The last of the Litvaks

So here I am, at an obscene time of the night, listening to Yosef Karduner's a capella; and now it's the same style from the Friedman family. My point? Pesach has passed over, and now we're in that six week period between the festival of Matzos and Pentecost, characterized by a severe lack of hair cutting and other forms of merriment. The more religious/gullible among us also refrain from listening to proper music, and so we're left with vocal efforts. Happens to be that these two albums were excellently produced, but they still can't compare to the majesty that is any one of the old MBD or Avraham Fried albums. Oh well, what can be done?

Meanwhile, in other news, this afternoon I walked a disappointing 9.6 miles from beautiful S. Paul, MN, to not-quite-so beautiful but-not-entirely-without-charm S. Louis Park. I call the walk disappointing because I thought it nearer to thirteen or fourteen miles than sub-ten, but I suppose I'll get over it. Every year there's a, in the words of Rabbi Lieff, "Neilas Hachag, or as it's known here, Seudas haGra, or as it's known by Chassidim, Moshiach Seudah." A wit among us (moi) suggested that in fact it was not only the neilas hachag but also the neilas harav. That's right, Rabbi Lieff is leaving the community, moving onto greener pastures, i.e. the Agudah Shul on Nostrand and Avenue L. What will next year bring? Who knows? I for one can't wait to find out.