2' Friday, September. 24, 1971
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEW
Purely Commentary
•
The New Year 5737 Commences in a Spirit
of Faith in the Indestructibility of Jewry
By Philip
Slomovitz
Commencing the Year 5737 in a Spirit of Faith and Confidence
A saying attributed to the Baal Shem Tov, Hasidism's founder, ad-
monishes:
"When God wants to punish a man, He deprives him of faith."
Even in times of greatest calamities, the Jewish people were sus-
tained by confidence that justice can not always be suppressed, that a
people, like individuals, must have faith in the survival of the highest
ethical codes which are the values by which men are judged.
The past several years had their challenges of such immensity that
they did, indeed, try men's souls. If man were to submit to despair he
would be a hopeless and helpless being.
Jews do not abandon hope, therefore they live on. The faithful hesi-
tate to use the term survival. There is no such thing in Jewish life as
abandonment of confidence in indestructibility. Therefore,. it is not a
question of survival but rather of holding the banner of a heritage with
high ideal as loftily as people with self-respect are expected.
A new year commences for the Jewish people with apprehensions
that are no different in anticipation of 5737 as they were in preceding
years. Many questions will be asked. Are we retaining our cultural-
spiritual values? Are the hatreds imminent in anti-Semitic incidents
increasing the dangers to Jewish security? Are we losing our youth
and what hope is there for retention of their identity with their people?
Are the dangerssgrowing for Israel? Will civilized mankind abandon Is-
rael?
If Jews were to submit to panic they'd see only the negatives in life.
Yet, the conditions under which we live today are not necessarily all
clouded with enmities and terror.
The dedicated have not abandoned their duties and the respon-
sibilities of the schools and the synagogues have not, been abandoned.
Jewish scholarship is not dead. It flourishes as long as there is encour-
agement from those who adhere to the binding obligations to make the
spiritual factor inseparable from the peoplehood of Israel.
Youth merits greater confidence in itself than to be written off as
unidentified. They may not attend all public functions, they may not be
visibly demonstrable where their elders would like to see them by their
sides, but that does not mean that they are abandoning their people. We
lose many, we retain most of them.
Anti-Semitism frequently raises its ugly head, but in civilized society
it is viewed as a major sin. It is often cause for concern, never a creator of
total panic. The Hamans and Torquemadas and Chmielnickis and
Pobedonostsevs and Hitlers did not and could not have succeeded. Jewry
survives them all.
Israel inspires concern because the enemies who surround her are so
overwhelming numerically. But the faith of Israel, the will to live, the
determination to prevent another destruction has given the people the
strength necessary for life and progress. With world Jewry's loyalties,
Israel is unbeatable. With the will to live, Israel is unbeatable. That will
also gives world Jewry the strength to stand erect for justice.
Confidence inspired by faith, the sense of dignity that is necessa_ _ .or
a life of self-respect, are the principles by which to judge the impending
years. With faith dominating the Jewish spirit no enemy of Jewry can
function. That is why 5737 enters as courage-inspiring for Jews
everywhere.
Obstacles to Internatiorial Decency
While over-optimism is as dangerous as pessimism, a hopeful ap-
proach to problems confronting Israel and mankind is justified by many
of the current experiences. Yet there is an obstacle. The cliques who
dominate the international organization are causing troubles to man-
kind. There are bigotries in the United Nations that are undermining the
very meaning of human decencies.
Perhaps the hatred of Israel which united the blinded Third World is
understandable if one judges the end yesult of international indecencies
on the basis of inherited venom. The virus of anti-Semitism, including the
anti-Semitism of Semitic Moslems, might account for the hate4nongering
that united Communists, Arabs, the bigoted of many nations. But why do
the haters condone terrorism? Why hasn't there been action against
hijacking when the horror has begun to affect the very creators of it?
That's where the obstacle to decency stems from: it is rooted in an
international organization that was founded on hopes for peace and has
instead developed into a poisonous well of international crime.
Can this obstacle to human decency be removed? That's one factor in
life that appears insoluble today. There is little to hope for from a
poisoned UN. Perhaps a resentful mankind will find a way of ending this
cancer on the international body.
Yiddish Etymology Evolution of Words No Longer Used and the Proverbial Treasures
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
71p
TIN
itt
An. oylom iz nit keyn goylem.
Yiddish has a fascination all its own. A renewea
•
The masses are no asses.
concern in its continuity and survival attracts note-
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t•N - ' s 171 Ili
worthy interest in its etymology.
On more than one sense, Yiddish is an interna-
Az der Yid is gerekht, khapt er ersht di rekhte
tional tongue. It is spoken by Jews in many lands and •klep.
the language gained distinction by having many
When a Jew is right, that's when he gets a right
terms inserted in the English dictionary.
good beating.
