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Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Grammar is g'valdick

Received by email:

At last night's Town Meeting in Monsey (the one about the Internet, which was attended by a long list of bold face names from the Yeshiva and Hasidic world) the sign behind the dais read:

Historical Asifa
Sponsored by all of Monsey's Rabonim and Mosdos

My correspondent wanted to point out that the second sentance was a lie - many Monsey Rabbis, including the esteemed principle of one of Monsey's best known schools, refused to support the meeting's intentions. But my eye caught the first sentance: "Historical Asifa?"

Um, don't they mean "historic" as in "important" or "influencial"? "Historical," on the other hand, refers to the past.

Does anyone else find it impossible to believe that the Gedolim know all there is to know about science and medicine when they haven't even mastered grammar? Daas Torah, anyone? Or doesn't it apply to the English language?

[Note: I've already received, via email, two accounts of last night's preceedings. Some of the juicier tidbits will be published as the day goes by. Meanwhile, ponder this: Why does the Internet draw the leading lights of the Yeshiva and Hasidic world together for a large and very public discussion, replete with hectoring mussar schmoozim, when, to date, the same people have (to my knowledge) said nothing at all about the other pathologies threatening their communities. I am speaking of fraud, child abuse, and so on.]

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