The Yiddish Policemen's Union

“Mendel had a remarkable nature as a boy. I’m not talking about miracles. Miracles are a burden for a tzaddik, not the proof of one. Miracles prove nothing except to those whose faith is bought very cheap, sir. There was something in Mendele. There was a fire.”

PhilosophyMiracles

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Source: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“But there is no Messiah of Sitka. Landsman has no home, no future, no fate but Bina. The land that he and she were promised was bounded only by the fringes of their wedding canopy, by the dog-eared corners of their cards of membership in an international fraternity whose members carry their patrimony in a tote bag, their world on the tip of the tongue.”

HomeMarriage

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“The day you ever have that much control over my behavior, it will be because somebody's asking you, should she get the pine box or a plain white shroud?”

Self DeterminationSnark

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Source: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“She can’t go in there,” he says firmly. “It isn’t appropriate.” “See this, sweetness?” Bina has fished out her badge. “I’m like a cash gift. I’m always appropriate.”

Appropriateness

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“Of course, the Shtrakenzer bride, though perfect, was not suitable; Mrs. Shpilman knew that. Long before the maid came to say that nobody could find Mendel, that he had disappeared sometime in the course of the night, Mrs. Shilman has known that no degree of accomplishment, beauty, or fire in a girl would ever suit her son. But there was always a shortfall, wasn’t there? Between the match that the Holy One, blessed be He, envisioned and the reality of the situation under the chuppah. Between commandment and observance, heaven and earth, husband and wife, Zion and Jew.”

MarriageRealismJudaismUtopiaDeterminismZionismYiddishArranged MarriageUtopianism

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“They were utopian, which meant they saw imperfection everywhere they looked.”

Utopian

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“It takes a sour woman to make a good pickle.”

WomanSourPickles

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“She reaches down into her bulging tote bag and pulls out a small plastic box with a hinged lid. It contains a round pill box with a threaded lid from which she tips out a vitamin pill, a fish-oil pill, and the enzyme tablet that lets her stomach digest milk. Inside the hinged plastic box she also carries packets of salt, pepper, horseradish, and hand-wipes, a doll size bottle of Tabasco sauce, chlorine pills for treating drinking water, Pepto-Bismol chews, and God knows what else. If you go to a concert, Bina has opera glasses. If you need to sit on the grass, she whips out a towel. Ant traps, a corkscrew, candles and matches, a dog muzzle, a penknife, a tiny aerosol can of freon, a magnifying glass - Landsman has seen everything come out of that overstuffed cowhide at one time or another.”

HumorListsPursesHandbags

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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“I resign," says Velvel. He takes off his glasses, slips them into his pocket, and stands up. He forgot an appointment. He's late for work. His mother is calling him on the ultrasonic frequency reserved by the government for Jewish mothers in the event of lunch.”

Jewish Humor

Book:The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Source: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

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