mentalblog.com comments:
Bere probably took this one with his new Leica camera. I wonder what provoked that laugh. Must have been some joke!
Barry was given a leica camera by his grandfather in Warsaw.It was brought to America in 1940. Photography was his hobby. Barry told me that the Rayaatz was his favorite subject.
What provoked the laughter was the previous shot in this series the one made famous by Kehot in many of its early publications with the Rebbe staring angerily at the camera in as tern ultra serious Varmeyachte maanner. After this poset he rayaatz "cracked up"
My father A"h descrbed the Rayaazt in a yechidus in Postov and later in Vilna (both in the 1930's) as being very stern and serious in both demeanor and speech. He said the Rebbe swas dressed very well as an aristocrat witha pocket watch, vest etc. But he obviously had a sense of humor too.
According to Shaul Shimon Deutsch, Barry said that
"During the first days of War II, I lost my camera. When we arrived in the United States in 1940, my grandfather bought me a replacement camera." So this pisture might have been taken with the 1st camera.
After reading Bryan Mark Rigg's book I think that the 1st camera was most probably lost when they family run from Otvotzk to Warsaw under German bombardment.
The Rayatz is described by Ben Tzion Dinur, who left Telz for Tomchei Temmimim in the early 1900s, as being very stern and making a harsh impression on him. This probably was casued by Dinur's attitude to authority.
I heard from a chosid who both knew the Rayatz and the Rebbe, that the Rayatz had a much more aristocratic demeanor. So it appears to me from the film clips of the Rayatz, where he speaks slowly and deliberately, although it may have been due to the stroke.
It would seem to me that someone descending from 5 rebbes would naturally have an aristocratic bearing.
Can anyone add more insight?
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