= Part 2 =

The Satmar Rebbe shlit"a continued with an account of a teshuva cited in Teshuvos Maharash, part 7, siman 118, of the Radimishler Rav zt"l, in which he writes to the holy R' Yeshaya'le of Krakow, the youngest son of the holy Divrei Chaim zy"a. It concerned someone who had introduced the baking of machine matzos in Krakow, against the ruling of the Divrei Chaim, who had forbidden machine matzos. He answers in the teshuva: "In the environs of Krakow there are thousands of chassidim of Maran the Divrei Chaim z"l, and they accepted upon themselves the chumra of the Divrei Chaim not to eat machine matzos. Therefore it is forbidden to breach the fence there by making machine matzos."
One must reflect: he does not write "in Krakow"; he writes "in the environs of Krakow," meaning all the towns around Krakow, where there are thousands of Sanz chassidim. Everyone understands that other chassidim also lived in the environs of Krakow, and that thousands of Jews lived there who were not Sanz chassidim and had not accepted this chumra. Yet he writes such an interesting teshuva, and it lies between the lines: "Krakow is the environs of Sanz, the resting place of the holy Divrei Chaim." And since there are thousands of chassidim in the environs of Krakow who follow the Divrei Chaim, "the entire area is the domain of the master," even if there were none in Krakow itself. Therefore it is forbidden to bring into Krakow machine matzos, which go against the ruling of the Divrei Chaim. Imagine, say, Czernowitz, such a distant city; he would not have written such a teshuva. But to Krakow he wrote such a teshuva!! All the more so the environs of Kiryas Joel. All the residents in the environs of Kiryas Joel are chassidim of my uncle z"l and accept his words with awe in all matters, including the time of Rabbeinu Tam's opinion. Therefore, no one may be lenient in the environs of Kiryas Joel in this matter!!.

The Satmar Rebbe shlit"a cited a dispute between the Yeitev Lev and the Divrei Chaim over whether one can make a mikvah kosher using wine or milk. All the children of the Divrei Chaim conducted themselves with the chumra of the Divrei Chaim to make a mikvah kosher only with sand. The Rebbe shlit"a told of his uncle, the Rebbe zy"a, who also accepted this chumra and made a mikvah kosher with sand in Montreal.

There was an incident in the town of Oshpitzin, which is a hundred miles from Sanz. The Rav there, a great gaon, author of Ohel Yehoshua, had made the mikvah kosher with wine. The holy R' Aharon, the Krayzer Rav, at that time Rav in Sanz and a son of the Divrei Chaim, wrote a letter to the Rav: "Although in your opinion one may make a mikvah kosher with red wine..." He wrote him of a dream he had: he saw in a dream his holy father, the holy Divrei Chaim, and his father asked him, "In your area there is someone making a mikvah kosher with wine against my ruling; why are you silent?" So the holy Divrei Chaim asked him in the dream. He wrote to the Rav: "The reason I am writing to you is that Oshpitzin is in the environs of Sanz. I beg you to retract and make the mikvah kosher again with sand." The Rav paid no attention to the letter, and the spring dried up! They had to dig a second spring in another place and make a new mikvah, and then they already made it kosher with sand!! From Oshpitzin to Sanz is much farther than the environs here of Kiryas Joel; this is literally adjacent!! I want to state here a halachic ruling for all residents of Kiryas Joel and the environs on all sides: "One may not be lenient to do melacha on Motzei Shabbos, or Motzei Yom Tov, or to break the fast on Motzei Yom Kippur, before tzeis hakochavim according to the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam."

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