For Openers
Finger Pointing
he biblical reference to
the scapegoat is a
familiar one to many
of us. How many,
however, are aware of the scape-
goat tactics resorted to on a daily
basis?
I am not referring to redlining
or racial stereotyping or the other
SY
MANELLO news headline forms of this activ-
ity. I am talking
Editorial
about
the everyday
Assistant
refusal on the part of
many to admit that
there is nothing horrific in making a
mistake.
Let's start on a really basic level. Have you ever
forgotten, at night, that the furniture has been
rearranged and you stub your toe on a sofa that
wasn't in that position the day before? (It goes
without saying that you should not have been
wandering around in the dark without shoes!)
Your immediate reaction is to address the
mean-spirited piece of furniture in your sternest
voice and accuse it of being dumb and the bane
of your existence.
Hey there, guy. You are blaming an inanimate
object. I seriously doubt that it was lying in wait
to jump into your path; but you are not about to
admit that you did something stupid, are you?
Did you ever dial a wrong number? I have had
people get angry with me for not being the per-
son called. (It's even more annoying when they
realize the mistake and just hang up with no
word of apology.)
I recently received a call from someone who
had requested some information over the phone.
I finished a rather lengthy, deliberate listing of
the points only to be told that the person on the
other end wasn't really listening to me because
someone was there talking to her.
She said, "Could you just repeat that, please?"
Well, I did, and wouldn't you know that she
came in to deliver her material and had not done
what I described. When I said I would get a
written guideline for her, she expressed her exas-
peration with me, despite the reminder that
details had been given when she called. For
bringing up the fact that she had erred, I was
accused of being rude.
Children are another story — actually
a whole library! If you have
Don% Know
2002
0
rthodox Jews separate men and
women during prayer. Specifically,
there are three feminine distractions
that are said to prevent a man from
saying prayers with the required purity of
thought. Can you name them?
— Goldfein
Ufa! pasodxa puE
aruzaj alp ‘upis pasodxa
DDIOA
2u!guIs
:JaAASITV
Quotables
children, then you know what it is like to have
mysterious things happen around the house.
Who gets blamed? Usually it's Ida — "Ida
Know" ("I don't know"). Or, if pressed on the
issue, there is the "he-told-me-to" response.
Of course, we understand that children have
the fear of what will happen to them if some-
thing goes wrong and so they seek an out. By the
time we are adults, there should be more accept-
ance that no one is perfect.
I am reminded of a sign that I saw over a co-
worker's desk: "Those of you who think you
know everything are very annoying to those of us
who do."
Meanwhile, if you did not like this column,
blame my friend Tom, who told me it was a
good idea.
"Tonight the odyssey of the Sarajevo Haggadah
has come to an end. It is home. It is safe. It
remains the symbol of hope, of tolerance, a
symbol of Sarajevo that has endured."
— Jacques Klein, head of the United Nations
mission in Bosnia, at a gala marking the public
display of the 14th-century manuscript in the
Sarajevo National Museum in Bosnia, as quoted
by JTA.
"For numerous reasons, most of which require
more of an understanding of psychology than
of history, our society prefers this concept of
European Jews as faceless, nameless victims —
either anonymous corpses or, if survivors, as
two-dimensional skeletal figures staring blankly
into the camera in their concentration camp
uniforms."
— Menachem Z Rosensaft, a member of the
US. Holocaust Memorial Council and one of
2,000 children born in the displaced persons
camp of Bergen-Belsen, the German concentration
camp, as quoted in the "Forward" newspaper.
❑
Yiddish Limericks
"Your newlywed troubles aren't large,"
I counseled my girlfriend named Marge,
"You'll just have to settle
And fier'n de reddle*
While he tells the world he's in charge."
Shabbat Candlelighting
"I know that I am entering Shabbos, which is the most peaceful day of the
week — and also the most special."
— Leah Gittel Steinmetz, 1 4 , Southfield
Sponsored by Lubavitch
Women's Organization.
To submit a candlelighting
message or to receive
complimentary candlesticks
.and information on Shabbat
candlelighting; call Miriam
Amzalak of Oak Park at
(248) 967-5056 or e-mail:
amzalak@juno:com
— Martha Jo Fleischmann
* (literal) steer the wheel., (figurative)
.
call the
shots
Yiddish-isms
Candlelighting
Candlelighting
Friday, Dec. 13: 4:42 p.
Friday, Dec. 20: 4:44 p.m.
Shabbat Ends
Shabbat Ends
Saturday, Dec. 14: 5:49 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 21: 5:51 p.m. Source: The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten
averah
(literal) A transgression against God's will;
(colloquial) "Too bad." "What a pity."
(McGraw-Hill)
12/13
2002
11