Tales of the American Masters (An irreverent imagining)
Epstein, Gary
Tales of the American Masters (An irreverent imagining) Gary Epstein Tradition When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a...
...Loz Ivan Blozen Shoifer...
...Once there, the boy sat quietly, overwhelmed by the dignity of the ceremonies and hardly daring to move...
...Get that kid out of here," he intoned...
...There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted...
...A Parable_ Once the Ann Arbor Alte Meshulach, perceiving an incipient spiritual crisis, called his disciples together and told them this story...
...The misfortunes came and went, but the Maggid was averted...
...The father did not want to go to synagogue, come home, pick up his son, and drive him to the guitar lesson, for that would make him miss the televised first game of the American League playoff series...
...But how many of us have heard of Rabbi Jackson in Tallahassee, who not only had a Gentile blow shofar, but also had a female choir and a Lutheran cantor...
...The community turned to the pulpit, where the Maggid majestically stood...
...The Messiah A disciple once jokingly asked Rabbi Brown, Jr., of Fresno, a Reform Rabbi, whether the Messiah would be Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform...
...Before his furious father could stop him, the boy played some melodious chords...
...When the great Maggid of Montana saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go off into the wilds and blow some grass...
...Let Ivan the Gentile blow the shofar...
...I can," stated the eagle...
...An eagle spied a hen struggling to dig a large hole...
...After a while, he breathed a silent prayer, "Father, I have brought my guitar along...
...And don't you wish you could lay eggs...
...Tactics The Saint Paul Tzaddik used to confuse the Evil Urge by giving in without a struggle...
...The Guitar One of the members of the McKeesport Maggid's synagogue had a son who had not acquired even the Gary Epstein teaches English at Iowa State University...
...Remarkably, after the death of Rabbi Swift in Sitka, Alaska, a similar situation prevailed...
...Yet, it happened that Rosh Hashanah once fell on a Thursday, the same day that the boy had his guitar lesson...
...That is a tsaddik...
...Don't you wish you had talons like mine...
...That way everyone will eat in his house...
...He ran out to the car and returned with his guitar...
...Hearing this tale, two of the Meshulach's disciples went mad, but the rest intensified their commitment and grew stauncher in their service...
...most basic Hebrew reading skills, despite the intensive one-hour-a-week reading course offered in the community's afternoon school...
...the eagle asked...
...The Rabbi thought a brief moment and answered, "Orthodox...
...Tales of the American Masters (An irreverent imagining) Gary Epstein Tradition When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate...
...You have treated him as Your very own...
...The father would never take his son to synagogue with him, fearing embarrassment...
...retorted the hen...
...Succession Buber reports that no successor was found in Ber-ditchev after the death of Levi Yitzchak...
...All were aghast...
...there was no one who could take his place...
...The only thing that could awaken the boy's interest was the guitar, with which he displayed a preternatural skill...
...A Tzaddih_ Speaking of Levi Yitzchak, we have all heard of the famous Berditchever Rebbe's refusal to blow shofar on Rosh Hashanah until God showed the same degree of kindness toward His own people that He showed toward the gentiles...
...So, after much admonition, he allowed the boy to accompany him to synagogue...
...I wish to play it for you...
Vol. 1 • April 1976 • No. 9
