Yhoshua Leib Gould

Infobox_Person
name = Rabbi Yhoshua Leib Gould (Golde)
residence = Jerusalem
birth_name = Yhoshua Leib Ben Yom Tov Lipa
birth_date = Birth date and age|1925|4|26|mf=y
birth_place = Munkatch, Hungary(Now Ukraine)
parents = Yom Tov Lipa Golde (Gould) and Esther Sheindl Rokeakh
occupation = Posek, Dayan, Rav of Neturei Karta Beit Shemesh
religion = Judaism (Satmar Hasidic)
spouse = Chayah Freidl Sikorra

Yhoshua Leib Gould, (26 April, 1925 in Munkatch, Hungary) also known as the "Lehitakfo Chalushin", is a posek and educator who identifies himself as a Satmar Hasid, and is affiliated with the Edah HaChareidis. ["Mibod HaYom", February 2007, "Kafias and Bow Ties," p. 24; Yechiel Sever] He is currently the rabbi of Neturei Karta in Beit Shemesh Jerusalem, and is the presiding rabbi of its synagogue "Beis Midrash Tamar Avraham". ["Mibod HaYom", p. 23, Yechiel Sever]

Early life

Yhoshua Leib Gould (or Golde) was born in Munkatch, Hungary in 1925. [Ibid. p. 24] He was considered an "illuy", or Talmudic genius, and was privileged to spend an unusual amount of time with the Munkatcher Rebbe, Chaim Elazar Spira [Ibid]

After the death of the Munkatcher Rebbe, Yhoshua Leib Gould moved with his parents and four sisters to Sighet. His family became close to the Sigheter Rav, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum, and he was Bar Mitzvahed in the synagogue of the Sigheter Rebbe. He was given semicha in Dayanut the same day. [Ibid.] . It was also in Sighet that he met the Satmar Rav, Yoel Teitelbaum for the first time. [Ibid.] . With the start of the war, rumors began to reach Hungary of the crimes being committed against the Jews. The elder Mr. Gould asked the Sigheter Rav whether he should flee or stay. He was told to stay, and was deported to Ukraine as slave labor. When he returned to Hungary the Sigheter Rav told him to take his family and flee to Romania. He did, but Yhoshua Leib remained behind to stay with the Sigheter Rebbe. [Ibid] The Germans invaded and they were deported to Auschwitz only to be liberated a few months later. [ Ibid.] Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda did not survive, and Yhoshua Leib became loyal to the new Rav of Sighet, Moshe Teitelbaum.

Yhoshua Leib moved to the Old City of Jerusalem, where he became involved first with Agudat Yisrael, then the Edah HaChareidis and a controversial splinter sect led by Amram Blau known as Neturei Karta. When the Israeli War of Independence started, the Jordanian Legion captured the Old City, Yhoshua Leib fled first to Katamon and then to Meah Shearim. [Ibid. p. 24] He worked for several years as a tutor and yeshivah rebbe, and even as a brick layer and furniture carpentar. [Ibid. p. 24]

In 1957 he was appointed a "chaver", or expert consultant, of the Edah HaChareidis, having been recognized as an expert in the laws of Marriage and Divorce, then considered important due to the large number of Agunahs following the Holocaust and Israeli War of Independence. [Ibid. p. 24] Though employed by the Eidah Cheradit, he continued to stay in contact with Amram Blau and Moses Teitelbaum. It was during this time, at the insistence of Moses Teittelbaum, that Yhoshua Leib developed a connection to the Satmar Rav, Yoel Teitelbaum. [Ibid. p. 24]

Works

Yhoshua Gould is the author of several works on the Shulchan Aruch and Midrash Rabbah. The most well known is "Lehitakfo Chalushin" ("Strengthen the Weak"), a commentary on rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried's Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. "Lehitakfo Chalushin" comments on each paragraph, explaining various opinions on each law and clarifying if the law as brought down by the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch is a leniency, stringency, or the principle Halachah. He defines principle Halachah as the opinion held by the majority of Ashkenazi commentators. [Lahitakfo Chalushin, Introduction] The work also contains strong reproof for those lenient with various laws, drawing on imagery from Reshit Chochmah and other Mussar works. The introduction to Chapter 152 discusses the laws of premarital physical contact between men and women, homosexuality, and lesbianism. These laws were absent in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. [Lahitakfo Chalushin 152 Introduction] The introduction to the work states explicitly that it was written for Modern Orthodox youth, converts to Judaism, and the newly religious. [Lahitakfo Chalushin, Introduction]

The work was hailed as an important contribution by a few in the Haredi community despite comments critical of Agudat Israel. His comparison of Religious Zionists to "worshipers of the biblical idol Molech" was offensive to members of that community. His approach to the prohibition of unmarried women going to the mikveh was viewed as controversial in light of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's response on the subject in Iggros Moshe.

