BARUCH DAYAN HAEMET: RABBI AVROHOM BLUMENKRANTZ

VosIzNeias is reporting that Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz has passed away. Rabbi Blumenkrantz was known for his Passover guides, in which he occasionally championed extreme positions, including an attempt several years ago to ban the use of Styrofoam plates, cups, bowls, etc., even for year-round use, based on his understanding of the halakhot surrounding their production, which involves minute amounts of non-kosher ingredients.

Rabbi Blumenkrantz passed away from complications of diabetes.

UPDATE: The funeral will be tomorrow morning, Friday, at 9:30 a.m. at Rav Blumenkrantz's synagogue in Far Rockaway, 827 Cornaga Avenue.

Comments

[Ma Rabbi]

If you read the comments on "Vous is Niyes" you will see that people are in tears over this great loss. Rabbi Blumenkrantz was an extremely kind man who made himself available to answer peoples shaylos untill 11:PM every night.He will be sorely missed.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

I once met about 20 years ago. A very sweet and gentle person.

[Shmarya]

So I've heard. I have a friend who knew him. None of that changes the Styrofoam issues or many others.

[Shmarya]

VIN updated its post and added, in part:Rabbi Blumenkrantz ZT’L was a world-renown expert on many controversial issues ranging from the mundane to intensely complicated kashrus matters. He was the brains and force behind many of the contested kashrus issues that have been raised in the orthodox communities in recent years. His yearly Passover Digests are the staple of every Jewish home for their Pesach preparations.

We all mourn for the spiritual giant that has been taken from us. May his special neshamah bring yeshuas for am yisroel from his place near Hashem. Zechus Yagun Aleinu.

[rebeljew]

A tremendous loss to klal Yisroel. I have discussed in the context of the Pesach guides, his views on magic medicine, which had started to gravitate to a better place. However, what I will really remember is that he was a man of integrity, who was willing to take a position, regardless of which way the Jewish winds were blowing. Agree or disagree, I believe his positions were his, and he wasn;t afraid to reconsider them.

[healthy former charedei]

I know that this might not be the time to speak ill of the rabbi. However, he was very strict with not eating vegetables (that are vital to a person's health) which were permissible for many years previously.

Basically because of his chumros our children and grandchildren are not getting the proper nutrition in schools and at home. They are doomed to living a short life with assorted sickness like colo-rectal cancer and diabesity (diabetes and obesity) just to name a few.

I'm sure that these same chumros led to his own untimely death.

"I know that this might not be the time to speak ill of the rabbi. However, he was very strict with not eating vegetables (that are vital to a person's health) which were permissible for many years previously."
What is this about?

The funny thing about the Pesach book is that a lot of people get VERY worried when you tell them that you have last year's (or an even older) edition.

[Shmarya]

He was kind of OCD. He found ways to make almost everything a kosher problem, including nearly every vegetable known to man (because of bugs).

this in of itself wouldnt be such an issue if such subjects as molestations ,abuse,and corruption where not so blatently ignored and covered up.you wan't specifics maybe.i dont know, that is never new this gentlman however the gest of many peoples ire today is why are the rabbis inhabiting the ivory tower of chumros while the house is burning.

[Former Student]

Spiritual giant????

Give me a break!

His excruciatingly stringent Passover Guides were in essence a halachic manual that encouraged obsessive compulsive behavior. His all-encompassing passion for minutia, and the recklessness with which he issued extreme and nonsensical chumros do not place this man, charitable and kind as he may have been, in the pantheon of spiritual greatness.

[MO MAN]

Guys,

The body is not cold yet; you've got the rest of your life to bash him. Give it a rest.

[Isa]

regarding:
"""Basically because of his chumros our children and grandchildren are not getting the proper nutrition in schools and at home. They are doomed to living a short life with assorted sickness like colo-rectal cancer and diabesity (diabetes and obesity) just to name a few."""
Eating salids , veggies maybe a little lean chicken or turkey is the best way to enjoy a long healthy life. FAR better to take a hour long walk in the park too INSTEAD of Torah study.A healthy pious ignoramus will do far more good in this world than some sickly OCD Torah giant who argues "veggies are no good"
Maybe this 'giant' is another scammer with good stories [e.g. Rebbe lies]

[healthy former charedei]

I don't like to get into any name calling.

