Current reading. Американцы на диком востоке
Из той же книги Бен-Циона Клибанского о межвоенных литовских йешивах. В которых, помимо уроженцев Восточной Европы, училось в те годы какое-то количество студентов из Америки, приезжавших ради получения раввинских "дипломов". (В Америке в те годы йешив практически не было, и репутации у них была так себе. Литовские же йешивы пользовались уважением и известностью, в том числе - поскольку их главы регулярно ездили в Америку шнорить).
Как нетрудно догадаться, попадание из Америки в восточно-европейское захолустье стало для американцев шоком.
Their highest concentration was in Mir, and an article that appeared in an American newspaper described their first meeting of this Polish town: “When they arrived in Mir, a place that does not even appear on a map, they had to change their entire way of life. Hot baths, sports facilities, cars, a pressed suit and the theater *-all these are unknown in Mir. . . . In the beginning, it was hard for them to get used to this kind of life. They especially suffered because they did not find clean bathrooms.
*Студенты даже не просто ортодоксальной, а ультра-ортодоксальной йешивы, которым не хватает театра - такое сегодня и представить себе сложно. А вот.
Впрочем, американским студентам тоже удалось удивить аборигенов. И не просто удивить, а просто таки шокировать.
Чем именно. Желающие угадать могут сделать это, не заходя под кат.
It was about a football game. A Harvard graduate knows that it is possible to study science and still go outside between lectures and play a little ball. But in the Mir Yeshiva they don’t agree with this approach. This is what happened: five or six Americans wanted to get some air and, with great gusto, started to play football right in front of the yeshiva. Their Polish friends and householders from the town stood and stared with amazement. This was the first time that they had seen the combination of students and ball-players. Immediately the administration informed the young men that they “had gone too far.” After a quiet protest, the group gave in.
P. S. Что интересно, театр в Мире таки был. Правда, любительский, но зато еврейский:
Between 1908 and 1910 a drama group operated in Mir, which produced Jewish plays including "Shulamit" and "Bar Kochva." After WWI, the group renewed its activities, attracting graduates of the Jewish school. The revenue earned from its shows in Mir and neighboring towns went towards supporting the Jewish library and school. Moshe Reuveni remembers the drama circle:
"We didn't want just to make money for the library, we also had another goal - to provide the Jewish public in the town… with a good play, not substandard ones, like they had in most towns in those days. We reached our peak with "The Miser," by Molière. The production was perfect and the hall packed to the rafters, just like the good old days. Источник.