A little morsel from the annals of Jewish summer vacations: Kafka went to Marienbad on holiday, and there he had the opportunity, thanks to his chasidish (BT) friend Langer to "accompany" the Belzer Rebbe, Yissaschar Dov Rokeach.
Here's some of what he had to say about him:
Er sieht aus wie der Sultan, den ich als Kind in einem Doréee-Münchhausen oft gesehn habe. Aber keine Maskerade, wirklich der Sultan. Und nicht nur Sultan, sondern auch Vater, Volksschullehrer, Gymnasialprofessor u. s. f.
Der Anblick seines Rückens, der Anblick der Hand, die auf der Hüfte liegt, der Anblick der Wendung dieses breiten Rückens - alles das gibt Vertrauen. Auch in den Augen der ganzen Gruppe ist dieses ruhige glückliche Vertrauen, das ich gut ahne.
"He looks like a Sultan, like I had often seen as a child in the stories of Baron Munchhausen. No joke! Really the Sultan. But not only a Sultan, but also a Father, a Teacher, a Professor, etc. The sight of his back, the sight of his hand sitting on his hip, the sight of the turns of this wide back - all of it inspired trust. Also I surmise in the eyes of the whole group that there is a calm, contented trust."
(from a letter to Max Brod, July 1916)
H/T Torah Musings via Bernard Wasserstein, On the Eve,
The Jews of Europe before the Second World War.
