Good Yom Tov

I just came upon this film of the Rebbe from Motzoei Shavuos in 5720 (1960). It seems it was released for the Laufer-Nemanov wedding almost a year ago.

While today we are used to seeing every minute of famous people's lives recorded and publicised this film would have been extremely unusual at that time. It was obviously taken by a handheld camera and the quality is not particularly good but it clearly shows a youthful Rebbe distributing Kos Shel Brocha. The latter 2 minutes of the film shows the Rebbe davening in the upstairs Zal in 770 and also distributing Lekach from his room.


Wishing you all a Good Yom Tov and Kabbolas Hatorah Besimcha U’vpnimiyus.
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Coffee!!

Limoges Coffee Set

I read this article with interest and amusement. The article appears on the Jewish Gates website and appears to be written by the site owner. Called The Influence of Coffee on Kabbalistic All-Night and Midnight Vigils it posits that a reason that we stay up all night on Shavuos is due to the invention of coffee. It appears that most of the article is taken from a paper by Elliott Horowitz, a researcher at Bar Ilan University who specialises in European History. I find the conclusions overly simplistic but it is still an interesting read.
(Hat tip to this post on The Last Trumpet blog)

Enjoy your cheesecake - and coffee!
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