For shame...!

Here is something that bothers me a little (okay, more than a little):

Today was Reb Shlomo Carlebach's yahrtzeit. Last year, I wrote a little post about him, in acknowledgment of the day, but I also observed another very important yahrtzeit - that of Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach, the "late" Gadol haDor.

Unfortunately, Rebbe Shlomo's yahrtzeit seems to have eclipsed the "other" yahrtzeit. Granted, Rebbe Shlomo died first, but still. In shul yesterday (Shabbos), the gabbai got up and made a lengthy announcement about the Carlebach memorial concert that was held on motzei Shabbos in New York City. He encouraged everybody to go, because it was important. I approached him after the services to ask him what he was doing for Reb Shach's yahrtzeit - he hadn't even realized that they were on the same day, and by his response, he couldn't care less, either.

I understand the significance of Rebbe Shlomo's life and legacy, of course. He had a profound influence and impact on me as well. But the fact that we place the remembrance of an entertainer - even a saintly, holy entertainer who meant so much to so many - over the remembrance of someone who assumed the mantle of leadership (accepted almost universally by religious Jews as the bottom line in halacha and hashkafa), and after the deaths of Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, shouldered the burdens of American Jewry as well...that is so very, very sad.

And par for the course, as well.