"Bombshell at AJOP"

The following is a quote from Rabbi Yitzchak Adlerstein on Cross-Currents.com regarding Rav Benzion's "Bombshell at AJOP":

At some point I hope to summarize one of the sessions that I delivered, entitled “The Top Ten Reasons Why Frum People Are Unhappy With Their Yiddishkeit.” I pulled no punches, but deserve little credit for candor. I live on the West Coast, relatively out of the reach of those who detest candor and honesty. Truth be told, though, nothing I said held a candle to the breathtaking courage of Rabbi Benzion Twerski of Milwaukee, who spoke to 600 people, roughly evenly divided between kiruv professionals and laypeople from the New York area who drove up to Stamford to try out some of what Rabbi Lowebraun put together for them. R' Twerski spoke after the two other scheduled speakers at this session, namely R' Shmuel Kamenetsky, shlit”a, the Novominsker Rebbe, shlit”a, both members of the US Moetzes.

After close to a twenty minute lead-up to the centerpiece of his presentation, he spoke of the need to relate differently to the expectations of those to whom we reach out and offer membership in the community of the halachically observant. More importantly, he said we need to relate differently to a need in the lives of the tens of thousands of yeshiva-trained people who have left the Beis Medrash for the world of employment.

The transition came with a story, courtesy of Rabbi Berel Wein. A talmid told him that he was no longer learning in yeshiva. “But don’t worry. I’m not working, either.”

With that, you could sense that something momentous was about to happen..."

Click HERE to read the rest. To listen to the entire shiur, click HERE.