A good cinematic portrayal about all this can be seen in Lars von Trier's "The Idiots" - it actually reminds me vividly about the farbrengens I once attended in ransacked basements.

I would say more, but I don't know what the rating system is here - and certainly wouldn't want to implent machshoves muzhomes in the minds of the Holy Readers sheyichiyu
Autotheist | 04.29.08 - 9:37 am | #

On a different note, you're wrong Tzemach...

The characters change but the roles don't. There is generally some kind of interchange between all these figures - new faces upstairs and the like. They say different things, they shift from side to side based on the feigned facade of tachteinim, lemineihem and what I mean by this is a general theological justification for transmorphing between different camps based on the popular "political" shifts purported about.

Perhaps if it was easier for me to abstract and discount the individual personalities (whether genuine or merely ascribed) it would be easy for me to agree with you - but I do admit that there is a form of fascination involved within these changes - not because the changes in-themselves are so radical but rather because of the inherent perspective of each sub-ideology as being rather exclusive or inclusive - but at all costs emanating and evangelizing that there still remains some fascination.

In truth, and this brings me to the second point of your post, as well as the point highlighted within "The Idiots" is that these stark differnces and contrasting notions do not seem to take hold in the individuals themselves - indeed they are certainly aware of their own changes but do not attribute a heavy burden of importance to them; for them it is always the mere "Experience" of the matter that counts. Perhaps Chabad is not as "Fundamentalist" and "Primitive" as we think.
Autotheist | 04.29.08 - 9:50 am | #

the person on the left (the one next to Brook) looks as if he just migrated from Mongolia
http://www.crownheights.info/med...770%2008/ 28.JPG
Autotheist | 04.29.08 - 9:51 am | #

easy to say "put to sleep". i think i may be suffering from this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sto...ckholm_syndrome
faruq | 04.29.08 - 12:19 pm | #