By far my favorite activity to do in Jerusalem is people watch, and my favorite people to watch are Baal Teshuvas. For many BT’s it is their first taste of Judaism and the place in which they ultimately drink the punch. Maybe they joined our cult back in the states at a college Hillel or Chabad, but Israel gives them a chance to let their true BT colors fly, and picking them out of a crowd of completely secular Birthright kids is one amazing sight.
I was sitting in the old city on my first night in Israel dealing with internet business when this group of very Waspy looking kids passed, some sort of rich kids tour might I add, one of the kids was staning out because he was the only one with a yarmulke and long tzitzis featuring the classic hippie style ticheles, I thought we have no idea what the chilazon is anyway.
Then later on at a random Maariv at the kotel, I heard this kid in the deepest most southern accent ever screaming the answers to the Kadesh, his Amens sounded like he attended Baptist church his whole life and he made sure to take longer responding to everything, so that he was the last man standing. I think they see the holiest yeshivish people do this and copy.
The kotel for some reason his home to some of the slowest and fastest shucklers in the world. Most people at the kotel are slow shucklers, I myself get very choked up on random occasions and find myself immobile, even though I am always observing I believe in the awesome power of this pile of stones.
I have noticed that yeshivish people tend to stand still, Chassidim tend to shuckel really fast forward aft, or lean their heads in their hands to repent for all their sins. Modern orthodox, do the regular speed shuckel – but BT’s are quite violent with theirs, I have seen more then one forget their position and bump their hesad into the kotel itself, I have also seen innocent bystanders taken out as they actually took three full steps back and bowed like they had just ended a performance.
You will never see a fresh off the Boat BT in Israel wearing a regular old Yarmulke, they tend to think that the bigger the better. So you have these guys with white shirts rucked into black jeans,m tzitzis swaying around and this huge white nanach yarmulke, or carlebachian style or even a big settler knit. If they go to Aish or Ohr Someyach they favor the enormous soup bowl style black velvet, the really stiff ones.
Flaming BT’s in Israel and other places, but in Israel they are usually in full out BT form , also love to spread disease through kissing your hand after they shake it, usually in a real hand shake manner – once they become frum they tend to give you the dead fish. They also love saying the word “beautiful” with regards to everything and everyone.
-->
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm, I have seen many of these back in the day, next time I go to Israel I will bring a notepad and mark it the way birdwatchers do:-)
B”H
You described the situation very well but forgot about the seminary girls who have their own story.:-)
I thought we don’t know what the Chilazon is, either. In Fact, according to my Rabbi, there’s a special torture in hell reserved for people who use false Ticheles. Coincidentally, he has discovered the true Chilazon, and sells real Ticheles for $85 a set. Email me for more info.
What’s better is watching the RETARDED INBRED HEREDIM on the bus going from Jerusalem to Tzfat. Watch how stupid these people are from basic things like finding a seat, to paying for a ticket, to drinking a bottle of water. It amazes me how stupid some of our kind can really be.
What is the real chilazon? I wonder how the vegans feel?
Hey Hesh you can kiss my Chilazon anyday
or any night(that would be more apperopriate for isn’t the chilazon supposed to remind us of the sky
Hubbah Hubbah Heshy, I think you have an admirer
Yup, it’s nice to see people who actually believe in this religion thing once in a while.
See, you’ve hit most of the aspects of being a BT that I’m trying really hard to avoid. Though the tzitzit do hang out, they’re just plain old white…and the kippah is on the large side and knit…well…out here we call the look Granola rather they “Hippie”…
Jesse
im a BT, but i sort of try to be moderate, and try not to get carried away with the newfound punch. nice post hesh, its true and humorous.
as one of the frummies of the food world (aka- vegan) i am not overly concerned about the fate of the chilazon. other animal issues in our community, such as the kaparot ceremony, concern me more.
i was praying at the kotel and this chassid was shuckling back and forth, his pais swaying in the air, hat holding on for dear life. dude wacked his head so hard into the wall he fell down sunned. his hat had a immediate make over, it looked like a lubavitch hat with the sides punched in. good memories
As far as I know, there are quite a few people who THINK they’ve discovered the chilazon. One of them was the Radziner Rebbe. I know a few Radziners, and they wear T’cheilet. Supposedely, the Radziner Rebbe went around to many aquaria around the world and did heavy research. However, the gemara in Menachot makes it pretty clear that the chilazon was some kind of mollusk (has a shell), and the Radziner came up with some kind of squid, so outside of the Radziner chassidim, no one else holds by this particular one.
