By Sandy Eller – VIN News
New York – As the Jewish community continues to marvel at what is possibly the only footage of the Chofetz Chaim, new details have emerged about the four minute fifty one second clip that has logged tens of thousands of hits on YouTube over the past 48 hours.
As previously reported on VIN News, a Fox newsreel of the first Knessia Gedola, held in Vienna in 1923, shows moving images of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, arriving at the gathering, where he spoke on two separate occasions, addressing an audience of prominent rabbanim, men and women.
According to Benjamin Singleton, a production manager at the University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections which owns the footage, the clip has been available for both study and licensing for 34 years, but has become more widely viewed since the MIRC launched a YouTube-style website in 2012.
“This film was among many thousands of reels given to the University of South Carolina in 1980 by 20th Century Fox,” Singleton told VIN News. “The films were cataloged and viewed by the University library system and made available to the public. The university now keeps the film in an underground vault.”
The clip is the only known footage in the Fox newsreel collection of the 1923 Knessia Gedola and was shot on August 15th and 16th by Fox News cameraman Hans Von Pebal, who covered assignments in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Romania, Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Fox News began filming silent newsreels worldwide in 1919 and as technology progressed, Fox started producing footage with sound in 1928 under the name Fox Movietone News, with cameramen in over 20 countries. Fox continued recording newsreels in the United States through 1963 and in the United Kingdom, under the name British Movietone News, through 1979.
Singleton said that Von Pebal worked for Fox News from its initial launch in 1919 and continued on through at least the mid 1930’s. While the nitrocellulose negative was created from 35 millimeter Agfa film, it is unknown what type of camera Von Pebal used when he filmed the Knessia Gedola, although it was likely a hand cranked model.
Once completed, Von Pebal’s historic footage was placed in a metal can and shipped, undeveloped, to the Fox News office on Manhattan’s West Side. Fox developed and edited the footage, with the outtakes negatives cataloged via the Dewy Decimal system, where they remained in a can for 57 years.
Once acquired by the MIRC, the Fox newsreel was transferred to video, which can be a complicated process when working with decades-old negatives. The film is placed on either a scanner or a telecine, a digital camera that can take up to 24 photographs per second as the film rolls, recording at real time.
As most silent films recorded at the time run at 17 frames per second, the Knessia Gedola clip, which consisted of 4,468 frames, would have taken a little over four minutes to transfer to video, once all the necessary preparatory work had been completed.
“There are a lot of other time-consuming and tedious steps before an old film is scanned,” explained Singleton. “The film is often fragile. Nitrocellulose, an old type of plastic, is very flammable and has a tendency to decompose. The university stores these films in a climate controlled vault which is very cold and dry. An eighty year old film can therefore be in delicate condition and many hours may be required to piece together. Cleaning of the film may also be necessary.”
The historical footage has proven to be big news in the Jewish community and an exciting turn of events for the MIRC.
“The recent interest in the film has been tremendous,” said Singleton.
The Chofetz chaim’s brother-in-law was R’ Elyakum Getzel Levitan, AKA “the Magid of Brisk”.
Look up the meaning of the word live
Even though he didn’t live to attend the 1937 Motzes Gedolei HaTorah conference in Marienbad, the Chafetz Chaim was one of the main organizers. Is there live footage of the 1937 Agudah conference too?
Each of the sadikim will start with Shalom.. It hurts me to read negativity because of this wonderful footage.
Maybe it surface now for a reason.
Then again there are no maybes!
thanks collive for this wonderful piece.
to those that do not seem to see beyond their noses, I will suggest that they read Shuli Rand’s interview in this week Ami magazine. Shuli, the director of the film Ushpizin, is a Breslov chassid who has only good words and admiration for others that are not in his circle.
I feel pity for those that in their narrow-mindedness push away those that are seeking authentic and true Yiddishkeit (as opposed to political party-like attitudes!
He and the people around him are dressed like chasidim right over left.
To 10 and 11:
Does describing the Chofetz Chaim as a tzadik imply that
only he is one? Come off it! All Tzadikim – they are ahuvim and birurim.
Just because the Lubavitcher Tzadikim are our Rebbes does not mean we should downplay the tzidkus of others.
Now this, that some in other sects disrespect our Rebbes – well, that’s wrong, and they must stop that! I have seen the harm,CH”V!, that befalls people after they do things like that (e.g. problems with, health, wealth, children, etc.).
it is sad that our yeshiva have such tunnel vision.
