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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

It’s Friday and I don’t know what to do…

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
This is a comment left on the previous post. Any suggestions?
Ok fellow DC members. It's Friday morning, a time to make decisions about this shabbos, and about the future. I think it is fair to say that GG is a different place this shabbos than it was last shabbos. The dramatic developments have been a game changer.

Last shabbos everyone was gung-ho. We were confidently stating that the whole thing would blow over somehow. This shabbos RCH is critically wounded, possibly fatally. His brother MH has become an object of public ridicule like never before. REH either has or has not resigned from various public posts, but is certainly on the warpath in favour of his family, a position that has minority support in the kehilla at large, if any. Our shul is in complete disarray. Kedassia in GG is at its lowest ever ebb possibly since its inception. All this in just one week.

And yet we still have no public guidance from any local rabbonim. You can ask a GG or Hendon rov privately and get an off-the-record response, but 'don't quote me!' Crucially, there is still no public evidence that RCH is guilty of the heinous crimes he is accused of, only hearsay and speculation, and well-founded svoros based on the lack of support for the accused by his colleagues, and his complete capitulation without any real explanation.

Where does this leave us? We are being pressurised to give full support this shabbos to our rov, but I'm beginning to feel a bit like the Libyans last year who were press ganged to publicly demonstrate their support for Gaddafi while they already knew very well that his days were numbered. Its a horrible comparison, but I just feel that we are being taken for a ride. Used and abused. Is this really kovod hatorah? Also, how far does hakoras hatov stretch? When is it alright for us to say that we don't want to be a part of this mudslinging contest and bow out of this sordid saga?

Our friends are watching us. Our wives. Our families. This is no ordinary shabbos. This is a shabbos that we will remember for the rest of our lives. As will many other people. How will we look back on the decisions we made for this shabbos? Will we be proud of them? How will we feel about them next year Rosh Hashono and Yom Kippur?

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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

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