The other major person who claimed to have found it was Rabbi Herzog, former Chief Rabbi of Israel. I don’t remember the details on his findings, but I think I remember his being a bit more reknown than the Radziner’s.
When I was in Israel, my Yeshiva took us to the T’cheilet factory on the Kinneret. This man was explaining to us why it is believed that what they have is the chilazon. So I asked him what about the gemara saying that the chilazon only comes once every 70 years; his answer was “I wouldn’t know, I’m only 35 years old”. My Rosh Yeshiva, who is not a fan of T’cheilet, made a point of this being a major cop-out.
The gemara in Menachot goes at length about one potential problem with T’cheilet–SHATNEZ. You see, linen can’t be dyed, so the P’til Tcheilet is usually made from wool. So if you have a linen garment and attach wool tzitzit to it, you are wearing shatnez. The gemara resolves that a kosher pair of tzitzit with kosher T’cheilet is the sole exception to the rule of shatnez; however, if the tzitzit/T’cheilet were to be posul, then you would be ovair shatnez. For this reason, due to the saffeq, plenty of people would not take the chance, because if they’re wrong, they either have to only wear wool garments, or they’d be ovair shatnez.
Awww TRS is that why you’re marrying me?
ghottistyx,
Squids are also mollusks. So are the slugs and snails in *general* your garden.
Let’s just say it’s “part of a complete breakfast!”
The Ptil Techelet people say that “coming up once in 70 years” is a metaphor for “it’s really freaking rare”.
Furthermore, it is relatively certain that the murex trunculus is the chilazon. This is because the dye extracted from the trunculus matches the k’la ilan plant, both are indigo, chemically and visually. The Gemara says that the two are indistinguishable, but warns against using the plant-derived indigo dye.
I just like the big kippahs because they have so many practical wearable advantages over the smaller ones! Doesn’t have to be na nach, there are lots of other designs.
Pros:
Never falls off (even under strong wind)
No need for clips
Doesn’t stick up for that akward kippah barely on your head effect
Keeps your hair from sticking up in weird ways
Cons:
A slight risk of getting your kippah as an interruption between it and your head
Isn’t as mass produced, so you can’t “popular” designs such as that pot leaf, your home team, or orange cartman (as seen on the tiny ones in ben yehuda)
If it’s too big, it looks like a muslim head covering.
SF2K1,
I’ve been thinking. Can you get a kippah large enough for 2 people? What about a minyan using a a giant kippah?
Being the son of a Drexel University BT who went from Scranton to Lakewood to Kiryat Sefer, I think i can safely say that I have seen every stage of BT that can possibly be out there (My father the BT thought that mitzvahs are more rewarding if there are more BT’s there)
Due to my father descending into FUCKING frum madness I ditched his hareidi shtus mit lukshen and followed his prior ways (College, pre-marital sex/shiksas are for practice, underage drinking) But still whenever i come across a BT i make sure to use my knowledge of the talmud against his cult-esque beliefs. I use this against annoying kollel people too
You described the situation very well but forgot about the seminary girls who have their own story.:-)
It’s usually the same. They shuckle with just as much force and intensity in their eyes…. typicaly praying for a shidduch.
Many Breslovers today wear techelet, since some of the movement’s elders accepted the Radzinger’s techelet (although now another snail is widely agreed upon) (http://www.nachalnovea.com/breslovcenter/articles/article_customs1.htm). Unless the BT considers himself Breslov (or Radzinger?) I would discourage wearing it.
That said, more power to the BTs; I’m proud of them for not feeling like they have to be exactly like everyone else.
Big kippas are good — they actually kind of function as a hat, for one thing. I don’t care if they look like Muslim scullcaps.
In case anyone’s wondering where the Breslov tassel tradition comes from, here’s a picture of Rebbe Nachman’s kippa:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=kippa&w=94373938%40N00
I would discourage people from wearing a “na nach” version, though, unless they’re 100% sure they really identify with the small group within Breslov that promotes this phrase. Myself, I identify 100% with Breslov but, well, no comment, when it comes to the “na nach” slogan.
The hand-kissing is more of a Sfardi thing.
Way back in the Hayday, my Pops used to daven at the Radziner bais medrish in Borough Park and no, he and his father did not wear tichelet, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.
ghotistyx,
I forgot to mention that my comment was directed at you.