Comments on: UJA-Federation’s Bogus Explanation for Withdrawing Other Israel Film Festival Sponsorship

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 20:39:15 +0000

Andy: Phil is just an assimilationist fuddy-duddy (I mean this only half in jest). I bridle at the fact that he doesn’t moderate his comments & allows heinous anti-Semitic diatribes to be posted, but that’s another matter.

Anyway, shande might best be translated as “a crying shame.” It’s most commonly used in the phrase a shande far di goyim or “a disgrace in the face of non-Jews” as when a Jew performs an act which reflects poorly on his/her religion. That’s why I deliberately chose that phrase in this situation. I believe it comes fr. the German word shund. Sorry if it wasn’t familiar to you.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:11:29 +0000

“I bridle when people throw around Yiddish without doing readers the service of explaining it.”
- Philip Weiss

Richard, could you kindly provide for the readership a functional definition of “shande”? Thank you.

By: ellen

ellen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:03:48 +0000

“failure to receive approval through appropriate channels within the organization.”

That is a stock excuse. they must pull it out of a file. lol
If you knew how many times I’ve heard that.

Sometimes One must laugh in order to not cry.

Nice job.

ellen

By: Norman Weinstein

Norman Weinstein — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:26:38 +0000

Once again do I find relief that there are people out there like Richard Silverstein, fellow Jews who do not fear speaking out against right-wing outrages, both small and large, perpetrated by sadly reactionary Jews. For me one of the most singular ironies is that so much of the “official” Jewish line contradicts what most of my co-religionists believe but seem so afraid to express publicly for fear of being branded self-hating, anti-Semitic Jews. I really despair for Jews and Israel when people such as Jimmy Carter are branded as rampant anti-Semites for daring raise even the tiniest objection to one or other Israeli injustice. In my website at http://www.mybarbaricyawp.net/index.html I point out that the only thing possibly saving us from the horrors of the Bush regime is, ironically, its continuing incompetence. God help us all if they were as competent in wreaking upon us their intentions as they are in possessing and developing those intentions; even so, at the same time they have still managed to do profound harm to as, our nation and the world. I must wonder, therefore, to what degree those “official” right-wing Jews of such as the Federation abd the ADL, supposedly representing their fellow Jews, harm us in their Israel über alles attitudes and actions. They are no more good for Jews and Israel and, for that matter, everyone one else than are the movers and shakers of the criminal regime in Washington now governing us. Perhaps our only hope is that, as that collection of wisdom, the Bible, has succinctly put it, “You shall seek the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Keep up your seeking, Mr. Silverstein, and who knows, perhaps we of non-paranoid and decent intent might yet prevail over the outrages being perpetrated in our name.