Dennis Hollingsworth

Is Gewein A Folk

Studio Music Report: a current favorite from Massel Klezmorim.

Especially song number 9, "Un as der Rebbe sint", a song I can barely decipher but I think it is one in which a Hasidic Rabbi is called upon in turns to sing, to sleep, to laugh. The singer, Elias Lutz, sings and snores and splits his guts in belly laughs slow and fast in turns yelling "Ho-Paaaaa!". Hilarious. There are no lyrics but here are the liner notes for this song:

At this time, many stories were told about miracles done to Rabbis, like this one for example:

-At school, the Rabbi tells a story of Rabbi Schloime (Salomo), to whom God had done many miracles: "One day, Rebbe Schloime walks through the wood and finds a foundling under a tree. He raises his hands, sings and prays that God might do a miracle, so that the child can survive. And, I tell you, God does a miracle and makes breasts grow to the Rabbi Schloime.

"Chaim, what's on? Are you laughing about God doing a miracle to the Rabbi Schloime?" "Well", says Chaime "I ask, why do a miracle, if the same would have been done with a little cash?" "Well", says the teacher "this is right, but I think, why take the good cash, if it is possible with a miracle?"