Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Shapiro on Censorship

One of my many British correspondents was in attendance at a public lecture given by kofer extraordinaire Marc Shapiro. [Note: He's not really a kofer. And if he is, I don't care. I'm just anticipating the mindless objections Ed and his team will spout after they hear what he passed around.]

The lecture was about censorship and orthodoxy. Shapiro, my British friend says, has compiled many breath taking examples of censorship undertaken to preserve modern sensibilities. Among the highlights distributed at the lecture (all information below is second hand)

-- Picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe without a kippa (from his University days). Shapiro also told a great story, which he said may not be true but is widely circulated of R Kotler being asked whetehr it was true
that the Lubavitcher Rebbe sat in lectures with a Sefer. RAK's answer was "do you think he would be learning with an uncovered head"!

-- Pictures of Rabbi Moses Chefez, with no kippah and no beard and wearing canonicals. Accorduing to Shapiro this was the Italian practice

-- Peirush on Moreh Nevuchim (one of the standard peirushim (Epudei - aleph peh vav dalet yud)) explaining the Rambam as believing Sefer Yonah and the Akedah to be "Maareh o Halom")

-- Part of RSRH 19 letters with a major attack on the Rambam

-- Original frontispeice of the Levush with topless women engraving

-- Massive praise for Tolstoy Shlita from R Zvi Yehuda Kook

No comments: