The Jews return en masse to Lithuania, sort of. I mean, no. Nevermind.
Friend and Comrade Michael “Mikhl” Casper reports from the capital of Lithuania in the Forward:
During Carnival — or Uzgavenes, as it is known in Lithuania — Catholics from around the world congregate for a feast of foods prohibited during Lent. The festival usually involves a parade or circus, with attendees in masks and costumes. But in Vilnius — commonly known to Jews as Vilna — participants traditionally dress and act “as Jews,” a feat that generally calls for masks with grotesque features, beards and visible ear locks and that is often accompanied by peddling and by stereotypically Jewish speech.
Perhaps even more shockingly, the “festivities” extend beyond the parade itself and into a Halloween-style trick-or-treating. When Simonas Gurevicius, the 26-year-old executive director of the Jewish Community of Lithuania, opened the door to his house during last year’s Uzgavenes, he was greeted by two children dressed in horns and tails, reciting a song that translates as, “We’re the little Lithuanian Jews/We want blintzes and coffee/If you don’t have blintzes/Give us some of your money.” (It rhymes in Lithuanian.)
Charming…
Does Borat know about this?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tt_PnYWhX3c
Eech. Good to know rampant, shameless antisemitic stereotyping still exists in an age in which people can look at their magazines and TVs and see images of Jews as varied as Natalie Portman and Shmuley Boteach in the public eye. We’d hate to shatter their sick little worlds or anything.
To be fair, I’m almost equally disgusted when I hear folks freely using the phrase “The Arabs” as a handy substitution for “Fundamentalist Theocratic Islamofacist Nutjobs.” But that must clearly mean I’m a self-loather or something.
Apparently, it rhymes in English too. Oy.