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Thursday, January 12, 2006
Funny you should ask...
Have you ever felt like you were being asked the same questions over and over... and that you were basically at fault for not making the answers more obvious?
Here are the two most frequently asked questions I get emailed to me here at treppenwitz headquarters:
1. Does treppenwitz mean something or did you just make up the word?
This is probably the single most common email I get... somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 - 5 time per week. It really is my fault for not posting the definition of treppenwitz at the top of the page. Oh wait a minute... I did post the definition at the top of the page!
Treppenwitz is a German word that means 'the wisdom (or wit) of the stairs'. It describes the perfect response that occurs to you only as you are walking down the stairs after a heated discussion. More simply put, it means 'thinking of a witty remark too late'.
Sorry I wasn't more clear with the banner.
The French version of treppenwitz is 'esprit d' escalier'. Someone once suggested that I should have selected the French version as the title of my journal since it is in much more common English usage.
No, I'm serious... I get helpful emails and comments like this all the time. Lucky me.
The reason I chose to go with treppenwitz instead of esprit d' escalier is that it's easier for non-Europeans to say. In retrospect I'm also glad that people don't refer to me as 'esp' or 'esc'.
2. You're religious and you live over the 'green line', so are you right wing... or extreme right wing?
OK, granted people usually craft their questions a little more subtly than that... but the underlying assumption remains essentially the same; that anyone living over the 'green line' is a hard right winger... and if you are religious, your right wing views are even more extreme, not to mention ideologically driven.
Rather than tackle this fallacy head-on, let's look at the other side of the coin. Do all secular Israelis who live inside the 'green line' agree on some unified, monolithic platform of domestic and foreign policy, values, ideas and cultural norms? Do they all embrace the same worldview, legal opinions and vacation destinations? So why would it be logical for me to share all of these things in common with other folks, whether religious or not, who live on this side of the 'green line'?
Basically, if you are making assumptions about me based on my address or religious affiliation, you are almost certain to miss the mark.... by a mile.
There are as many opinions and motivating factors at work on this side of the political and religious divide as there are on the other.
In my humble opinion, at least 80% of Israel's problems could be eliminated overnight if people would simply stop making over-simplified assumptions about people they don't know. The other 20% of the problems could, in my opinion, be solved if we could all agree that sometimes people do act according to our most basic assumptions about them... and it would be the worst kind of foolishness to dismiss that possibility entirely.
If you think I'm talking only about Jews, you haven't been reading me long enough.
I hope this has been helpful... let's do it again sometime soon.
Posted by David Bogner on January 12, 2006 | Permalink
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When I first saw your banner, I just assumed Treppenwitz was your last name (quickly put to rest by the posted by David Bogner line that ends each of your posted entries). If it makes you feel any better, I am about as familiar with the term "esprit d' escalier" as I was with Treppenwitz. No question you made the right decision!
I don't think most people have any clue what "the green line" means. Even when living in Yerushalayim, I was under the impression that over the green line was composed of radical outposts fraught with danger and fanaticism. It wasn't until I actual went there, and to an even greater extent, lived there, that the false impression was completely washed away. I know a number of people who live there simply because the housing is much more affordable, others because a place like Efrat is a wonderful community. There are, as you say, many reasons why someone would be there. I would like to propose that your solutions would only solve 90% of Israel's problems, The other 10% would be solved by abandoning a third-world mentality.
If you do ever do this question and answer session again (and I hope you will) the two questions I have wondered about the man behind Treppenwitz are:
1.How and where do you find the time to blog every day with quality posts while also holding down a full time job and being a husband and father? Amazing!
2.How did you go from an English major to working in the defense industry - and what is it exactly that you do for a living?
Posted by: mcaryeh | Jan 12, 2006 3:08:48 PM
"esprit d' escalier"
I remember those cars. Back in the early '70s people who were too hard up to drive a Pinto or a Gremlin made do with the Chevy "esprit d' escalier."
