And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12) A pdf version of this essay can be downloaded here [*] Years in brackets refer to an individual’s or book author’s year of birth Thought experiment for the day: Anyone born 1945 would be pushing towards 80 and mostly past their prime. So name any Charedi sefer written by someone born post war that has or is likely to enter the canon, be it haloche, lomdus, al hatorah or mussar. Single one will do for now — IfYouTickleUs (@ifyoutickleus) July 27, 2022 A tweet in the summer which gained some traction asked for a book by an author born from 1945 onwards that has entered the Torah and rabbinic canon or is heading in that direction. I didn't exactly phrase it this way and some quibbled about 'canonisation'. The word does indeed have a precise meaning though in its popular use it has no narrow definition. Canonisation, or ‘entering the canon’ is generally understood to...
'Rabbi of his people, leader of his nation, lamp of luminance, blessed be your arrival for peace' Unless you passed Egerton Road this week and have a smattering of Aramaic and more than that of English you may not be aware of the arrival of the Lamp of Bobov in our midst. And by the time you read this the Lamp will have travelled to radiate its luminance elsewhere so you will have missed out.
The reason I bring this to your attention is because I always wonder why is it that we are happy to put into Hebrew , Aramaic or even Yiddish words we would never say in English. Sometimes, like the Yiddish section of the JT, it's because they put into Hebrew characters anything they wish to keep out of sight of the goyim or, worse, the JC. But there's nothing harmful about describing a 50/60 something as a lamp yet the most his followers would ever say about him in English is 'Grand Rabbi'. So why this reticence?
I have a couple of theories.
1. They know it's a load of rubbish and are embarrased of others who lack their fervour reading it. As for Hebrew speakers they're all used to it and those who disapprove can be dismissed as heretics or opponents. Anyway most of them use even more extravagent epithets for their own Grands so simply to keep up with the halberstams and teitelbaums you need to lay on the lamps.
2. The embarrasment is of themselves. English being a language used for logical discourse will cause the silly titles to jar in their own brains. By contrast, since Hebrew is used for prayer of which half of it in anyway not understood, and even that which is understood is mumbled through automatonlike at a speed far exceeding light, nonsense can be spouted out as no one gives it a second thought assuming they had a first one. It allows the propagandists to use ancient, anachronistic mumbo jumbo without as much as a shokel as the message is not in the meaning but simply being there in a size 72 font multiplied by the number of bulbs illuminating it. It evokes sights and mental sounds of a golden age and of musty books to which they wish to nail their rabbi's shtreimel. And as far as that goes it does a fairly good job.
The reason I bring this to your attention is because I always wonder why is it that we are happy to put into Hebrew , Aramaic or even Yiddish words we would never say in English. Sometimes, like the Yiddish section of the JT, it's because they put into Hebrew characters anything they wish to keep out of sight of the goyim or, worse, the JC. But there's nothing harmful about describing a 50/60 something as a lamp yet the most his followers would ever say about him in English is 'Grand Rabbi'. So why this reticence?
I have a couple of theories.
1. They know it's a load of rubbish and are embarrased of others who lack their fervour reading it. As for Hebrew speakers they're all used to it and those who disapprove can be dismissed as heretics or opponents. Anyway most of them use even more extravagent epithets for their own Grands so simply to keep up with the halberstams and teitelbaums you need to lay on the lamps.
2. The embarrasment is of themselves. English being a language used for logical discourse will cause the silly titles to jar in their own brains. By contrast, since Hebrew is used for prayer of which half of it in anyway not understood, and even that which is understood is mumbled through automatonlike at a speed far exceeding light, nonsense can be spouted out as no one gives it a second thought assuming they had a first one. It allows the propagandists to use ancient, anachronistic mumbo jumbo without as much as a shokel as the message is not in the meaning but simply being there in a size 72 font multiplied by the number of bulbs illuminating it. It evokes sights and mental sounds of a golden age and of musty books to which they wish to nail their rabbi's shtreimel. And as far as that goes it does a fairly good job.
Comments
Post a Comment
UPDATED REMINDER: PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING ANONYMOUS!
I've been requested to remind commenters to stick to a handle so that discussions can be easily followed. Thank you!