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Friday, December 4, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Lest There Be an Absentmindedness, Let There Be Resort
to the Historic Record, Taking Into Account the Europeans
Merging to Obstruct Israel, the Arabs Allied to Destroy
By Philip
Slomovitz
Examinging the Record of the Media and the Spokespeople for Arabs Commandeering Destructive Forces
Perhaps there will be a temporary lull in the gang-up aimed at forcing destructive
schemes upon Israel. The Arabs are not united and the Morocco conference was halted
after a brief few hours of acrimony. The hallucinations over a mythical Saudi approach to
the recognition of Israel is the cause. But they remain united in opposition to the Camp
David decisions, and on that score there will surely be another reunion of Arab forces.
There is need for preparation for such a revival of Arab propagandizing. There may never
be total Arab unity: only the hatred for Israel unites them. But the spread of venom will
be difficult to halt.
With the Camp David aftermath in a debatable status, the threat of its demolition
must be viewed in all seriousness. It is heard and repeated too often, that Camp David's
peace aims are finished. This is being ascribed to the European Economic Community
and its rulings arrived at in Venice more than a year ago. Its destructiveness is apparent.
It aims at forcing Israel to bow to her enemies. Even worse is the unity among the
European nations, and their Venice decisions, if accepted-, could lead to Israel's destruc-
tion. Therefore the Israeli protest against the participation of four important European
powers in the proposed Sinai peacekeeping force is understandable.
So: Israel knows and recognizes her enemies and obstructionists. The refusal to turn
the Camp David documents into a suicide pact are being termed by some as an Israeli
failure to cooperate with the United States. One must have greater faith in the U.S.-
Israel friendship, maintaining that it will survive the animosities.
Meanwhile, there are the attempts to prove that there is a tendency in Arab ranks
to grant recognition to Israel and her right to exist. On the latter score it is at last being
emphasized sufficiently that Israel and her defenders do not need such an approval and
will not submit to it. Sufficient! Israel exists and is not subject to a recognition of the fact.
Regrettable as the repetition is, there is the compulsion to indicate the extent of Arab
assertions that Israel does not have the right to exist. In the process it is important that
Americans especially should know and understand the extent of Arab hatred for the
United States in the matter involving Israel's role in the Middle East.
The American Jewish Committee's Institute of Human Affairs has compiled some of
the declarations of hatred for the United States, the Arab endorsements of Soviet policies,
the threats to `Israel. Here is a partial account of this venom:
I tell you frankly, in the light of the present balance of the conflict in the
region and the world, that if we had the capability to sign treaties with the
Soviet Union we would have signed 1,000 of them, and if we had land to
grant the Soviet Union bases, we would have given it 1,000 bases. This is
because we are facing an enemy bigger than Israel. Our enemy is the United
States ... This is why we say that the revolution cannot triumph without
the Arabs and without an ally and a friend as strong as the Soviet Union.
— Interview with PLO deputy chief Abu Iyad
in Ar-ra'y al-Amm, Aug. 17, 1981
Brothers and comrades, our battle is long and arduous. It will continue
as long as U.S. imperialism has any connection with Arab land, or Arab sea,
or Arab sky. This area will not calm down until the United States leaves the
three Arab seas: the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea-- which is an Arab sea
— and the Arabian Sea. This area will never be calm as long as U.S. im-
perialism has its bases and agents.
— Speech by Syrian Prime Minister Abde
ar-Ra'uf al-Kasen in Tishrin, Aug. 23, 1981
The Chinese were the first. They provided training and weapons to us.
The Soviets as well as the other socialist countries stand on our side with
political and military assistance ... If it really came to a comprehensive
war, the Soviet Union would be our ally. Because we would rather be
friends of the Communists than victims of Zionist and imperialist occupa-
tion powers .. .
We will never allow Isarel to live in peace. We will never grant it
complete security. Every Israeli must feel that behind each wall there is a
guerrilla standing and aiming at him .. .
