Gone fishin'

Will be away for a week.

See you on July 4th......

Speaking "southern" - - - - - - - - - - - - - dispensing (with) wisdom.

I have a very southern accent - southern African, that is. Can’t shake it, and just like the famous Dixie, I "donnnnnn’ care". But I can tell you, there is justice in this world - that’s what kids are for. I grew up amusing myself by speaking "Inglish vis a Tchurman eksint", like some of my uncles and aunts, and not a few of my parents’ good friends. Now my kids imitate me. Ah, the joys of parenthood, the wheals of fortune.

Over the years, I have picked up some gems of southern expression, with their bits of wisdom. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" is sage advice not to complicate something that’s basically quite functional - fixin’ it leads to more trouble than it is worth, and, indeed, more trouble, then it is worse. So, "go figure". . .

Of course, one shouldn’t complain, I mean, there’s not much you can do about things. It’s just the “same ol’ same ol’…”

But wait! "You’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar" is a good one. Then again, who wants to catch flies?

Which brings me to "Fish or cut bait". Having not heard this one before, I was initially left to try to make sense of it on my own. I have fished a little, when I was a kid, and later when my boys were less than 10 years of age. I am not crazy about it. Somehow the experience never set me dreaming - I prefer music and photography - boring!, you might say. Which might explain how I settled for the incorrect interpretation, according to the experts.

The picture that came to my mind on reading “Fish or cut bait” was equal to "take it or leave it" (or other variations like "like it, or lump it" - the play on the "l" sound having some alliterative merit). I thought "cutting bait" might refer to cutting a baited line to quit fishing and leave. Turns out otherwise, if you are a purist - for in commercial fishing, two fairly equal tasks are part of the process, cutting the bait (dead fish used to catch live fish) and the other the task of actually doing the fishing. The meaning of "Fish or cut bait" is an instruction to get past your indecision, quit milling around and get on with the work. In other words - "Fish! or fish! already."

Life is full of double, doubtful and dubious meanings. “Many a true word is said in jest”. Many people scoff at Freud’s ideas, even as they live in denial about one thing or another ( such as * _____ *fill in the blanks). They might even deny their Freudian slips. (This is a reference to missteps of the mouth, not to ladies’ petticoats!)

Someone found an online reference for me (many thanks) dealing with the origins and meaning of “Fish or cut bait”. Interestingly, in the reference itself, the person who poses the question thinks the expression means "Get serious, or get out" (not too different from “Take it, or leave it!”). This may have more to do with the context in which the expression is used, than with what the expression was originally supposed to mean.

And so, let me make a prediction . . .

The expression “Fish or cut bait” is inherently confusing. This may be due to our increasing distance from the life of the commercial fishingman. But perhaps more importantly, I think the confusion is due to the other associations of the word “cut“. Expressions such as "to cut class" and " to cut your losses" come to mind, and deal with leaving something, not holding on, or staying with it. My prediction, therefore, is that in time, the “experts” will include a "new" meaning for this expression. In the future, the dictionaries that define our ever-evolving forms of speech will include the following: "Fish or cut bait" originally meant "stop dithering and get on with the job". But with time and use (or misuse?), also came to mean - "Take it or leave it", "Get serious or get out".

Go figure . . . or fish?
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PS - "Fish or cut bait" is the title of the President's Message in the current issue of the BSBI Messenger. See page 8.

PPS - have you answered the Questions of the week?

PPPS - If you haven't had your fill of fishy expressions, try this link.

Lessons from community service

At the JCC’s May board meeting, the issue of an orthodox minyan came up again. This time it was not the issue of designating land, which has passed on 3 separate occasions, but a request from a group of people seeking to rent space to hold services at the center. (Let me be clear at the outset, I am one of the number that make up this group.)

The group making the request are mostly members of the JCC, and most are also members of BSBI. The group holds prayer services in the JCC area, currently in private residences. These services are open to all who wish to attend, and while the majority of those attending are from BSBI, it is not uncommon to see people at these services who are not. All are welcome at these services, and they are not designated as one of BSBI’s official "places" for religious services.