Suffice it to say, because of the rabbi's chumros and the lack of nutritional awareness, the health issue among our people (spanning all ages) will be more devastating then all the other issues combined.

[Bill]

I thought he paskened that it's assur to die!

[avrohom]

all of you antisemites and racists whose life are filled with hatred of observant jews and judaism go ahead and convert to anew religion and yo'll engage in all your goyishe acitivies thatisalsonotbereftofcorruption and promiscutiy. The person hasjustdied and notyet had his kevurah and allyou low lives alk disparaginglyat him and at yiddishkeyt. rot in your dung!

[I Schier]

I do not know why I am bothering to comment here given the pure sinas chinam and loshon horo in this thread, but:

1) Rav Blumenkrantz Z"L performed a great service by putting together guides that presented information for Pesach all in one place. Yes, he was very machmir, but no one forced anyone to follow his guidelines to the letter. But he prevented much unnecessary worry about such issues as medications, and he educated the public regarding food technology and Pesach.

2) If indeed he had anything to do with vegetable guidelines, all he did was to stipulate stricter washing regulations. Even the most machmir of charedim are left with plenty of vegetables to eat. If there are health problems caused by not eating vegetables, he is not to blame; while I doubt the issue even exists it is probably more connected with some people's insistence on sticking to the old foods of Eastern Europe and not taking advantage of the many "New World" fruits and vegetables that are available even at the most traditional Williamsburgh grocery.

3) Rav Blumenkrantz ZYA had the koach to come out against reliance on alternative healing methods, which may be OK as an adjutant to traditional medicine, but upon which far too many otherwise rational frum Jews are spending far too much money. While I was taken aback at his use of the terms kishuf and avoda zara to describe medical quackery, I know that there are people in the frum community who are jeopardizing their health and the health of their families through reliance on questionable therapy.

4) I never knew him personally, but he was known as someone who avoided anything remotely resembling machloikes (hardly someone who would force others to accept his guidelines, which were not always even practical in all cases), and someone to turn to in times of trouble.

He is in Shamayim now, and will return to pasken about the Korban Pesach, bimhera beyameinu. And no one is going to eat the shor habor off of styrofoam plates (which, by the way, are not the safest choice of tableware especially for hot foods), so whatever non-existent controversy Rav Avraham Blumenkrantz caused regarding styrofoam will long be overshadowed by the great work he did for Klal Yisroel.

Yehay zichro baruch.

[avrohom]

Let it be stressed over and over that the Rav Z"l was DEVOTED TO NO END WITH LOVE to teach jews on all halochos and especially halochos of pessach and always with a smile and with warmth.

this blog and the antisemite blog owner should repent for their love of animals that causes them to hate good yidden who have passed away and not bruied yet and they are here to poke fun and make themselves look the righteous people to defend the "oppressed masses" from the rabbis...PIGS THAT YOU ARE!!!

[rik]

Ok, blackening someone's name after they have died is just pure cowardice. He can't even stand up for himself as he is dead. Let him rest in peace and he hasn't harmed you at all. He probably has helped alot more people than most in this world. And so he said something about styrofoam plates? Big deal. You don't have to listen to him. And the veggies? He isn't the only Rabbi to say certain veg are a no no because they are so hard to check. He might have just been giving people awareness to how hard they are to check, so to make them more careful.

[Shmarya]

Many of us sharply criticized the man while he was alive and well. He was one of the most extreme poskim on kashrut issues, and his Passover Guides caused undue hardship to many, while undeniably providing a valid service, as well.

[remez]

in plain terms this is about the loss of a world expert on superstion esp food superstition.

since moses never existed and we were never slaves in egypt why do we mourn a man who mainly pushed myth as reality?

[Itzhak Schier]

No one told anyone to blindly follow the Rav Blumenkrantz guides. Those of us with seichel and even a little knowledge used the guides for general information and checked with our own rabbonim to see what our communities practiced. I don't have last year's guide handy but I think it even began with a disclaimer regarding universal applicability.

