Oy! Geh Vahlt!

By Sol Awend

Ever get the feeling we’re living in the year 1938?

No matter what you see, where you go, what you read and with whom you talk, it’s all the same rant: Death to the Jews! It’s unnerving.

The last month has been a nonstop barrage of unprecedented violence and murder flung upon our Jewish brethren in Israel.

And if that wasn’t enough, the truth has been twisted and turned inside out. Bold-faced lies spouted by antisemitic politicians have been broadcast by the media with lightning speed. The “melting pot” that was once America has become a boiling cauldron of hate.

Instead of militaristic swastika-waving hooligans of yesteryear running around loose, we have gigantic throngs of people waving flags and chanting outright death threats against us.

Aside from not having a homeland, the only difference between now and 1938 is the technology. What took days back then now appears in seconds; repeated over and over again.

I remember my Mom telling me what she heard her parents murmuring in discussions at mealtime. Their Polish neighbors were taunting them in outright jeering and meanness. My grandfather even came home bloody once, having gotten caught in a pogrom. What to do and where to go was an elusive question. Even more elusive was the answer.

There is a story told in a collection of Jewish passages written by modern-day Rabbi Yachiel Spero.

He writes of a town in Germany called Marienbad. The Jews in town gathered to discuss the impending doom that was descending on them. Some felt more concentrated Torah study was necessary. More prayer said others, while still others stressed more observance of daily ritual and holidays.

Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman was the last to speak. He told of a fire that broke out in a Rebbe’s house. The flames spread and a crowd gathered outside and watched as the flames quickly spread. Suddenly, someone realized the Rebbe was nowhere to been seen and they feared he might be inside, sleeping. Everyone came up with ideas. Some said a ladder should be put up against the backside of the house. Another shouted that it would be faster to run through the front, while another proposed scaling the side of the house.

Finally, a clear-headed fellow screamed at the crowd, “Why waste time running around?! Scream! Scream at the top of your lungs and wake him up! That way he can save himself!”

The congregation heard the Rav’s message. Then came a loud reply. “Fellow Jews! The ground upon which we are standing is giving way! In the midst of the current madness, we are trying to find a solution to save a country that is sleepwalking! We must scream at the top of our lungs Awake! Awake! No one will save us if we don’t listen to that cry!”

It’s not so different today, and below are a few Yiddish phrases and words that highlight how precarious the situation is.

(Kudos to Susan Suarez, the Holocaust Museum’s president, whose recent message for us to be aware and defiant in the face off the current situation was most relevant and inspiring.)

1. OY! Geh VAHLT! (Oh! Become aware!)

OY! Geh VAHLT! Zay noh voos tet zec’h oop! (Oh! Become aware! Look at what’s going on!)

2. Kinda LEC’H, Ess MAC’HT zec’h AH mulC’HOOMEH! (Children, a war is starting to brew!)

3. YEED’n! VEK DEC’H OFF! (Fellow Jews! Wake up!)

Yeed’n! Vek dec’h off! Siz shreklic’heh t’zaaten! (Fellow Jews! Wake up! It’s scary times!)