The Chameleon

Strolling in Shul courtyard, originally uploaded by yr514.

Zeitgeist commenting to mentalblog.com: Beltzer Tish: He has been on all sides and still does it his way in the end. He started out as a nephew of the previous Rebbe an alien child, there were other successors and claimants to being Belzer Rebbe when his uncle died, but he made sure to use violence and brand the side who opposed him as the "mordim" (they are still around and hate him with a passion).

He lived in the house of the Viznitzer and married his daughter but broke to create his own rival court in Jerusalem.

He was aligned with Satmar on the Bedats in Yerushalayim, but dumped them and made his own hechsher and beis din. The Satmars wiped out the Belzer's presence in Williamsburg, Brooklyn forcing the main group to relocate to Boro Park. He came to America and begged the Satmar Rebbe for a brocha to have a kid that they claim worked, and then ignored whatever Satmar may have expected from him in return.

He visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe who they say encouraged him to get into Kiruv, but his record has been very mixed and conflicted, he used it to raise lots of money for other causes not connected to kiruv.

He was with his father-in-law the Vizhnitzer Rebbe on Aguda together with Ger, but he dumped them all to join Rav Shach when the latter formed Degel.

He had Americans who were Yitchok Hutners disciples as big financial supporters but that did not stop him from finagling the land by trickery on which he then built his own huge edifice that largely belonged to Hutners people already.

He left Degel when he saw he could get his people, like Eichler, into the Knesset to promote his agenda with no regard to past political alliances.

It's said that being his chusid was no protection when he was demanding that they all bring him tons of cash to build the huge new building, if it wasn't enough he would literally throw it back into their faces. His Rome had to be built in a day, or else.

When he travels abroad it's like a king, and he expects to come home with many millions of dollars, or else don't come bother visiting him next time you are in Israel.

Every chusid is expected to fly to Israel a few times every year, there is no limit, as much as possible, wives and kids and family don't count, but being brain dead at a tish is more important, and oh, yeah, during yechidus the rebbe will guide and advise you as to how to make and scheme for making more money.

This is one heck of an operation that any Don would envy!