Jewish proverbs and sayings

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Folk wisdom travels the world, penetrating from one national culture to another, crossing state borders, seas and oceans. Today it is difficult to establish when Jewish proverbs and sayings became “Russified”, “Germanized” or “Polishized”, but, undoubtedly, the centuries-old wisdom of the “eternal wanderers” influenced the everyday speech of various ethnic groups located in both hemispheres of the planet. People who use popular expressions do not always guess what language they sounded in for the first time.

Who is the shlimazl

The first thing that bribes Jewish proverbs is self-irony. The ability to play a joke on oneself is a sign of wisdom, and this artistic technique is most clearly manifested in folk art. The hero of many sayings is a certain "shlimazl". This word means, generally speaking, a loser, besides being close-minded and possessing many other personal vices. "Helma" (abbreviated designation) is greedy, stupid, he never succeeds. If a shlimazl sells snow, a warm winter is issued,if water - drought happens. He sometimes speaks well, but it would be better if he was silent. Of the two evils, the shlimazel manages to choose both. He does not live to see good luck, because he cannot endure troubles, falls at someone's feet, and they certainly step on his head. He tells half the truth, and the result is a lie. In general, if some Jewish proverbs are funny, it is because they contain shlimazel: you can always make fun of it. The main thing is not to get carried away too much and not become one yourself.

About wisdom

The sayings themselves, used to the point, are a kind of concentrate of wisdom accumulated over many centuries. It is not surprising that among them a considerable proportion are those in which the definition of reasonableness and, on the contrary, stupidity is given. It is important that wisdom is by no means always identified with old age. So, one of the sayings says that the presence of gray hair indicates old age, and not about the mind. However, another states that an elderly person sees worse, but still more. Apparently, the accumulated experience affects. The call not to be too sweet (they will eat it) is also instructive, but it is also undesirable to overdo it in bitterness (they will spit it out). An anti-alcohol theme is also presented: "the secret goes when the wine enters." These beautiful Jewish proverbs may seem too simple, their moral is too obvious. But that doesn't make them any less wise. After all, the obvious rules of behavior, unfortunately, are not observed by everyone.

Family

Sometimes you can hear the common phrase: "Love is gone!" “So, it means it never started!” - explains one of the sayings such a phenomenon. Jewish proverbs devoted to a lyrical theme are diverse both in subject matter and in direction. Their range is wide - from romanticism (where there is love, there is no sin, and vice versa) and to dry practicality (you cannot cook compote from the sweetest love). For whom are all brides good? For the matchmaker! Even an old maid becomes a young wife, after her marriage, of course. What could be holier than a mother for a proper Jew? God sends her to places where he himself does not have time. And Adam was very lucky: he did not have a mother-in-law. A bad wife is worse than rain, because he drives home, and she, on the contrary, strives to put her out of the door.

About words

Jews, as a rule, love to talk. There are few silent people among them, everyone wants to say something smart. Despite the widespread opinion about the universal wisdom of God's chosen people, this is far from being the case for everyone. Jewish proverbs warn of the dangers of excessive verbosity. "Shut up if you have nothing to say!" - it seems to be nothing special either, and yet if everyone did this … "First children are taught to speak, and then be silent" - an excellent generalization of pedagogical methods.

Man has one mouth and two ears. This is an anatomical fact. So you need to listen twice as often as you talk.

And one more thing: you should not trust someone who willingly talks about his troubles, but hides his joys. This observation is very subtle, and everyone can benefit from such advice.

Ohmoney and eternal values

Jewish proverbs and sayings relating to material matters are as varied as any other.

It's worth breaking another stereotype about some kind of special love of money for Jews and a special commercial streak that is present in almost every Jew from birth. But what do we see? In fact, not much attention is paid to poverty, it is not considered either a vice or a virtue, at least the Jews who composed the proverbs thought so.

Yes, they love money, but who doesn't? Not as good with them as bad without them! And a problem that can be solved by paying is not called a trouble, but an expense. But it's not about money, it's about having it. And for this you need not just to save them, but to gain knowledge with which you can always earn them. It's easy to carry a smart head on your shoulders, and no one will take it away from you, unless they take it down, but then it's all the same…

Again, it's better to have a job looking for you than the opposite. There are good things about being poor. It is more difficult for a poor person to sin, God protects him from temptations - they, as a rule, are expensive. And it is noteworthy that everyone has enough mind, most people complain about the lack of money.

And whether there are many or few of them, but you need to live. At least out of curiosity. I wonder what will happen next?

Stuff

Jewish proverbs are sometimes very difficult to classify. For example, the statement that a single beard looks much worse than a beardless oneJew. What is it about? And it’s enough to remember that there were once pogroms…

Or a saying that people take on great things from idleness. And about two fighting for a hat, and a third who gets it. And that death from laughter is preferable to death from horror. And that the word "experience" is synonymous with human error. And people from afar all look good.

The irony of Jewish proverbs and sayings is also manifested in some pessimism, behind which hope is nevertheless guessed. "Don't complain about the lack of change: you can wait a little and it will get worse." And then: “Better any change, even for the worse, than none at all.”

You shouldn't joke with God, but the Jews manage to do this too. People anger the Almighty with sins, and those around them with benefactors. God behaves like a father, and fate behaves like an evil stepfather. And a prayer-request to him - to help him get up, because a person knows how to fall himself.

In general, the Jews composed a lot of proverbs. They concern all aspects of life, therefore, by honoring them, you can enrich yourself, at least spiritually, and then whoever is lucky. However, do not believe the sources, printed or electronic, offering headlines like "35 Jewish proverbs, the best and the wisest." There are actually many more.