June 27 • 2019 5
jn

I

magine this: You’
re sitting on 
a bus that’
s traveling out of the 
city, minding your own business, 
when without any warning, the 
bus creaks to an early demise and 
refuses to go any farther. Soon, you 
and all your fellow 
disgruntled passen-
gers are standing by 
the side of the road 
while an irate driver 
is desperately calling 
for reinforcements. 
Everyone’
s grum-
bling about having to 
move their schedules 
around, phoning their families to let 
them know they’
ll be late … when 
suddenly a passenger comes over to 
you, looks at you carefully and says, 
“Let’
s hope we won’
t be wandering 
in the desert as long as we did last 
time!”
Congratulations — you’
ve just 
been “bageled!”
If you’
re unfamiliar with the term, 
it means someone in your immedi-
ate vicinity is trying to alert you to 
the fact that they, too, are a Member 
of the Tribe, without ever explicitly 
stating so. That’
s why you might get 
random “shaloms” and “mazel tovs” 
for no apparent reason, or even 
a hearty “Shabbat Shalom!, never 
mind that it’
s only Wednesday. 
Others have been known to ask, 

“So… what’
s your favorite 
gefilte fish recipe?’
 (True 
story … and so’
s the bus 
story.)
Or you might get asked 
straight out, with no beat-
ing around the burning 
bush: “Are you Jewish?” 
(That’
s what’
s known as a 
plain bagel.)
Bageling always seems to happen 
in the most random places. On 
a plane. In line at an amusement 
park. In the dentist’
s chair, with 
your mouth hanging open, unable 
to say more than “uhhh” … And 
there’
s your dentist, reminiscing 
about his bubbie’
s mandelbrot or 
serenading you with old Yiddish 
songs. 
Credit for invention of the word 
“bagel” as a verb goes to Doodie 
Miller of Montreal. Apparently, he 
was first inspired to coin the term 
about 27 years ago when he was in 
a dreary college lecture. As the pro-
fessor droned on, a fellow student 
leaned over and whispered to him, 
“This class is as boring as my zay-
die’
s seder.” 
Word spread quicker than cream 
cheese. The first time it appeared 
in print was in 2007 when Jessica 
Levine Kupferberg of La Jolla, 
Calif., wrote a great article about 
bageling for Aish.com.

In response to her article, peo-
ple posted comments about times 
they’
d been bagled or when they’
d 
bagled someone else. 
One story took place mid-flight: 
Woman 1 (clearly testing the 
waters): “What a day I’
ve had with 
all this schlepping …” 
Woman 2: “And at this altitude, 
who cares how much we kvetch?”
As well as the bagel definition, 
Miller also came up with the 
Bagel Theory, explaining why we 
bagel. It’
s all about connection 
and belonging, that “you’
re one of 
us” feeling. Jews have each other’
s 
backs, so we need to know who 
those backs belong to!
Plus, bageling is just plain old 
fun. Once the knowing “Yup, 
I’
m Jewish, too” smile has been 
exchanged, you’
re inevitably 
going to play a round of Jewish 
Geography. Who hasn’
t had one of 
those discoveries that the person 
behind you in line at the post office 
is second cousins with your 

views

for openers
Bageling for Beginners

letters

Rochel Burstyn
Contributing Writer

More on Moe Berg
For those who found the story about 
Moe Berg, “The Spy Behind Home 
Plate” (June 13, page 36), and Aviva 
Kempner’
s recent documentary 
about Berg of interest, you should 
also consider Nicholas Dawidoff’
s 
1994 biography of Berg, The Catcher 
Was a Spy. Dawidoff is a Henry Luce 
Scholar and has written for the New 
York Times, Sports Illustrated and the 
New Republic.
Dawidoff’
s book tells the story of a 
complex, enigmatic sports non-hero 
who wound his way into the OSS. 
According to Dawidoff, in his 16-year 
career in baseball’
s Major League, 
Berg portrayed himself as an intellec-
tual while outside of his player role, 

he was a baseball pro; and, although 
he was also a lawyer, Berg refused 
to discuss the law. Perhaps it was his 
secretive persona that was his most 
compelling qualification as a spy.
The book is a good read.

Harold Gurewitz

Detroit

Soft Anti-Semitism?
I found Professor Howard 
Lupovitch’
s 
comments on soft anti-Semitism in 
the June 13 edition alarming (“An-
ti-Semitism,” page 10). He expresses 
the left’
s anti-Semitism as “softer and 
more political.” Is this to excuse Con-
gresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida 
Tlaib’
s anti-Semitic comments? 
Would you consider the anti-Sem-

itism that perpetuated in Europe 
before Hitler came into power “soft”?
The Jews made excuses and tolerat-
ed it while hoping it would end soon. 
However, it didn’
t, and it led to the 
political Nazi party.
Professor Lupovitch contended 
“that if the Israel-Palestinian conflict 
were resolved, much of the anti-Sem-
itism on the left would dissolve.” 
Omar’
s comment, “it’
s all about 
the “Benjamin’
s,” had nothing to do 
with the conflict. I believe it was pure 
anti-Semitism. The American Jews 
need to wake up and speak up before 
soft anti-Semitism becomes hard-
core.

Doreen Lichtman

Orchard Lake

continued on page 8

EDMON RODMAN, JTA

My
Story
My
Story

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