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It is known that the Vilna Gaon put 2 sectors of Chassidus in Cherem. I am wondering who has permitted them now seeing as we non-Chassidim don't make borders between them and ourselves.

Isaac Moses
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Yehuda
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3 Answers3

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According to Rav Chaim Berlin z"tl it would appear that the cherem no longer applies in what may be the earliest formal expression of the current status quo:

ולהתפלל בבית הכנסת של החסידים אין שום חשש בזה, וגזירת רבינו הגר"א ז"ל לא הי' אלא בזמנו שהקילו אז בכבוד תלמידי חכמים לומדי תורה, ולא כן בימינו שהחסידים חולקים כבוד לכל לומדי תורה והם יראי ה' ושומרים תורה ומצוה

"And to pray in a Chassidic synagogue, there isn't any reason to be concerned about this. The decree of our Master the Gra z'l (HaGoan Rav Eliyahu zt'l, the Vilna Gaon) was only in his time since they were lax then regarding the honor of scholars who study Torah, and this is not so on our days when the Chassidim give honor to all students of Torah, and they are God fearing and observe Torah and Mitzvos."

Shu"t Nishmas Chaim #7

Yirmeyahu
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  • What year is this from? – Double AA Dec 26 '13 at 05:49
  • @DoubleAA -- I'm working from a secondary source a (which is where the link leads to) so I don't know if the teshuvos are dated, but it looks as if they were printed posthumously. The odds would seem to be in favor of it being the later part of the 19th Century. – Yirmeyahu Dec 26 '13 at 06:10
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I heard personally from Rav Moshe Heineman, Rav of Agudath Israel Baltimore and close talmid to Rav Ahron Kotler, that one summer a student asked Rav Ahron this question. Rav Ahron answered that "the whole reason the cherem was put out against the Chassidim was because they didn't learn Gemara, but nowadays (then in the late 1950's) some of them know how to learn better than us!"

It seems to be that Rav Aharon was somewhat echoing the responsa of Rav Chaim Berlin mentioned in another answer here

להתפלל בבית הכנסת של החסידים אין שום חשש בזה, וגזירת רבינו הגר"א ז"ל לא הי' אלא בזמנו שהקילו אז בכבוד תלמידי חכמים לומדי תורה, ולא כן בימינו שהחסידים חולקים כבוד לכל לומדי תורה והם יראי ה' ושומרים תורה ומצוה

Being that the actions of the Chassidim changed, the cherem was nullified.

Note as well, that in later generations the great scions of both branches intermarried and today there is almost no hint of the past issues between Litvaks and Chassidim (aside from chabad of course). The great Rav and Posek Rav Moshe Shternbuch of the Eida Hachareidis is both a descendant of the Gr"a and the Baal Shem Tov.

Community
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Shoel U'Meishiv
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  • How does this answer the question – Double AA Jun 10 '14 at 19:38
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    Very simply. The cherem does not apply anymore because the reason is not applicable. Seemingly Rav ahron had a kabalah that it is not applicable – Shoel U'Meishiv Jun 10 '14 at 19:52
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    I wasn't aware Charamim can just disappear without being formally released. – Double AA Jun 10 '14 at 20:33
  • @DoubleAA אגלאי מלתא למפרע that there was no need for a Cherem :) – ertert3terte Mar 17 '15 at 17:40
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    @ShmuelBrin I wasn't aware Charamim can just disappear without being formally released. Is there a concept of cherem-taut? I don't even know how you could apply it here. In all likelihood the only reason chasidim ever quasi-normalized is due to the pressure put on them by traditional judaism, including the various charamim. So what's limafrea here? – Double AA Mar 17 '15 at 17:41
  • @DoubleAA http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/validity-of-vilna-gaons-cherem-against-chassidim – Shoel U'Meishiv Mar 17 '15 at 17:55
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    @Mefaresh I can't read a whole thread right now. Does someone cite who removed it or how it was removed (eg. timed out, expired, nullified, etc.)? – Double AA Mar 17 '15 at 18:03
  • @DoubleAA not mamash, people varf ideas and possibilities out – Shoel U'Meishiv Mar 17 '15 at 18:04
  • @DoubleAA Isn't the cherem against people, who are long dead. Can one put an ideology into cherem? –  Oct 10 '17 at 22:18
  • @moses it's a good point, we see in other contexts of actions like Chazal put in cherem those who violate Yom tov sheni,but arguably that means one has an obligation to put them in cherem not that it's automatic. In any event the question still applies to learning from the dead people who were in real cherem – Double AA Oct 10 '17 at 22:22
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The rebbe answered this question in a sicha on yud tes Kislev 5712:

https://www.lahak.org/templates/lahak/article_cdo/aid/4257906/jewish/-.htm (Si'ifim 13 though 17).

In short the answer was that when a cherem is made and the chachmim who made it reveled the reason why it was put in place, so automatically when the reason in nullifyed (like in this case) the cherem is nullifyed.

user24005
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