Some would paint a big 'S' on them and whenever they were driven through town people would say "look at that 'S' car go."
Google it and see what you find. ;)
Posted by: Jack | Jan 12, 2006 4:13:00 PM
Ha! French joke! Way to go, Jack! You got a giggle out of me.
I've said a gazillion times that I think you are a right-winger which, as you know from me is lofty praise, despite your claimed liberalism on a few social issues. But I understand that (1) right-wing there is a different animal than right wing here (2) you may not want to be in the same ideological tent as the right-wingers there, a small number of whom carry the worst baggage of the right -- bigotry and a supremacist world-view and (3) you hate labels and would love not too feel even more on the fringe than the kippa and holster already make you feel.
Fair enough. Just know that exacly the way you are, in LA you'd be a right-winger in my book. There you can think of yourself as an-above-the-labels-highly-complex-amalgam-of-opinions.
Posted by: Doctor Bean | Jan 12, 2006 4:30:19 PM
1. Not entirely accurate to flip the Green Line assumption: moving over the green line *does* signify an ideologically-tinged choice in most cases, while the average resident of "little Israel" has not made such a statement through their real estate choices.
2. Take this in proportion - if you do any overseas business, you will know that many people in Europe/North America think ALL Israelis are running around with knives clenched between our teeth, dodging bullets on our way to the supermarket...
Posted by: Ben-David | Jan 12, 2006 4:41:36 PM
I agree with mcaryeh about what the Green Line is all about. When I came to Israel for the 1st time, 10 years ago, I was told not to cross the Green Line, etc. But I met many people living in Efrat and other places over the Green Line and started to realize that what we were being spoon-fed in my seminary was not exactly what I believed in.
Posted by: Essie | Jan 12, 2006 4:43:48 PM
i'd like answers to mcaryeh;s questions, too! Then I'd like to hear Trep's wife's opinion on the answer to #1!!!
Posted by: val | Jan 12, 2006 4:56:48 PM
It's funny, I never thought you were a right wing settler type. I thought you were a nice family , living in a nice community type. Also, I never wondered what Treppenwitz means, because you have kindly posted it on your About You page. One other thing, I don't think I have ever seen such cute children as yours. They are truly adorable!
Posted by: Katie | Jan 12, 2006 6:43:21 PM
Oh and my husband and I (he has become an avid reader) would like an answer the mcaryeh's questions as well if you are willing to oblige your readers with answers to them.
Posted by: Katie | Jan 12, 2006 6:45:19 PM
I never thought you were a right wing settler type. I thought you were a nice family , living in a nice community type.
Calling the trolls? Wait, let me nuke some popcorn!
I was going to suggest you include a nice 'alt tag' with your banner graphic, but then I saw how Typepad controls banner graphics...I think you can add some text with the alt class/thingie. All caps letters right top of the side panel would probably do a finer job, though.
Okay, so are there any questions you've long been waiting for the Treps to ask, yet they never did? All ears...
Posted by: Account Deleted | Jan 12, 2006 8:02:31 PM
"In my humble opinion, at least 80% of Israel's problems could be eliminated overnight if people would simply stop making over-simplified assumptions about people they don't know. The other 20% of the problems could, in my opinion, be solved if we could all agree that sometimes people do act according to our most basic assumptions about them... and it would be the worst kind of foolishness to dismiss that possibility entirely. "
David...Amen to that.
Dr. Bean, I don't think the right wing individual is a different animal than in the US. The only difference I see is the the hyper focus on the two issues of Land rights and Arabs. All other issues such as Religion, social, capitalism, etc., seemed to be the same.
I may be way off, but this is just my opinion based on the many jbloggers that I read who fall in that category and all seem to be writing from the same script. Sorta like pulling the string of a toy doll and hearing the exact same words over and over again.
Posted by: jamie | Jan 12, 2006 8:21:30 PM
I'll always remember the time in high school one of the other students asked where the right wingers hid their wings.
