Reply To: Where's The Mentchlichkyt?!

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#738177
nfgo3
Member

I am not fluent in Yiddish, but I think there are some errors of Yiddish usage in the opening post. First of all, I believe the correct spelling of one key word is mentschlichtheit. I think the gender (in the grammatical sense of “gender,” not the euphemism for sex) of mentsch is male, and therefore the word cannot be used in reference to women and girls, such as the girl holding (and then not holding) the door in the opening post. And the failure to hold the door was not an absence of mentchlichtheit (if that spelling is correct, it is a nuisance to type), it was just plain rude.

Secondly, failure to hold the door was not an act of chutzpah. I think chutzpah carries an implication of preposterous reasoning or gall, not simply rudeness, laziness or lack of chesed. The killer of his parents who asks for mercy because he is an orphan shows chutzpah. The murder was criminal, but the reasoning supporting the killer’s request for mercy shows chutzpah.