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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

End the Year and her Dross – Bring on the Year and her Gloss

If anyone has a better rhyming translation for תכלה שנה וקללותיה – תחל שנה וברכותיה fee free to add it to the comments. In the meantime I leave you to meditate upon two marvellous poems, one for the dross and the other for the gloss, both by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) The Year What can be said in New Year rhymes, That’s not been said a thousand times? The new years come, the old years go, We know we dream, we dream we know. We rise up laughing with the light, We lie down weeping with the night. We hug the world until it stings, We curse it then and sigh for wings. We live, we love, we woo, we wed, We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead. We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear, And that’s the burden of the year. New Year (As the old year sinks down in Time's ocean...) As the old year sinks down in Time's ocean, Stand ready to launch with the new, And waste no regrets, no emotion, As the masts and the spars pass from view. Wee

The Definite Article

Those of us relying on the heimishe press for our cerebral fodder will have been feeling rather starved of late. In different times, a meeting of 30 rabbonim would be preceded by fliers from charity organisations exhorting us to send in our names, as it appears on the card, so that the details may be keyed in in their hallowed presence. Yet London was honoured by just such a meeting of Torah Olympians but not a word about it in our informative press either before or after. The meeting was followed by a letter from 5 rabbonim proclaiming the view of the Torah but still the Torah organs wouldn’t touch the story. The engagement of the grandson of the Kvetcher to the great-niece of the Greptser will make it in full Technicolor but the 5 must rely on the accursed world wide web for their fair share of notoriety. Aha, you may think, since the newspapers are headquartered in Stamford Hill in order to comply with the posuk , Ki m'Hackney teitzei Torah udvar Hashem m'N16 , they have

A Lone Piper

Erev Shabbos Parshas Vayechi 5773 [28 December 2012] “The rabbis sat by and did not object implying that they were content” I am pained that there is a group of charlatans which is powerful in communal affairs and is protecting a man whom rabbis have announced [to the public] to distance themselves from. They thereby weaken amongst us all the severity of the prohibition against licentious conduct. Gershon Hager

Open Letter to Chaim Halpern

[ I cannot vouch for the veracity of this letter which was sent in anonymously but I think it deserves publicity for the raw emotion it displays. It also serves as a useful reminder that amidst all the politicking and buffoonery there are some real people out there who are going through hell through no fault of their own. ] Dear Chaim You know who I am. I write an open letter to you begging you to do the right thing here. Let’s start from the beginning. You tried helping us out at our time of need, you were a great help for many years, answering all our questions from the day we got married, you were there for us at any stage we ever needed you. YOU then dropped yourself into this BIG time, you built up such a trust with us that we saw no wrong in anything you did, those late night calls to my wife, the times you told me send your wife in I will "explain" those shallos that didn’t need explaining - but you were trying to help!!!!...then came the time where you over steppe

Porky snorts while Padwa caught short

יום ג’ פ’ ויחי תשע”ג לפ”ק הנני בזה לאשר שהמכתב שכתב הר”ר חיים שנעק הי”ו במוצאי עשרה בטבת ש”ז, היתה בציווי מרן הגאב”ד שליט”א החותם בפקודתו יהודה ווייס הנ”ל נכון א.פ Tuesday Vayechi 5773 I hereby confirm that the letter written by Reb Chaim Schneck on Motze Asoro B’Teves of this year was under instruction of the Ga’avad Shlita Signed under orders Yehuda Weiss The above is accurate. E.P. [Ephraim Padwa] יב טבת תשע”ג הנני לאשר שהמכתב הראשון שנחתם ע”י האברך החשוב ר’ חיים שנעק הי”ו היה בהוראה שלמעלה ואין להמשפחה ח”ו שום תרעומת עליו בזה ובבא. וד’ יברך את עמו בשלום. משה היילפרין 12 Teves 5773 I confirm that the first letter signed by the esteemed Chaim Schneck was under orders from above and the family has God forbid no complaints against him neither in this world nor in the world to come. May God bless His people with peace. Moshe Halpern