| And Don't Forget Your Gemushka |
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After tirelessly working "the system" for over three years, a resident of Rechov HaGedaim, perpendicular to my street in Jerusalem, was ecstatic. The Municipality, specifically the department in charge of street-sign names, approved his proposal and Rechov HaGedaim has a new name: Rechov Trumpledor. Well not exactly a new name, but rather a more " P.C." (Politically Correct) new name, because HaGedaim, as I learned from my grandson, means "The Amputee". _option_option
Now, I must sheepishly admit that for the past 40 years I have been walking up Rechov HaGedaim and never knew what the meaning of the word was until it was changed. I should have figured out something was "off," as streets in Jerusalem neighborhoods are named by topics. The Old Katamon area sports names of 1948 events and battles, Rechov HaMatzor for example; the neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol, has Rechov Sheshet Haymim, for Six Day War, etc. My neighborhood of Rechavia and its environs, have street names that boast the names of poets and Zionist leaders. Samuel Hanagid (the ruling prince) was the son of Joseph ibn Nagdela, who was born in Cordova, Spain, in the year 4742 (18 years before the close of the 10th century of the C.E.). He became a vizier and was good to poets - among them, the famous Rabbi Solomon ibn Gebirol, whose name is memorialized by a street a few blocks down. I should have guessed that he (Hanagid) and Ussishkin (1863-1941) the notable Russian born Zionist leader, who worked for the revival of the Hebrew language and Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel, wouldn't be near just any amputee. So once the street name was changed, I understood to whom it previously alluded. Joseph Trumpledor 1880-1920 was a Zionist leader. He studied dentistry but volunteered for the Russian army, losing an arm during the fighting around Port Arthur in 1905 (hence the nom de guerre or wartime nickname, The Amputee). He settled in Palestine in 1912 and worked with Jabotinsky, (a street in neighboring Talbiah), to establish a Jewish unit to fight with the British against the Turks. Trumpledor went to Russia and organized pioneer groups to come and settle Palestine; he was killed in the defense of Tel Chai (a street not far away in Old Katamon). All this curiosity of etymology was important last week when the electrician came to fix our problem with the kitchen electrical system. "It may be the Birner (light-bulb) or Pesulung (light-bulb housing); could be the Kabel (wire) or Feuse (got that on the first bounce - fuse). I'll have to check your trans-for-mator (transformer from 110 U.S. and Canadian voltage to 220/240-European and Israeli)." He threw these terms at me as he looked around scratching his balding head. All of a sudden a smile of hope lit up his face. "Have you figured out what's wrong?" I asked expectantly. "Only if you still happen to have your Gemushka." Okay, that got me. I called my sister who is an interior architect and designer and works with electricians all the time. "Oh, of course, your Gemushka, the original plans of your apartment remodeling, the wiring etc." "Gemushaka," I repeated, awe-struck that she understood this word in Hebrew (?) "After being here so many years you've just now heard the word Gemushaka? It is supposed to mean 'accordion' in some language, as that is what architectural and electrical plans look like, they are folded many times over and open up as an accordion." Of course, everyone knows that! Oh, by the way, my kitchen has re-lit up, as the electrician discovered and then repaired the Erdung-Earth connection or grounding joint (many of the early German Olim became electricians). Originally published in the Jewish Press on June 20, 2007. |