We will never recognize Israel, never the usurper, the colonialist, the
imperialist .. .
— Interview with PLO Political Director Farouk
Kaddoumi in Der Stern, July 30, 1981
This is a collection of warnings and admonitions. They serve to indicate that the
naive who inconsistently advise Israel, as some editorial writers have done, to look in
other directions than the Camp David Accords and to rush the abandonment of the Sinai
territory, that for a vital peace there is need for cooperation. It is the Middle East's
tragedy that the need for a genuine accord has not enrolled the support of the Saudis and
the Jordanians, who obstruct. •
Thus, the difficulties for Israel, always accused as intransigent, are monumental.
Added to the internal and many domestic problems, the yerida, the economic pres-
sures, the political challenges, Israel, always under attack, must ever be on the
alert. That's where her friends must step in: not to make the road to security and peace too
difficult.
Dictionary Shleps' Readers to Knowledge of Yiddish
Yiddish has its magic. It
enchants the Jew and in-
trigues the Gentile. This
may be the explanation for
the "dictionary" sprinkled
with aphorisms and anec-
dotes which its collector and
narrator, Arthur Naiman,
chooses to entitle "Every
Goy's Guide to Common
Jewish Expressions"
(Houghton Mifflin Co.)
Why it is specifically
dedicated to the "Goy" may
need explaining. After all,
there are so many Jews who
do not know the Yiddish and
related "Jewish Ex-
pressions."
Nevertheless, the volume
has a great deal of merit.
As an exoneration, if
such is needed, and
therefore as a compli-
ment to Arthur Naiman,
let the subject be treated
as one of international
interest. That's the role of
Yiddish: it is an_ inter-
nationalized language
because it is spoken
wherever one meets
Jews, except in the
Sephardic communities
where Jews had spoken
Ladino which is also on
the decline, even more so
than Yiddish.
One of the methods of
judging Naiman's "Goy-
Jewish Expressions" in-
volvements is to select some
of his topics. The most
appropriate at the moment
is "Shlep." As Naiman de-
fines it:
* * *
Shlep
To lug; to carry some-
thing burdensome.
Also, someone who is a
drag. He's such a shlep.
Also (a minor variation),
a slob; someone who drags
his body around. Shlepper
is another word for this
meaning.
(Also see shlemiel.)
* * *
There is a special reason
for drawing upon this word.
William Safire, the promi-
nent New York Times
Op-Ed Page essayist, also
writes a weekly column for
the New York Times Sun-
day Magazine under the
title "On Language." He is
the master of the English
language. He also knows
some Yiddish.
In a recent "On Lan-
guage" essay in the
NYTimes Magazine (Nov.
8) Safire entitled his essay
"Shlepper and Bungie."
While it was mostly on
Bungie, it had its emphasis
also on "Shlepper," and that
relates to "Shlep." Safire
drew upon Leo Rosten's
"Joys of Yiddish," and here
is how he introduced his
Shlepper-Bungie discus-
sion:
"I have a favorite old suit-
case covered with stickers
from faraway places and
tags from forgotten
Presidential summits
(`Formal Wear — Off-load
Iran Only'). But carrying
the big bag around gives me
a backache, and I look with
envy at people who breeze
through airports with de-
signer luggage (when did a
suitcase stop being called a
`grip'?) that rolls on built-in
wheels.
"Long hours of staring
at flight attendants
marching to and fro
suggested a good way of
eating my cake and hav-
ing it too (not 'having my
cake and eating it,' which
means nothing). At a lug-
gage counter, I asked: `Do
you have one of those
metal things with wheels
and a telescoping handle
that I can put my valise
on and drag behind me?'
" 'You want a shlepper
and a bungie,' said the clerk
promptly. I immediately
guessed the derivation of
`shlepper' — from the Ger-
man schleppen, to drag.
