Guess what’s coming to dinner

Zoog mir in Yiddish

By Sol Awend, GenShoah SWFL

When it comes to Mother’s Day, we Yidlec’h do a great job of honoring our one and only. From songs like “My Yiddishe Mameh,” to “Ah Brivele De Mameh” (A Letter from Momma), we remember who it was that gave us life. Our Jewish mothers play such an important role in who we are, what we’ve become and, sometimes, how we determined our careers.

Even our beloved Yiddish language has a synonym: Mameh Looshen (Mother Tongue). And what warmth is embedded in those words and phrases. They just pour over into our emotions as we remember those descriptions and her words of wisdom.

Oh sure, Dad would sometimes put his two cents into the conversation. Many times, he was holding his pasik (belt). Mameh would step up and stop any further action with Loz oop! (cease and desist!)

It was with deh Mameh, where you found a haven and a resting place. How you would sit with her on occasion, mit ah keech’l un ah gloowez tei (a cookie and a glass of tea) and she’d tell you stories about her life; sometimes tinted with sadness and her longing for loved ones no longer here. But there was laughter too. She reminisced about the antics of her seven brothers and sisters or learning how to make hamantaschen with her mother.

Food held a special place in ah Yeedish Heim (a Jewish home). The glorious meals and snacks she made, standing there with a smile, watching you eat even when you couldn’t take another bite. “Nem noc’h ah shtik’l!” (“Take another piece!”)

And Friday nights … Shabbos… watching her light the candles, chanting the prayer and covering her eyes. When it was time to eat, it was a feast! From kompot (compote) to raz mit yowec’h (rice with chicken soup), you knew it was the real deal, because the yowech ot geh haat oygen (the soup had eyes), referring to the circles of shmaltz (fat) floating on the surface. Whatever the main course, it always ended with ah shik’l shtrood’l (a piece of apple strudel).

I know that those who still have our Mamehs will kiss and hug them endlessly. I hope you do, for there are those who can only nod and fondly cherish memories that never dim.

(Would you like to hear some original Yiddish poems about motherhood? Send me an email at solawend@gmail.com. In return, I will send you an audio and a written version of the selection.)