Chaver Sanders : Zei Gezunt , Genug

                This is a letter to Bernie Sanders

                         

                     Shalom Chaver Sanders. I was going to write this in Yiddish but I don't have the vocabulary; and yours is probably very rusty too. Just as well; we do not want to exclude the non Yiddish readers of my blogs--that is all of them. So just a few lapses into words now embedded in the Anglo American vernacular.

  Congratulations on Indiana and the campaign generally. All Bundists, alive and long gone, have been kvelling. Unfortunately Trump[f]'s success the same night has clouded the mood. I found myself deep in contemplation and for the first time in decades I drifted into a solitary séance.

     I began channeling the East London Jewish Workers Circle. Strange given the last member died more than a dozen years ago and he had stopped going to meetings 20 years before that-nobody else there. Anyway it was a packed meeting-almost enough for a Minyan. I was warmly welcomed as the "yingle"  [boy] and Chaver Liebovitz, as always, gave me a lollipop. I tried a joke and asked if we were meeting in heaven or hell. I was told it was a Narish Kasha [foolish question]; they are all atheists. Neither Dante nor the King James Bible is in the Bundist cannon.

    Apparently this was the EGM -Eternal General Meeting. They quickly elected officers for the rest of eternity and moved onto the meat of the agenda .Your campaign was the third item. First was discussion of Palestine. Boy do these guys despise Netanyahu! They are very concerned about the policies of some of their Zionist cousins, not least on West Bank Settlements and foot dragging on a Palestinian State. Finklestein speaks fluent Hebrew and he was charged with writing to both the Israeli Labour Party and to Mapam. He was to close the letter with fond felicitations and an admonition to watch their backs. I was not clear whether the warning was about Hamas or Netanyahu I did not have the heart to remind them that Mapam no longer existed.  

     Next up was Livingstone ,Naz Shah and Labour Party anti semitism. This is not a bunch of "softie bourgeoise salon socialists"[their words], they know of violent anti-semitism from der haim. All lost close family to the camps. They do not toss out accusations of anti-semitism lightly. All have been Labour Party supporters since they arrived as refugees. They all despise Livingstone. They always have.They were not impressed by his grand standing as leader of the GLC and then as Mayor of London. They recognised the damage he has done to "their" Labour Party for over forty years. They know a Stalinist when they see one.

They did not for a moment believe that Labour was "rife" with anti-semites;and recognised Tory Media baiting of the left. But they were concerned with some of the apologist conspiracy theories from a few Trade Union leaders and close Corbyn supporters. They have faith in the rank and file of both the party and the unions. One member raised the question of whether Corbyn was ant-semitic or just had a "tin ear on this stuff”. The response was -silence. Nobody could bring himself to accuse the Leader of the Labour Party of that most original of Mediaeval Christendom's sin.

This group would lean over backwards to give Jeremy the benefit of many doubts--"He is new ,he's young, he’s been distracted, he will learn on the job".Chaver Esther Cohen -she has by far the best English-was delegated to send a letter to Jeremy raising the Circle's concerns.

   We then moved on to Chaver Sanders in "Amerrika".The mood lightened nay was joyous. How they kvelled [took pride]." Bernie has achieved so much " "He has changed the agenda" "led the Democrat Party to rediscover  its soul" .Yes to universal health care, break up the banks--even the Jewish ones they guffawed, big on Yiddish irony this group--redistribute wealth, screw big Pharma, a carbon tax and get the billionaires out of campaign funding. Especially that "Zionist bastard" [Katzenberger was getting a little excited] Sheldon Adelson. 

A couple of the members think you must be their distant cousin on their mothers' side. They may be in touch. All are very impressed that you have got these issues firmly on the agenda. Given their location they are pretty well informed about US politics.They each seem to have as many relatives in Brooklyn and Westchester as they do in Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak or in Finchley. But then the discussion turned to Trump[f]. "Bigot, exploiter, mysoginist [Esther]". Katzenberger again “he will load those poor Mexicans in cattle cars" and he "could hear the echo of marching Jackboots".

They turned to me, “comrade  from  Ameerika". "Chaymle, what gives?" "He is obviously a nasty lunatic. He hates Mexicans, blacks [women too added Esther] and presumably Jews as well -even his own bankers[hee hee]!" .Well he has a Jewish daughter, I said in weak mitigation. Maybe you are confusing him with his father. Accused of discriminating against black and Hispanic renters, arrested at a KKK rally and probably a member of the German American Bund before WWII.Apples and trees were then mentioned.My father, Chaver Rosenberg, cut through all this."Who cares if he is anti-semitic, he is a racist, a self serving bully and must be stopped. He will be a disaster for America, its workers and its minorities.Anti-semitic or not he will turn on the Jews if it suits him”. Others concurred.” and if bad for America, then bad for middle east peace, for progressives everywhere and good for Stalin-I mean Putin" said Ziegelbohm.

        So what to do? "Well" said my father, ever feet on the ground [or wherever he is now]."America is not going to elect a Brooklyn born Jewish Socialist from Vermont”. The Democratic Party Primary electorate is not America, anymore than the fools voting in the Republican contest are America. Trump must be stopped-at the ballot box-by progressives and by ordinary US citizens. To fail would be a Shanda [a disgrace].

We must bite the bullet and accept that Hillary Clinton is the more likely candidate to ensure Trump[f] is beaten. Sure she has some problems and some baggage. When have we ever had perfect standard bearers? She has the best chance to beat Trump[f] .Chaver Sanders cannot get enough delegates to win the nomination anyway. Campaigning against Clinton is now a distraction;sentiment is not action. We must unite to stop Trump[f] -NOW. Bernie has achieved much and he can continue to lead back in the Senate.Who knows we may look back on a Hillary Clinton presidency and come to call her a Shvester?

        A resolution was passed  "Bernie:  Zei Gezunt , Genug  " and I have been mandated to communicate the view of the East London Workers Circle [Posthumous] branch to Chaver Sanders via an open letter to The Forward in New York. To be sent with great affection and respect.

   The Tsherman moved to close this Eternal General Meeting of the Yiddisher Arbeiter Circle, saying that today was the voting for London's new Mayor to replace Boris the Buffoon. Solidarity required the Circle to help get out the vote for Labour's Sadiq Kahn to stop Tory Zac Goldsmith. Ironic I suppose. He had heard many Jewish Labour supporters were voting for Sophie Walker of the Women's Equality party.

Attractive girl, whispered my father. Old sod, he would say that, especially if his grand daughters were in earshot.

   

We ended with a verse of the Internationale in Yiddish. Always gets a tear from me.