More Shtuff Folks Say...This Time It's Those New York (Jews) Again

Oh those New Yorkers.  Clever they are.  Watching this video reminded me of my first subway ride alone in Manhattan in January 1995.  I know that My People are so small in numbers, and yet it warmed me when I overheard two women on the subway talking about upcoming bar mitzvah plans.

Eliot and Ilana Glazer capture good stuff here.  And when you include the words shlep (Yiddish for "lug stuff."  Not derogatory) and schmuck (Yiddish for "complete and inane jerk."  Fully derogatory, yet accepted as ok to use in casual conversation.)  in your "generic" parody of the original Sh*t Girls Say, you gotta remember that in New York you don't have to be Jewish but it don't hurt to be.  Pat Kiernan, what do you think?

Why is it that countless Elliots and Eliots are yidden (Yiddish word for Jews.  Not derogatory).  One of life's mysteries.  Also, guys named Yale.

If New Yorkers are found to be unhappiest, what about the bulk of the Jews in the U.S.?

A recent study published in the well-respected journal Science found that New Yorkers were the least happy when compared to residents of the rest of the country.  Yes, they came in at the bottom of the barrel of data processed to learn which state churned out the most satisfied people.  If the Jewish population is most dominant in New York state (one estimate is 1.9 million), what does that say for the majority of our people in this country?  Are Jews in New York actually less happy than those elsewhere?  Does it fulfill the Woody Allen stereotype of the neurotic, parasitic, always-worrying, hypchondriac shnorrer?

Surely, even Woody found some happiness through film at least once by way of his mockumentary Zelig
(1983).

 This title character became famous in the 1920s by possessing the skill to morph into various different famous personas.  That's pretty happy, right?  Optimistically, Zelig literally translates as "happy."  Have you known a Seligman, Seelig, or Seligsohn?  Here is a  further look at the name with Zelig as its root.

Living in New York sure can be rough, at least around the edges, and especially when you get a ticket while you're down the block purchasing your muni meter parking ticket.  Any number of Seinfeld or Curb episodes can attest to that type of absurdity that happens day-in, day-out in New York City.  Perhaps this explains why so many Jews headed out west, making Los Angeles quite literally the city of angels for the Jews who had enough saychel  (scroll down for the description of Greece) to move after braving the elements of New York.

(Keep posted for a report on Jews in LA...but not those of the Ashkenazi-bred rye bread deli-pack).

Looking at the bright side of the study, where were Americans happiest?  Louisiana.  Fascinating news since one would think that post-Katrina, folks in the Bayou were still downtrodden and depressed.  But it sure sounds like it's the place to live, if you take the study for what it's worth.  If that's the case, maybe we Jews should all head down to join Reb Uri and Dahlia Topolosky in their holy work with the rebuilding of the Jewish community of New Orleans.

In reality, whether you live in Prospect Heights, Runyon Canyon or Metairie, we should all be filled with Joy because "we want you to be happy, don't live inside the gloom..."

Yosef Yerushalmi, of blessed memory

"By common consent, Kafka is not only the strongest modern Jewish writer, but the Jewish writer.  His only rival increasingly seems to be Freud, who, together with Kafka, may yet redefine Jewish culture for us, and so change our sense of Jewish memory."

This is what Harold Bloom wrote in his forward of the late Yosef Yerushalmi's monumental work Zakhor. which explores how modern Jews relate to their histories and memories.

Yerushalmi, the world's leading scholar of Jewish history in our time, has passed away at the age of 77.  Check out the New York Times and Forward  for informative obituaries.

His loss is a great one to the Jewish world today, but his contributions are vast and have affected our community in ways of which the average American Jew might be completely unaware.

The Whole Phamily is interested in the name Yerushalmi.  Before learning about his background and upbringing, we posited that he was a native Jerusalemite, as the Hebrew "Yerushalmi" literally translates as "of Jerusalem" and is a surname used for families who have lived for generations in that city.

