Federation Star - December 2023

Page 21

COMMUNITY FOCUS

December 2023

Federation Star

21

“Ich red Engelesh!” Zoog mir in Yiddish By Sol Awend, GenShoah SWFL

M

y mom and dad And when I really found out were liberated from what, not who, it was, my Dachau. They met, whole world turned cold and fell in love and got married. chocolate chip. Had me and, two years later, Then again, thinking you my father died from canknow the language and knowcer. My mom and I came to ing it are two different conAmerica and settled in St. cepts. To me, the American Louis, Missouri where she adventure continued when I met and married another surwent to school. There was one Sol Awend vivor. A year later, my brother problem. They didn’t speak was born. Yiddish and I didn’t understand English. Logistics… I’ll wait a minute until it Neither did my parents. sinks in… It was time for lunch one Sunday afterAs a 4-year-old kid, growing up in noon, and I came home and sat down America was an adventure, the sights at the table, famished. “Ma! Voos iz doo and sounds of all the moving parts were t’zeh essen?!” I asked. Without skipping so exciting. Cars, buses, fire trucks and a beat, she answers with a straight face, airplanes groaning, screaming and hissing. “Nah, doo ost deh ah sendevahbeech!” I Everywhere you went there were signs; still see her smiling proudly. She was billboards with smiling fellows lighting speaking Engelesh! cigarettes for smiling women smoking. But then again, it wasn’t all fun and Ads for Coca-Cola were everywhere. And games either. As he tells it, my dad had at night, they all lit up! to take the bus for his job. He got on One name really stuck out from all the the bus and the driver asked him which rest. I thought he had to be the richest stop he wanted. My dad stood there, person in America, because wherever paralyzed, suffering from the ailment I you looked, there he was. His name? encountered. The driver spoke no Yiddish “Ice Crème,” pronounced “Issa Crema.” and my dad understood no English.

I will never forget what happened some five years later in Memphis, Tennessee. Our family was visiting friends. One afternoon, the ladies went shopping; the guys were going somewhere else. It involved a bus ride and when it arrived, we got on. It was an episode of Rosa Parks in reverse. The Black passengers were sitting towards the back of the bus, while everyone else was up front. Except for one person: My dad. He walks to the back of the bus and sits down amongst the different colored riders. There was a commotion and when he was urged to move he said, “No!” In broken English he declared, “Vy I hev to mov? His hartz iz not like mine? Vee are deh same!” Everyone was stunned. He sat there, smiling and looking at his seat mates, who also broke out in geh laac’hteh. Even though they couldn’t really understand each other, everyone knew what would be talked about at the dinner table that night. Perhaps one reason Yiddish has lasted for so long is its adaptability. Remember when cellphones came out? The Internet was blossoming? Terms sprouted up

to identify them. An email became a blitzpost, and your cellphone became deh sellkeh. And my mom, having a name for everything, helped move the conversation along. It seems we had somvehs to go and were hustling out the door. Cheerfully, my mom yells out, “Fah guess nisht Deh Kaakeh mykeh!” I was so caught off guard that I had tears running down my leg from laughing so hard. And there stood my mom, smiling. “Ich red Engelesh,” she commented. I’m sure we could all compare stories and the laughter would be so healing and beneficial. Here then, are the explanations of the words and statements from the stories above. 1. “Ma! Voos iz doo t’zeh essen?!” (Ma! What is there to eat?!) 2. “Nah, doo ost deh ah sendevahbeech!” (Here’s a sandwich!) 3. “Geh laac’hteh.” (Laughter) 4. “Ich red Engelesh!” (I’m speaking English!) 5. “Fah guess nisht Deh Kaakeh mykeh!” (Don’t forget the whatchamacallit!)

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Articles inside

Updates with BBYO Naples and Fort Myers

3min
page 46

Counting our blessings

3min
page 45

Chabad Naples news

3min
page 44

Naples Jewish Congregation celebrates 25 years

3min
page 43

Anniversary and Chanukkah celebrations

3min
page 43

Chabad of Bonita Springs

3min
page 42

Family values

3min
page 42

Temple Shalom’s collection for Israel

2min
page 41

The unstoppable force of light

4min
page 40

Chanukah: not just for kids

3min
page 40

Rally for Israel

2min
page 39

What matters most

4min
page 39

Nearly 700 community members gather in support of emergency funding for IDF soldiers

3min
page 38

New York’s leading Imam meet with Jewish student leaders

3min
page 37

Oy! Geh Vahlt!

3min
page 37

My visit to Israel — heroes, sirens and broken hearts

4min
page 36

Jews unite against antisemitism

1min
page 35

Jumping into action to support Israel and one another

3min
page 35

Israel Oct. 7, 2023

4min
page 34

Heroic Coward

5min
page 33

Sufganiyot pull-apart cake

6min
page 32

When grandparents and grandkids are separated by divorce

4min
page 31

Exciting programs are coming to Beth Tikvah!

2min
page 30

Temple Shalom events open to the community

2min
page 28

Naples Jewish Congregation events open to the community

2min
page 26

2023-2024 GenShoah SWFL programs

3min
page 22

“Ich red Engelesh!”

4min
page 21

Messages of mutual respect through the museum

4min
page 20

Five movies (two very Jewish) and a documentary

5min
page 18

The Jewish heritage in American folk-art exhibit

4min
page 16

Comedian and author Joel Chasnoff featured in two December events

2min
page 16

A review of “Kantika”

2min
page 15

Interest in Jewish Book Festival Kickoff event necessitates move to larger venue

2min
page 15

MCA — back for its 11th season

4min
page 12

WCA, friends and me — we are family

3min
page 11

Understanding senior housing in Southwest Florida

2min
page 10

Sit and stand with poles and bands

2min
page 8

How I finally lost 65 pounds and kept it off

2min
page 8

Two PJ Library and family Chanukah events

1min
page 7

Jewish unity through music with the Alta Rockers

1min
page 7

Happy Chanukah!

3min
page 6

How to raise your voice to protect Jewish and Pro-Israel students on campus

1min
page 4

Federation Star - December 2023

1min
page 4

Jewish and Catholic perspectives on sin and forgiveness

1min
page 4

The importance of our annual campaign

2min
page 3

Light over darkness

1min
page 3

Southwest Florida must stand with Israel, reject intolerance and antisemitism

4min
pages 1-2
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