The letters of our thoughts are the ideas present in our mind before they come to realization . . . Thoughts that are, yet not felt . . . The words of the subconscious . . . of the soul . . .

These are the LETTERS OF MY THOUGHTS.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Such a Loss


The world has lost the Roshette . . . life long partner of the Rosh, Rabbi Ezra Schochet - the Rosh Yeshivah of my Alma Mater Yeshivah Ohr Elchonon Chabad.
Oh how sad.

Jewish Communities Worldwide Mourn Mrs. Sarah Rochel Schochet

She flew out for our wedding in Ithaca. The next day by the brunch hosted for the visiting guests by the local shluchim (her niece), she ran around us - insisting on pouring my cup of orange juice and serving me cheesecake and coffee - a Choson was a king and there was no way a king would have to serve himself.

When we flew to LA for Sheva Brochos, she invited us for dinner after the fuss over the newlyweds had died down.

. . . and on the way to LA this evening for Purim, we were supposed to eat seudas Purim at their house.
Oy! Chaval al d'avdin... v'hachai yiten el libo
(Photo: Rabbi Schochet in Crown Heights)

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Weird Sign Wednesday VII




























I saw this sign when driving up North to Montreal October last year. I was surprised by the English - until I read the Yiddish:
It is forbidden by the NYS DOT to use the Water Fountain to wash your hands the entire year, in the middle house there are only sinks (not in the bathroom) where [misspelled for a Hungarian accent] one can wash the hands, there is also a sink in the Sukkah
Oh Heimish Yidden . . . when will you learn?

In time for Purim I have bonus link:
 BEERS OF THE TIMES A Delicious Free-for-All http://j.mp/9DvMtU

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The Berliner and the Lubavitcher - a historic Purim Redux in MP3


After Tzig gave us Harav Hutner I downloaded it onto my Zune HD and played it . . . a geshmak! (Tzig's YouSendit version maxed out - so download it here)
A Litvishe rendition of Daled Bovos (I think they skip the last fal!), other niggunim, a clear crisp Yiddish from the rabbbi himself, and even inyonim from Tanya.


After it all though . . . I yearned for more audio on my mp3 player to take with me.




. . . Tweeting to all Lubavitchers out there that I'd love to get my hands on the MP3 from famed Purim Tov Shin Chai farbrengen, I was answered withing minutes by Mrs. Mann.

Ashrecha Detroit that your shluchos have farbrengenish at their fingertips!

Enjoy Yidden:

Purim Tov Shin Chai (with album art)

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The Art Institute of Chicago - A Photo Essay



As I've done in the past - enjoy the photos!

Click on the link to see them all!

I was actually surprised how many famous works the Art Institute had . . . their collection of French Impressionists was amazing . . .






I love Renoir






One of my favorites


Another great - love the guy in the red shirt and kasket smoking his pipe! Seurat's pointillism always fascinated me as a child.







Not my favorite - but a famous one.




Brilliant!






Monet tops them all off as my favorite - the fact that he pained series of paintings makes it all the more enjoyable!
























Some of my own art



American artists:










Love Nighthawks





Did you ever notice that the folds of his overalls and shirt look like the pitchfork?










Other Museums I've photographed:
MoMA, Hermitage
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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Picture of the Week 96



Taken by the Art Institute of Chicago

Please say tehillim for Sara Rochel bas Genya.

Good Shabbos!


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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

To the ones that write in the dark

If the bad news that I hear is true ( I hope it is a joke . . . And I will delete this) A fire burns in the JBlogosphere tonight! Listen voices of false piety and oppression - pick one someone your own size!
Sota 22b . . . Look it up!

