Page 124 - issue
P. 124
THE AHMOLIKER YID went to each bed and placed a warm
“Vby I. Kinek iPod or some other contraption? water bag next to the feet of each child!
oss fahr ah (what kind of)
title is that?” you may ask, Are On Shabbat, while walking home A day or two passed, and one morn-
you suggesting that we have from shul, I crossed paths with a yeshi- ing, the bell rang, and there, holding
Yidden who are Amalekites!? va student. As he passed, there was no several packages, was an area rav by
the name of Rabbi Isaac. After a hearty
Chas vesholom – Heaven for- greeting: No “guht Shabbos, no “good
bid! Let us therefore define morning,” nothing. I may as well have sholom aleichem, we opened the pack-
ages he brought and were pleasantly
the word “ahmoliker.” been invisible! Slightly dismayed at this
Ahmoliker is the past, as in “a long surprised. There were warm robes for
lack of derech eretz, I called out “guht
time ago.” So, the translation of our Shabbis!” Nu, what can I tell you? He our mishpacha, which we donned with-
gave me a look like a chicken in “Bnai out hesitation! Rabbi Isaac’s gemilaht
title would be “The Once-Upon-a-Time Odom” (kaporess)! chesed (kind deed) was never forgotten.
Jew.” In our context, it refers to Yidden Not very many years ago, if a Yid did The ahmoliker Yid’s simcha (cele-
bration) or, chass vesholom, sad occur-
during the time of your bubbies and not appear in shul or at a Jewish rence was shared with the community.
zaidies, if you are a yunger mentch gathering for an extended time, when The birth of a child was a wonderful
(young person), or your parents, if you
he returned, the greeting included a simcha, and in shul the father of the
are a zoken (elder) or pre-zoken. baby was called up to the Torah. After
While “Jew of the past” is indeed the hearty, “sholom aleichem” or “voss
macht ah Yid – How is a Yiddle feel- the Torah reading, I remember congre-
literal translation of the word ahmolik- ing?” Today, you can be absent from
er, when you say that Yankel is an gants sang “Simen tov umazel tov!”
“ahmoliker Yid,” there are several pos- Purim to Pesach, and upon returning Today, if you begin singing the tune,
sible interpretations. Nu, you may say,
you’re missed as much as kids miss you may end up singing a solo, and you
zog shoin – tell us already what you are
talking about! school! are looked at like a fahrtumult (con-
fused) person!
Let me explain: There is a beautiful Similarly, there was a time when
Once upon a time, if you were a shli-
Yiddish melody by cantor Leibele Yidden communicated with each other ach tsibur (prayer leader), after services
you were given a yasher koach (a con-
Waldman, in which he chants that he is during snow storms or other tsuzetsteh gratulatory expression), even though
(messed up) occurrences. Hynt (today),
constantly searching for the ahmoliker there can be a storm that covers your you may have been a kahlikeh
Yid but he cannot find him. (unskilled as a reader).
house from window to the ground (as
It’s like this: Once upon a time, not Today, a shliach tsibur is often in
recently witnessed), but kainer zate gehakteh tsoress (big trouble), because
too long ago, Yidden had a special nisht, kayner hairt nisht (no one hears there are congregants who complain
or sees) anything except in their own
affinity for one another. When you met that he davens (prays) with the speed of
back yard. a racehorse at Pimlico, while other dav-
another Yid, the greeting was “sholom
aleichem!” and the response was “ale- Our family barely escaped from the eners complain that his pronunciation
ichem sholom!” Yidden were eyedle (
refined). Fascist Hitlerites in Italy. After arriving is appropriate to that of a pre-bar mitz-
Currently, responding to a greeting in America, we traveled to Memphis, va boy!
occasionally occurs, but, too often, when Tennessee, and resided in a fahrzetst If that were not sufficient criticism,
apartment for a short time. Nu, you
two Yiddelach cross paths (you should may ask, why fahrzetst? Iz dee enfehr some semi-deaf congregants complain
(the answer is), it was so cold that there
pardon the expression), there is little or that the baal tefila cannot be heard
was an ice coating on part of the because his voice resonates like a suf-
no eye contact. How can eye contact be
kitchen floor! This is not a bubeh ferer of laryngitis!
possible, when each person carries an miseh (tall tale). At night, my mom, a”h,
Nu, you may say, awchen vay (woe)
unto us that we just don’t have the pos-
itive traits of the amoliker Yid.
However, baruch Hashem, that cannot
be the case, because, as a people, we
are super bnai rachmonim (compas-
sionate people).
There are many Jewish organiza-
tions that assist the needy not only in
our community but also members of
other faiths. Once upon a time, we were
known as the “people of the book.”
