SHVIM, SHVITZ, & SHNAPS?
JUST LEARN TO "SHVIM!" by
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe

Syosset, New York

In the story, "A Life Worth Saving," ("More Sower's Seeds" by Brian Cavanaugh), we read:

   A man risked his life by swimming through the treacherous riptide to save a youngster being swept out to sea.  After the child recovered from the harrowing experience, he said to the man, "Thank you for saving my life."

   The man looked into the boy's eyes and said, "That's okay, kid.  Just make sure your life was worth saving."

   Molly Picon, star of Yiddish theater and film, had a home in Mahopac, New York, named "Chez Schmendrick."  She wrote, "There, after a shvim, shvitz, and shnaps, she and her husband [Jacob Kalish] felt refreshed."

   And Anna Fuerstenberg (who created "Saidye" for Circle Theatre in Toronto, wrote, "I just love to go in the water and shvim, my favourite shvim stroke, the mechiah stroke.  A mechiah, oi what a pleasure."

   I grew up at "di plazhe" (the beach)-- Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. Unfortunately, I never learned to "shvimen" (to swim).  This "zumer" (summer), 2009, six people drowned in Rockaway and six area beaches were closed for two days as large waves battered the shore due to Hurricane Bill.

   Park Commissioner,  Adrian Benept, said "the number of deaths is about average for people swimming when and where they're not supposed to."  And Rob Malcolm reports, "One is enough.  Every day we watch people...they cheat ("opnarn") death. And if we weren't there, they would drown. They just can't swim."

   "You have to respect the water," said Cara Michaels, who was walking on the beach. She and her husband had planned to go away for the weekend but stayed.  "We're afraid the 18-year-old will go surfing in this weather with the big waves.  We should be around to watch him," she said.

   My parents ("tate-mame") were unaware that the Talmud teaches that parents are obligated, among other things, to teach their children to swim.  Yes, children have to learn how to swim; it's an important skill for survival.  ("blaybn lebn" means "to survive/remain alive")

   A section from the Talmud explicitly states that parents have an "hiskayvis" (obligation) to teach Torah, i.e. give him a moral education:  teach him a trade or give him the tools to earn a living; and teach him to swim.  In the view of some, teaching a child to swim refers NOT to actual swimming, but to SWIMMING THROUGH LIFE.

  (Read:   "Kosher Parenting:  A Guide for   Raising Kids in a Complex World" by   Rabbi Herbert J. Cohen)

   In an e-mail from Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, he writes that, "According to the Talmud (Kid. 29a), a father is obligated to teach his son how to swim.  Even though this Mitvzah is quoted in the name of the Rabbis in general, in the Mekilta (on Ex.13:13), it is attributed to Rabbi Akiba of the 2nd cent. CE.  The text literally means to instruct the son on how to escape death in case of falling into the sea or river (see, Rashi ad loc.)."

   The Rabbi continues:  "More recent commentators, however, maintain that the Mitzvah of 'teaching how to swim' must be taken metaphotically, referring not only to actual swimming lessons, which are valid in themselves, but also to teaching one's son all kinds of survival skills.  In our time the Mitzvah is usually extended even further by placing this obligation on both father and mother, and covering all children, irrespective of their gender.

   In Blue Greenberg's book, How to Run a Traditional Household (1983), a local rabbi is quoted as saying that in order to stem anti-semitism these days, we need to teach our children karate!  This process of extending the meaning of Mitzvot in order to adapt them to contemporary situations, is in the true spirit of the Jewish traditional practice of interpretation.  It is appropriate, and I personally like it.  It certainly makes sense, and is in line with Maimonides' suggestion that the highest level of Tzedakah is giving the other person the necessary means of becoming an independent and productive individual."

(Note:  Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D., is Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA, and on the faculty of Boston College, Theology Department.)

   And, in conclusion, Simran Khurana (About.com) says that "Swimming sayings teach you to plunge into the ocean of life. Every wave signifies a new challenge.  Everyone has to learn to ride the waves. With a heart of sheer resolve, you can swim through life and emerge a winner."

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___________________________________________
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe is the author of
two books:

"Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and
"Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass Instruction?  Yiddish
Trivia."  To order a copy, go to her
website: MarjorieGottliebWolfe.com

NU, what are you waiting for?  Order the book!