How many of those in that video perished in the holocaust?
it’s true that JEM deserves a big yasher koach but it’s equally important to remember that Reb chaim Baruch Halberstam was the one who had the foresight to video as much as he possibly could. He was also the innovator for the televised farbreingens in addition to the Farbreingens on the phone. It’s a shame that he does not get recognized for all that he has done.
No I am not a relative nor a friend.. I am just someone that believes strongly in remembering those whose hard work and innovations benefit so many.
Thank you so much for that info, so interesting!!
The world’s enthusiasim of the moving clip of the Chofetz Chaim is another very strong message and proof how valuable the Rebbe’s video’s are for the generation who hasn’t been zoche to be with and see the Rebbe
How grateful we are for the Rebbe’s far reaching eye who enabled these videos of him. A big yaasher koach to the work JEM is doing to preserve all this for us all and klal yisroel till Moshiach!
Rabbi Shmuel Lew, shliach in England, related what he heard from the menahel of mesivta Torah Vodaas, Rabbi Alexander Linchner a’h. Rabbi Linchner had learned in Radin and one time, the Chofetz Chaim looked towards the Russian border and said, “There are millions of Jews there and the concern for all of them rests on the shoulders of one man, the Lubavitcher Rebbe.”
In a letter to Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik, the Rebbe Rayatz describes an incident in which Misnagdim wanted to stir up trouble against the Rebbe Rashab and they asked the Chofetz Chaim to join them. Not only did he absolutely refuse but the Chofetz Chaim expressed his great admiration for the Rebbe Rashab. The unpleasantness occurred when the kuntres Eitz Chaim was published, which deals with the mitzvos of Love of Hashem and Fear of Hashem, the necessity to learn pnimiyus ha’Torah, and the proper way of learning. This aroused the ire of those learning in Litvishe yeshivos, mainly because… Read more »
The Rebbe noted many times how careful the Chofetz Chaim was about Ahavas Yisrael and he once explained that the reason that the Mishna Brura was widely accepted was because he was an “Ish ha’Chofetz Chaim.”
Notice how people used to interact before cell phones started to distance people from each other. No phone calls to take. No emails or text messages to look at. No news feeds to get lost in. Was it a better time?
Was the Rashab or Rayatz invited
Really nice to see some history.
We have many pictures and videos of “real” Tzadikim. You can even find them on Chabad.org, and they are shown each Mozei Shabbos as part of the Living Torah. Which “real” Tzadikim were you missing?
there are many pictures of the lubavitcher rebbe where you can see what a tzaddik looks like
מי האיש החפץ חיים?
thnx for such a beutiful post, will show my kids what a tzaddik looks like.
interesting each one is different
Offhand, if you ask any Lubavitcher, can he or she say who the Chofetz Chaim was – what was his name? when did he live? which yeshiva was he associated with? which sefarim is he famous for? [Answers: Yisrael Meir Kagan (Cohen), he lived for nearly 100 years, d. 1933, Poland, the one in Radin, Mishna Brura, Chofetz Chaim and Shmiras Ha’Lashon. Also known for his numerous meshalim. The Rebbe Rashab was held in high esteem by the Chofetz Chaim, so much so that the Chofetz Chaim declared of him, “the words of the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe are holy, and anyone… Read more »
0:27 הג”ר אברהם צבי פרלמוטר אב”ד ורשא ונציג אגו”י בסיים האדמו”ר ר’ ישראל פרידמן מצ’ורטקוב 0:47 רשכבה”ג נשיא הדורות החפץ חיים זי”ע 0:57 מלווה בבנו מצד אחד ומצד שני נכדו הגר”א קפלן הי”ד 0:57 האדמו”ר מסוקולוב ר’ יצחק זליג מורגנשטרן הי”ד 1:47 הג”ר אשר מיכאל כהן אב”ד באזל 1:57 הג”ר יהודא ליב צירלסון אב”ד קישנב הי”ד 2:05 הג”ר אלנן וסרמן הי”ד 2:22 ר’ אשר מנדלסון מראשי אגו”י בפולין ונציג בסיים 2:28 הג”ר פנחס דר. קאהן אב”ד אנסבך 2:56 הג”ר טוביה הורויץ אב”ד סנוק 3:02 מורנו רבי יעקב רוזנהיים נשיא אגו”י 3:16 הג”ר אליהו יונג רב ג’ואיש סנטר ניו יורק 3:55… Read more »
Here’s the video with captions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US6M9At-nWQ
Thanks for posting!!
they also have Chabad footage ? Can someone inquire ?
Acn anybody please identify some of the others in the reel?