Thursday, September 12, 2013

Gevvvaallllaadiiikkk!!!!


I have this weird thing about wanting to wish people a "happy yom kippur". Four years ago the Rebbe Shlita spoke about the inyan of dancing on Yom Kippur. Tonight when everybody went up after the shiur [if you got my email you know what he said] to get shiraim [holy cake], I told him the following story:

Rebbe Akiva Eiger had a grandson who, rachmana litzlan, became a Kotzker chossid [against his family tradition] and later a Rebbe himself. His name was R' Leibel'e Eiger [died 1888]. Legend has it that his father, the great gaon and gvir Rav Shlomo Eiger was so broken up about it that he sat shiva [that part of the story the Rebbe Shlita knew and I am just writing it here to give you the background].

An ooollllldddd chosid of his once met Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook and told him that when everyone was waiting for Reb Leibel'e to appear for Kol Nidrei, they would dance. "What song" asked the chosid, "do you think we sang?"

Rav Tzvi Yehuda replied "Vitaheir leebeinu li-uvdicha be-emes and other tshuva songs".

"No", said the chosid with a smile, "we sang Shoshanas Yaakov. Yom Kippurim is Ki-purim so we sang a purim song...."

When the Rebbe Shlita heard that he gave me a huuuge smile and said Geeeelvaaaaallldddikkkkkk!!!" [and asked me where I saw the myseh. It appears in the book "Mashmia Yeshua" page 514].