Today, we should also be recognized as
120 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
“Vby I. Kinek iPod or some other contraption? water bag next to the feet of each child!
oss fahr ah (what kind of)
title is that?” you may ask, Are On Shabbat, while walking home A day or two passed, and one morn-
you suggesting that we have from shul, I crossed paths with a yeshi- ing, the bell rang, and there, holding
Yidden who are Amalekites!? va student. As he passed, there was no several packages, was an area rav by
the name of Rabbi Isaac. After a hearty
Chas vesholom – Heaven for- greeting: No “guht Shabbos, no “good
bid! Let us therefore define morning,” nothing. I may as well have sholom aleichem, we opened the pack-
ages he brought and were pleasantly
the word “ahmoliker.” been invisible! Slightly dismayed at this
Ahmoliker is the past, as in “a long surprised. There were warm robes for
lack of derech eretz, I called out “guht
time ago.” So, the translation of our Shabbis!” Nu, what can I tell you? He our mishpacha, which we donned with-
gave me a look like a chicken in “Bnai out hesitation! Rabbi Isaac’s gemilaht
title would be “The Once-Upon-a-Time Odom” (kaporess)! chesed (kind deed) was never forgotten.
Jew.” In our context, it refers to Yidden Not very many years ago, if a Yid did The ahmoliker Yid’s simcha (cele-
bration) or, chass vesholom, sad occur-
during the time of your bubbies and not appear in shul or at a Jewish rence was shared with the community.
zaidies, if you are a yunger mentch gathering for an extended time, when The birth of a child was a wonderful
(young person), or your parents, if you
he returned, the greeting included a simcha, and in shul the father of the
are a zoken (elder) or pre-zoken. baby was called up to the Torah. After
While “Jew of the past” is indeed the hearty, “sholom aleichem” or “voss
macht ah Yid – How is a Yiddle feel- the Torah reading, I remember congre-
literal translation of the word ahmolik- ing?” Today, you can be absent from
er, when you say that Yankel is an gants sang “Simen tov umazel tov!”
“ahmoliker Yid,” there are several pos- Purim to Pesach, and upon returning Today, if you begin singing the tune,
sible interpretations. Nu, you may say,
you’re missed as much as kids miss you may end up singing a solo, and you
zog shoin – tell us already what you are
talking about! school! are looked at like a fahrtumult (con-
fused) person!
Let me explain: There is a beautiful Similarly, there was a time when
Once upon a time, if you were a shli-
Yiddish melody by cantor Leibele Yidden communicated with each other ach tsibur (prayer leader), after services
you were given a yasher koach (a con-
Waldman, in which he chants that he is during snow storms or other tsuzetsteh gratulatory expression), even though
(messed up) occurrences. Hynt (today),
constantly searching for the ahmoliker there can be a storm that covers your you may have been a kahlikeh
Yid but he cannot find him. (unskilled as a reader).
house from window to the ground (as
It’s like this: Once upon a time, not Today, a shliach tsibur is often in
recently witnessed), but kainer zate gehakteh tsoress (big trouble), because
too long ago, Yidden had a special nisht, kayner hairt nisht (no one hears there are congregants who complain
or sees) anything except in their own
affinity for one another. When you met that he davens (prays) with the speed of
back yard. a racehorse at Pimlico, while other dav-
another Yid, the greeting was “sholom
aleichem!” and the response was “ale- Our family barely escaped from the eners complain that his pronunciation
ichem sholom!” Yidden were eyedle (
refined). Fascist Hitlerites in Italy. After arriving is appropriate to that of a pre-bar mitz-
Currently, responding to a greeting in America, we traveled to Memphis, va boy!
occasionally occurs, but, too often, when Tennessee, and resided in a fahrzetst If that were not sufficient criticism,
apartment for a short time. Nu, you
two Yiddelach cross paths (you should may ask, why fahrzetst? Iz dee enfehr some semi-deaf congregants complain
(the answer is), it was so cold that there
pardon the expression), there is little or that the baal tefila cannot be heard
was an ice coating on part of the because his voice resonates like a suf-
no eye contact. How can eye contact be
kitchen floor! This is not a bubeh ferer of laryngitis!
possible, when each person carries an miseh (tall tale). At night, my mom, a”h,
Nu, you may say, awchen vay (woe)
unto us that we just don’t have the pos-
itive traits of the amoliker Yid.
However, baruch Hashem, that cannot
be the case, because, as a people, we
are super bnai rachmonim (compas-
sionate people).
There are many Jewish organiza-
tions that assist the needy not only in
our community but also members of
other faiths. Once upon a time, we were
known as the “people of the book.”
Today, we should also be recognized as
120 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
