looking for a certain Hebrew word

[SylviaDiamandez]

Is there a Hebrew or Yiddish word that someone who's Jewish would call a Christian friend to let them know they're, for lack of better words, honorarily Jewish? Like a Jewish man's close friends would affectionately call him "Brother (So And So)" to let him know he's different but on safe ground among them.

On-line Hebrew slang glossaries don't have exactly the word I'm looking for.

THX in advance -- SD

[smallthunder]

Wouldn't the Yiddish word, "Mensch," cover that?
(did I spell that correctly?)

I do know the Yiddish term for the opposite, if that's any help -- i.e. what to call a Jew who isn't "Jewish" enough. That would be a "Shabbes Goy" (again, Yiddish spelling isn't my strong point). It originally referred to the non-Jew that some observant Jews would hire to come light their kitchen/house fires on the Sabbath for them (as lighting their own, like any work, on the Sabbath is forbidden).

Hope this helps ...

[Medievalist]

My husband has sometimes, somewhat humorously but also affectionately greeted non-Jewish male friends with "lantzman," a fairly common greeting for another Jew; it literally means "lands man," as in "countryman, fellow resident of my country."

[johnnysannie]

"Landsman" not "Lantzman"

As in:

lands·man 2 (läntsmn)
n. pl. lands·leit (-lt)
A fellow Jew who comes from the same district or town, especially in Eastern Europe.

[TeddyG]

Actually Medievalist is correct in the way Jews spell it...especially from the Yiddish...with a "z"...:D (but to each their own)

But neither Lantzman nor Mensch covers it...
Mensch means someone behaved with manners actually
Lantzman as M. said implies someone from one's old home town
Used much more by Polish & White Russian Jews...
Actually Jewish Cemeteries until today have pre-bought plots by those who came to the US and all the Lantzman got together and bought enough land for 100 graves..(Mount Hebron in Queens is one such example)


mmmmm....
lets see
well we dont want to call they "goy" Hebrew for Gentile and has not such nice connotations...

There is a hebrew word slang that is "Achi" used in Israel all over..means "my brother" and everyone uses it with friends...."Hey Achi"...even if you dont know the person..however I would not know if this would ring true between Gentile and Jew...but it is close for it...I cannot see getting into a Taxi in NY and saying to the driver Hey Achi how are you doing? However if he was Israeli, that would be appropriate.

However, Yiddish is a very closed language...rich but closed...and developed during the years of a not so nice and not so friendly exile..so I know of no word that would be used for what you are looking for...

Hebrew...all that comes to mind actually would be Achi - but it would be "Achi" not "Achi Teddy" that would be more like for an informal introcution
"Hey David. This is Achi Teddy" (something like that but not normally used.)

"Achi" is best..if I think of something else I will post it

BTW...Achi is MODERN HEBREW terminology...so if you are looking for something from the past...that is going to be very difficult to come with..

Again..modern Hebrew terminology is NOT used or known by Jews outside of Israel...as well

[TeddyG]

to let him know he's different but on safe ground among them.

Now no one is ever on safe ground with me...so what I wrote above is all theoretical...Jews and Gentiles :D

[Medievalist]

"Landsman" not "Lantzman"

As in:

lands·man 2 (läntsmn)
n. pl. lands·leit (-lt)
A fellow Jew who comes from the same district or town, especially in Eastern Europe.

No, that's the English version. A Jew would transliterate it as lantzman; or, more likely still, use the Hebrew alphabet -- I notice that it's in one of issues of The Foreward both using Hebrew, and, in an ad, as lantzman.

I also checked with my Yiddish speaking relatives.

[TeddyG]

We also pronounce it with a "z" not like the spelling from the dictionary.
Hard Z btw.

Sometimes you just got to be there! :D

Oh..Achi is spelled in Hebrew Aleph-Het-Yud (without the hyphens of course!)

[smallthunder]

Mensch means someone behaved with manners actually


That technically might be true, but that's not necessarily the connotation when it is used -- to call someone a "real mensch" is a much higher/broader compliment than that.

The way I've understood it, when applied to a non-Jew, it has the connotation that "He's a good guy -- one of us." I guess "manners" comes into play here in suggesting that this non-Jew knows how to behave amongst us Jews.

