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
Shabbos Parshath Tetzave…
Went to the Skulener's tish simply to see the crowd. I also hoped I'd get to hear some nice singing. I left the house at 9.45pm and I turned up at Yesodey Hatorah School on Stamford Hill and the marquee was rather empty with few people at the top table. By the time I left after 11 the place was full to capacity. They had set up a marquee across the entire girls' primary school garden stretching from Hurstdene Gardens all the way to Northdene Gardens. There is the trunk of a dead tree in the centre of the garden which looked rather atristic in the middle of the marquee, its bare branches looking like a supplicant holding his hands up to heaven. Trust Chasidim not to see something like that and their concern must have been whether the tree may be touched on Shabbos or speculation if it's a fruit tree and so can't be cut down. As if it's a capital crime for a tree not to bear fruit.
The Rebbe, who is a tiny little man with a cute smile, enchanted the audience. They were arranged on 7-tiered scaffolding on either side of approximately 100' long tables (though I'm bad on measurements). The singing was warm and he clearly electrified the crowd which must be one of the larger turnouts London has ever seen for a rebbe. Since the songs were not familiar I was wondering who taught them to the crowds who were joining in with gusto. I later heard that a rent-a-crowd was imported from the Wilreijk yeshiva in Belgium who were taught the songs in advance.
Having waited about an hour for the rebbe to appear and then a further 20 minutes or so for him to welcome his celestial escorts he had still not proceeded to kiddush, and with only intermittent chanting and singing I beat a hasty retreat. But not before they burst out to sing 'Her sons rise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters have done valiantly, but you excel them all.’ A rather mundane song on the border where chant ends and song begins but it appealed nonetheless when sung spiritedly by the imported teens. Besides the Rebbe was his son who is slightly taller than his father though appears to lack his father's gracefulness. The Rebbe clapped his hands and the terraces clapped. He flailed his arms and the terraces lifted as one. Then he stopped and so did they. Rather orchestrated with too little spontaneity other than in the Rebbe himself but no less moving for that.
I made my way out and all the roads were leading to Skulen despite midnight being less than an hour away. In the morning I heard that YHS had charged £5k for the hire of the garden for the better part of a week. Estimates of the costs of the marquee and scaffolding for the 'bleachers' and double tiered dais were approximately a further £25k. This Rebbe must be raising huge amounts if so much is being invested though luckily on Shabbos money cannot be spoken about. That though didn't stop them pasting the walls and leafleting the place with information on the Rebbe's institutions in Israel with more than a subtle hint that you're expected to return for the Saturday night jamboree when pockets need not be bare upon entry.
I will leave it to the new look Tribune (more face lifts than Michael Jackson, more botox than Jaylo) to report, or rather cut and paste, on the warmth at the tish and the mood that prevailed throughout the Rebbe's stay and the impression the Rebbe left behind without a mention of course of what and how much he'll be taking along with him.
All in all, however, this Rebbe as many other rebbes prove the adage that it is better to travel than to arrive. For when the Skulener arrives home to Borough Park in Brooklyn he will find barely 2 score people in his shul and at his tishn. By contrast, here he drew huge crowds by the force of his song, his moral authority as a Holocaust survivor and someone who was imprisoned by the communists for his Jewish activities, his charisma and the legendary songs composed by his father in Romania after the war when he cared for the many orphaned Jewish children. So thank you and au revoir Rebbe for the warm Shabbos though I'm more sceptical over your post Shabbos activities.
[I wrote this (with some slight edits) after the Skulener Rebbe visited these shores in 2011 for a Shabbos though for whatever reason I didn’t publish it at the time. The date on the file is 12 February 2011]
Great!
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