The Gartel Supervisor

I found a clip showing some dancing at the wedding of the grandson of the Williamsburg Satmar Rebbe, Zalman, the other one, not Aharon of Kiryas Joel.

What I found interesting was not the Rebbe (1), nor, interestingly enough included, the Kallah (2) but someone (3) who was in charge of the gartel* used to connect the Rebbe to the Kallah.

He would pull it in as the Rebbe approached and then let it out as the Rebbe, along with the Chatan and other honorable persons, distanced themselves. That way, no tripping will occur.

As explained,

The mitzvah tantz, or mitzvah dance, is the chassidic custom of honorable men (related to the chosson or kallah) dancing before the bride, after the wedding feast. Commonly, the bride, who usually stands perfectly still at one end of the room, will hold one end of a gartel, while the one dancing before her holds the other end. Many consider this to be a very special and holy practice, while others feel that this practice should not be performed

* and, yes, there's an academic article on it. 

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No Mother?

A grandson has been born to the Admor of Toldos Avraham Yitzhak (Shomrei Emunim/1996), Shmuel Yaakov Kahan, 

and the birth announcement notes that that grandson is the son of ... his son-in-law, Yehiel Yehoshua Rabinowitz, the son of the Bialeh Rebbe (but of which one, I do not know on second thought the ב"ב after his name probably means Bnei Brak) :

And his daughter?  The child's mother?

Of her, no mention.


Item: the Rebbe's brother recently finished a stretch of 13 years in jail for inappropriate advances and behavior based on complaints made by his female relatives.

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What Separates the Men From the Women

In the UK's Daily Mail account of the Belz wedding, a paper which usually portrays the ups ... and downs of fashion, what people are wearing and aren't wearing, this caught my eye as, well, typical for such a paper:

All the male guests dressed in black and wore traditional shtreimel hats for the occasion, which traditionally separates the men from the women.

From Ascot to the beaches of Majorca, it's the hat.

Now we know.


(hat tip: BO)
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There's A Bride in There. Somewhere.

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Sheitels and Sex, Hollywood's Take

There's a new movie in production.  It's John Turturro's comedy, Fading Gigolo, about a cash-strapped guy who decides to become a gigolo in the Hasidic Jewish community.

It get's interesting as Woody Allen is involved:

...But nobody has ever asked me to be in their film! Over the years. When I say nobody, two or three times I've been asked, and I've always said yes. But it's been two or three times in, I don't know, thirty years. Or more than that. So when John Turturro asked me if I would be in Fading Gigolo, I said sure. Because nobody ever asks me, so I was happy to do it.

Are you going to be the fading gigolo?

WA: No, he is!

Will any of these ladies be in sheitels?

...Sofia Vergara is in talks to take on a supporting role, and Sharon Stone is also set to co-star.
Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte ("The Kids Are All Right") and French shingle MK2 are producing the pic, which finds Turturro and Allen playing cash-strapped best friends who decide to go into the gigolo business together and subsequently attract the suspicion of the Hasidic Jewish community in which they live. Duo take on the pseudonyms Virgil and Bongo, with Allen pimping out Turturro's character until he falls for a Jewish widow, who has not yet been cast. Stone will play Allen's dermatologist who hires Turturro to sleep with her, while Vergara is expected to play another wealthy client who's bored with her marriage and wants to have a threesome with Turturro and Stone.

 and

Because this project isn't crazy enough, "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara is also circling the film as a housewife on the prowl for more exciting bedfellows and Sharon Stone is already set to co-star as Allen's dermatologist, who hires Turturro's services. Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte ("The Kids Are All Right") is producing the film with MK2.

 Is his next movie to be about the Yeshiva-bochur who tries out for the job of lifeguard at the local mikveh?


P.S.  NYTimes on Hassidic cress in hot weather.

...When the mercury passes 90, most New Yorkers start to wilt. Many resort to shorts and tank tops, even in the office. More than a few bankers and lawyers reach for their seersuckers.

A shtreimel, a fur hat, has been given holes for ventilation. /Joel Czin displayed lightweight frock coats at G&B Clothing in Borough Park./ A prayer shawl, lighter because it is made of fine thread./ A sleeveless tzitzit for daily wear, offered by Malchut Judaica, is made of cotton and eliminates the need for a separate T-shirt. 

Yet amid all the casual summer wear, in some neighborhoods more than others, Hasidic men wear dark three-piece suits crowned by black hats made of rabbit fur, and Hasidic women outfit themselves in long-sleeved blouses and nearly ankle-length skirts. To visibly cooler New Yorkers, they can look painfully overdressed. 

Some New Yorkers who are not Hasidic surely ask themselves: How on earth do they stay cool?

The answer is a mix of the spiritual and, yes, the creatively physical. The Hasidim will tell you they have learned to live comfortably in all seasons with their daily attire. 

“I think I’m not as hot as other people because the sun is not on me,” said Chany Friedman, who was shopping recently in Borough Park, Brooklyn, with two of her five children in tow, wearing a sweater and dense stockings in addition to other concealing clothing. “If I’m covered, the sun is not on me. I’m happy that I’m not exposed to the world.” 

Using a Hebrew name for God, she added, “That’s what Ha-Shem wants from us.”...

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Meet Hoshea Friedman

What is the relationship between the Admor of Vishnitz, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua (Moshelle) Hager, sitting there in the center:

and this man, Hoshea Friedman, Colonel (Res.), head of the pre-army Mechina "Bet Yisrael":

Well, Hoshea's mother is the Rebbe's sister so the Rebbe is his uncle. His father's great-great grandfather was the Rozhiner, Yisrael Friedman.

Incidentally, the great-great grandfather of the Rebbe was a son-in-law of the Rozhiner, married to his daughter, Miriam, which makes things quite family oriented.

Hoshea was awarded the AVI CHAI Prize for 5763 eight years ago

for his pioneering initiatives to deepen tolerant discourse in Israeli Jewish society, mainly through the establishment of the first pre-army program for religious, traditional, and secular youth...In a series of unique, daring projects, Hoshea showed how one can teach tolerance and respectful dialogue and achieve pluralism. Hoshea’s role in founding Beit Yisrael, the urban kibbutz in Jerusalem, and forming cadres of army recruits known as the "Golani project" are noteworthy. His most significant contribution, however, is the Beit Yisrael mechina (pre-army program), which he established and heads in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood. Beit Yisrael is the first mixed pre-army program in Israel for male and female high-school graduates, religious and secular alike...

He'll be lighting a torch at this year's Independence Day ceremony.

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Chassidic Breakdancing for Purim