Sunday, June 20, 2010

Old man on bus in Israel wearing sunglasses


wiping collar...


and forehead...

It's summer and the weather is unbearable. At least in my neck of the woods, it is. I always wondered how Jews - and non-Jews - managed in the old days, with no cooling and clothing as uncomfortable as can possibly be. They speak of the Union soldiers and their blue wool uniforms dying of heat in the Southern summers during the Civil War or the War between the States. This Chasidishe Yiddel on the bus tried to ease the discomfort by wearing light-colored clothing, as is evidenced by the gray rekkel he wore, and by shading his eyes from the unrelenting sun with a pair of sunglasses. Those of you that know will know to remember the pictures of Yossel Ashkenazi in the Beis HaChaim in Tzfas wearing those shades from the '50s. Far be it from me to not judge Jews favorably, but it seems to this objective observer that we've been trying to make things harder for ourselves. That a Jew like on the bus, despite his obvious mesirus nefesh to maintain his Yiddishe Tzureh, would be ridiculed by the young for his "modern look..." I myself have a very low tolerance for heat, but I manage somehow, especially on Shabbos. You begin to learn how to manage when the electric bill comes in the summer. Money takes care of lots of hangups you had as a kid. You no longer need a new Borsalino every six months and shoes and pants don't matter as much to you either. You learn to make due.On Shabbos my neshomeh yeseireh allows me to wear my hat and kapote in the 100 degree heat, even when others in Monsey find it unbearable. I thank G-d for that. איי, the gy looks at me and thinks that Ich bin gefallen of'en kup? This is my Kaporas Aveynes. But when I see the alte yidden mit di G&G wool suits walking on the street I feel for them. A young guy can handle it, but why does the 80+ Yiddel with the heart condition need to kill himself? That I'll never know.

28 comments:

  1. Sometimes mesirus nefesh isn't really mesirus nefesh. I'm not aware of anywhere in halacha that says we're not allowed, within reason, to dress in accordance with the weather. And frankly, the fear of "looking modern" is a false one. After all, capotes and bekishers are relatively late Jewish clothing innovations. You want traditional? Moshe Rabeinu and Avraham Avinu dressed like Beduin. Anything later is "modern".

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  2. What about all the litvishe that would never wear a wool hat in the winter?

    Why did straw hats become pasul in the summer?

    הכל בידי שמים חוץ מצינים ופחים

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  3. So being an 'out-of-towner', when i was visiting relatives in BP for shveeis, i saw a sign on 13th ave advertising G&G's clearance sale. I promptly arrived the sunday after yomtov, fought thru the packed throngs buying chalaten and bekishes, and bought myself two (3/4 drei fertel) suits, as well as one for my eight year old son.

    I hadn't retrieved my pants from the shneider who had gone on vacation, and thus when my son told me last shabbes he is never wearing his suit again, I didn't understand why until I finally wore mine to a chasene tonite. Even being indoors with AC blasting, I felt like i was in a personal shvitzer.

    So the question remains, my dear Tzig, where does an out-of-towner who wants to wear 'recht oif links' without melting make such a purchase?

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  4. It suprises me that in the midst of this terrible gizarah againts Reb Shlomo Rubashkin you have nothing better to talk about than grey or black reckels? maybe post a sicha of chizuk form the rebbe ( or any godol for that matter)

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  5. Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner prefered the shades, IIRC.

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  6. bring us back the picture of the kapitchnitzer on the tracror wearing shades!

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  7. Hillel

    what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say here that hasn't been said a THOUSAND times?!

    We're all shocked and disappointed at the sentence handed down yesterday. Yet thousands of people still came out to show their support last night!

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  8. I have been told that R'Nachman Bulman z'l, a staunch supporter of the Chareidi camp despite some differences of opinion, thought it was a shame that back in the 1800's the (Israeli) Chareidi world wasn't willing or able to adopt the 'lighter' look of the DL community.

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  9. Tzig,
    I tip my hat to you on your response to the Rubashin sentence.Really.
    I expected one of your regurgitated Lubob nonsense pieces you post for any of the Lubob chogehs with another pic of the Rebbe.
    I guess that you have learned something running this blog and with a little humility I will credit myself a bit for forcing you to *think* before you spout more kool-aid.

    And yes,I am amazed at Am Yisroel coming out in throngs begifum in mamonum for someone they don't know and is not even close to their kreiz.It's in these times that I feel maybe there is a chance for Lubavitch to become part of us again and bichlal seeing a semblance of achdus with all parts of Heimishe Orthodoxy,Monsey,Lakewood,BP and Kiryas Yoel showing such maginifent support and Achdus

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  10. "thought it was a shame that back in the 1800's the (Israeli) Chareidi world wasn't willing or able to adopt the 'lighter' look of the DL community."

    Talking about *thinking*, I wonder if anyone can make sense of this comment?
    What DL (dati leumi?)community existed in the 1800's and how was their dress any different?
    And I believe that in Yerusholayim they indeed dressed with lighter colored clothes similar to the Arab dress style..

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  11. Kalisz-

    I was there too and picked up a pair of ten dollar trousers that are 100% polycrapster and that don't breathe at all.

    Tzig- call me a wimp but my inability to tolerate heat (my voracious appetite has already endowed me with many inherent layers of insulation) is the number one reason that I have not adopted a l'vush more in keeping with my khasidisha upshtam.

    The mussar haskel is that if we have so hard a time with intense heat now imagine what things will be like l'akhar meah v'esrim.

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  12. the rubashkin issue is yet again a demonstration that klal yisroel welcomes lubavitch back into the fold of mainstream. i have yet to see lubavitch as a klal of any kind want to. have you seen the crown heights asifa for the bochurim in jail in japan? me neither...