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Weird Sign (almost no longer) Wednesday VI


This week's Weird Sign Wednesday is a little late (err . . . it's almost Thursday) - so I'm packaging it with a few interesting links.
-------
To the sign:
"Great I'd love a washing Machine and Dryer . . . now what's the number to call?"
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-There's a fascinating article I found from R' Menachem M. Kasher on the author of the Zohar original printed in Sinai: Read it here.
   (I decided to translate it for fun in Google Translate . . . and got this gem when in a paragraph on the Zohar and Gershom Scholem:
בשנת תש"א יצא לאור בירושלים ספר בשם: Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism מאת פרופ' ג' שלום, בו מברר באריכות שאלת הזוהר ומחברו ודעתו עם אלה המייחסים אותו לר' משה די ליאון ולא עם אלה שמקדימים אותו. In Jerusalem Ts"a published a book called: Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism by Professor John Peace, which at length the question of checking the Zohar and its author and his mind with those attribute it to R. Moses de Leon and those ahead of him.)
-Quirks of translation brings me to another great link:
Translation Party! This site translate a phrase entered into in repeatedly from English to Japanese and then back again - as can be guessed, Engrish and hilarity ensue!  

-Muppets + Digg + YouTube Commenters = FIRE! . . . Love it!

-From the New York Times: Listening In on a Pay Phone in Queens

-My latest article for Lubavitch.com: Rabbi Chaskel Besser, Activist for Polish Jewry

Please feel free to comment on the Weird Sign, or discuss any of the links here.


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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Hassids and Hipsters: A Redux in Art and Thought



Last night we went to a Gallery of Elke Reva Sudin's work - "Hipsters and Hassids" in Der Arbiter Ring in Manhattan (The Workmen's Circle - a place that brought up memories of my Grandfather . . . for it was at the Arbiter Ring that he learned Yiddish)  - click on the link to see it all . . .



In the words of Elke from her blog:

Hipsters and Hassids are two polar opposite communities that live side by side in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Hipsters are young, trendy, and artsy while Hassids are religious Jews who follow a specific tradition that they hold to strictly. Even though they look completely different on the outside, Hipsters and Hassids share many difficulties in common on the inside.



Much of the art played on the symmetry or dissonance of the two cultures . . . The Chassidim austere in black, the hipsters colored like flamboyant colors and wild designs - and yet the Chassidic group going as a family or community - the hipsters alone even when they are together - pensively smoking cigarettes. [Enjoy: How to dress like a hipster]


When we came at 10:00 not all the art had been hung up yet . .



They hamburgers, we eat pastrami on rye, they drink Milkshakes (or smoothies or . . .) we drink . . . Doctor Browns?
Unhealthy food unites.



The crowd definitely weighed in on the side of the hipsters. Even the Chassidim there (besides for those that truly stradled both worlds) wanted to be hipsters.

I often wonder if we Lubavitchers really have any class. There's something insincere about the adoption of some of the Hipster culture -  How many truly follow the mental waves and vibes of the Yuppies of Parkslope and the Hipsters of Greenpoint . . . and how many in a quest for individuality in our Neo-Chassidic society have opted for another form of ubiquity - being unique . . . like everyone else.

Here's the test for all would be Chassidic Hipsters - if you a Chossid that is Hip or a Hipster that is Hassidic . . . Satmar and the Hipsters fight over the bike lanes in Williamsburg. The Hipster want to bike, the Chassidim don't want to be exposed to the tight-fitting and skimpy dress of the bikers. Legal issues aside . . . who is right?
     


The classic game of Frogger this time played out as a scantly clad (if not entirely pixelated) hipsters trying to bike across Bedford Ave and it's swarms of angry Satmar Chassidim.


A concert and a Purim Schpiel . . .




The Bridge


After catching up with some of the Jewish Twitterati, looking at the pictures . . . and being unable to find Elke to congratulate her on the work, we left the gallery.

Outside the building, a group of hipsters stood, smoking cigarettes clenched between their thumbs and forefingers and pressed against brightly colored lips . . . taking heavy drags and looking out through deeply mascaraed eyes.
  "I don't get it?" one said, Converse All-Star clad left foot pressed against the red bricks of the building. "Is she Chabad or something?"
  "No," said the friend.
  "So then why are the so many F*cking Lubavitchers here?"

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