Yiddish, Sandy Denny and Nice Sweaters
Hello one and all from gloomy Brooklyn, where the weather is chilly, rainy and wonderful. It’s not only the name of my favorite Guns N’ Roses song, but it’s genuinely one of my favorite vibes. Cold November rain is cozy as hell, especially when you’ve got nowhere in particular to be, and I’m stuck inside preparing myself to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in my life. So, without further ado…
1. Towards an understanding of gentiles using Yiddishisms.
Time for a little Substack and Twitter crossover.
Recently, on our favorite hell site, there’s been this ongoing “What’s something that ISN’T X but FEELS X to you” thing going around, and I, of course, had to bang my bear paws against the keyboard and weigh in on one:
It was, for the most part, a joke. But a lot of people — many of whom I genuinely like — responded to me either on Twitter of privately asking me if this is how I really feel, and the truth is … it’s fucking Twitter, man! On the great discourse and sarcasm killer there’s no chance at nuance, so I am here on my Substack trying to better explain a tweet because I feel a little bit bad.
Yiddish has had, give or take, a good century in America. The influx of Yiddish-speaking Jews in the late-19th century didn’t initially have a massive impact on English speakers outside of places like the Lower East Side or the various cities where Jewish immigrants lived. Yiddish culture didn’t really start to break through until the years after the Second World War. That’s when you get Borscht Belt comedians doing their routines for bigger audiences or Fiddler on the Roof making its way to Broadway in 1964. Many Jews, after the most traumatic time for our culture ever (which is saying a lot), felt safe in America, and gentiles, in return, seemed to want to make Jews feel safe. Maybe out of guilt or possibly to show that we aren’t like the people we just defeated in the war (oh, how things change). Obviously I’m simplifying things because I don’t want to get stuck in the weeds, but after the war, American Jews felt free to do their own thing. You had Sid Caesar on the TV and Lender's Bagels going nationwide. What a time!
And somewhere along the way, Yiddish, the language that was almost overwhelmingly spoken by Jews that perished in the Holocaust (I’ve seen numbers range from 85-90% showing those who were murdered spoke Yiddish. That’s why people say Hitler “killed” the language as well). It has survived, although mostly in ultra-Orthodox communities. But the reason most Americans know any Yiddish at all is because some of the words snuck into the lexicon. With a putz here, a schmuck there, America has kept Yiddish alive in some small way, even if people that use those words might not know where they come from. But, of course, that’s the American way, right? I mean, it’s 2020: we live in a time where people from a political party that has long been anti-LGBTQ rights might also use a term that made its way up from drag culture and not even realize it when they’re telling Ivanka, “Yaass kween, slay!” This is America: we don’t ask how the linguistic sausage is made.
All this leads me back to my tweet. All those words were basically me setting up to tell you that, if you’re reading this and you aren’t Jewish that I’m fine with you saying “oy vey.” I don’t think you’re an anti-semite if you use these words. I was attempting to try and say way too much with Twitter’s little word count. The Americanization of Jewish culture (in this case, Ashkenazi Jewish culture, since Jewish culture comes from a lot of places besides Eastern Europe) is a topic I think about a lot; specifically about how this place tries to strip people of their culture and their heritage, and that saddens me. But I also recognize that this was happening long before I was born. And that if it wasn’t for this American acceptance, who knows where we’d be? Who knows if I’d be able to go get some whitefish from my local grocery store or see somebody like Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill become big Hollywood stars? The point I was trying to make is that I just don’t want to see these words become accepted as American — because they’re not; they’re Jewish. And as I said in a followup tweet, I even understand that in some places like Miami or Philadelphia or NYC, Chicago, L.A. and other areas with Jewish populations, people picked up on a lot of these words by being around Jews. And that’s great. I love to hear that. Ultimately, I want us all to be able to share and celebrate other cultures and traditions. I just don’t want us to forget where these cultures and traditions come from.
2. Late November
From Yiddish to British (Yes, I know the saying).
I’ve been starting to get cozy in my winter nest. I’m done with 2020, man. I’m just here in my apartment wearing my sweaters and spiking my hot cocoa with whatever will keep me warm. I’ve also been really into British horror films from the ‘60s and ‘70s, Hammer, Amicus Productions, and whatever else you might suggest (seriously, suggest stuff to me) as of late. Usually after Halloween I tone it down with the spooky stuff for a bit, but I’ve been working my way through episodes of Hammer House of Horror and sat down and watched The Skull from 1965 … which is not great, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
I was starting to wonder why I’ve been so into these sorts of movies this year, and they I realized two things: 1. I’ve been watching more British stuff than ever — which is saying a lot. But I find old Masterpiece adaptations and movies that take place in castles to be really comforting. 2. This is the time of year when I listen to Sandy Denny’s The North Star Grassman and The Ravens a few times a day. I mean, just look at that cover. How spooky autumn is that?
Man, what I’d give to be hanging out in a dimly lit pub in some forgotten costal part of the UK with a bunch of people in good knitwear right now. This time of year you will no doubt catch me listening to Nick Drake, Bert Jansch or even some of the more low-key Led Zeppelin songs. But Denny’s solo album is perfect for right now because of its opening track, “Late November.” For obvious reasons, I really love listening to this song right now.
3. Sweater weather
I recently tweeted (Argh, more Twitter again!) my admiration for a sweater in the Kith winter drop which, overall, I need to say is really nice. The specific piece I mentioned was this sweater, which, I’m happy to say, I convinced Emily to get me as an early Hanukkah present.
I’m mentioning this for two reasons: 1. I just want to mention the sweater. it’s nice. 2. Whenever I talk about clothing I’d like to own, I will almost always get somebody saying something about how there’s no reason to want new clothes because we have nowhere to go. To that I say: sure. But I also have been really into waking up and trying to have as much of a normal routine these last nine months as possible, and part of that routine is getting dressed. I like taking a little time out of my morning to figure out what I’m going to wear. I mean, I work 20 feet away from my wife, and I’d at least like her to keep thinking I look good.
But really, in my capitalism-rotted mind, I think wanting to purchase stuff to wear still gives me a little hope. It’s corny, I know. But sooner or later I’m going to see some of you, and I’d love somebody to say in person, “That’s a cool sweater.” I just like to hold on to the idea that sooner or later we’ll have the opportunity to compliment each other while we’re standing in the same room. Isn’t that a nice little thing to hold on to?