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  13. Kalisz

    I feel your pain

    as a child and young bachur I was always taken to a store like G&G, a bit more upscale, and always got the heaviest suits you can imagine. Summers were unbearable. When I asked the proprietor one pre-Pesach shopping trip if he had something lighter because I can't stand it anymore, his response was "You want a tropical suit?!"

    So I continued to suffer.

    I tried the G&G as an alternate for a while, but they were polyester and looked like shmattes after 5 minutes of wearing them.

    I would tell you to go to The Right Place and ask him for a four button double breasted suit. He'll even add a button hole so that you can do the right over left thing and look good too!

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  14. I'm "moderne" and the only time I put on a jacket on weekdays is for Rosh Chodesh. Since Iyar every time I see a yid in "l'vish" I feel like asking him how he does it.

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  15. The Bray,
    You actually contemplated wearing shmoineh begudem???
    I cannot believe why a rational person who did not grow up with chasidishe levish would want to join the "party" pun intended.

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  16. Non Mouse,
    was a lubavicher shaliach for the boys the whole time? yes or no?

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  17. Anonymous said..was a lubavicher shaliach for the boys the whole time? yes or no?
    non mouse said...have you seen the crown heights asifa for the bochurim in jail in japan? yes or no?

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  18. let's not get carried away here, people. As much as you'd like to take credit for the asifos for the 3 bochurim there are a handful of people who are active in the fund raising. They make fundraisers. "Boro Park" does not make it. There is also a lot less concern when it comes to them, if I may say so myself. Maybe that'll change, but that's the way it is now. So please, stop with the divisions.

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  19. "They make fundraisers. "Boro Park" does not make it. There is also a lot less concern when it comes to them, if I may say so myself. Maybe that'll change, but that's the way it is now. So please, stop with the divisions."

    Now is as good a time as any to discusse wether the Asknoim were helpful to RSM or not. Let the discussion start.

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  20. bray wearing shmoneh bigadim along with his straw hat, truly a funny sight.

    bray, a few extra inches of cloth dangling below your waste once a week, wont cause you to overheat.

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  21. "Now is as good a time as any to discusse wether the Asknoim were helpful to RSM or not. Let the discussion start."

    Twisty, you are playing with us, you know the answer that anybody with half a brain will give,right?
    But I"ll take the challenge as unpopular as it my opinion may be:
    Let's us analyze fIrstly what SMR WAS SENTENCED TO:27 years in Federal prison (I believe there is no parole there but may be mistaken...)and 31$ million restitution.I cannot think of any outcome that could actually be worse.Can you? I mean the judge actually added two years onto the sentence that a very demanding Goverment wanted!
    Obviously the defense did an unbelievable screw up!!And apparently the dumb "anti-semitism" defense backfired.
    Unfortunately, it has been again proven that one needs to be shoel eitza by an odom godol.The Minkatcher advised of cutting a deal.I heard from a reliable source that The Minkatcher actually flew to Iowa (iirc) to reach a deal that the "defense"/askunem turned down.
    We are in golus and when in golus behave like we behaved with the puretz.Doron ,tefilloh and mamaesh as a last resort, milchumeh.
    Skver had a similar case where they used the anti semitism card and ended up paying 10 mill and about 5 members of the hoif ended up in chad gadyah, for quite long, including one person who died there.
    Bekitser,Chazal warned us about Dina Demalchiseh......
    When Hirshels former rebbe, The Spinker got caught he did the right thing:Kept it quiet, showed remorse and made a deal.He will be in chad gadyah for a relatively short time.
    It's horrible to see a fellow Yid in such a predicament as SMR is and we need to do now whatever is shayech to help him go home to his family in good health.Hashem Yerachem

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  22. I wonder if an over-optimistic moshiach, rebbe-vet-helfen hashkafa, was the cause of certain decisions that in retrospect shouldn't have been made.

    (I once heard from an adom godol, "if the charges are sheker, then one should not plead guilty even if it guarantees an "almost nothing" of a sentence. however if there is some truth to the charges, then one must do whatever he can to stay away from a judge and jury."

    CI in Emunah ubitachon "False optimism in not emunah."

    (please don't take this in anyway as an attack on SMR, it's a possible critique on his spiritual advisers."

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  23. I recall reading in JEWISH ACTION that the late rav Nachman Bulman who considered himself a Gerer, was at the Kosel at night when a large group of Bnai Akiva type teens and yeshiva people arrived dressed as they are in short sleaves , sandals and cotton chinos, he saw then and said were we zoche we too would dress in this manner.
    The older I get the more I agree with him. I still wear a suit and tie and hat on Shabbes ( I am an alte Yid) and I se the young YU people in shirts and slacks on Shabbes and they look comfortable and Shabbesdik too with a white Kippah and a nicely pressed white shirt.

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  24. Shulem-

    I mean for Shabbos and Yom Tov to crate an (AHEM) greater consciousness of Havdala bein Qodesh L'Khol.

    Dayon Umokhiakh (AKA anonymous of 10:58) nice to see that you troll other blogs besides Hamavdil.

    As for your tayneh, you err my friend, a few extra inches of cloth on my shirt sleeves causes me immediate discomfort in the heat. As a close observer you must have noticed that although I dispensed with the last of my straw fedora years back i am still among the last of the mohicans who wears short sleeve shirts.

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  25. I don't know Hershy but he sounds like a VERY smart and practical person . And there are few of them around when it comes to the Meat plant manager's case.

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  26. THE PHOTOS HAD TO BE REMOVED DUE TO ---- WHATEVER, NEVER MIND.
    The shades, man, The shades!

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