Wednesday, July 21, 2021

400 yrs ago

     
 
Yeshivos, starting their winter זמן on
ר"ח חשון, the summer זמן on ר"ח אייר
and  opening-up the freezer on
Tu B'Shvat & Tu B'Av (Shiduchim) 
goes back to at least 400 years ago.  

R. Nosson Nota M'Hanover zt"l wrote a Sefer
"יון מצולה" describing the Chmielnicki YM"S 
period. (גזירת ת"ח ות"ט)
 
At the end of the Sefer, he describes the
Yeshiva world of that period.


Among the interesting things he writes is
that the RoshYeshiva had a שמש ( Mashgiach)
who made sure the בחורים are learning and
not loitering the streets.   

Every Thursday they had a בחינה (test).
בחורים who couldn't answer correctly 
were hit by the שמש with a big stick and
shamed in public so they will remember
to learn properly the following week. 

(As absurd as it sounds, my generation
grew up when this system was not yet
considered abnormal)

בין הזמנים started on Tu B'Shvat & Tu B'Av.
The Roshei  Yeshiva & the בחורים traveled
to the winter & summer fairs.
At the fair, the learning was more relaxed. 


Being all the Roshei Yeshiva and all their
Talmidim were at the fair, it turned into a
Shiduchim market. Any parent who had a son
or daughter of marriageable age made
sure to attend the fair. Hundreds & even
thousands of Shiduchim were negotiated and
arranged there.  

 

 



 






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