And if one hitherto misinformed Yid followed his advice regarding reliance on homeopathy, then Rav Blumenkrantz was matzil nefesh achas me'Yisroel.

Klal Yisroel has lost an adam godol.

Shmarya is full of it. Rav Blumenkrantz caused hardship to no one because any other rov would tell you you don't have to follow Blumenkrantz's psak. SHmarya is getting to be so full of hatred and poison that it's beyond belief. Ridiculing a harmless man while he is about to be buried is proof of what a black soul Shmarya has. Even UOJ agrees SHmarya is a lowlife for this.

"Rav Blumenkrantz caused hardship to no one because any other rov would tell you you don't have to follow Blumenkrantz's psak."
Only the neighbors would tell you!

[avrohom]

scotty, get off it you racist lowlife.

[Isa]

Regarding:
"Rav Blumenkrantz caused hardship to no one because any other rov would tell you you don't have to follow Blumenkrantz's psak."

You also by implication are saying Rav Blumenkrantz was full of crxp

Except I seen it with my own eyes where everyone tries to out frum everybody else and they force the school to follow the strictist way.

He was did in by his own chumra!!

Eat them veggies and walk for an hour

[healthy former charedei]

I saw Rabbi Blumenkrantz at a wedding in the rose castle 7 years ago. He looked like he was 75 years old. I was shocked that he was only 62 when he passed away.

Shmaraya,

Thanks for allowing the very tough painful issues to be discussed. Orthodox Judaisim has changed drastically in the past 30 years - from supporting married children to avoiding foods that heal the body.

Once upon a time, yeshivas and camps served healthy nutritional meals with leafy and root vegetables.

Everone, please take a good look at your kids and speak to the men in your shul that are in their late 40's to mid 50's.

Your kids are obese and sickly the men are suffering from all types of ailments and no one is having a normal bowel movement.

Does anyone know that all cold cereals (the unhealthy breakfast of choice for most americans has tons of bugs in it).

Isa was right. Rabbi Blumenkrantz was done in by his own chumras. I once remember years ago a chassidshe person (quoting his rebbe) refer to vegetables as "Echoil B'heima" (animal food).

Before it was known that leafy and root vegetables cleanse and heal the body, many people died in their 50's.

And unfortunately, unless there is going to be major nutritional changes this problem will create the biggest machla that will decimate many families in our community.

[Schneur]

I did not know rabbi Blumenkrantz personally. The issue is his annual book and his psokim. As far as the book goes it was a one man job, with little or no halachic imput from other More Horah. Because the book became THE supposed Gold Standard among non-Chassidic Jews fro Passover it should have included alternative views on various issues.
I once showed the book and what he wrote about the Passover properties of Vermn poison and my rav a European gadol from Mir told me to tell the author that he is a meshugane.
Several years ago the Chicago based CRC issued a Psak that undercut rabbi Blumekrantz's book in terms of medicines on pesach.
We were becoming so pedantic and forgetting that most medicines are not Divre reshus, matters of choice, but involve Life threatening issues like Diabetes, CAD, Vascular diseases, and last but not least all forms of mental challenges.
talking about these medications and drugs as IF there was a choice of taking them or not shows that some Halachic decisors in the US had gotten lost in the forrest of their own words...
Zecher zaddik livroacha
Now that in no way as anything to do with the personna of the rabbi or with other aspects of a multi faceted rabinic professional but in this area of passover he was becoming a controversial figure.

[avrohom]

you haters of judaism judaism are in good company ofracistantiesmiteswiththe ownerthis blog! thank g-d jewry will not tolerate people like you and will continue to flourish intheir judaism despite you!

[Dovid Lerner]

Rav Blumenkrantz Z"L once spoke at my yeshiva, he was not a harsh person, nor the type to ban foods for the hell of it. What I saw was a man genuinley concerned about kashrut and the current status of the kosher industry today.

I think we should all remember his contributions to klal yisroel rather then focus on negative issues.

