David, Goliath & Egg Fu Young: Being Jewish in Chicago at Christmas Time
by Robert M. Katzman © December 21, 2013
People of the Book
Wandering brown-eyed
Through silent dark streets
Alone among the millions
Each December 25th
For Millennia
Tinsel-less
Sleigh-less
Tree-less
Santa-less
Outside and looking in
No chimneys filled with myth
No stockings to hang
No mistletoe for kissing
***
Reminded yearly of their
Infinitesimal numbers
An ancient people
Existing as an asterisk
And resisting the urge to blend
Uniqueness of philosophy
Has its price
Even their heroes invisible
Yet such fidelity offers an identity
As the prize
***
Christmas in America
Storied and sung
Bethlehem, Wise men
A Manger, Mary and Joseph
Frankincense and gifts
Peace on Earth
Once, all of them us
Good and bad
Kind and cold
A moment in time became
A super-nova of separation
And the Jews, its asteroids
Drifting on their periphery
***
Chanukah?
NOT Jewish Christmas!
Guerrilla warfare
Elephants and Greeks
Maccabees and miracles
The endless battle to remain apart
When?
Two hundred years before
The death of Christ
Yes, we intersect
Did Christ have a menorah?
I hope so
***
Eventually, all of this
Existential history
Boiling down to:
Nowhere to eat on Christmas
Distinct we are, yes
But hungry among the Christians
The cost of resistance
***
Came the Chinese people
A quarter of the Earth
The greatest Diaspora ever
Peacefully e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e
Quietly present
Wherever I traveled
Seeking Chinese restaurants
The Chinese spoke Chinese to each other
But always, also:
From Norwegian to Czech
The language of wherever they were
Plus English
In this way, they conquer the planet
***
An invincible force
Goliaths to our Davids
Armed with irresistible weapons
Hot and sour soup
Both innocent to see and
Deadly to experience
Crunchy egg rolls
Mongolian beef with
Green peppers & scallions
Shrimp egg fu young
And this seductive fare
Gentle Chinese Delilahs
are but the
Vanguard of their Juggernaut
***
Sometimes relations evolve
Over tens of centuries
Inexplicably leading to a once
Impossible to envision
Embrace of David and Goliath
Allies within Christendom
Though Jews are but a whisper
In the overwhelming
Screaming and shouting of the planet,
That whisper permeates everything
***
Like Celestial Vapor
A Biblical people
Lingering through time
Saying:
We still matter
On Christmas day,
When Jews wander
Through darkened cities
Surrounded
By mile after mile of muted neon
Still, after two thousand years
Still looking for a welcoming Inn
Joseph and Mary: Where art thou?
***
Our hearts warm when at last we see
Those Chinese Sentries
Sturdy Szechuan Synagogues
Doorposts to our shared community
Welcoming us home
Saying in bright colors:
We are waiting for you
Always waiting for you
Please come in from the cold
Into our fragrant warmth
Every day
and
Any day
of the year
The Chinese word for Jews is:
You Tai Ren
Me?
My word for them is:
Mensches!
***
(Merry Christmas, everybody…seriously)
***
Mysterious Post Script added years later on December 25, 2017:
What are the magical substances that help keeps a remnant of a mysterious wandering Biblical people from disappearing into the burning desert sands, taking the immortal Secrets of the Universe with them?
Ok, quick, write this down before that strange black cloud hovering in the distance can overtake me. This is it:
A cup of Chicken Fat from a wise chicken raised in the Lower East Side of San Antonio, then a sprinkle of caraway seeds snatched from a peasant’s field in Finland–um…how much is a sprinkle? Oy, better ask your Lithuanian Grandma–then, and very important!–three dreidles full of sweet and sour sauce from this certain basement in Western Shanghai’s Uzbeck quarter, then, please write faster!…and this is all you’ll ever need…OH MY GOD! THE CLOUD!! THE CLOUD!!! THE CLOUD……………….!!!!
********
Publishing News!
Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart and Vol. Two: Fighting Words
Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.
Please visit my new website: https://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.
Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
I will get your books to you within ten days.
Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:
Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.
Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998 (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM
Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping
For: (1)$3.95; (2)$5.95; (3)$7.95; (4)$8.95 (5)$9.95;(6) $10.95
(7) $11.95; (8) $12.95; (9)$13.95 (10)$15.95 (15)$19.95
I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools should call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.
My Fighting Words Publishing Co. four original books, published between 2004 and 2007 are now out-of-print. I still have some left and will periodically offer them for sale on my new website.