Sunday, November 23, 2008

Kinnus report

Like every good Lubavitcher out there, I'm currently sitting and watching the Kinnus banquet from home. All right, so the really good Lubavitchers are at the event itself, but for some reason my invitation got lost in the mail, so I'm reduced to following it from the dubious comfort of a pretty bad live-stream. No matter, it's still pretty funny to see Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky trying to get everyone to shut up and sit down. He says, "You've got sixty seconds," and about half a minute later says, "now you have thirty seconds to sit down." What's he going to do exactly, send them into timeout?
My sister was at the event, and reports that the most important of the evening went off without too much of a hitch. The food, it seems, was pretty good. Not incredible (the steak was a bit tough), but she appreciated the leaving of the salmon on the table for more than the usual twenty minutes.
Other thoughts on the banquet? It would be nice if someone could teach Rabbi Kotlarsky the proper way to pronounce words. Mrs. Molly Reznick may think that an inability to speak English is "Chassidish", but the rest of us think that it would be a good idea if someone were to help him with his diction. He has the delivery down, and his words were certainly inspiring, but if he's going to be watched by millions online, then it would be a wonderful thing for him to learn the right way to do things. Think how much better he could be!

And that, my friends, is all for now.

19 comments:

Nemo said...

Millions.

e said...

How'd sis get in? Is she some kind of hotshot? Or was she at the journalists' table, reporting for lubavitch.com?

Just like a guy said...

Nemo, my mashpia always told me, it's not nice to be sarcastic.
And yes, eliezer, my sister is a big-shot in Lubavitch. Didn't you know? But seriously, she was invited to go by her editor, and sat at the two women's tables.

Anonymous said...

And how do you know it would be better??
Imho- His success does not depend on his orator'ness.
Story: Rabbi meets congregant, after inquiring re his, his family, his business's well-being the man answers, all is fine, but it wouldn't hurt if things were better.
Rabbi responds, "And how do you know it wouldn't hurt??"

Just like a guy said...

Know?

If he's so incredibly successful now, think how much better he could become! Besides, you can't tell me that shluchim wouldn't appreciate it if he pronounced their countries correctly.

Nemo said...

I didn't watch it last night, but as of last year, he was still working on the names of states.

Nemo said...

Incidentally, Molly Reznick annoys me. How can someone who supposedly use to work as a broadcast journalist for CBS not have anything critical to say about anything?

Nemo said...

Sorry, it was NBC.

So says Miriam Karp in "Life With the Rich and Famous." http://www.jewish-holiday.com/mollyresnick.html

Anonymous said...

TRS - Yes, one just can't know. Unless you are G-d.
One cannot put too much weight on our own knowledge, which I am SO sorry to break to you - is quite limited but.

Just like a guy said...

Is that why he said them as quickly as possible? And Molly is a typical BT-first very skeptical, and then very gullible.

Just like a guy said...

Cee: please, excuse my ignorance, what are you talking about? I honestly have no idea.

Anonymous said...

Cee: experience and probability shows that you're wrong. People that speak clearly are generally regarded with more respect than those who slur and mispronounce easy words.

The argument that respect and success can be had with functional illiteracy tends to carry a lot of water with Oholei Torah'nicks. While it may be hard to dispute this because truthfully some OT'nicks have engendered respect for themselves, making the argument that it could affect them negatively if they were literate is dubious.

You cannot know what hasn't been shown, but you can draw conclusions based on what how society as a whole acts. Most people prefer people who speak well. Furthermore, that the Shluchim themselves are constantly trying to improve their language abilities shows that there is some need to communicate properly, in a way that people will listen to them without cringing at their mispronunciations.

Just like a guy said...

Nemo, how did you know what be was talking about? Still, if this is what he was talking about, then you've certainly offered a good response.

Nemo said...

Experience and probability.

Anonymous said...

Real Shliach,

Excellent line about a typical BT!

When you're good, you're good.

Keep it up!

Just like a guy said...

When she was good she was very very good,and when she was bad she was horrid.

Anonymous said...

The first two are so illiterate!

http://vimeo.com/2340255

Anonymous said...

Just listened to Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky's passionate talk @ the Levayas and I must say, (well, I don't must but wanna) that had he been more of an eloquent speaker I, and many others in the crowd too, would not have shed as many tears as we did!

Just like a guy said...

How am I supposed to answer that? I guess I can't.