Tel Aviv Diary: Karen Alkalay-Gut

There is no English word for the yiddish word “feergun” which has been incorporated into Hebrew, because there is no concept like this. Feergun is the pleasure one shares with the pleasure of the success of others. Usually it is used in the negative, that is when one tries to make someone feel bad about succeeding in something. It is part of our culture. I’m not sure why we like to do this, to criticize people at their most successful moments, but I see it in everything from politics to every day life. Maybe it originates with the fear of the evil eye. Maybe it just encourages excellence. But it doesn’t work for me.