"In The Joys of Yiddish,'
Leo Rosten told the old joke
about the formally dressed
clerk in London's Fortnum
& Mason department store
who asked an American
customer: 'Shall I have
these jars of marmalade
shipped air express?' When
the customer said, don't
mind carrying them; I'm
from the Bronx,' the clerk
replied, 'I understand,
madam, but still -- why
shlep?'
"But lungie' was a mys-
tery. Recently Lisbeth
Mark of New York sent me
this query: have been
stumped by a word that I
cannot find in my dic-
tionaries. It is an elastic
cord with hooks on either
end, wrapped by brightly
colored threads and usually
sold in hardware stores and
bike shops . . . I've heard
them called `stretchies,'
`shock cords' and 'those rub-
bery things with hooks.' I've
always called them 'bungee
cords.' I've never had occa-
sion to spell the word
'bungee' until now.' She
asked for aid in the spelling
and derivation of the word.
"In the supplement to
the Oxford English Dic-
tionary, 'bungle,' or
'bungy,' is defined as
slang for 'India rubber."
In one of his most recent
NYTimes Op-Ed Page es-
says, Safire used another
Yiddish word: "Shnook." It
was applied to a govern-
ment official.
Here is how Naiman
treats the "Shnook":
* * *
shnook (shnook)
A jerk; the kind of guy
who spends a night in a
hotel and leaves his own to-
wel.
(Also see shlemiel.)
* *
And this is how Naiman
pursues the subject, describ-
ing "Shlemiel":
* * *
shlemiel (shluh-MEEL or
-MEE-ul)
A jerk, particularly a
nerdy sort of jerk.
Yiddish has more words,
for this concept than any
other ten languages put to-
gether. Here are just a few
of them: kuni lemel,
nayfish, nebbish, . . .
shlemiel, shlep, shlepper,
shlump, shmageggie,
shmendrik, shmo, shnook,
yutz and zhlub. There are
minor variations between
these words, of course, but
they all indicate ineptness,
lack of common sense, lack
of physical grace and sex
appeal, a quality of
hopelessness and — how
shall I put it — well, shlum-
piness.
Now — Eskimos have
fourteen words for snow and
one word for anything that
flies — whether it's an in-
sect, a bird or an airplane.
We have lots of words for
things that fly, but (unless
we're skiers) only one word
for snow. Languages reflect
the environments in which
they are spoken, the cul-
tures of the people who
speak them, and what's im-
portant to the survival and
well-being of those people.
So, the question, is what
was it about the environ-
ment of the shtetl, and per-
haps Jewish culture in gen-
eral, that produced so many
words for shlemiel? Are
there actually more Jewish
shlemiels? Or are Jews just
more aware of shlemiels be-
cause it was important to
be? Did Jewish shlemiels
have a higher death rate in
pogroms and the like? Was
it harder for them to deal
with the goyim who have
surrounded and outnum-
bered the Jews for 2000
years?
Don't look at me. I don't
know the answers. But I
sure think they're interest-
ing questions.
* * *
The periods above, in
what is seldom done in these
columns — censor! — ex-
plains the explanation ac-
cepted for Naiman's" "Ev-
ery Goy's Guide to Common
Jewish Expressions" as
being "ribald." Here is how
the word is defined in the
Random House Dictionary:
"Ribald: Vulgar or inde-
cent in speech, language,
etcetera. Coarsely mocking,
abusive or irreverent."
Naiman's isn't all that ef-
fusive, but in some portions
of the book this applies. It
remains an enjoyable,
humorous guide with more
than 500 entiries.
Industrial Collage Highlights
Jerusalem 7sratech Exhibit
This collage by Elmer Winter was created from
catalogues, brochures and other materials describing
Koor Industries, an Israeli manufacturer of high-
technology products. Winter, a businessman-artist
from Milwaukee, had 23 of his collages on display at
Isratech '81 in Jerusalem last month.