Hyehudi.org

Here’s the official story (my summary):

הרב עמרם בלוי, יהודה ויספיש ואהרון קצנלנבוגן פרשו מאגודת ישראל בשנת תרצ”ה וקראו לארגון שלהם “חברת החיים”. הרב יוסף צבי דושינסקיא זצ”ל העיר להם שזה נשמע כאילו רק הם חיים, ולכן השם המקורי נעזב. כעבור כמה שנים הוחל לקוראם “נטורי קרתא” בגלל כותרת כרוז שהוציאו נגד כופר הישוב, וגם הם קבלו על עצמם שם חדש זה.

Sounds simple, but where and what else did Rabbi Dushinsky have to do with these characters?! And they themselves admit to being anti-establishment troublemakers, even before their official “organization” (and mostly ever since).

So, here’s what I think really happened (just a guess):

R’ Katzenellenbogen (Note: unlike Rabbi Amram Blau, who certainly knew how to learn to a large degree, even if he wasn’t a true sage, Reb Aaron Katzenellenbogen was no Torah scholar, and everyone knows that) was probably starting a conversation with Rabbi Dushinsky, trying to get support of some sort (like he did unsuccessfully with the Chazon Ish, Rabbi Z.R. Bengis and others). When Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, head of the Eidah Hachareidis (בית דין צדק לכל מקהלות האשכנזים) and a leader of Agudas Yisrael heard these wise guys were going to finally unabashedly declare themselves their own leaders, and rebel against the duly constituted Beis Din and Kehillah, etc., he made a simple remark opposing (or at least not supporting) the organization itself, stupid titles aside.

Rabbi Dushinsky humorously referenced a gemara (Kuddushin 34a: גברי בעי חיי נשי לא בעי חיי or Yoma 11b)., but the Talmudic reference completely sailed over R’ Katzenellenbogen’s head, and the rest is history.

Of course, by that logic, it’s not as though calling themselves Neturei Karta, and implying no one else qualify as ספריא ומתניניא\scholars and teachers (from Yerushalmi Chagiga 6a-6b) is any better! (And the second name makes even less sense in context.)

This was no loving guidance and counsel by Rabbi Dushinsky to an organization under his auspices or even tacit support!

(I am surely getting the relations of the official organizations [Eidah Hachareidis, Agudas Yisrael] at the time wrong here. I don’t have the time to untangle the web.)

By the way, what did the real rabbis think of “Kofer Hayishuv”? Sounds like a vaguely legitimate levy to me…

מכתב א’ הקוראים לעיתון המודיע (ישן):

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A dispirited discussion took place at Beit HaRav, Rav Kook’s house in Jerusalem, not long after the end of World War II. The Chief Rabbi had passed away ten years earlier, and at the head of the table now sat his son, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook

At the Sabbath table, one participant raised a disturbing topic: the phenomenon of visitors touring Eretz Yisrael and subsequently criticizing the country upon their return home. “These visitors complain about everything: the heat, the poverty, the backwardness, the political situation — and they discourage other Jews from considering moving here,” he lamented.

Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah responded by recounting the following parable, one that he had heard in the name of Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, the rabbi of Bialystok.

The Failed Match

Once, there was a wealthy man who sought the hand of a particular young lady. She was the most beautiful girl in town and possessed many talents, as well as a truly refined character. Her family was not well-off, so they were enthusiastic about a potential match with the prosperous gentleman.

The young woman, however, had no interest in the match. Rich or not, the prospective suitor was known to be coarse and ill-mannered. She refused to meet with him.

The father requested that she meet the young man at their home, to avoid causing him embarrassment. “Remember,” he said, “just one meeting doesn’t mean you have to marry him.” To please her father, the young woman agreed.

The following Sabbath afternoon, the fellow arrived at the house as arranged and was warmly received by the father. Shortly afterward, his daughter made her entrance. However, her hair was uncombed, and she wore a faded, crumpled dress and shabby house slippers. Appalled at her disheveled appearance, it did not take long before the young man excused himself and made a hurried exit.

“What everyone says about this girl — it’s not true,” exclaimed the astonished young man to his friends. “She’s hideous!”

Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah stopped briefly, surveying the guests seated around the table. “Superficially, it would appear that the brash young fellow had rejected the young woman. But in fact, it was she who had rejected him.”

“The same is true regarding the Land of Israel,” the rabbi explained. “Eretz Yisrael is a special land, ready to accept only those who are receptive to its unique spiritual qualities. The Land does not reveal its inner beauty to all who visit. Not everyone is worthy to perceive its special holiness.”

“It may appear as if the dissatisfied visitors are the ones who reject the Land of Israel,” he concluded. “But in fact, it is the Land that rejects them!”

Source: Here.