I cannot imagine any Jew calling a gentile "lantzman" -- that would just be too artificial, absurd.

BTW: Has anyone else heard of a "shabbes goy" (as applied to a Jew)?

[TeddyG]

A "shabbos goy" is a term that applies to a Gentile who does not keep the Sabbath and thus can turn and off lights, use electricity and all the things Sabbath observers will not do. (However, Religious Jews will not use a "shabbos Goy" for such thing as in the Law it is not allowed. Unless for an emergency or the Gentile themself is in need of the light etc. You also cannot say "Please turn on the light", but rather remark "It is really dark in here")

Now when we say a Jews is a "shabbas goy" it means he is non-observant. Thus he does all those things anyway. However, once again anyone in need of a "shabbos goy" will never let another Jew, observant or not, do things he will not do, as in Halacha - Jewish law that is strictly forbidden. So it will usually refer to and usually is meant in joking..."Hey he is a shabbos goy" meaning "He comes to synagogue and all but you know...he aint so strict with the car and the TV and all..." :D

[Medievalist]

I cannot imagine any Jew calling a gentile "lantzman" -- that would just be too artificial, absurd.

You'd have to know my husband, and the other guy, and the context. There's a lot of Yiddish that's used, and has been used for fifty years or more, in Hollywood, so Yiddish expressions are common, and lantzman is perhaps interpreted a little more loosely than it would be in a genuinely traditional Yiddish context.

BTW: Has anyone else heard of a "shabbes goy" (as applied to a Jew)?

Yes, of course, though as TeddyG points out, it's not always pejorative, or seriously pejorative, it's sometimes said with a sort of shrug or eye roll. It's all in the context.

[Prawn]

Why not just Haver, which means friend, or something like Hamudi which means cutie?

[TeddyG]

Haver is good....actually....really good
Hamudi is either said between adult and a cute kid
or between two lovers..dont think that is appropriate

Haver is really good!

[Prawn]

Thanks, haver!

[TeddyG]

Okay..folks...
One of my older sons just came over (to get fed!) and I asked him the question as well...

Here is the answer:
When Rabin was killed Clinton made the phrase "Shalom Haver" - "Goodbye my Friend" famous here.

However, in olden days - one would have said introducing a Gentile into a Jewish circle - "MeAnshei Shlomenu" which literally means "he is from the men (or the people) that want our peace" and came to mean -"he is a friend"

Today, actually this is used so thus it would be important to keep this in mind
one would say "Echad Mishelanu" which means "he is one of us". That actually is used..and actually cause I am getting senile and forgot, I have used it in the exact situation...but when the person I was talking about did not understand Hebrew...and I wanted to make it clear that he was a good friend.

Saying "Echad Mishelanu" or just "Mishelanu" is the correct form here..

most other things imply a bond like Haver...but that is the phrase you are looking for...

I am sorry it took so much time to remember...I am getting old, gray and beaten :D

[Prawn]

I am sure Teddy's suggestion is fine, but does the phrase have to be in Hebrew? In English, Jews say M.O.T. Member of the Tribe. Perhaps your character could be an honorary M.O.T?

[Evaine]

My gran was a Sabbath goy in Manchester in the 1950s - she went into her neighbours' houses to turn the oven on for dinner, turn lights on and off, and so on.

On Friday evening, my mum was walking home when she came upon a Jewish man and a pushchair, containing a baby. The man was frantic with worry because the Sabbath had come, and he was no longer allowed to push the pushchair, so he couldn't get home. Mum walked home with him, pushing the pushchair.

[graybeard]

I was "shabbos goy" for jewelry shop owner family on corner of 3rd & Monroe St. in South Philly. Later when returning from the Pacific war I bought my engagement ring there with a very generous discount and was allowed to make time payments from my civilian factory job. They never called me "shabbos goy" to my face......I was simply Jack, the goniff up the street.
john mcc.

[Sassenach]

I am sure Teddy's suggestion is fine, but does the phrase have to be in Hebrew? In English, Jews say M.O.T. Member of the Tribe. Perhaps your character could be an honorary M.O.T?

I've never heard any of my family or friends say "M.O.T."

[Prawn]

Maybe in SoCo they have another term, like "non-Mexican American"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=member+of+the+tribe