The Fabrengen of the Year

“The Facebook app is made for fabrengens.”

The young man woke up to in the bright zal

His cup of coffee was waiting for him. Everyone had just stopped singing. That was the trick; doze off during the niggunim and return to earth when the Rosh, Rabbi Cohen, began to speak again. It was four in the morning, they started the night before at a quarter past nine and the young man hadn’t missed a word spoken by the captivating Rabbi Cohen.

It’s like a serious minded Captain Jack Sparrow fabrenging with us.

R Cohen’s witty humour, genius tales, inspirational reprimands, and absolutely captivating intonations carried the young man though the night. Every time he dozed off he awoke to discover a few less people present, but he and about a dozen others remained affixed.

“It’s in order to spread the teachings to the OUTside, yes? [to Moishe] Do you know what it means OUT side? Do you? Yes? No no no no, do you know? I don’t mean SYDNEY..”

The man was 70 years old yet his voice filled the entire zal for hours on end. He had been doing this for years and was still as sharp as anyone could be. He knew how to take a problem and put it right up in your face and tell you exactly what needed to be done. Better yet, he made you feel that it needed to be done.

“I expect to start hodu at HALF PAST five, BUT...AFter we go to mikva. Ah, so it is closed. Ah...BUT...[pulls it out] I have a KEY. This is guaranteed to...get us into the WAter...”

The young man jumped up to get hi towel and rush out to the dark empty street to the mikva. It had been the night that would carry him through the year...