Y'hei Zichro Barcuh

[Isa]

Six weeks after getting my 25 year pin I was laid off and my world sort of crashed in. I was in Minnesota
So a firm hired me for a position in Houston
I get to walk every day. Although I hate to admit it it was a blessing- Now I got my health back
Ha-Shem shines his graces upon me!!!
I eat my veggies and I walk

What I really don't understand is that if you are really concerned about buggies on veggies and such-Do you think the grain that is turned into flour is REALLY free of ground up buggies?? Do you think anyone could possibly inspect ALL the grain to make sure there is not a grasshopper leg or other bug parts that is ground up? Yes they put a poison on the grain that kills the bugs in the silos that in turn evaporates from the grain so that there no trace of it left when it turned into flour.But there IS ground up bug parts in that bread that you eat!
While I am at it stay away from cereal with any kind of added sugar-if there is anything that will poison your pancreas that's it along with anything else that is dunked in sugar. That kosher beef salami-that will clog up your plumbing too [veins, ateries]

[avrohom]

you vermins that speak with contempt of dead people who devoted their lives tothejewish people (whether one disagrees with them or not) should debug yourselves, because you are racists antisemites full of the bugs that cause you hatred of jews and judaism!

[Isa]

Regarding:
"""talking about these medications and drugs as IF there was a choice of taking them or not shows that some Halachic decisors in the US had gotten lost in the forrest of their own words..."""
You mean this nut job was saying don't take medicines because they not kosher l'pseach?? You got to be kidding but if true, he was struck down by ha-Shem!

[DP]

FYI.

Although I do not agree 100% or even 50% with the ideas presented in the "passover guide 2006" or whatever year you have lying around your bookshelf, I want to clear up his vegetable chumras a bit.
His bug related chumras are no different than many other poskim.
Where he does add or focus on alot is the fact that many types of produce, like apples, nectarines, plums, mangos, cucumbers and the like are coated with substances to prolong their shelf life.
These substances vary but include many times lac resin which is made by the LAC BUG. Lac resin comes from the dried spittle cacoon of these bugs, the resin is extracted by crushing the cacoons with the bug inside and boiling it down. It is agreed that the bug pieces are not batel because there are so many of them. This substance is the same shelLAC which is used in many home projects and the like. It is also called "confectioners glaze" when it is used to cover your milk duds and other candies so they "melt in your mouth and not in your hand".
Sometimes the coating used is animal based, especially fruits which come from South America like plums sometimes do and sometimes they are covered with milk based casien products.
He also mentions RED #40 better known as CARMINE, if you dont know what that is made of, google it, youd be suprised how many food items you use include this in the ingredient list. And Im pretty sure the OU allows RED #40 (i'm not talking about the synthetic FDC RED#40) according to r moshe.

I think r blumenkrantz brought this to many ppls attention although no one really cared because who is going to stop eating fruits and vegatables??
and since we pick and choose our chumrot according to which are easiest...

in truth these substances are not food items nor are the recognizable so they may very well be no problem at all.

Further, the idea of eating crushed beetle cacoons kinda freaks me out, I dont eat apple and plum skins anymore, I peel them.

[Shmarya]

You're talking about processes that COMPLETELY CHANGE THE NATURE of the treife item. It becomes INEDIBLE and, because by itself it is NO LONGER A FOOD ITEM, it has NO IMPACT ON THE KASHRUT OF ANYTHING.

There is an argument among poskim (rabbis) about whether this holds true for a product that enhances food by adding decerable taste or color. Neither are true with regard to these coatings for produce.

The OU does NOT use carmine – although it could, without difficulty.

And those produce coatings that so trouble you? WASH THEM OFF! Use dish soap or produce wash.

The above comment and my clarification of it should help many of you to understand why Rabbi Blumenkrantz – even though he was a kind, nice man and learned – is viewed as someone who caused much unnecessary trouble for Jews.

[Itzhak Schier]

Who views him as someone who caused much unnecessary trouble for Jews? If you followed his guide to the letter and it was too much trouble for you, then you were to blame for not asking your own rov!