Posted by: Jack | Jan 12, 2006 8:24:00 PM
Oh,and as for the meaning of Treppenwitz...man, I always do that.
However, for you to choose that as your theme, seems out of character. I don't picture you as one who would have that problem.
Posted by: jaime | Jan 12, 2006 8:27:18 PM
"Do they all embrace the same worldview, legal opinions and vacation destinations?"
So you mean not ALL Israelis go to Eilat every year, LOL? : D
(One of the most frequent stereotypes I've heard, next to the one about dodging bullets)
Posted by: Irina | Jan 13, 2006 12:24:02 AM
Macaryeh... Here are the answers to the questions you (and others) were curious about:
1. I write for no more than 30 minutes each morning (or occasionally before I go to bed). I don't do revisions other than spell checks, and if I don't like what I've written at the end of that time I delete it. There are some days when I write two or even three posts in that 30 minute time limit before the kids have to be woken up and given breakfast... and there are a lot of others where I come away with bupkes. The comments are actually much more time consuming (and fun) but they are spread out like coffee breaks throughout the day so I don't really notice the cumulative time spent reading and responding to them.
2. I have made a conscious effort to not write about anything work related here. I made this decision primarily because I work in a high security facility, and also because nothing good has ever come to someone who blogs about work. However I will say that I work in international marketing and business development which is where my background in writing/communication comes into play. If you (or anyone else) has any more specific questions about how I got into the field where I am presently working I would be happy to continue the discussion via email.
Jack... Only you could pull a snail joke out of this topic. :-)
Doctor Bean... No, in LA I'd probably be in prison for killing all the self absorbed/self-important liberals who have made the classic mistake of assuming that a modicum of celebrity makes their opinions somehow relevant. :-)
Ben-David... As soon as you have to use words like 'most' you lose me. Many people who live in Yosh are here for economic, social or religious reasons. I don't think any organized survey has ever been done to track where the motivating factors fall out. As to your second point... I don't care what foreigners think about Israelis because I change that. I do care what my readers think of me which is why I spend so much time and energy trying to get people to see me as an individual rather than a representative of any particular group.
Essie... The yeshivas and seminaries have liability issues to deal with as well as a lot of nervous parents. You can't blame them for making arbitrary rules and then justifying them with sketchy information.
Val... I've answered them both. If Zahava wants to add anything she has the spare keys to the blog. :-)
Katherine Bateman... That's refreshing to hear. I guess some of the repetitive explanations I periodically offer stem from a small minority of comments and emails I get about 'you right wing religious nuts...'. That kind of thing can sometimes put a person on a defensive footing. I suppose almost everyone would tell you they were nice if you asked them for their opinion about themselves, but we all know people who aren't nice. I'm not very good at math, but this seems to strongly support the theory that some of us aren't really nice. I appreciate having validation of our 'niceness' from an outside source. :-)
mademoiselle a. ... Very funny! :-) As to the technical stuff, I like the idea, but I may have to call you up and have you talk me through it (provided you're willing).
Jaime... Both you and Doctor Bean make some good points, but I think that there are some very real differences between American and Israeli conservatives and liberals. The most obvious issue that comes to mind is one I've discussed before here; civil liberties. In the US this is a hot button topic for liberals, but in Israel it is the conservatives that are up in arms about civil rights violations (while the liberals seem willing to overlook them because they helped advance the left wing agenda). No... you can't really use the same terminology in the US and here. As to whether I suffer from frequent bouts of treppenwitz... just ask Zahava. I always have the perfect response... about an hour after it ceases to be relevant. :-)
Jack... Cute.
Irina... No, the 'dodging bullets' part is true. :-)
Posted by: treppenwitz | Jan 13, 2006 1:45:08 AM
So you mean not ALL Israelis go to Eilat every year, LOL?
No, just everyone else in Efrat on Chanuka...
Posted by: Dave | Jan 13, 2006 8:30:47 AM
so.... what exactly does treppenwitz mean?
Posted by: Seth | Jan 13, 2006 11:21:42 AM
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