Letters
Poo, poo, poo
I enjoyed Debra Mazon’s article about poo-poo-ing and other protections against the evil eye. (“From poo, poo, poo to the evil eye,” July 11)
Jewish Standard readers may appreciate two Yiddish charms to add to their armor against evil. They were told to me and other members of Chane’s Yiddish Vinkl of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation by Noami (sic) Leaf Halpern, our lehrerin (teacher), who died in 2022 at 107. I incorporated them in a 2016 essay in Jewish Currents magazine.
Here they are:
Zitsn dray vayber oyf a shteyn.
Eyn zogt yo, di tsveyte zogt neyn.
Di dritte zogt, “Fun vanen s’iz gekumen
Ahin zol es geyn.”
Poo poo poo.
(Three old women sit on a stone;
One says yes, the second says no.
The third says, “Wherever it [the evil spirit] came from,
Back it must go.” Poo poo poo.)
In balkn iz faran dray shpaltn.
Zol zikh dort
Dayne ayn hora bahaltn.
Poo poo poo.
(In the ceiling are three cracks.
Go there, Evil Eye,
And hide yourself.
Poo poo poo.)
Noami said she learned the charms from her parents. “Every Jewish family knew them. You don’t learn this in school.”
Speaking of Yiddish, mazel tov on having won so many Rockowers — all well-deserved. Kudos to Joanne Palmer, editor, James Janoff, publisher, and the very talented staff (poo poo poo).
Rebecca Boroson
Woodstock, NY
Rebecca Boroson is the editor emerita of the Jewish Standard.
War in Gaza is between good and evil
Although not discussed in “Why the war in Gaza must end” (July 11), the current war between Israel and Hamas is a battle between good versus evil. More specifically, it is a battle for survival of the ideals and values of Western civilization to provide equal opportunity and protection to people of all races, sexes, religions and ethnic origins represented by the progressive ideas advanced by the history of the Jewish people versus the force of violence and oppression exhibited by Hamas representing the cult of extremist Islamic fanatism seeking domination and even extermination of non-Muslin populations
The column acknowledges the barbarous nature of the October 7, 2023, attack but still tries to portray Israel as the main obstacle to achieving peace in Gaza. It must be recognized, however, that the October 7th war is the fifth major attack launched by Hamas against Israel during the past 20 years. These wars follow the Hamas Charter organizational mandate that Jews and Israel must be wiped off the map as a matter of religious obligation so that the school system in Gaza is geared to raising children to be Jew-haters and martyrs for this goal.
In fact, Hamas was never interested in a peaceful two-state solution to the Arab-Israel conflict and organized many terrorist actions to undermine the Oslo peace plan for a Palestinian state to be a peaceful neighbor to Israel. Moreover, current Hamas leaders continue to promise to wipe out Israel despite any future ceasefire. Accordingly, the only rational course for Israel is to continue the campaign to eradicate Hamas to bring peace to Gaza and to help protect the West from the threat of Islamic fascism.
Finally, it is very sad and irresponsible that this article blames Israel for the deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza. Although it may not be reported in the general media, most friends of Israel know the IDF is making an extraordinary effort to minimize civilian casualties. In contrast, Hamas uses force and threats to make people remain in announced target locations to increase casualties and blame Israel for the deaths. As a result, this type of unbalanced report supports the phony pro-Hamas genocide accusation against Israel and feeds the increase of antisemitism in the United States and across the world. I trust therefore the authors will apologize and provide proper balance in any future column.
Larry Dvores
Livingston
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