Yet, we learned that Yerushalmi has a similar heritage to many of our own Eastern European-born ancestors who immigrated here at the turn of the century.  His father, Yehuda Yerushalmi as noted on Zakhor's dedication page, emigrated to British-ruled Palestine when, we are guessing, he Hebraicized his name.  He then later settled in the Bronx, where the younger Yerushalmi was born and raised.

The concept of changing one's given last name (like Weiss, Perlman, or Ginsberg) at the turn of the century and into a Hebrew equivalent (such as Halivni, Ben-Yehuda, or Ha'am) is still practiced today.  At Ellis Island (likely in Galveston as well), Jews Americanized their names, but in Israel many Jews have Hebraicized.

Last week some of us at the Whole Phamily had the incredible honor and privilege to bear witness to the kiddushin and nissuin (Jewish marriage) of our dear friend D.  At the wedding tisch (where the bride, kallah, rocked the house!) prior to the ceremony,  D touched on the topic of memory, and we could not help but think that he was referring to Yerushalmi, who passed away only weeks before the next chapter of D's journey. We believe that all things happen for a reason:  Yerushalmi's own memory wafted through the honored air of perhaps one of the most bashert couples we have ever had the mazal of knowing.

Is this too much?  It's way over our heads here at the Whole Phamily.  So,we think it's time to kick back and reflect on these Heavy Things.

Meanwhile, if you find an affordable paperback of Zakhor, let us know, since we are returning the copy that has rested on our bookshelf for many years.

Why is that the case?  For your Jewish geography-desiring ears:

Our copy belonged to an old camp friend's college friend who he has known since 8th grade, but that we met on our own during our post-college years through another friend we worked with at a different camp (but of the same Jewish camping movement).  The book is inscribed by his college girlfriend prior to his own post-college visit to Minsk.

And, isn't Minsk (which is now-Belarus) where my great-great grandfather Yisroel Bear was from?  (see the Whole Phamily's 2nd blog post).

Maybe we should get back onto JewishGen...

The connections are endless...

Gottlieb's Deli, Williamsburg, New York

David Sax's recent epic on the fate of the North American Deli, Save The Deli, introduced us the glatt-kosher Gottlieb's Restaurant in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  For any of you familiar with the hipster scene that already peaked in this neighborhood, rest assured, this deli is on the proverbial other side of the tracks.  But, hey, it ain't that far away from Billsburg, so if you're hankering for some classic old-world Ashkenazi deli food, this is the place to go.

The moment we walked in, the place had a familiar feel.  It felt cozy and comfortable, like we'd been there before.  If you had any experience in the New York delis of the 60's, 70's and 80's, you'd know what we're talking about.  Gottlieb's is a place that has an ambience practically erased from the landscape of New York City.

Doesn't the name Gottlieb ring a bell?  Have you known a Gottlieb or two in your day?  Defined as "God's love," it's familiar to many.  We had the honor of  the proprietor, Gottlieb himself (the grandson of the founder of the restaurant, who passed away only 2 years ago at the age of 98, of blessed memory), serve our boisterous table of 7.

Founded in 1962, the family has served up delicious dishes to hungry souls from all walks of life.   We didn't ask about this Gottlieb's family history, but we got a big smile when we told him about our idea of the ganse mishpucha.  Gottlieb's father was in the house, busy preparing deli platters and serving up food, so we didn't get a chance to shmooze with him..

And the food?  Perhaps the best stuffed cabbage we have ever had (sorry, grandma).  The puffed up rice inside the meat filling was so tasty.  The sweet and sour sauce was near-perfect.  There was chicken fricasse, latkes, shlishkes, homemade mashed potatoes, health salad, brisket and roast beef in a sauce, plated hot tongue (sorry, no raisins), and a turkey cutlet that was far from the roasted bird we had on Thanksgiving a few weeks ago.

Hipster, chassid, or Chowhound, Gottlieb's is a place to add on to your radar screen.  It is, without doubt, part of the Whole Phamily.

Oh, and of course they're closed on shabbes.