The Stamford Hill neighborhood of London is one of the most significant Jewish centers in all of Europe. It is in this vibrant community of Jewish life that Rav Aharon Dovid Dunner resides. Rav Dunner, the av beis din of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, is the heir and torchbearer of his late father, Rav Yosef Tzvi Dunner, zt”l, and is renowned as one of the foremost dayanim of our time, fielding halachic queries from around the globe; he is also a gifted orator.

Although his desk is piled high with questions and his schedule is extremely tight, Rav Dunner found time to grant a special interview to Ami Magazine after the Dirshu event in London (see sidebar), even if it meant speaking to me at 2:00 a.m., creating a unique atmosphere given the hour, location and context.

 

Visitors to London are often struck by the vitality of Jewish life both in the city itself and throughout the United Kingdom. To what do you attribute this?
Baruch Hashem, the chareidi community is thriving, but things haven’t always been easy. The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations was established a century ago by Rabbi Dr. Avigdor Schonfeld, zt”l, who sought to elevate the standards of halachah among English Jews. My late father, who fled Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) to England, was appointed the av beis din of the Union. While there were other organizations and communities already here, some people felt that they wanted additional stringency and hiddur.
Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, zt”l, the former av beis din of London, was once traveling on a ship that had a kosher kitchen under his supervision. When a frum Yid asked him if he could eat the food that was prepared in it, Rav Abramsky replied, “You can eat from this kitchen.” The man didn’t understand his response, so he asked him again, and Rav Abramsky said: “You can eat the food from this kitchen.” He then explained, “There are various matters that the Shulchan Aruch permits. Nonetheless, it adds that one who is machmir will be blessed. In other words, the thing itself is muttar, but if someone wants to be more stringent he can be more stringent, provided that his stringency is only for himself. That is what I am telling you. You are permitted to eat whatever is prepared in this kitchen, but whether or not you actually do so is for you to decide.”
Similarly, the creation of this community in London wasn’t intended as a criticism of anyone else; rather, it was founded as an option for those who wanted to be more stringent.
Baruch Hashem, we have everything a kehillah could possibly need, with shuls and mosdos chinuch that address all aspects of chareidi life. The Kedassia hechsher is widely accepted with our own shechitah. There are also numerous organizations and gemachs affiliated with the Union, including a service to help those who encounter a problem on the road. We also have a beis horaah and two batei din, one in Stamford Hill and one in Golders Green. We maintain a telephone hotline for halachic questions staffed by morei tzedek and a separate beis din that rules on all matters of marriage and divorce.
But what’s truly unique about the London community is something that I believe is unparalleled anywhere else in the world: the fact that all Jewish groups coexist so nicely—we have Satmar chasidim alongside Belz, Ger, Vizhnitz, Klausenburg and Hungarian Jews, together with the bnei hayeshivos and of course the Yekkes, who were among the Union’s founders.

And there is no machlokes?
Let’s not get carried away. Have you ever seen a Jewish community without conflict? Unfortunately, it seems as if a Jewish community cannot exist without some disagreement.

It’s an old Jewish tradition that there must always be “a shul that one will never enter.”
That is unfortunately always the case. Machlokes and ego always find sustenance.
A rav once told me that he wanted to observe a din Torah in action. He had never seen one before, so he went to the badatz of the Eidah Hachareidis to watch. There was a case being brought before Rav Yisrael Yaakov Fisher, zt”l. Someone had a complaint against the chevrah kaddisha. The man had bought a burial plot for himself, after which he discovered that they had sold the plots on either side of him to two women, and he didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be between two women. He wanted the chevrah kaddisha to find him another plot or come up with some other solution. For its part, the chevrah kaddisha argued that they had never committed themselves to anything with regard to the surrounding plots. Rav Fisher listened and then said, “The chevrah kaddisha is right. Why? It’s very simple. They can dig the grave a few meters deeper and the man can be there by himself.”
There’s a symbolic lesson here: If there’s a conflict, all that’s needed is to lower one’s ego a bit and the matter will be resolved.

I’ve heard that the community is currently in the midst of a controversy regarding the eruv in North London.
There are many disputes related to eiruvin. Too many. Shlomo Hamelech instituted eruv chatzeiros miderabbanan, and Chazal teach that it was instituted to increase shalom. But it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like the eruv creates machlokes. Our neighborhood has a very unique eruv. It’s the only one in the area that Kedassia permits because it’s surrounded on three sides by park fences and such. Therefore, it is difficult to find grounds for stringency even if one tries. The matzos for the eruv are kept in my house. As a Yekke, I wanted to use machine matzos, but the chasidim requested that I use only hand-made matzos, so I did.

Is the community growing?
Baruch Hashem, kein yirbu. We have a local publication called Kol Mevaser that is published weekly. It has a section for simchos. Every week there are at least 17 or 18 shalom zachors in Stamford Hill and the same number in Golders Green, not to mention an equal number of girls being born and dozens of engagements. The community is growing quite rapidly, bli ayin hara. When I first came here 50 years ago, most of the local residents were non-Jews. Today, the entire area is Jewish. On the other hand, this has led to rising prices and housing shortages. In this neighborhood the prices are sky-high because there’s an eruv. When I bought my house, it cost £25,000. Today, houses like that are going for a million pounds more. On the positive side, every second house has a beis midrash or shtiebel in it. When I arrived there was no mikvah in the area, and now there’s one on every street. And the relations between neighbors are excellent—the bnei Torah, the balebatim and the chasidim all work together.

How is this growth expressed in terms of Yiddishkeit?
Baruch Hashem, there has also been a lot of chizzuk in this area; we have many lomdim and avreichim in our midst. A lot of people attend shiurim, including balebatim. In fact, unlike in Eretz Yisrael, we have more balebatim than avreichim, but they all have set times for Torah study. There are also shiurim given online by graduates of our beis midrash that reach thousands of people, which demonstrates the proper use of technology.
A lot of credit for the increased learning is due to the Dirshu organization. Rav David Hofstedter invests his resources and energy in the right places to strengthen Torah study through programs like Daf Yomi, Amud Yomi, Daf Hayomi B’Halachah, Mishnah Berurah and so on. And they periodically hold large events that encourage more people to join.

How important is it for a working person to consistently participate in a daily shiur?
It’s an absolute obligation. Although it’s permissible to work for a living, the main thing is that a Yid must set fixed times for Torah study. As Chazal said, “Make your Torah fixed and your work temporary.” Rabbi Yochanan Hasandlar was a shoemaker, but his primary occupation was learning. There are no excuses; everyone can find something that suits him. Dirshu can be very helpful in this regard because of its various programs that can be individualized to each person’s circumstances and level. They also have tests and rewards.
I recall that there was a program for youth to learn Gemara that included tests and prizes. Someone went to Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, zt”l, to complain about it, saying that it’s wrong to give out prizes for studying Torah since it must be done lishmah and not for any ulterior motives. He replied, “Kinderlach, it’s okay to give out prizes. Give out as many prizes as possible, and the more the better. It increases ahavas haTorah, and ‘mitoch shelo lishmah, ba lishmah.’” The point is that everyone should select the program appropriate for him and set times for Torah study.

 

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