Page 116 - issue
P. 116
CHUTZPAALLABOUT
by I. Kinek mon was that chutzpa was minimal; but the fog horn variety!
the synagogue was considered a When this occurred, the rabbi
Is there a Yiddle who does not know makom kodesh (holy place).
the meaning of the word “chutzpa”? stopped speaking, and Nimmis sudden-
Is there even a nochri (non-Jew) As shuls became Americanized, ly awoke. “Iz doch guht (that’s good)”
who doesn’t? The closest transla- however, things changed. A shul you may exclaim. Not exactly, because
tion of the word may be “a lot of maiseh: My father was the chazan of after the rabbi resumed speaking,
nerve.” From this you see that a sin- the Bais Hamedresh Hagodol. Rabbi Krepsky resumed snoring! The rabbi
gle Yiddish word has more impact Samuel Vitsick was the rabbi. He deliv- shortened his talk, and things quieted
than several English ones. No won- ered a dvar Torah on Shabbat, to down – for a few minutes.
der chutzpa has become part of the which most of the shul-goers were
American lingo. attentive. However, there was an indi- After davening, the snorer was
vidual (whom we’ll call Nimmis approached by the gabbai and admon-
As we all know, an early lesson that Krepsky) who fell asleep and began ished for his chutzpa. His response was
parents should teach their children is snoring during the rabbi’s sermon – that he worked diligently during the
to be a mentch and to avoid chutzpa. not low-key snoring, you understand, week and that prior to attending the
But while we’ve all heard many maises shul he had taken a few shots of his
(stories) regarding how to be a mentch,
we’ve not heard as many about chutz- It takes more than skills and experience
pa. (Of course, being a mentch includes to impress an employer.
avoiding chutzpa.) With that under-
stood, here are a few examples of Let the JCS Career Center help you
chutzpa, past and present, that illumi- stand out from the crowd.
nate the word and its meaning.
The JCS Career Center coaches you to career success.
Snore and More
Once upon a time, there was a large 410.466.9200 • jcsbaltimore.org
Jewish population in East Baltimore.
Several shuls occupied the area, and
some of them had interesting names.
There was a Russisher (Russian) shul,
the Kolker shul, the boys shul, etc. –
each of them named after the early
organizers of the shul. As the years
passed, there were no more Russians in
the Russisher shul, no more Kolkers in
the Kolker shul, and the boys were
grown men. What they all had in com-
108 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
by I. Kinek mon was that chutzpa was minimal; but the fog horn variety!
the synagogue was considered a When this occurred, the rabbi
Is there a Yiddle who does not know makom kodesh (holy place).
the meaning of the word “chutzpa”? stopped speaking, and Nimmis sudden-
Is there even a nochri (non-Jew) As shuls became Americanized, ly awoke. “Iz doch guht (that’s good)”
who doesn’t? The closest transla- however, things changed. A shul you may exclaim. Not exactly, because
tion of the word may be “a lot of maiseh: My father was the chazan of after the rabbi resumed speaking,
nerve.” From this you see that a sin- the Bais Hamedresh Hagodol. Rabbi Krepsky resumed snoring! The rabbi
gle Yiddish word has more impact Samuel Vitsick was the rabbi. He deliv- shortened his talk, and things quieted
than several English ones. No won- ered a dvar Torah on Shabbat, to down – for a few minutes.
der chutzpa has become part of the which most of the shul-goers were
American lingo. attentive. However, there was an indi- After davening, the snorer was
vidual (whom we’ll call Nimmis approached by the gabbai and admon-
As we all know, an early lesson that Krepsky) who fell asleep and began ished for his chutzpa. His response was
parents should teach their children is snoring during the rabbi’s sermon – that he worked diligently during the
to be a mentch and to avoid chutzpa. not low-key snoring, you understand, week and that prior to attending the
But while we’ve all heard many maises shul he had taken a few shots of his
(stories) regarding how to be a mentch,
we’ve not heard as many about chutz- It takes more than skills and experience
pa. (Of course, being a mentch includes to impress an employer.
avoiding chutzpa.) With that under-
stood, here are a few examples of Let the JCS Career Center help you
chutzpa, past and present, that illumi- stand out from the crowd.
nate the word and its meaning.
The JCS Career Center coaches you to career success.
Snore and More
Once upon a time, there was a large 410.466.9200 • jcsbaltimore.org
Jewish population in East Baltimore.
Several shuls occupied the area, and
some of them had interesting names.
There was a Russisher (Russian) shul,
the Kolker shul, the boys shul, etc. –
each of them named after the early
organizers of the shul. As the years
passed, there were no more Russians in
the Russisher shul, no more Kolkers in
the Kolker shul, and the boys were
grown men. What they all had in com-
108 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
