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Of Making Many Books

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...

Headless chickens–armless kids

kapooras

Perhaps Heinrich Heine’s maxim about burning books and people should be re-phrased: Those who mistreat chickens, mistreat kids.

Mind you, this is what happened when the chicken crossed the road.

kapores

Comments

  1. Is there nothing in London SH to talk about that you have to copy FMs blog. How about the largest shul installing CCTV. A family losing four members one after another. The divorce rate here. Its started to be a race which family can have the most and a status symbol. The late member of this family only had two. Since she was a young woman the men cant be blamed, only women can be blamed for men's problems, their new rov is now deciding how to enact more takanot for them. He has a difficult problem the stockings cant really get any thicker. No doubt he will want to make his mark (he unlike his father is still a none-ity) now is his chance to think of something.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon, I don't think you're being fair. This new rov you refer to is apparently quite popular with his community being much more accessible and user-friendly than his father. He has also started job creation and training programs which is far more than his father or several generations of Padwas ever managed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No job creation has yet started. To me it seems like an impossible dream. Time will tell. Remember at the moment they cant read, write or even talk English or do basic maths. Would you give them a job. Do you think that years of schooling can be accomplished in minutes. He has been here a year and not made his mark. Please read again carefully what I wrote (between the lines) I cant spell everything out. The reason he is popular is like the gemoro says because he does not give them mussar. Well yes only what they want to hear, like what the women should wear or the zionists. His father was no Satmar chosid like him, he even mentioned R Kook in one of his first droshos till he was told not to. I am told his shiur attendance is down to a mezuman.
    He is lucky that they have a strong 'rebbe' and unlike the other satmar dont go to Uman and the young have not yet 'split' like them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wouldn't be as pessimistic. He may not find a job for everyone but it's still more than has been done for the chasidishe crowd for a long time. Chasidim do have an enormous amount of resourcefulness and if he wants to try and tap into it I give him credit. Standing up at a jobs training evening won't win him fans with the fundis and yet he's prepared to do it. The shame is that it took the Tribune about 2 weeks to write about it and only after they were pressed and I don't think the Hamodia reported on it at all.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Look he is the new kid on the block. He was told computers are all the rage and the internet. So he is going down the road of teaching his chasidim how to use it. Considering that is all they are likely to learn, not maths or english, need I say more.
    Let us say a bit more.
    He has plenty of dayanim almost every second person why arent none of them signing with him.
    They have a butcher shop, a burial ground,a womens mikva, a bikur cholim, a video, shochtim, a rov many dayanim, why cant they make a shechita. Westheim single handed managed to.
    The answer no one would trust them on kashrus.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You're putting me in the strange position of defending a rov but you must be fair. Those chasidim who are likely to attend the courses will know how to use a computer and I have no doubt if it works out they will teach other skills too. Besides courses there is also assistnce in finding jobs.

    You are right about the dayonim and this is precisely why he feels like a breath of fresh air. While the other idiots hold protests outside Lubavitch he thinks about work and jobs.

    As for shechita, unles Satmar is provoked they will not be the ones to break the status quo. The 26ers learned their lesson when they went to court over the building in Cazenove Rd and for a weekend there were the pariahs of town. It taught them that what goes in NY doesn't work in London and they're not about to repeat their mistake. The milk saga will also have shown them the risks in going it alone despite underlying resentment against Kedassia.

    ReplyDelete
  7. They have broken it. This new rov spoke the same time as Padwa in the afternoon something his father never did. I dont blame him at all he does what he's told not like his father who had a mind of his own. They have a shop and shochtim they could easily make their own shechita.
    What skill can you teach someone who cant read, write or count. They are just deluding themselves.

    ReplyDelete

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