbi Mordechai Tendler who did this?

I implore people to contact the RCA and demand this issue be addressed by the Beis Din Ha'Kavod. The Rabbi Mordechai Tendler version needs to be removed from public circulation and Rav Feinstein's scholarship restored.

Steps must be taken to ensure a chilul like this never happens again to any of our scholars and that charlatons like Rabbi Mordechai Tendler are no longer tolerated or associated with.

This is what is allowed to happen to the work of one of our Gadols?

Where is the outrage?