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16 | OHCC LIVING | FEBRUARY 2022 | Yiddish Club Let us all hope for a better year and a safer environment in which we may get together! I am extending my deepest apologies to those few members and guests who did not receive my email regarding the cancellation of our Dec. 19 luncheon. Please feel free to contact me if you are presently not receiving my notifications. As we extend a heartfelt welcome to our new members, and welcome back existing members to the Yiddish Club, let me tell you who we are. We are a group of people with a common love of Yiddish culture, humor, music and food! We meet six times a year, including two deli luncheons and four gatherings featuring fun, education, entertainment and delicious nosh! Our members support one another during life cycle events, and we enjoy kibitzing and sharing ideas. Membership is $10 per year. Our current officers are Elaine Massei-President, Carole Silverman- Vice President, Lainy Vinikow-Secretary, and Arnie Wallins-Treasurer. We have a hard working, dedicated Board. Every so often we see a statement that Webster's dictionary contains more than 700 Yiddish words! We didn't count the words, but based upon our personal observation, many Yiddish words, phrases, and idioms have become commonplace in the English language. Phrases which are Yiddish in origin may convey inferences of affection, compassion, displeasure, disbelief, skepticism, and sarcasm. Some examples of these phrases are: Facetious arrangement of words: "Smart he isn't." Contempt through affirmation: "My son-in-law he wants to be." Derisive dismissal disguised as an innocent question: "I should pay him for such great service?" The use of a question to answer a question, to which the answer is self-evident. Question: "Did you write your mother?" Answer: "Did I write my mother!" (Scornful response for "Why do you ask?") Question: "Have you visited your father in the hospital?" Answer: "Have I visited my father in the hospital?! (Indignant) Laughing dismissal via repetition with a "SH" play on the first sound: "Haircut schmair cut, I'm staying home with a sick child." Please note that there are only a handful of Yiddish words in this article, but the communicative expression is very Yiddish in origin! Come join us in the Yiddish Club! Consider serving on our Board! Help us grow and evolve. For more info, email oceanhillsyiddishclub@gmail.com or call Elaine at (408) 835-7803. ~ Elaine Massei, President and Don Kent, Past Vice-President How cold do you want your white wine? At what temperature do you serve red wine? The conventional wisdom on the temperature for wine is that white wine should be chilled and red wine should be served at room temperature. During our very first trip to France, we encountered a problem when connecting at Orly, which still took transatlantic flights in 1998. We couldn't find the gate for our flight on AOM, an airline no longer around. When we finally found it, we also found some people in our seats. After talking to the flight attendant, who looked like she had just stepped off the cover of Vogue, we were seated in the European version of business class, which meant coach seats with the middle seat empty. While our flight was brief, from Paris to Toulon, a meal was served, very nice, with white cloth napkins and real flatware, not plastic. It included some red wine, which was served chilled. So, it makes you wonder, if chilled red is okay in France, why not here? The whole "room temperature" thing is a bit confusing. What room temperature means depends on where you are and what season it is. If you serve red wine in OHCC in July, and you have the windows open, what is room temperature? How about during a Santa Ana in the fall? "Room temperature" might translate to "temperature of a European room before everyone got central heat." They used to keep butter in a cupboard, and it didn't spoil. Recently, we listened to a Rick Steves podcast in which he interviewed Olivier Magny, proprietor of Ô-Château wine bar in Paris, and Olivier expressed the opinion that Americans serve red wine too warm, and white wine too cold. He suggests you put the bottle of red in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so before serving it, and for white wine, he suggests taking it out of the refrigerator for a similar amount of time, thinking it lets the flavors stand out a little more. Wine Tasting Club