An organ of the Daati Leumi political party in Israel suggested Yhoshua Gould be brought up on charges for "incitement" due to his ruling that seminary deans and Rosh Yeshivas who give inappropriately lenient rulings to their students could be physically harmed if the matter involved questions of faith, matters of bloodshed, or sexual sins. [Our Velt, "Here We go Again," Rivka Ella Green, Nov. 2005] He writes, "The fools are thieves, makers of prostitutes, and murderers in two worlds. About them it is written, 'He who sheds the blood of an evildoer is considered to have brought a pleasing sacrifice.' (Bamidbar Rabbah, Pinchas)" [Lehitakfo Chalushin 152:8]

At a public lecture at Yeshiva Omrei Emes in October 2005, Yhoshua Leib Gould showed that he held of his opinion literally when he slapped a yeshivah student who said there is no prohibition in Torah Law against lesbianism. [Our Velt, "Here We go Again," Rivka Ella Green, Nov. 2005] It has been suggested this act violated a prohibition on Jews striking each other.

Neturei Karta, Beit Shemesh

Yhoshua Leib used his position in the Eidah Hareidis to defend Neturei Karta. Following the first Neturei Karta mission to Iran in 1999, he used his influence to convince the Edah HaChareidis to endorse that mission publicly. An endorsement was printed in the Edah HaChareidis newspaper, the Edah. [The Edah, 27 Sivan] In 2005, Moses Teitelbaum's rhetoric became more aggressive towards the State of Israel. His office announced, "Satmar has declared war on Zionism." [ Mishpacha Jewish Family Weekly, "Behind the Walls," Yossi Eilituv. Jan. 11, 2006. p. 23] Yhoshua Gould understood this as endorsement from the Nasi ("president") of the Edah HaChareidis to increase anti-Zionist activities. ["Mibod HaYom", February 2007, "Kafias and Bow Ties," p. 24; Yechiel Sever] He accepted the position of Rav (Rabbi) in "Beis Midrash Tamar Avraham", the synagogue of Neturei Karta in Ramat Beit Shemesh. [Ibid]

The activities of Neturei Karta and the larger Haredi community in Beit Shemesh immediately became more aggressive. The police chief Oz Eliasi reported that Beit Shemesh police had to frequently break up physical confrontations between Haredim and other Jews over religious issues [Connections] , and signs began to appear in the central shopping center demanding women obey "ultra-orthodox laws of modesty" or not enter. Other activities included the ousting of a Religious Zionist family from their home in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Beit suburb, and a protest of a Religious Zionist synagogue being built which led to two arrests. [Connections,Haredim protests block traffic on Nahar YardenTemura, 19 January 2006]

On Yom HaAtzmaut Neturei Karta in Ramat Beit Shemesh flew Palestinian flags for the first year [Connections Magazine, "In 'Honor' of Yom Haatzmaut: A Few RBS Haredim Wore Sackcloth and Hung Palestinian Flags" Temura, 1 May 2006] rather than the less controversial black flags they had flown in previous years. [Connections Magazine, "Letters to the Editor" 1 June 2006] The flags offended the wider Beit Shemesh community. [Ibid.] [Connections Magazine, "Letters to the Editor" 1 August 2006] Several Haredi groups wrote open letters denouncing the display. [Connections Magazine, "In 'Honor' of Yom Haatzmaut: A Few RBS Haredim Wore Sackcloth and Hung Palestinian Flags" Temura, 1 May 2006] However even some in the Hungarian Jewish community that were not Neturei Karta supporters grudgingly defended the actions. [Connections Magazine, "Letter to the Editor" 1 July 2006]

References

Persondata
NAME= Gould, Yhoshua Leib
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Golde, Yhoshua Leib; Reb Leibish; Leibish
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Contemporary Israeli, Sarmar Hasidic posek and educator
DATE OF BIRTH= 26 April 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH= Munkatch, Hungary
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=