Lessons From Calling Your Father A Cow
Tech Tribe Dispatch #96
💡 Think:
A chassidic story for the social media era.
After the previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, was expelled from the Soviet Union for anti-soviet activities (such as running a network of Jewish schools), he ultimately settled in Poland. There he expanded the Chabad run Tomchei Temimim network of yeshivos.
These schools drew many yeshivah students from other chasidic communities.
One such student was a student named Sinai. He came from a Gerer chasidic family, but took wholeheartedly to the Chabad mode of prayer and divine service. He would devote hours to contemplation and prayer each Shabbat. As a result, when he got home, the Shabbat meal was cold. His own personal stringencies meant that he didn't eat everything at the table as well.
His father, who had not just consumed the meal, but had also completed his Shabbat afternoon nap, was annoyed with his son. At one point he said, "Why can’t you have a normal Shabbat experience? You don't eat meat? You don't drink wine? You don’t take a nap?"
Sinai, perturbed by this depiction of Shabbat as only about the physical delicacies consumed and physical rest, lost his cool.
"Tatty," he said in Yiddish "Du bist dach a beheima! Father, you're an animal!"
His father was furious. Dragging his son to the head of the yeshivah, he fumed: "I send my son to your school, for him to turn against me?" The head of the yeshivah apologized and had Sinai apologize as well.
Later, the head of the Yeshivah called Sinai over - after all, the father's coarse understanding of Shabbat as an obsession over food was a little unseemly...
"Not everything that you think," he told Sinai. "Do you need to say."
🏃 DO:
🎭 Join us on 4pm-8pm on Friday, February 26th for Purim at the Edge of the World, a socially distant Purim meal! Spots are super limited.
🔺 Googlers, join us on Monday, February 22nd for a live Hamentaschen bake. Check with Jewglers group or reply to this email for info.
🍷 #openShabbat Digital @ SXSW - details coming soon. Get in on it now!
🐦 Tweet:
💬 Speech:
A thought by Berel! A special Refua Shleima for Tzivia Feiga bas Devorah
This week’s Torah portion teaches about the four kinds of guards - from someone who borrows something to someone who is a paid guard - and what they have to do when if they lose the item they are supposed to guard. What is the lesson for us, for our lives?
We are guardians of our soul - some souls are like sheep followers, others are like donkeys, always cold, others are bold like an ox. We need to guard them.
🎉 Mazel:
Shoutout to my friend and colleague Rabbi Hershey Novack for being honored with the Visionary Award by the Federation of St. Louis.
📚 Read:
🎵 Read my latest - a look at 11 Russian Chassidic Songs That Uplift the Soul and Enliven the Spirit
🦸 #ChaiSociety member Abe Riesman is about to publish True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee the New Yorker takes a look in who Created the Marvel Universe?
🎞️ Still with the superheroes there’s a new Marvel Documentary, and Rabbi Simcha Weinstein is in it. Catch Simcha in our Jews in Space: Sci-Fi Rabbi video.
📉 Kosher Stonks? What does Jewish law say about shorting stocks.
😍 Fave:
We’re loving Logan Ury’s new book How To Not Die Alone!
(Perhaps it’s time for a new Tech Tribe Dating event)
Like what you saw? Want more? Please feel free to forward this email far and wide!
Support Tech Tribe’s mission to build community and curate epic experiences for young Jews in tech and digital media!