Sunday, March 09, 2008

I Didn’t Know He’s Jewish, Either
by: Schvach Yid

That’s Bernard Lewis jadies and jents, the famed and very oratory British chochom on the subject of Islam, now an elder gentleman and Professor Emeritus of Princeton University.

I first heard him – a real treat, and I mean it – on an edition of C-SPAN’s Book TV years ago, and I’ve been a fan of his ever since.

I, being a self-professed chochom of sorts, suspected that Prof. Lewis might be Jewish, but I didn’t know. Now, thanks to Ruthie Blum of the on-line edition of The Jerusalem Post, I do. Mazel tov Schvach! Here’s the link: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204546415778&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

In the C-SPAN interview, the interviewer innocently asked Prof. Lewis which translation of the Koran he uses as his source material. He gave bit of a start and answered, ‘the original Koranic Arabic, of course’ (he didn't add 'you dummy', but it was implied).

On the flip side is our very own Yiddishe mama of meteorology and weather reporting, Stephanie Abrams, of The Weather Channel (if you think I’m a Jewish chauvinist, how right you are!). Recently I’ve taken to watching The Weather Channel, and Ms. Abrams appears to have ramped up her entertainment gig a bit, complete with views of her trousseau and décolletage.

Surely, someone can cue her into derech hatznius, but I’m proud of her anyway.

During one report, she blurted ‘oy vey!’ – emes. Such nachas I get from her, and I don’t even know her; I wonder if The Weather Channel management put words on her afterward. I am sure.

4 comments:

Jack Steiner said...

I have always enjoyed Bernard Lewis' writings.

Schvach said...

Me too, and he's a primo speaker as well as author.

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