The group came together after BSBI "resolved" its location issue at a special congregational meeting in January 2006, the outcome of which was that BSBI would remain downtown, and its South Windemere location would be maintained or possibly enlarged. In that context, the official BSBI position on this group’s activities is that they are not an arm of BSBI. In spite of the fact that this group brings orthodox Shabbat observance to an underserved area of the Jewish community, they are viewed quite negatively by the lay leadership of BSBI.

The JCC board were therefore faced with a "prickly" question - how to respond to the request?

Before continuing with this thread of the discussion, let’s pause briefly to define some other questions that may come into play: when someone agrees to serve on a committee, either they volunteer or are selected, whose interests are they supposed to serve - their own interests ahead of the institution’s interests? Or the other way around?

And when faced with a difficult question, how do you untangle the issues in a manner that is logical, consistent and fair?

To their credit, in my opinion, the members of the JCC executive did right by doing the following - they looked at the content of the JCC mission statement, and made a decision that was true to the ideals of the JCC mission. They also considered past occasions when the center has dealt with similar requests. The process is not very different from what occurs in the courts of justice - cases are reviewed in relation to the applicable laws and decisions are made based on prior legal precedents.

At the meeting, the consensus was that the matter did not require a vote, and the decision of the board was to grant the request. Thus, beginning some time in the near future, the group will hold Shabbat services at the center.

The decision is fully in keeping with the JCC mission - that is, to serve the larger Jewish community, to foster Jewish growth, culture and learning. Also, the JCC has previously provided space to groups wishing to hold services and events, including some that took place on Shabbat. Those who have previously been allowed to rent space include one or more of the city’s synagogues and/or churches (when their facilities were under repair), and one or more Jewish youth organizations.

During the JCC board’s discussions of this issue, all but 3 of those present were in favor of the decision. The 3 who expressed opinions to the contrary were all from the lay leadership of BSBI. They included the current President of BSBI, a past president, and a current Board member ( who was recently appointed an "officer" of BSBI’s board).

They presented a number of objections. First, they felt that by agreeing to the request, the JCC would be interfering in the internal affairs of BSBI. They felt that the decision of BSBI to remain downtown should be honored by the JCC, and assistance should therefore not be provided to the group applying for space to hold services. One or more of the “objectors” suggested also that the JCC could be accused of giving undue "advantage" to BSBI relative to the other congregations. Or that the decision could alienate members of the JCC who might then choose to leave the center. One or more of them suggested that the center’s mission statement was in some way not applicable (either to this group or to this question - the details of this line of thought are not quite clear, and I was not at the meeting to hear these positions in person). Or it may have been said that the board was wrong to refer to the mission statement to help decide this issue. One or more of them said that opening the center for such requests on Saturdays was not allowed as the center is closed on Saturdays.

All of these objections were rejected by the other members of the JCC board. In this regard, I believe we can be proud of the JCC leadership for being true to their mission, and dealing with this issue in a fair-minded and positive way.

One need not have a Ph. D. in psychology to understand what is going on here. BSBI has had ample opportunity to serve its members, but its lay leadership chooses not to. This is consistent with BSBI’s long-standing modus operandi - their approach to "business as usual". BSBI’s lay leadership would rather manipulate its membership than serve it. In particular, the BSBI lay leadership, over the years, has refused to meet the needs of its Shabbat observant members, and those who wish to be more observant - whether they live near the JCC or in South Windemere. Let me be clear on this - meeting the needs means just that, meeting the needs. In other words, not partially, but fully. Not begrudgingly, but enthusiastically. Not in some second-class way, but FULLY.

I hold this position with conviction and certainty, as we all should. I don’t care if a "majority" of the listed membership supported BSBI’s half-hearted tolerance of the Minyan House in South Windemere over the years - it is, always has been, and always will be, the duty of BSBI to take care of its core, its active and committed members. Not because they are better people for being observant or wanting to be observant, but because it is BSBI’s mission. And it doesn’t mean a thing to me if BSBI’s mission statement has been reworked to make any of their recent actions legitimate - in a small community with limited numbers and resources, there can be only one viable orthodox congregation in Charleston. And it is BSBI’s leadership’s duty to support its re-emergence without reservation.

Finally, that they choose not to is on their conscience. But let us always make it clear to them: we will not let them come to our shared institutions and try to dissuade us from holding true to our mission to serve and strengthen this Jewish community.

Just pictures . . .