May 26, 2009 – Yiddish Day in the Knesset

My mind is still in a mess from today’s events. First, the arrival at the Knesset. Something was wrong with the computer so instead of going in one at a time and in order, there was a mad rush to convince the guards of the individual legitimacy of each queue member. At one point I was almost next to a guard when a large lady stepped on my foot and elbowed me away. I was thinking that if I had brought my own car I’d leave now, but I was too deep in the crowds and had no way to escape.
Somehow I managed to get in, and then began the search for the meeting of the education and immigration committee down the long corridors of the Knesset. Turns out that was the only show in town at the moment and everyone was trying to get in. I think there were over 70 people in there.
And the meeting was quite an experience – the number of jokes in Yiddish that took the place of speeches, the number of admissions of members of Knesset that their parents spoke the language but they do not, at first amused me and then began to depress. Because although this was a meeting about what should be done for the Yiddish language, there seemed like the only thing left was an admission that all that is left – according to them – are a few songs and a couple of witticisms. When I came home I turned on the tv to see how they viewed the “Yiddish Day” in the Knesset, but the feature was Ahmed Tibi reading a little joke. How funny to hear an Arab use the word “pish’n”….
As you can see I’m pissed.
The Yiddish theatre did a show for parliament after the meeting with ever kitsch piece I ever threw up over. Any song about “Yiddishkeit” seems to me to be another nail in the coffin. And if I hear “rozinkes and mandlen” one more time I’ll go crazy.
Well maybe something good will come of it.
Actually I’ve been thinking that if people could be exposed to the real Yiddish – the uncensored unprettified unsentimental Yiddish that forms the body of literature, they’d be overwhelmed. I know I identify far more with Shalom Asch than Shalom Aleichem ( even though I do love Shalom Aleichem)
Correction: Ahmed Tibi spoke when most of the knesset members were at the committee meeting. And what he said in Yiddish was “when the poor man dances, the orchestra takes a piss call.” It was appropriate and i have to find out who wrote those lines down for him…