Re: [Cz-L] Re: czernowitz-l digest: May 25, 2011

Thank you Andy, for the compliments, even though little deserved.
I left Czernowitz at the age of seven, knowing nothing but the
Czernowitz
way of life of my family. This included German language and literature,
Yiddish language and literature, Jewish identification, a central
European way of life
and Czernowitz habits and customs.

I later lived in Romania, Holland, Israel and the US. Everywhere I am
a transplant,
not quite adapted to the local way of life.
Thanks to the Czernowitz-List I no longer considering myself a
peculiar misfit,
For better or for worse, I am a Czernowitzer.

Mimi

On May 26, 2011, at 8:18 AM, andy halmay wrote:

> Kudos to Hardy, the statistician wit, who has now helped us learn
> to know o=
> urselves. Proper identification is always helpful. The Romanians
> did a good=
> job with all official documents starting with birth certificate,
> identifyi=
> ng us as "Evreu" or "Israelit" in case we forgot. =A0They saved
> Jidan for v=
> erbal identification. =A0By Hardy's criteria, I reckon to be a 4.73
> Czernow=
> itzer. I have never sung a Kalman Opera.
> Mimi's more sober comments on the subject are worthy of serious
> considerati=
> on. Birth should be less of a qualifying item than allegiance.
> =A0Immigrant=
> s often make better citizens than those who have been born in a
> place. =A0T=
> he latter tend to take it all for granted. =A0
> Some thirty years ago when Canada seemed to be in a crisis for lack
> of gift=
> ed leadership I reminded all who would listen that in European
> history when=
> countries felt they needed more qualified royalty, they imported
> them, arr=
> anged for marriages, etc. =A0At that time, Japan seemed to be the
> best mana=
> ged country in the world and I suggested that importing a Japanese
> to becom=
> e Canada's prime minister might be a consideration but then I
> realized that=
> the cultural difference would be a problem. =A0Analyzing Canada's
> rather s=
> ocialized needs I concluded that a mafioso would be the perfect
> fit. Our la=
> ws forbade gambling but the various provinces run lotteries and the
> mafia i=
> s well versed in gambling. =A0Canada's defense forces were in poor
> shape an=
> d the mafia knows how to kill. Private sector retailing of
> alcoholic spirit=
> s and wine is illegal in Canada. The various liquor boards run all
> the booz=
> e stores and the mafia, of course, has a great history in bootlegging.
> =A0
> I was born in Cz and spent my first eleven and a half years there.
> =A0Czern=
> owitz was my home as was Cernauti, =A0but I can't relate to
> Chernivtsi. =A0=
> I lived in New York for eleven years and the same number in Los
> Angeles and=
> far more in Toronto but when I check my soul, I hear a voice with
> a Kenned=
> y accent that says, "Ich bin ein New Yorker." =A0
> =A0Mimi and I are true Czernowitzers in the sense that we disagree
> (but in =
> reality this quality applies the Evrei around the world) =A0If you
> hadn't b=
> een born in this multi-named town, Mimi, you would still qualify
> more as a =
> Czernowitzer than most of us who were born there because of your
> full and n=
> ever-ending devotion, and that's a rather charming thought.
> Best wishes,Andy
>
> [Plain Text next time - Please]

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Received on 2011-05-26 15:57:48