Wex

What makes a pauper rejoice?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!“Ven freyt zikh an oremen?” asks the Yiddish proverb. “What makes a pauper rejoice? Az er farlirt un gefint, When he finds something that he’s lost”––because a pauper can’t afford a replacement. This is especially true when what’s been lost is one’s youth. I was interviewed last week by a journalist whom...

Wex

Where does “nu” come from?

I’ve been doing a great deal of research lately into the origins and history of the Yiddish word nu and have made a discovery that has changed my whole outlook on life. If you think that nu comes from German, you’re wrong; if you try to trace it back to Slavic, you’re going to hit a dead end. As I’ve just found out, we’ve been nu-ing since we were slaves in Egypt, and maybe even before. It turns...

Wex

Wex the luftmentsh

Traveling from town to town on the Jewish Book Fair circuit, I’m beginning to feel like part of the great collective known as orkhe-porkhe--hoboes, vagrants, yidishe bindlestiffs like Stuffy Derma, the tramp on the old Milton the Monster Show. The term comes from the Hebrew oreakh poreakh, "a flying guest,” one who's here today and gone tomorrow. Unlike those of us who collect royalties, real...

Wex

The season of the drunk

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, there’s no doubt that we’re well embarked on what my parents used to call shikker-tsayt, “season of the drunk,” a temporally fluid festive period observed by selected members of the dominant European and North American faith community. According to the Shulkhan Arukh ha-Mom, the strictly oral code of Jewish law composed by my mother and revealed only to members of...

Wex

Wex is no Beau Brummell

Anyone who knows me can tell you, “That Wex is a nice guy, but he’s certainly no Beau Brummell.” Having grown up in the 60’s, when middle-class Jewish boys were dying to look like sharecroppers, I’ve remained opgerisn un opgeshlisn, “ragged and tattered,” ever since, much to the chagrin of my daughter and wife. I still own––forget own, I still wear the shirt in which I saw Jimi...