I got a copy of City Spirit (a glossy bimonthly) thrown in with my groceries at Glatt Mart yesterday.<\/p>\n
Leafing through the articles, I paid particular attention to how the writers described themselves.<\/p>\n
Here’s Rabbi Gershon Bess<\/a>‘s description — I suspect he wrote it, but if he didn’t, he must’ve approved it: "Rabbi Gershon Bess is Rav of Congregation Kehillas Yaakov and serves as the Halachic authority for the Los Angeles Kollel and Yeshiva communities. He gives a slate of highly regarded lectures on Talmud and Halacha and is the Rosh HaVaad of Vaad L’Maan Yahadus which has published Halachic bulletins for many years. He is a graduate of the yeshivos of Philadelphia, Ponovez, Lakewood and the Kollel of Los Angeles and serves on the Bais Din of the Rabbinical Council of California."<\/p>\n Wow. I’m glad there was room enough for his article on kosher bread.<\/p>\n In my view, the longer the self-description, the more insecure the man.<\/p>\n I remember a Shabbat dinner where we were going around the table introducing ourselves and this chiropractor says, "I’m Dr. Jonathan…"<\/p>\n Trying a bit too hard, mate? Let go and let God.<\/p>\n Rabbi Bess serves as the halachic authority for the Los Angeles yeshiva communities? All of them? They all look to him?<\/p>\n His lectures are "highly regarded"? By whom? Isn’t it a bit chutzpadick to describe your own lectures as "highly regarded"?<\/p>\n When I publish articles in prestigious journals, I like to keep my self-description pithy: "Luke Ford wants to be your moral leader. He’s single and ready to mingle."<\/p>\n I’m just glad Rabbi Bess didn’t describe himself as "charismatic and dynamic" (a la Rabbi Eliyahu Safran<\/a> of the Orthodox Union) or as "one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world" (a la Rabbi YY Rubinstein<\/a>).<\/p>\n Rabbis don’t tend to commit the great sin of excess humility.<\/p>\n My favorite ad in the magazine?<\/p>\n "Are you in need of an aggressive lawyer? If you have a really tough case, then you need a really tough lawyer. Get tough with Baruch C. Cohen<\/a>…323-937-4501"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I got a copy of City Spirit (a glossy bimonthly) thrown in with my groceries at Glatt Mart yesterday. Leafing through the articles, I paid particular attention to how the writers described themselves. Here’s Rabbi Gershon Bess‘s description — I … Continue reading