Chassidim awed and Frightened when They See Late Rabbi in Film

Eight hundred and twenty six Chassidim from Koztzk attended a private cinema performance in Warsaw, reports the “Observer.” It was the first film, it says, they had ever seen. The film was a reconstruction of the life of Mendel, the miracle rabbi, who lived and worked at Kotzk. No woman was allowed to attend the performance, which was kept secret. The audience, with their broad-brimmed hats, traditional long silk gowns, silk trousers and long beards, seemed to have stepped out of a long-forgotten past. At first the guests seemed to feel uncomfortable in the unusual surroundings, but after a time they gave reserved utterance to their emotions, warning some characters in the film who seemed to be in peril, reproving the misdeeds of others, and applauding those whose moral behavior pleased them. When, however, the figure of Mendel appeared, they could no longer contain themselves; they rose to their feet in a body, applauding vehemently, and burst into an old Chassidic choral song which accompanied the production to its end. Fortunately, some critical stages passed without panic, especially one scene which showed a fight with Cossacks. Many spectators took it for reality, and showed signs of flight. But they were reassured, and the finale was greeted with stamping of feet and frenzied applause. It was rather difficult to induce the visitors to leave the hall, but finally they betook themselves to the station, and entrained direct to Kotzk.

The film referred to appears to be the screen version of the novel “In Polish Woods” by the well-known Yiddish author, Joseph Opatoshu, a trilogy describing the distoric process of Judaism in the last hundred years and depicting in part Chassidic life in its later period. The Chassidic Rabbis in Poland banned the novel, chiefly on account of the manner in which it portrays the Chassidic Rabbi of Kotzk, Reb Mendele.