'DI UNTERBAN" ENCOURAGES 'DER SHIDEKH"

"di unterban" is the subway
"der shidekh" is an arranged marriage or a "match"

by
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe

Syosset, New York
"Ich kum fun niew york."  (I come from New York.)
 

The average time spent on a New York City subway train is about 25 minutes a day.  During that time we may see a "betler" (beggar or panhandler) who stands up in a full subway car and says, "Ladies and Gentlemen:  Sorry to bother you.  Hold onto your iPods and cell phones, and beware of chain-snatchers and pickpockets.  You may not believe this, but I
come from a nice family.  I was taught that it's good manners  to bring a gift when you visit someone's home.  So, this is MY home. Where's my gift?"

We don't make eye contact, so to prevent boredom, we gaze up at the advertisements and pray for some "eye candy."  And what do we get?
 

• Posters which warn us:  "If you see something, say something.  Be suspicious of anything unattended."
  
  
• Ads from "board certified dermatologist,"  Dr. Jonathan Zizmor.
  
  
• Ads for Daffy's Clothes:  "Getting great prices on designer clothes no longer takes a Miracle on 34th Street."
  
  
• Ad [1997] by Bristol Myers Squib for an anti-bacterial lotion which featured phrases like, "You are the 423 person to touch that pole today...Or, "The turnstiles have at least 11,700,000 germs.  (Have a nice day.)"

The get-hitched messages are part of a new marketing strategy from the abstinence-advocate group "Campaign for Our Children."  "Der aynfal" (the idea):  If teens learn to respect and look forward to marriage, they might not get "shvanger" (pregnant) before they tie the knot.

"Di unterban" (subway) signs will read:

   'MARRIAGE WORKS"


  'KIDS OF MARRIED PARENTS DO BETTER IN SCHOOL"

  "MARRIED PEOPLE LIVE LONGER"

  "MARRIED PEOPLE EARN MORE MONEY."

With the Jewish population of New York City just less than one "milyon," and so many Jews riding the subways, why noit add some marriage propaganda in Yiddish?


My suggestions:
 

  "VU LIEBSHAFT, DORT IZ KEIN ENGSHAFT."
  (Where there is love, it never feels crowded.)

  "AS ES KUMT DEIN BASHERTER, VEST ES VISEN IN TSVAI VERTER."
  (When your destined spouse appears, you'll know it when you hear the first few spoken words.)

  'BAY A SHATKHN IZ NITO KEYN MIESE KALE."
  (With a matchmaker there's no homely bride.)

  "VU DOS VEIB IZ A MALKEH IZ DER MAN A MAILECH."
  (Where the wife is queen, the husband is king.)

  "MAN UN VEIB ZEINEN AIN LEIB."
  (Husband and wife are like one flesh.)

  "ES IZ NITO KEIN GETREI'ERS VEE AN AIGEN VEIB."
  (There is no more devoted person than one's own wife.)

  "NO CHUPPAH, NO SHTUPPA."
  (No wedding canopy, no sex.)   (Rabbi Shmuley Boteach)

  "MATZAH ISHA, MATSAH TOV."
  (Whoever finds a wife, finds great good.)

  "ALLE KALAHS ZEINEN SHAIN."
  (All brides are beautiful.)

  "AIN ZIVUGO SHEL ISH ELAH MIN HA'KODOSH BARUCH HU."
  (Marriages are made in heaven.)

  "LO TOV HE'YOT HE'ADAM L'VADO."
  (It is not good for a man to be alone.)
_____
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe met her "bashert" in 1957.

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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!