Most of us relied on the guide as just that - a guide - or a way to check specific products. In fact, it saved me a lot of grief when I lived abroad because I found that a couple of very necessary items could be used without a hechsher. I also understand that he was very specific as to what really needed to be cleaned for Pesach as opposed to the overzealous cleaning ritual that takes place in many homes.

Rav Blumenkrantz ZL did not hold a gun to anyone's head and force him to hold by anything in his guides or even to buy his guides. It was full of disclaimers and sources, and until Moshiach comes, every Torah Jew knows that there are various views on any subject such as kashrus.

Rav Avraham ben Rav Chaim Menachem BenZion Blumenkrantz ZTL created no problems for any Jew, and indeed helped many. He has ascended to the highest reaches of Gan Eden, and will be back with us in time for the Korban Pesach, may it be THIS Pesach.

[Shmarya]

Izhak –

Many people view him as causing much unnecessary trouble for Jews. As to your advice as to how people should have acted, I think you are naive and not in touch with life outside of Brooklyn.

[Itzhak Schier]

Who is many people? All I see, across the Internet, is a handful of disaffected people (mostly represented here) speaking ill of a very good man, Rav Avraham Blumenkrantz ZTL, whose guide they may have misused, or misunderstood, or never used, after he passed away.

I lived outside of Brooklyn for most of my life. Whenever I needed it, I looked at the Blumenkrantz guide, and around Pesach it was often a topic of discussion, wherever I was. The view was always that it presented great information, but was often too machmir. I also remember the disclaimers printed throughout the guides, especially regarding medication.

If people did not properly use the guide, and then realized the information was not proper for their community, or their level, or whatever, it is their fault. No one expects a Pesach guide to be perfect, or to completely rely on the advice of a rov who writes a book meant as a general guide.

[Itzhak Schier]

By the way, why didn't anyone else come out with a Pesach guide instead of complaining? I know that many found R' Blumenkrantz too machmir and indeed used the guide as I described. While R' Blumenkrantz ZTL was an "adam godol," even those who are very absorbed with "daas Torah" did not consider him one of the gedolei hador. He was also never associated even remotely chas vesholom with any negative person or persons at the fringes of the community who would stoop to any sort of skullduggery in blocking a competitive guide.

Could it be that the amount of research he put into the guide was just too much for someone else to undertake? Could it be that those who are complaining are just loud voices who really do not reflect much other than their own personal opinions which are in turn shared by few? Or could it be that when someone great passes away, small, insecure, sad people come out of the woodwork to criticize a man who cannot respond, rather than seeking help or finding their own niche in the community?

And again, Shmarya, as I said on another thread, if you are so alienated from Torah Judaism, please leave it, even temporarily. You are speaking only to your own choir, a small crowd of similarly confused souls whose members tend to exaggerate minor problems as they look only for negativity to bolster their own negative souls. The rest of us, who are happy with our lives even as we know that there is no perfection until Moshiach comes, pity you, ignore you or even mock you (the lattermost is also not acceptable).

Hatzlocho,

Itzhak Schier

[Shmarya]

Could it be that swallowing is not the same halakhic thing as eating? Why, yes! That's it! There is no issue of tarfus of hametz for any obligatory medicine, meaning for the vast majority of perscription drugs and many OTC druds, as well. The quantities are minute, batel, and, most importantly, inedible by themseves. Rabbi Blumenkrantz meant well. But he was not just a bit to stringent – he was off the map.

There is a klal any real posek can tell you. You don't paskin machmir for the masses. Rabbi Blumenkrantz forgot that, or, more likely, was OCD.

[Shmarya]

As for your personal advice, here's mine to you: You are in a cult. Give it up for awhile. Go live in Teaneck or Ramat Gan. And learn from non-haredim, non-haradal rabbis. Wake up.

[Itzhak Schier]

Shmarya, are you a recognized posek? And when did I say I ever held by the Blumenkrantz book? I used it as what it was intended to be and it saved me from an even more restricted Pesach than I normally choose, on my own volition and according to the most machmir of my community standards, to keep.

