HOUSE OFiDENMARK
BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO
BE OUTSIDE ALL SUMMER!
Seeing The World
Through Jewish Eyes
ILENE MUNETZ PACHMAN
Special to The Jewish News
A) Windsor Whitewashed
Table.
B
41" Diameter. Value S329.
Sale $265.
Windsor Whitewashed Chair.
Value S165.
Sale $129.
Windsor Dining Package.
Sale $697.
B) The Wall System.
Narrow Unit, Measures
24"x 22"x 79"H.
Value S484.
Sale $387.
Entertainment Unit. Measures
48"x 22"x 79"H:
Value S914.
Sale $730.
Lighted Display Unit. Measures
48"x 22"x 79"H.
Value S964.
Sale $770.
t
C) Jesper ST Teak
Bedroom Suite.
Includes: Queen Bed With Attached
Nightstands. Double Dresser and
Man's Chest. Mattress and
Accessories Not Included.
Value S3,319.
Sale $2,199.
Also Available In Iced Ash.
Value S3.629.
Sale $2,399.
D) The Mondo Sofa.
72" Long. Value S662.
Sale $529.
Loveseat Sleeper Available At
Similar Savings.
house
Knowledgeable
staff and expert
service
Sale Ends June 30.
of denmark-F3
Acme/Traverse City 5600 U.S. 31 North (616) 938-9694 Okemos/Lansing 4794 Marsh Rd. (517) 347.2455
Keego Harbor 3325 Orchard Lake Rd. 682-7600 Livonia 35555 Plymouth Rd.A25-4040
Rochester 893 South Rochester Rd. 651.9430
Open: Tues., Wed., Sat. 10-5:30/ Thurs., Fri. 10-9/Sunday 12.5 (Closed Mondays) Most major credit cards accepted.
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FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1991
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352-2264
ecause of my friend-
ship with little Marie
Abottella, along with
my observations of the ubi-
quitous displays of the
Christmas season, I learned
at a relatively early age that
not everyone was Jewish.
I wasn't sure, however, if
my grandfather knew about
the non-Jewish members of
society.
Today, I remember with a
chuckle how Grandpop Itz,
who looked at life through
Jewish eyes, sprinkled his
speech with Yiddish expres-
sions and used to refer to
that famous television varie-
ty show host as Ed Solomon.
I remember how my
parents would kibbitz, "Are
you ticklish or Jewish?"
I also recall they had an
added concern whenever a
crime was reported in the
news: Was the criminal (God
forbid) Jewish?
Of course, as far back as I
can remember, my parents
have always related joyfully
to the good news of a Jew's
accomplishments, magnan-
imity or other meritorious
deeds.
If my family is any indica-
tion, the modern-day
descendants of Abraham
probably see free-form Torah
scrolls and menorot in every
Rorschach ink blot.
This distinctively Jewish
perspective has been in-
herited by my children. Dur-
ing their early Hebrew
school education, my sons
enthusiastically pointed out
that the set of yellow drink-
ing glasses I had bought to
coordinate with our kitchen
plates were covered with
Jewish stars.
To the careful observer,
the lattice work pattern on
the glasses clearly could
have been perceived as rows
of stars of David. Yet, I
doubt a non-Jew would have
discerned the outline of the
familiar Jewish symbol as
quickly as my sons did.
As Grandpop Itz might
have said, "Judaism is in the
eye of the beholden"
A subjective, ethnic
perception can affect Jews'
hearing as well as their
sight.
Ilene Munetz Pachman is the
motherhood columnist for the
Philadelphia Jewish Expo-
nent, from which this is
reprinted.
In one of Woody Allen's
films, for example, his
paranoid persona believed
Jews were always being
talked about. "Jew (D'you?)
this and Jew (D'you) that,"
everyone seems to be saying,
pointed out Allen's
character.
I remember going to day
camp with a child who, at
snack time, used to playfully
chant, "I love Jews; I love
Jews: orange 'Jews,' apple
`Jews,' pineapple 'Jews.' "
Recently, the German
Catholic woman who was
shampooing my hair at the
beauty parlor said some-
thing that made me perk up
my sudsy head and take
notice. What I thought I
heard was a reference to her
Israeli husband. What she
actually said — further con-
fused by her heavy accent —
was a reference to something
he's rarely doing.
A few weeks ago, a fellow
alumnus from my adult bat
mitzvah class misunderstood
a waiter's use of the words
"bar mix" and said to me, "I
thought he said, 'bar mitz-
vah.' "
Another member of our
adult bat mitzvah class
shared with me a story she
had heard on the radio about
a judge in Chicago whose
name was something com-
parable to Abraham Lincoln
Cohen or Abraham Lincoln
Goldberg.
It seems the judge's
mother, who came to the
United States from
Lithuania when she was a
teen-ager, learned at a lec-
ture that Lincoln had been
shot in the temple. The im-
migrant was so impressed
that the great. president had
visited a synagogue that she
named her son after him.
It's not unusual, but it's
always gratifying when we
accurately hear celebrities
— Jewish or otherwise —
make references that are
Jewishly meaningful.
Sometimes, these refer-
ences are delightful sur-
prises. The Jews were in
good company when Steven
Spielberg referred to his —
and the world's —beloved
E.T. as a "squashy little
mensch." It was heartwarm-
i ng when the hero of
"Quantum Leap" found
himself to be a rabbi on an
episode of that television
program, or when actor Jack
Gilford gave his regards to
Broadway while singing in
Yiddish. ❑