Proverbs and Expressions from a Bronx Izmirlí Family: Toward a Sephardic View of the World

Volume 10, No.1 Fall1991 49 PROVERBS AND EXPRESSIONS FROM A BRONX ; , . . . IZMIRLI FAMILY: TOWARD A SEPHARDIC VIEW OF THE WORLD Glo"ria J. Ascher Gloria J. Ascher, Associate Professor at Tufts University, teaches and explores Germanic and Judaic Studies. She has written on Sephardic folklore, Goethe, Hofmannsthal, Hauptmann, Canetti, and Old Norse literature. Using proverbs and related material as the basis for ascertaining the world view or the character of a group of people has become unfashionable -indeed, even suspect. The difficulties involved are real: the international nature of many proverbs seems to preclude their particular relevance for anyone culture, and the absence of context and social situation obscures the meaning of many proverbs that have been merely recorded.1 Yet the oftquoted observation of Francis Bacon, "The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs," 2 remains basically true, as exemplified by the material to be considered in this essay. As for the difficulties just mentioned, the fact that a proverb has cognates in other cultures need not diminish its significance for anyone group. After all, not all proverbs are found everywhere , and variations in form and style are often crucial for a proverb's meaning. The difficulty of determining context, moreover, does not apply here, for the proverbs and expressions I will discuss are the legacy of my own family; the context and social situation are the very atmosphere and milieu I IThese difficulties are recognized by T. A. Perry, "The Philosophy of Sephardic Jews As Seen Through Their Proverbs," Shofar, Vol. 6, No.2 (Winter 1988), p. 29; the importance of context is noted by Ruth Finnegan, "Proverbs in Africa," The Wisdom of Marry: Essays on the Proverb, ed. Wolfgang Mieder and Alan Dundes (New York and London: Garland, 1981), p. 15, reprinted from Oral Literature in Africa (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), pp. 389-418, and by Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett, "Toward a Theory of Proverb Meaning," Wisdom, p. 120, reprinted from Proverbium 22 (1973), pp. 821-827. 2Quoted in A. A. Parker, "The Humour of Spanish Proverbs," Wisdom, pp. 259-260, reprinted from The Humour of Spanish Proverbs (London: Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Councils, 1963), pp. 3-23. 50 SHOFAR grew up in. So it is with a clear methodological conscience that I proceed to present my proverbs and expressions, and, taking full advantage of my dual position as informant and scholar, to interpret them as expressions of a coherent view of the world. In discussing aspects of this world view as reflected in the proverbs and expressions, I will note relationships to the broader Sephardic tradition and experience. As already mentioned, these proverbs and expressions are the legacy of my family-more precisely and directly, my parents, Emanuel and Esther (Ganon) Ascher, of blessed memory. En gan Eden esten! "May they be in the Garden of Eden," as we say. Descended from Jews who lived in Spain before their expulsion in 1492, they both were born in Izmir (then Smyrna), Turkey, though in different sections of the city, and both came to the United States in the early decades of this century, my father as a young man, my mother as a child (exact dates and ages are unknown!). Like many others, they and their families came to seek a better life in view of the wars, natural disasters, nationalist movements, and worsening economic conditions that plagued their native Ottoman Empire.3They settled first in Manhattan, then in the Bronx, New York, where I was born and lived the first 20 years of my life. Hence the designation, "a Bronx Izmirli family." Some of the proverbs and expressions were used by both parents, but some special expressions are particularly characteristic of my father, and most of the proverbs and expressions were transmitted to me by my mother, who, in turn, had them from her mother, MaMiriam (Abraham) Ganon. The proverbs and expressions were-and are-thus transmitted orally, as part of the folk tradition. They were an essential part of our everyday life within the family, forming the main vehicle for expressing the wisdom, insight, and values-not to forget the humor !-that sustained us. My distinction between proverbs and expressions...