The worst that MIGHT have happened MAY have been that a patient asked his physician to prescribe a substitute for his usual medication for 8 days (or perhaps to give him injections). Or someone MIGHT have paid 20% more for an Adwe OTC preparation to use for a wine-induced headache. I'll bet all 25 people who did this are not cursing Rav Blumenkrantz ZTL either. And I also doubt that the rav ever attacked the cRc for their alternative psak. He was a mensch and a ben Torah who provided a valuable service. And most of us who used it knew when to ask other authorities.

I have lived on the Upper West Side and I chose what I chose after much introspection and experimentation. As for hardal, that does not even figure on my radar except when I put it on a deli sandwich.

Now, how about giving up this blog and writing a clear, concise Pesach guide for next year, if not this year. If you have enough knowledge of kashrus to criticize the existing one, and enough knowledge of food production to disparage Agriprocessors, and, as you claim, you learned for smicha, you would be a good candidate to write such a guide.

[Shmarya]

Don't eat hametz. Take all your meds. If any are chewable, or for a liquid that has taste, ask your rabbi.

Now go eat.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

no one is having a normal bowel movement

Thanks for sharing.

[Ghost of Rabbi Blumenkranz]

Some jerk played a practical joke on my grave and planted lettuce and other vegetables with bugs all around my coffin.

[healthy former charedei]

Nigertude,

You are welcome !

[DP]

The OU does allow RED #40

same thing, different name.

[Shmarya]

WRONG. The OU will not use carmine. Know it first hand, in detail, on the job.

[DP]

how about red #40?
do you know about that?

[DP]

How about "confectioners glaze"?

[Shmarya]

Check. The OU does NOT use carmine, that i know for sure. If the insect-basedingredient adds NO taste or color, it would be permitted by all authorites as long as it does not make up the majority of the product. This is kashrut 101.

[Tsipora]

YOU PEOPLE ARE SICK. Lashon Hora can spread so fast when speaking about someone- and to have the nerve to post it online is disgusting. I personally knew R' Blumenkrantz and it is evident and clear that he lived life Lishaym Shamayim with Yiras Shamayim and an awe of Hashem. Living such a lifestyle is not called OCD. It's called wanting to do the Ratzon of Hashem in a perfect way and it is clear that although we are not capable of living upto his standards, it is an ideal to do so. Just because we are weak in comparison to him does not mean we have the guts to name call the great Rav and label him as OCD. When someone feels weak in comparison to someone great, they feel they have the need to put them down- just as Hitler put down the Jewish people for "putting the shackles of conscience onto the soul" so too do you have the desire to put him down for his chumras. Hashem wants us to be strict and He wants us to enjoy life as well- it is evident that R' Blumenkrantz enjoyed life and used everything for Hashem. He had kavanah in everything, including eating something simple such as a peach. That's something that we can't even accomplish. He is someone we should aspire to, as opposed to put him down. We should be ashamed of ourselves as to the way we're speaking about Hashem's Torah which is Lo Bashamayim Hi and it's alive, too, which means that you can be stringent and strict too. Not one Gadol Hador would agree with what you have said here, and I think that we should rethink the way that we speak here. We cant compare the Rav to us and look at him at our eyes because its like trying to understand Avraham Avinu as if he and i are alike- no, we shud look at it through Torah's eyes and how Hashem would want it to be. We cant look at him as those ridiculous apikorsas psychologists would see R' Blumenkrantz as, calling him a ridiculous label "OCD" just as we have those other ludicrous titles- ADD, PTSD,PHD, mp3, aol, lol etc. we should see him as Hashem would see him as- an Eved of Hashem. Zeh Hu. And one cannot argue with that. Instead of being threatened by his greatness, let's learn from it and try to become like that ourselves.

[cnl]

Rabbi Blumenkrantz was a sweet and gentle person who loved Halacha. He tried his best to do the right thing and teach people Halacha and how to do Mitzvot. If a person was not up to his standard so be it but it is horrible to speak badly about someone who made himself available to the klall day and night. He truly loved Yidden and was full of goodness and kindness. I went to his Shiurim for many years and I can only think of him with respect and miss his presence. He had so much to offer and its a loss for all of us.