Give Us Guido!
Billions of readers write in asking for a Guido update.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Q: Is it true that a certain Jewish
entertainer has one of the most un-
forgettable graves in Hollywood?
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THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED BY THE PUBLISHER
0: My 6-year-old granddaughter
was reading "Chad Gadya" to me
from her new children's Haggadah.
When she came to the part where
A: That's true the butcher was struck down by the
according to
Ken Schessler. Angel of Death, she said, "The
.t) j...] The Los Angeles na- butcher must have been a bad man."
tive and former
I wonder whether "Chad Gadya"
journalist is the au- has a special message hiding be-
thor of This is Hollywood, a hind it ("Mary, Mary Quite Con-
charming, inspiring book that
guides readers to hundreds of trary," for example, referred to
murder, suicide and other Mary Stuart in the children's rhyme
death sites throughout the L.A. in England).
area.
From reader M.P. in Hasleff
Mr. Schessler reports that Al
Jolson (who died in 1950 of a
A:Ever since "Chad Gadya"
heart attack) is buried in the first appeared in a Haggadah
Hillside Cemetery in Baldwin printed in Prague in 1590, schol-
Hills, Calif., in "the largest and ars have tried to find in it a hid-
most impressive star grave in den or allegorical meaning.
Hollywood." It features a dark
Most Jewish commentators
granite sarcophagus, sur- have interpreted the song to
rounded by white pillars, with symbolize the travails of the
a statue of the performer, his Jewish people (as represented
arms outstretched in song, off by the chad gadya, the "only
to the right.
kid") who are tormented by var-
ious nations. The enemies of the
Q: Tell Me Why, baby, what is Jews are finally vanquished by
the problem? It has been months God.
Others believe that since it is
since I heard a good Guido story.
sung at the very end of the Pe-
What are you trying to do, drive me sach seder, and is an example
crazy? Please, let me hear about of accumulative verse (in which
some more Jewish Guidos!
each stanza repeats all the pre-
From billions of readers through- vious ones and adds a new line),
its purpose is nothing more
out the universe
than to keep the seder partici-
A:In case any of you out there pants alert.
Secular scholars have spec-
have been sitting at home read-
ulated
on the origins of the
ing some stupid esoteric works
or intellectual histories instead song, which is composed most-
of Tell Me Why, which is what ly in Aramaic with some He-
you know you should be doing, brew. Many believe its origin
lies in an old French nursery
here's the scoop on Guido.
About one year ago Tell Me song via a German folk song.
Why reported on its first Jew- Others say that "Chad Gadya,"
ish Guido. Since then, reports in turn, was the model for the
on others with the same name English nursery rhyme, "This
have appeared regularly in this is the house that Jack built."
insightful column.
Q: Is it true that Leon Trotsky had
Alas, too much time has
passed since we had a Jewish a cousin who became a famous
Guido — our apologies! Here, composer in the United States?
to satisfy all your Guido crav-
A: Indeed he did, comrade,
ings, an update:
and
his name was Lew Brown.
Guido Goldschmit (1850-
Born Louis Brownstein in
1915) was an organic chemist
from Austria. He was professor 1893 in Odessa (Trotsky's birth
at the University of Vienna, name was, of course, Lev Bron-
then at the German Universi- stein), Brown was part of the
ty in Prague. In 1907 he was famed Da Sylva, Brown and
asked to serve as rector at the Henderson trio of the 1920s.
Germany University, but he Among their hits: "Sonny Boy"
turned the job down in part be- and "The Best Things In Life
cause he feared it would foster Are Free." He died in 1958.
anti-Semitism.
Goldschmit was one of the . Send questions to "Tell Me Why"
first organic chemists to accu- c/o The Jewish News, 27676
rately describe the structure of Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI
48034 or send fax to 354-6069.
an alkaloid.
c-/