Many Yiddish words have, however, fallen into
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disuse and etymologists could have a heyday in study-
Zingen ken ikh nit, ober a meyvin bin ikh.
ing the evolution* in Yiddish having assumed global
I can't sing a note, but I know all about it.
significance with the revolution that affects a decline.
.m51).1 tatAp C`1D 7"iir
Take words like "karger, "krikher," "kaly e-mak-
A sheyn ponim kost gelt.
hen," "khapen klep," "skripen," "baytl," "sheynken,"
A pretty face costs money.
"shlimazl," "opshtoysen," "moykhl," "meyvin," and
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scores of others down the line. Some of the words are
A patsh fargeyt, a vort bashteyt.
of Hebrew derivation, but they had become an ineras-
The smart of a blow subsides, the sting of a word
able part of Yiddish.
abides.
It may well be said that the decline of Yiddish is
A foyler sheliakh gefint ale teyrutsi?n.
directly responsible for the extinction of many of the
A lazy messenger finds many excuses.
once-common terms from our vocabulary. But even
A foyln is gut shikn noknn malakh hamoves.
those who did not know Yiddish were acquainted with
Be sure. to send a lazy man for the Angel of
the common terms. "krekhtzen" and "kibitzing" were
Death.
as popularly used by ultra-assimilated Jews as by
A kalyeke git men gikher a nedove vf.a talmid-
Yiddishists, and the latter even gained a place in the khokhem. •
English dictionary.
More alms are at hand for a cripple than for a
With the disappearance of many of the popular scholar.
terms from common usage, the Yiddish proverb, too,
A karger tsolt tayerer un a foyler geyt ?nen
has been forgotten. Many Yiddish proverbs are so
The miser pays dearer and the sluggard walks
unique that their revival arouses within us a sense of farther.
deep appreciation. The Schocken Book, "Yiddish
A khissorn, di kale iz tsu, sheyn!
Proverbs," edited by Hanan J. Ayalti, helps relieve
Too bad, the bride is so pretty.
our nostalgia. Let us share a few of these. The follow-
A khoynef for nit in kaas vern.
ing, selected from Ayalti's book, contains a number of
A flaterer must not lose his temper.
the forgotten words:
A kluger farshteyt fun eyn vort tsvey.
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A wise man. hears one word and understands
Az Got vii, shist a bezim oykh.
two.
If God so wills it, even a broom can shoot.
A mentsh iz shtarker fun, ayzn un shvakher fun
a
flig.
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Man is stronger than iron and weaker than a fly.
A gantser nar iz a halber novi.
A meshu'ined iz nit keyn Yid 'un nit keyn goy.
A whole fool is half a prophet.
A convert is no Jew and no Gentile.
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A shlekhter rod skripet antergstn.
A kats ken oykh kalye makhn.
The worst wheel squeaks loudest.
Even a cat can cross your plans.
A shlimazl vandert oys ale lender un kum t
-
aheym on hoyzn on hemder.
Who's got no luck goes off to far lands witl- full
haversack, returns without pants or shirt to his back.
A shverer baytl makht a laykht gemit.
A heavy purse makes a light heart.
A sod iz keyn brokhe.
To be in on a secret is to be under no blessing.
A toyber hot gehert, vi a shtumer hot dertseylt,
az a blinder hot gezen, vi a krumer iz gelofn.
A deaf man heard a mute tell how a blind man
saw a cripple run.
Af a mitsve gefinen zilch a sakh balonim.
One good deed has many claimants. -
Af a nar iz keyn kashye nit tsu fregn ten keyn
pshat nit ftu zogn.
A fool cannot be questioned or explained.
Ale kinder zaynen kleynerheyt king, nor dos •rov
blaybn baynt kindershn seykhl.
All children are clever when they are small, but
most of them grow no wiser.
Az ale zukhn sheyne kales, vu kunten ahin di
miesse me'Ydn?
With all the world looking for pretty brides,
what becomes of the homely girls?
Az an, orenzan est a hun, iz oder er krank odor di
hun.
When a poor man gets to eat a chicken, due of
them is sick.
Az der oyrakh hust, felt irn a !ell.
When the guest coughs, he wants a spoon.
Az der soyne fait, for men zikh nit freyen, (ober
men heybt im nit oyf).
"Rejoice not at thine enemy's fall" — but don't
pick him up either.
Az der tate sheynkt dem. zun, lakhn beyde — az
der zun sheynkt den tatn, veynen. beyde.
When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when
a son gives to his father, both cry.
Az der Yid is hungerik, zingt er, •un der poyer
shlogt dos vayb.
When a Jew is hungry, he sings; when a peasant
is hungry, he beats his wife.
Az di hatslolche shpilt, gilt ersht di khoklone.
When luck joins in the game, yricglhetv le 9767 jsrLskc, oIrn e .$)
double.