Monday, June 27, 2005

When the sun set on the West.

ADDeRabbi posts about one of the darkest days in history, January 20, 1961. Anyone who has received a standard yeshivish education will recognize this as the day that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated the 35th president of the United States. JFK wasn't wearing a hat and with his bare head went Western Civilization. Although in truth its a machlokes; a mashgiach in a certain yeshiva placed the date at February 16, 1964, when the Beatles played 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' on the Ed Sullivan Show.

All kidding aside, the truth is that the yeshivish appropriation of the fedora as a costume and symbol could not have been complete without JFK's hedonistic display of hubris toward the January chill, which felled at least one other president*. As for the Beatles, there's nothing yeshivish about boots, especially if they're pointy enough to shecht a behema gassa.

*Okay, it was March, but still.

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